Beyond The Night - Bronze

III. Elizabeth

   Liz jumped in her place because of the loud footsteps coming from the stairs. Either Alvis was going upstairs or there was a stray horse in the house falling up the stairs.
   She got up from her bed where she didn't do anything other than toss and turn all night and got close to the window she left slightly open. Three pigeons, tired of the never-ending rain, were perched on the windowsill, coddled up to each other, staring inside. Liz pulled the window up and held out her hand to the birds.
   "Get lost," she shooed the birds before closing and locking the window.
   She put on a loose-fitting brown tunic over her white, thin sleeping shirt and left her room.
   Liz's room was at the back of the house, next to Griff's room. Liz stopped in front of Griff's door. Then she changed her mind and made her way toward the kitchen in the front of the house.
   Accompanied by the laughter coming from upstairs, she boiled water for tea and cracked a couple of eggs on a pan. She cut some vegetables for Alvis. On the pan she took out the eggs from, she fried some bacon for herself. While she made tea with the water she boiled, Alvis came down the stairs and came into the kitchen.
   "Good morning, Lizzy!"
   "Morning," Liz answered with a tired voice without looking back.
   Alvis pulled out a chair for himself and looked over the table with hungry eyes. Liz put the vegetable bowl in front of him.
   "Thanks." Alvis started stuffing himself without waiting for anyone.
   Caira walked in through the kitchen door as Liz poured herself a cup of tea.
   "Did this idiot wake you too?"
   Liz looked over at Caira as she pulled out her chair. Caira was watching Alvis with a frown on his face as he filled his cup with some tea.
   "No." Liz put two eggs and bacon on her plate. "I couldn't sleep."
   They ate in silence after Caira took his place on the table. Liz's head was loud she didn't realize Griff has walked into the kitchen until he sat down on the chair across from her.
   No one spoke until Alvis got up and started washing their bowl.
   "I don't want you eating each other while I'm gone." Caira looked from Liz to Griff. "Whatever your problem is, work it out at once."
   Liz stayed quiet as she pushed the egg on her plate around.
   Griff cleared his throat and spoke while looking at the table. "I'm sorry."
   Liz tried to hold her laughter. She gritted her teeth and put down the fork.
   "For what?" she lifted her head to look at Griff.
   Griff opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but when he heard Liz's laugh he must've changed his mind because he looked back down at the table.
   "What are you apologizing for?" Liz asked. "For getting hurt or for not listening to me?
   Griff tried to answer, but Liz didn't give him the chance. "Or for breaking your promise? Hm? Which one is it?" Liz lifted both her brows, looking at Griff expectantly.
   Griff finally looked into Liz's eyes and took a deep breath.
   "If I had listened to you, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. You're right. I apologize for breaking my promise. But I would do it again. Probably will, too. We can either fight about it every single time or you can accept this as we go on. Hm? Which one?" Griff got up from the table without waiting for Liz's answer. Making his way out of the kitchen as he limps, took the sting out of his words, but it wasn't enough to quench Liz's anger.
   Caira sighed and muttered to himself as he started clearing the table. As he washed the dishes with Alvin, Liz went back to her room.
   After killing time reading a book for a few hours, she took her knives, which were wrapped in a dark blue cloth, from the box under her bed. Fixing four of them on her legs and two of them on her arms, she made sure they were hidden under her clothes before getting her long coat and walking toward the door. She locked the door and put the key in the small leather pouch on her belt. She opened the window latch and pulled the frame up. Putting her head out of the window, she checked the surroundings as she got out. She hanged down from the windowsill and climbed down, passing three windows until she reached the ground. After one last check with a swipe of her head from left to right, she walked around the adjoining building and waded her way toward the north of town. She crossed the stone bridge on the Sloan River and made her way to the factories to the east.
   When she got to the warehouse, Wenis was waiting for her in front of the door. When he noticed Liz, he straightened up in his chair and flashed her a grin showing his fangs. Liz tried not to gag.
   "Where is he?" she asked, stopping in front of Wenis.
   Wenis pointed to the warehouse with his head.
   Liz moved to take a step towards her left. Wenis got up and puts his hands up, palms facing Liz.
   "You know the rules."
   Liz took a step back.
   "Wait here." Wenis turned and walked to the door.
   Liz thought about how easy it would be to kill him while his back was turned to her. When she decided it's not worth the trouble she would get in and abandoned the thought, the door to the warehouse opened.
   Out, came the monster Liz hates the most in this world, Lotys.
   "Elizabeth! What a lovely surprise."
   "You said come back in seven days." As much as she wanted to rip the throat of the monster standing in front of her, Liz didn't make an attempt to move.
   "Oh! Did I say that? Forgive me. I'm really busy these days." Lotys put his hands together and smiled at her.
   Liz wanted to throw up.
   "Why don't you come inside?"
   Liz spared a glance at Wenis standing in the doorway and took a couple of steps forward. When he reached Lotys, he put his hand on the small of her back and led her through the door.
   The sound the heavy, rusty door made when it closed behind them, echoed in Liz's ears like a pained cry.