The Nature of the Beast

Chapter 15

Part 2

Belgrade, Serbia 1873

Enid made her way up the wide staircase to the front of the honey coloured stone building. The wooden doors towered above her, tall and imposing. Enid didn't think she had the strength to push them open. She knocked instead. Surely this place was long since abandoned. The gardens were overgrown and many of the lower windows, broken or cracked.

It could be a safe place to hide and wait, to rest. Just for one night. Tomorrow she would find a proper place for them to live. A place they could forge their future, together. If he returned.

Enid wasn't surprised when no one answered her knocking. She pushed on the door, grabbing the iron handle and shoving with her whole body. The door gave way and Enid stepped inside. It was lit from the large windows above which let in streams of sunshine. The floor was marble, dusted and tracked with footprints and mud and it smelt of hay and manure. Enid was immediately spooked. Someone had been here recently. Perhaps it was kids, or the homeless? Maybe this was a place for the displaced.

Whatever this fortress was, weariness overtook her and she was too tired to care. It had been a long, exhausting week. Her race up the hill to safety used the remainder of what strength she had left. Whatever danger might exist inside these walls, there was equal, if not more danger outside. She needed to find a quiet place to lay her head and rest for a few hours.

To her right was a large staircase. She made her way towards it, too tired to appreciate the beautiful carved handrail, or the sheer size of the steps. She threw her bag on the first riser and sat, resting her back against the wall. It was chilly inside but Enid was too tired to care, and what could she do about it anyway? Before she closed her eyes she noticed the way the dust glowed and shimmered in the light around her, as if protecting her and she was asleep in seconds.

She woke in the way one wakes to a loud noise. Disoriented at first, then alert. Her eyes opened wide and she sat staring into the wrinkled blue eyes of an old woman. The woman sat on the steps above her, surrounded by dogs. Enid counted five of them. One lay beside Enid, its head on her lap. The other four sat at varying places on the stairs, tails wagging.

The old lady gave her a direct look and said, "Ko si ti?" Her voice was thick and raspy.

She pronounced each word aggressively, then she drew on a lit cigarette. She wore a black linen skirt and a white shirt with a large red ribbon wrapped around her waist, forming a thick band. Her odd dress had red and yellow flowers embroidered on it and her hair was covered in a large handkerchief.

Enid took a deep breath, shaking her head to wake up. The woman was speaking to her in Serbian.

"What...I don't..." she said, her voice trailing off. She knew only a few simple phrases, and understood nothing. Besides, she was too tired to even try.

"Who are you?" the woman said, this time in a thick and accented English.

"No one," Enid said, staring at her in surprise for knowing English.

The old lady squinted at her and looked her up and down, taking in her skinny frame, her smelly, stained clothing. 

She nodded and said, "Come. I made some soup and the fire is on." 

The woman nodded at Enid in agreement of a bargain not yet made. Every word she spoke, she said with structure and force, as if carefully chosen and meant. She stood and turned, walking up the stairs, the dogs following.

Curious, Enid stood up and followed.

Seeing that Enid was coming, the old lady waited at the first riser.