The Devil Child

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 It was early in the morning. The sky was full of soft pinks and greys, and the fox and orphan girl were awake. She was laying in the warmth of the white duvet, right beside her prince. She said nothing, but she did watch him sleep. He looked much more calm while sleeping, as if his problems did not exist during slumber.

That reality was not hers. Nightmares plagued her thoughts even during slumber, and so she was sure she did not look nearly as peaceful, bundled under the warm covers.

She touched his face with her fingers, careful not to wake him. She touched the smooth plane of his cheeks, up to his forehead, across his eyes. She longed to press kisses to his eyelids, to his dimples, to his neck, but she knew better. Knew her time was up.

The fox whinned; it was time to leave.

She crept silently from the bed, leaving behind the man she loved. She scurried towards the door on all fours, leaving on the clean nightgown he had purchased for her. The gesture was one she welcomed, but she wished he didn't spend money on her. He should have been spending money on girls in dresses that had wealth beyond their years.

The fox was quick ahead of her, darting around the house it knew so well. This arrangement was not new to the both of them.

This time, she had a job to do. A rat was not enough, the man had told her. He needed more from her, and the orphan girl wasn't one to not comply. Especially when it came to the man.

The fox stuffed it's mouth full of food left out. The man knew that the girl and the fox would be gone in the morning, and he knew the two would want food. And so, if he couldn't stop them, he knew he could at least help.

The girl grasped an apple, amazed at how delicious food was when it was not rotten, or coming from a dumpster.

She clucked at the fox, opening the door. And then the two escaped into the early morning chill, racing into the woods that outlined the property. No one noticed them, except for the security camera that caught them every morning.

The girl had once lived in a house. She had once belonged to a family that loved her. But times had been hard, and her family made decisions.

Decisions that no longer included their little girl. Of course, no one was there to miss the child, as she had not yet been enrolled in a school system. No one knew of her existence. No one missed her.

Of course, that came with being homeless. Living in a city meant being homeless was like being invisible. People tending to ignore the issues and press ahead, acting as if those without a home were not real people.

The girl could remember only a little bit. She could remember her mother crying, and her father yelling. She could remember her little red backpack, stuffed with clothes. She could remember carrying around her blanket and pillow under her little arms.

She could remember dirty streets and bright lamps. She could remember hard concrete and growling stomachs. Of course, in the early days, she was with her parents. Her father wasn't around often, but her mother had always been there.

And one day, they weren't. She awoke to no one, and no one came for her. Not her mother, not her father, and certainly not anyone that passed her every single day, ignoring her cries for help.

Homeless were invisible in the big city.

But, being abandoned by her parents was not the worst thing that had happened to her. And despite the lack of a warm house, the girl was content with her lifestyle. She didn't mind digging through dumpsters and living with a fox as a friend. And she certainly didn't mind feeling like Cinderella when the man rescued her.

But, she knew his life was not meant for her. And she knew he would figure that out sooner or later.

The fox scuttled ahead of her, dipping into the stream that ran miles behind the man's house. The fox enjoyed playing in the clear, cold water, and she enjoyed watching. The water was crisp in the early morning, but the fox didn't mind. It jumped in the water, dunking it's head and coming back up for air like a young child.

The girl laid on her back and stared into the foliage above. She tried to remember what the man needed from her this time. The rat wasn't good enough. It didn't scare her enough. We can do better.

Instead, the man wanted a sketchbook. But not any sketchbook; he wanted a previously owned sketchbook, one that belonged to a girl with blonde hair that wore animal print shirts. The man knew exactly where to find the sketchbook, and all he needed was the girl to retrieve it.

She was up for the challenge, because she would do anything to make him happy.

* * *

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I was excited to write this short chapter today. i love these two <3

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