Dark Figures

Prologue

It was a chilly night when the shadowed figure slipped in the servants' entrance in the kitchen. So far all was going with the plan, the young servant boy had left the door open as he had been paid to do and hopefully he had left the map on the table. She spotted it quickly, all of the new servants got these maps so it wasn't hard the boy to get his hands on one. She studied it quickly and the path he had planned for her. If he was tricking her he would pay dearly, she thought, but she remembered the hatred in his eyes when she asked him to help. His hatred was deep for a 7 year old. He was only 2 years older than the princess she was about to steal. Not steal, she corrected herself, put in a better position. Now what had the boy said his name was? Gabriel that was it. And here was the door he had described. The door was a beautiful wooden arc, painted a baby pink with gold swirls that looked like the hair of Rapunzel. Of course she was sure there was a ton of Rapunzel like things in the princess's room since Rapunzel had always been the queen's favorite story, and the queen could practically recite it from memory and had told it to the intruder many times. As the figure opened the door it was silent. From the doorway the women could see a bed and there was the child laying limp on top, she looked so much like the doll the queen had used to carry everywhere as a small girl that the women had to blink for a second and then look back. But this silent silhouette's chest was moving enough that the women could see she was definitely alive. At this, the women walked over chanting a temporary silencing spell on the girl and as she completed the spell she grabbed the girl. The girl's eyes flew open and as she felt the woman's hard grip she began to kick and opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The women smiled at the child's fright but her slight pause gave the child just enough time to kick over a lamp. The lamp fell to the ground shattering loudly and the women began to hear footsteps on the stairs. She cursed quietly and the child though frightened had a smug look in her eyes. The woman started walking again but this time towards the window. She swung the glass door to the balcony open and stepped into the cool fall air. "Tonight is your new birthday" she told the child, the girl's little gray eyes wide "let you forget this world" and with that said and the child in her hand, she turned her head to nod at the surprised guards who had just rushed in and she jumped off the balcony.