Not another Fairy Tale

Chapter Two: In the Dead of Night

Chapter Two: In the Dead of Night

That night Rupert paced in his room. He declined having dinner with his parents saying that he felt tired and run down. It was a necessary lie, but after tonight it wouldn’t matter. He decided long ago that he needed to have a life of his own, and that would never happen as long as he was seen by the world as a prince and heir to a thrown.

Most people would think he was insane for giving up all he was born to, but he wanted freedom and there was always a price for that.

It was around midnight when he heard a knock on his door. Who would be coming to see him this late at night? He stayed completely silent. If whoever it was thought he was asleep then perhaps they would go away.

That hope was dashed when he heard a voice attached to that knock. “Darling, I know you’re awake. Please, we need to talk.”

He gave a deep groan at knowing his mother was out there. Things were not going as planned.
He opened the door to find his mother standing there with a worried look on her face. Her dark brown hair had two streaks of white, one on both sides of her face. She usually wore those strands in curls, but that night they were straight. That only signified that she had one of her visions again, and when she had them they were never anything good.

“Oh, Rupert, you’re safe,” she said as she came into the room. She was almost to the point of hysterics.

“Of course I’m safe, mother,” Rupert said. He let out a deep breath. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because I saw it,” she said in cracked speech. Her face was pale, and she looked like she was about to faint. “You were in danger… and by someone close to you. Please, my son, stay here where it’s safe. I couldn’t bare it if anything happened to you.”

 “What could happen to me in this castle armed with hundreds of guards day and night?” he asked, getting very annoyed by her behavior.

His mother gave true meaning to the word drama queen, but there was always truth in what she saw, even if it was fueled by her own worries of the unknown.

“I can only tell you what I see, Rupert,” she said insistently. She took his hand and squeezed it tight.

“I see betrayal by someone you trust with your whole heart.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” he said and took her hand and kissed it. “You’re the only one I trust whole-heartedly and I know you would never betray me.”

“No, I would never do that, but someone else would,” she said. She was almost crying at that point.

“Don’t worry, Mother,” he said and held her. “Nothing bad will happen. Everything will be just fine.

You’ll see, but it’s late now and I would like to get some sleep.”

“Alright, my son, only have sweet dreams,” she said and brushed her hand against his face. He walked her to the door and opened it. She stared at him for a long minute before she turned and walked down the hall.

He was feeling guilty for lying to her. He did love her, but he would have to hurt her more now than he ever thought he would and all for his freedom. He just wondered if what she said was true.

Rupert realized that even if he had changed his mind there was no stopping the plan now. He had to go through with it no matter what. He stood by his window and waited for the longest time, but nothing was happening. The night was completely silent. Not one bird was soaring through the sky and not even a cricket chirped that night. It gave him an eerie feeling, and his mother’s words kept replaying over and over in his brain.

He wanted to change clothes but being out of his night garments would raise suspicion, so he remained where he was. Part of him was exhausted from the tension and the guilt of what he was about to do, and part of him just wanted to drift off into sleep and forget about everything. The later took hold and he couldn’t help but close his eyes. He fell over onto his pillow in a half sitting position. It was a light sleep, but sleep none the less. It wasn’t long before he was awakened by a sound.

“Wake up, pretty boy,” a male voice called out. Rupert opened his eyes to see someone standing over him.

“Who the hell are you?” Rupert said confused.

“You’re abductor,” he said with a smirk. “Felix sent me, so we better make this look real.”

“You must be joking,” Rupert said with annoyance in his voice. He sat up on his bed and stretched his arms. “There’s no way anyone is going to believe that you could overpower me.”

“That’s true, Prince,” he said and walked over to the window. He raised his hand up and Rupert witnessed two big burly men enter his room. “I’m the brains.” He then pointed in the direction of his associates. “They’re the brawn.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” Rupert said rising to his feet. “You’re late.”

“We got held up,” the young man said or rather boy. This kid didn’t look more than sixteen, and Rupert laughed silently to himself at the thought of this scrawny boy being his “kidnapper.”

“We have to make this look real,” Rupert said.

“Don’t worry,” the boy said and raised his hand and snapped his finger. “We will.”

The two larger men came towards him, and before he knew it he felt a fist go right to his jaw. He fell to the ground still conscious but unable to move, because the other man was sitting on his back. He found it hard to breathe as he felt his arms being pulled back and tied with what felt like rope or twine.

He wanted it to look real, but this was a little too real. Finally the man got up from off his chest but he realized he couldn’t move because his legs were tied up as well.

“What the hell are you…” he shouted out, but his words were cut off because he mouth had been gagged.

The boy got up in his face and laughed. “Surprise, Princey, this is for real.”
He gave a signal to one of his man and that is the last thing Rupert remembered before blacking out.

Okay, I know what you're going to say. "A CLIFFHANGER!!!!!" In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "Ain't I a stinker." I will introducing the herione of the story probably in the next chapter. See you then.