Abby and the Mad Prince's Son. The Outpost: Episode One

Chapter Eight

The smell of bacon made Abby stir. She opened her eyes and looked up at her bedroom ceiling, the starry badges Esme had given her fading away from the growing light seeping through her window.

Knock. Knock.

'Abby,' her mother called out. 'Are you awake?'

'I am,' Abby replied groggily.

'Breakfast is almost ready.'

'I'll be down in a second.'

Abby swung her legs over the side of her bed and sat up. She yawned, glided her feet into her slippers and stood up before heading down to the kitchen.

Her mother and father were there, sitting round the table and eating, a plate waiting for her.

'Morning,' Abby said.

'Morning,' the two replied with brilliant smiles.

After giving them both pecks on the cheeks, Abby sat down, grabbed a strip of bacon and wolfed it down, smacking her lips loudly.

Her father laughed but her mother gave her the 'not impressed' stare.

'Could you use your knife and fork please?' her mother said.

'But who uses a knife and fork to eat bacon,' Abby responded.

'We do. Most people do.'

'Do they?'

Her mother's glare deepened.

'Fine.' Abby picked up her knife and fork.

'So, are you looking forward to potions' school next week?' asked her father.

'You know I am,' Abby beamed. 'I've been looking forward to it ever since I was accepted.'

'Do you still need to get anything to take with you? I'm going to the market today. I can get it.'

Sheepishly, and stuffing her mouth with another strip of bacon, Abby said, 'I still need some unicorn earwax.'

Crossing her brows and frowning, her mother said, 'Didn't we already buy you a bottle?'

Drat, she remembered, Abby said to herself before saying  aloud, 'I may have used it all up polishing my cauldron.'

Now her father frowned too.

'I'm sorry. I was just a bit too enthusiast–'

Suddenly, the looks on Abby's father and mother's faces turned blank, their eyes beginning to twitch.

Dropping her fork and knife on the floor, Abby cried, 'Mother? Father? What's wrong? What's going on? You're scaring me.'

Their eyes then rolled back into their heads and their bodies began to shake violently, making Abby stumble up from her chair.

'Mother? Father?' Abby cried out again. 'If this is a joke, please stop.'

But boils and lumps soon grew on their faces and their teeth began to grow.

Abby needed to get help. She flung herself around, ready to run but something grabbed her arm tightly.

She looked back, stared up and screamed.

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Abby tried desperately to shake the nightmare from her thoughts as she and Esme walked across the Alchemist Quarter, but she knew it would never go away. Nothing about the plague would ever leave her.