Captivated by a Highlander

Chapter 4 - Lies

That was when I heard it. A scream. Ultimately feminine, but all the more filled with pain and agony as it echoed off the halls.

"Mom?!"

I didn't consider the consequences of my actions when I screamed that word. All I did was tear down the hallway like Lucifer was one my heels. My heart was pounding in my ears and chest as I ran, although my feet fell quietly on the carpeted ground.

When a light shone from down the corridor, I slowed. My heart was pounding in my throat, choking me, making it harder and harder to breathe. Few beads of sweat rolled across my forehead and down my spine as I stalked down the dark hallway, the illumination from the oil lanterns faint and barely lighting my face.

A door was cracked open. I walked to it slowly, my feet making no sound on the rug covered floors. And when I looked inside, I had to cover my mouth to prevent a scream from going past my lips.

Alan was standing over a maid. She was trembling on the floor, on her hands in knees. Blood dripped from the side of her face, and even from my place behind the door, I could see the tears on her cheeks.

But I wasn't startled by the sight of the blood. As much as it made me sick to witness, it wasn't what bothered me most. Or rather, what scared me the most.

Alan's hands were glowing.

Literally glowing, like he had focused all his aura, made it visible, and form an orb and each of his palms. There was a look in his eyes that screamed murder.

"I said that ye' would pay the price for disobedience, ye' filthy little wench," he growled, his foot pushing on the poor girl and she cried out, falling to the ground.

"I-I am sorry, my lord!" She cried, begging for forgiveness. "I-I had no ill will towards you or the lady of the house, I swear!"

I winced as she watched the girl receive a boot to the chest, and I had to cover my ears to block out the sound of the maid's scream.

"Enough!" Alan barked, the glow in his hands intensifying, the purple and black aura swirling around his fingers. "Ye' shall pay the price!"

He rose one of the hands, shouted something in Gaelic, and I stood there, helpless, and watched in horror. The girl on the floor writhed in pain, her lips parted as though she was screaming, but no sound left her throat. Tears filled both her eyes and mine as kept my hands clamped over my mouth to keep me from screaming.

My stepfather was no man.

He was a demon.

A monster.

A sorcerer.

Whatever you wanted to call it.

I took one step back, away from the door and back into the shadows of the hallway, though I could still see the horrific scene in front of me.

Then silence fell. I looked at the girl and stiffened. The maid wasn't moving. Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Tears were streaked across her face. I almost screamed, felling my breakfast in the back of my throat.

The maid...  She was dead.

Without waiting another second, I took off in the way that I came. I didn't care if Alan had heard me from my sudden break into a run. I just had to get away from that room; away from death; away from Alan.

The maid was dead.

Dead.

I ran out the front doors of the fortress-castle and out into the grounds. The air was freezing, but I did not care. Anything was better than being near that room. Anything was better than being near Alan.