THE FOLLOWER

CHAPTER ONE

Victor paced back and forth in his living room. 'His parents were dead' he wept uncontrollably. 'The only family he had a connection with was gone' he fell to his knees and kept weeping. He felt a cold hand rest on his shoulder. It felt so cold it was like a dead man's touch. He could feel the coldness to his bones but there was something strange about this touch. It was reassuring, it was soothing, he felt safe with this touch. He was curious to know who touched him. He opened his eyes...

There it was on the ceiling written boldly in block letters "RUN"

Stephanie threw another pillow at Jackie. The two girls were having fun, giggling and running about. Jackie had just clocked five while Stephanie was in her late teens. "Mi lady, the king would like to see you in the hallway" Maria who was Jackie's lady in waiting informed her. She quickly rushed out of the room to see her father. Stephanie then decided to take a walk in the garden. She was still enjoying her walk, humming and sniffing the roses in the garden when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and did not see anybody. She continued but heard thesame footsteps. "Who's there?! Jackie?!" She held on to her coat as a cold chill suddenly ran down her spine. She felt as tho invisible eyes were fixed on her "come out or I'll scream?!" She heard movements again, twigs snapped and a cold wind swept past her. She clutched her coat and held her breath. Suddenly everything became peaceful again. The cold was soothing and she exhaled. She walked towards the spot the rustling had been coming from and found a red rose lying on the floor. The rose was different from the other roses in the garden. She picked it and something stung her 'it had thorns'. Blood started to drop from her finger but like magic it closed up again and the blood was gone. She widened her eyes in shock "What the hell just happened?!"

   She opened her eyes and smiled. She could perceive the sweet scent of roses. 'Was she in a Garden?' She looked about and saw she was in a room. It was a huge room. Bigger than hers in the castle. Her host walked in with a tray in hand. He was clad in black trousers and a long black jacket. He covered his head with the hood of his jacket so she couldn't see his face. He handed a cup to her. "What is this?" she asked as she took the cup. "Drink" he told her as he took a seat beside her on the bed. She stared at his face trying to picture what he would look like without the hood. He looked away and told her to drink. "Let me see your face please" she tried to remove the hood but he caught her hand. His grip was tight yet it wasn't hurting, it was cold as ice and she felt herself shiver.
He sighed "drink Stephanie, drink." She quickly gulped down the contents of the cup and held it back to him. He took it and chuckled. "Now you are mine".

"Open your eyes Stephanie, please open your eyes" cried Diana, Stephanie's mother and wife to the King. Stephanie opened her eyes slowly and started to cough. Water was brought for her to drink which she quickly gulped down her throat. "You were out for over an hour. What happened?" "Please Edmund give her time to recover". The King signalled to Diana to say no more "Speak Steph". "Where's the red rose?" Asked Steph "What red rose? There was nothing with you when we found you" "I remember seeing a red rose before I passed out. That's all I remember" The King stared at Steph for a while before going out. "It's OK my child" Diana said and hugged Stephanie.

Hey I really hope you're enjoying the story. Please remember to vote and leave comments so I can know how I'm doing and improve in the next chapter. Thank you😊