Edinburgh, Scotland
10th September, 23:00
"So, what did you dig up on Briar Rose?" Leah asked, her eyes scanning the dimly lit room as Chester tapped away on his laptop. They had returned to the cottage after their eerie encounter in the manor, determined to find answers.
"Well, boss, you're not going to like it. Briar Rose is supposedly the original name of Sleeping Beauty from Charles Perrault's fairy tale," Chester said, leaning back with a smirk.
"I thought her name was Aurora."
"That's the Disney version. In Perrault's original story, she was called Briar Rose. The name's changed over the years depending on the adaptation."
"You've got to be kidding me. Fairytale characters aren't real."
"Aren't they?" Chester shot back, his grin widening. "Every story has some root in reality. Who's to say these characters didn't exist? You need to be more open-minded, boss."
Leah rolled her eyes but indulged him. "Fine, let's entertain your theory. If we're dealing with a real-life fairy tale, didn't the princess wake up in the story?"
"According to Perrault, yeah. But like you always say..."
"Every story has two sides. Maybe something got lost—or deliberately altered—over time."
"Exactly. Want me to look up more about Perrault?"
"Definitely. What do we know about him?"
"He was a prolific author in 17th-century France, credited with laying the foundation for the fairy tale genre. Died at seventy-five in Paris in 1703."
"Any records of descendants?"
"Yeah, it says here some of his descendants emigrated to Scotland in the 19th century, but the trail goes cold after that."
Leah's brow furrowed. "What if the Abercrombies are connected to them? We need to check the family records in the manor library tomorrow."
Edinburgh, Scotland
11th September, 08:00
The rest of the manor was just as decrepit as the basement, if not worse. The briars wove through the halls like sinister veins, choking the life out of the once-grand estate. Dust and cobwebs coated every surface, triggering Chester's allergies.
"Honestly, if this place were occupied, you'd blow our cover with all that sneezing," Leah said, brushing cobwebs from a doorframe.
"Not my fault, boss. These people need a better housekeeper when they come back," Chester retorted, muffling another sneeze.
Fortunately, the library was relatively untouched. Its towering shelves, filled with old tomes, seemed to defy the decay overtaking the rest of the manor. Chester sprawled across a vine-covered armchair, flipping through books, while Leah methodically examined the volumes on the tables.
After a couple of hours, Leah struck gold. "Chester, I think I found something." She held up a weathered leather-bound journal. "It's a record of the Perrault family history. One of his descendants, Amelie Perrault, married Lord Augustus Abercrombie. Apparently, the manor has rooms themed after Perrault's fairy tales."
"Cool. Anything juicy?"
"There's more. At the end of the journal, there's what looks like an early version of Sleeping Beauty's story. Listen to this..." Leah began reading aloud.
The tale recounted the familiar elements: the curse of the Evil Godmother, the princess pricking her finger on a spindle, and the castle falling into enchanted sleep. But this version took a darker turn. While the prince's kiss removed the briars and awakened the castle's inhabitants, the princess herself remained in an eternal slumber. Over the centuries, the briars continued to grow back, held at bay only by the efforts of two benevolent godmothers—Rose and Ivy.
The journal warned that the curse was not fully broken. If Briar Rose wasn't awakened, the vines would eventually consume everything.
"Well, that's cheery bedtime reading," Chester quipped. "I love it."
Leah shot him a look. "This isn't a joke. If this is true, we're talking about a thousand-year-old cursed princess hidden somewhere in this manor. And don't forget the three missing people."
"Speaking of which," Chester said, pulling something from his pocket, "I found this under a shelf." He handed Leah a tarnished police badge.
"This belongs to one of the missing men," Leah said, turning the badge over in her hand. "Maybe he was searching for the princess too. But where did he go?"
"I think I've got an idea," Chester said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "The journal mentions two godmothers, Rose and Ivy. The Abercrombie family crest features a rose and ivy. And according to the family records, the Abercrombies have a tradition of burying their dead in the crypt on the manor grounds."
Leah's eyes lit up. "Of course. Where better to hide a sleeping princess than a crypt? We need to check it out."
Chester grinned. "And to think you thought this case would be boring, boss."
YOU ARE READING
Fairytale Detective 1- The Curse of Briar Rose
Hayran KurguThe following is a fanfic based on the 'Dark Parables' hidden object game series. The story follows the fairytale detective, Leah Banks, and her assistant Chester Catterly, as they solve cases, which involve more than meets the eye. A dash of magic...
