Between A Rose And Its Thorns (ON HOLD)

The Unwanted Guest

3rd person,

A hunched figure stood aside, hidden in the shadows and its cloak. The being smirked at the scene before them. They softly cackled, their brown eyes lit up as they watched the beast snarl on top of the staircase. Her minion has done its job, running past her, deeper into the shadows of the castle.

"Check, your highness." They whispered and glared at the beast, more specifically, at the girl in the beast's arms. "What's your move...?" They wondered and tapped their chin with their long nails.

The beast sighed and turned to the east wing, the being could feel their breath get caught. Surely it won't be that easy....

The beast stopped in mid-step. His ears perked up as his nose flared, his head held up high in the air. The being cursed and hid more into the marble pillar.

But it was too late, out of the corner of his eye, the beast had spotted the intruder. The beast snarled, warning the intruder who masked themselves in the shadows of the castle.

They cursed again as the beast ran up the staircase, away from their sight and control. The being stood from their kneeling stance, and gritted their teeth.

As much as they wished to run after him, they could not. They had to wait. After all, you can't catch the mouse if you get rid of the cat.

They grinned sinisterly and snapped their fingers. A cloud of dark smoke surrounded the being, swallowing them whole, and when the smoke disappeared... so did they.

~~~
Lucinda's point of view

Darkness, absolute darkness.

Nothing but black fills my gaze, I don't know where I am or how I've come to be there.

I am feeling some major deja vu.

I flex my hand, both relieved and alarmed by the pain that quickly followed after. Wrong arm, definitely wrong arm.

I flex my other hand, sighing in relief when no pain had come. I reach down with my hand, soft fabric touching my palm. Yet it wasn't as soft as the fabric of my bed sheets in my new chamber that the beast so gracefully gave me.

I move my hand around as I felt my surrounding, it seemed as if I was in a bed. But whose bed is the question. What happened-

I tense at the sound of a door opening, the closing of it very soft. As if the person didn't want anyone to hear them.

I force my eyes to open, surprise and confusion fills me as I stare at the large chamber. Torn up walls and curtains, broken chair pieces and split painting scattered about the floor. Large white roses glowing as they tangled together like vines on the walls.

The West Wing. I'm in the West Wing! I realized. But if I'm in the West Wing, then I must be in... I gulp as I stare at the large bedcovers of the large wooden bed.

"My, my, my," I jump at the strained voice. It was odd and scratchy, as if they had a cold. I turn to the voice and gasp. The old woman smiled at me, her brown eyes unblinking. "What have you gotten yourself into, dearie? What have you gotten yourself into?" She tutted and shook her head.

"Who are you?" I ask and sit up, groaning as I put too much pressure on my wounded arm. I look down, expecting to see the old bloody bandages, yet I was surprised to see new wraps. They were done clumsily, but they were far better than just leaving the old ones and letting my arm get infected.

"What happened to you, dearie? Hm? Who did that to your human, delicate skin?" The old woman asked and stepped closer. I slid back. Human?

"None of your concern," I snap and hide my arm in the large blankets. "You didn't answer me, who are you?"