A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Vagatha wasn't the only one who struggled with nightmares from the past. When it was still well into the night, Charlotte woke up with a dry throat. Singing was an enjoyable passion for her but the side effects of doing that could result in her throat bring in desperate need of a drink. So she slipped downstairs to fetch some water for herself and maybe make some tea for herself if her throat turned out to be sore.

Being careful not to make a sound or wake anyone, she grabbed a clean cup from the cupboard and pumped cold water into it from the sink. She drank it down in almost one gulp and that was all she needed to make her throat feel better so after her drink, she started to go back upstairs.

Suddenly she heard something that made her stop and go back. A whimper in the dark. Yet despite it being dark, she could very clearly see Alastor shaking and cringing in his sleep. A great sense of fear evident in his face and tears streaming down his cheeks. It made her heart she for him and she could not resist going to his side, running her snow-white hand gently through his blood-red hair.

"He dreams of fire and the lash." She was startled to find Blitzo standing there also, looking over the young man with the same amount of concern she had. "Before he came to us some sick bastard had tied him down, whipped his back and then burned him with red hot iron. We could tell from the scars that we later discovered on him. For the first year we had him, he had nightmares about what they had done to him almost every night. We'd wake up to hear him screaming and crying. Yet he never could remember his dreams or understand what they meant."

Hearing this Charlotte looked at his back in horror and her hand moved to slowly lift up his shirt to see these scars for herself.

"Don't." Blitzo warned, grabbing her hand. "Don't touch him there. It'll trigger a flashback."

"Alright." She answered softly. "Should we wake him?"

"No. Sometimes when we wake him, it takes awhile for him to realize that he's awake and he may hurt us, thinking that we're the monsters from his bad dreams. Sometimes it would get so bad that we would have to restrain him."

"Is that why you're watching him?"

"Pretty much. If one of us hears him howling in his sleep, we get up and watch him, making sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else."

"He would never hurt me."

"How do you know?"

"I just know." She said. "You know they say that within the coldest, hardest chest, there beats the warmest and most gentle of hearts. I believe Alastor is one of such individuals."

She went back to caressing his hair, hoping that her gentle touch would cause his bad dreams to fade while fighting back her own tears that were threatening to well up. She couldn't believe that someone could be so cruel, and the fact that someone as dear to her as Alastor had been a victim of such cruelty only hurt her more.

"How could someone do this to him? To a child?"

"It's just another example of how evil human nature can be." Blitzo answered bitterly. "Humans are greedy, proud, and self-centered. You calmly harm others just to satisfy your desires. Selling out your own kind with ease."

"And what evil has he inflicted upon you?" She asked. "What has he done to earn your hatred?"

"I never said I hated him."

"But you blame him, don't you? Blame him and me for what someone else did to you? And your friend?"

Blitzo threw her a look then grimaced.

"Millie really shouldn't talk so much. Who gave her the right to reveal my past to you?"

"I'm glad she did. Cause now I understand you more."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you hate me. You hate what I am and where I come from. At first I thought it was because you were wicked. Like how alps are described. But now that I know what you've been through, I realize you're not wicked, you're just hurting."

For once in his life Blitzo was at a loss for words. The princess's words had his mind snowed and unable to think of any responses or comebacks.

"But it also made me wonder, shouldn't you have all people, be more understanding to Alastor's pain? He was just as innocent as you and your friend were. He did nothing wrong, he was a little boy who was burned and beaten. Do you think he deserved that?"

Blitzo did not answer. But Charlotte knew that he would never wish any real harm to Alastor. That underneath all his dark bitterness and hurt, there was one ray of kindness. She hope that small ray would be able to shine brighter with time.

She then laid herself beside Alastor, kept him warm in her embrace, sang softly to him. As Blitzo watched her tend to him, he became puzzled.

"How can you touch him like that?" He asked her. "Do you not find him ugly?"

"No. Not at all." She replied, not taking her eyes off of him. "In fact I find him very beautiful."

And with that she kissed Alastor's cheek. Such a tender kiss, such love, such sweetness of cheek. Soon the pain in his face began to fade, his features softened, and he smiled in his sleep. It was as if her touch and her voice had banished away all his nightmares. Afterward Charlotte started to feel drowsy, lying there so close to him and hearing his heartbeat. Her eyelids became heavy and she drifted off.

Blitzo was stunned with astonishment and confusion. He did not understand the girl's kindness and sweetness toward Alastor. He did not think that any human was capable of such virtues. He thought that she found him disgusting and ugly like so many other humans who had seen him. That she was only using as a means to end and did not really care for him at all. That she would never in a million years touch him so tenderly nor place her lips upon his cheek. Or even lie next to him.

But in that moment he realized that he was wrong. Well at least concerning her relationship to Alastor. She wasn't using him, she really did care about him and viewed him as her friend. She didn't see the ugly creature he was on the outside, she saw the lost and traumatized boy that he was on the inside.

"No wonder you lost your head over her." He remarked to Alastor's sleeping form. "I myself might have done the same thing if I was young and inexperienced again."

He then grabbed an extra blanket from a chest and covered them both with it. After watching the two sleep for another hour, making certain that Alastor's sleep would remain peaceful and that he wouldn't have anymore bad dreams. It appeared that he wouldn't, so he left them alone and went back to sleep in his own room.