“But I could escape during the night. Master would want you to stay with me.”
She rolled her eyes and held up her chain of keys. “You won’t be going anywhere because I’ll lock you in here.”
“Please, Bella,” I said, reaching out and gripping her thick hands. “I’m so scared to be on my own. Please stay with me… Don’t you have a son or a daughter?”
She paused, hesitating as she bit her lip.
“Well, if you had one, would you want her sleeping all alone in a strange place?”
I didn’t know what made me try to use a tactic like this with an ogress. But I was desperate and it was the first thing that came to my head.
Shockingly, it seemed to work. She stopped inching toward the door and took a step back. I could have sworn that I even saw tears in her eyes as she said, “No, I wouldn’t have wanted that for my daughter.”
I was so taken aback by her reaction, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond at first. I recovered quickly. “So please, will you stay with me?”
She nodded and heaved a sigh. “All right.”
I caught her hand and led her to the corner of the room. I pointed to the thick rug. It was large enough even for her to lie down comfortably on. I lifted some of the pillows from my bed and placed them on the floor for her. Then I pulled off a blanket from my bed and handed it to her. She arranged them all on the floor and lay down, pulling the blanket over her and looking up at me.
I still felt a little bad. “Are you comfortable enough?” I asked.
She smiled faintly and nodded. “This is more comfy than my own bed.”
“Oh, okay.” I wondered where she slept normally, or what she called her home.
I climbed into my own bed and tucked the sheets that remained there over me. A silence fell over the room, broken only by the heavy breathing of the ogress.
I listened with bated breath, waiting to hear her breathing steady and turn into snores. She had looked so tired, I really hadn’t expected it to take long. I’d thought she’d nod off almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. But her breathing patterns didn’t change even after what felt like fifteen minutes. I was about to sit up and check on her when she spoke suddenly.
“I did have a daughter, you know.” Her voice sounded thick—choked, almost.
“Oh. Is that so?”
“Yeah. She was a very handsome girl. You’re almost as handsome as she was.”
“Thanks.”
“She died two years ago. Her father bashed her up.”
Wow. How am I supposed to respond to that?
“I-I’m so sorry.” I sat up, staring at her across the room. The lanterns fixed to the walls cast shadows over her form. Her eyes glistened with tears. “Her father… you mean you have, or had, a husband?”
“I have a husband.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Oh. You have a dead husband.”
“Yes.”
I paused, wondering if my next question might come off as insensitive. She didn’t seem too affected when speaking of his death though. “What happened to him?”
“Got smashed up in a brawl,” she mumbled. She paused, wiping her eyes with her hands and blowing her nose on the back of her sleeve. “Was the best thing that happened to me. He was mean.”
Mean.
Something about that word brought on a wave of déjà vu. I remembered the time I’d heard it coming from the mouth of another ogre, that time I’d visited Brett in his cave. He’d referred to female ogres as mean. That was his excuse for always being a bachelor.
Hm.
Before I could think much more of Brett, Bella broke through my thoughts again.
“My daughter used to get scared sleeping alone, you know. She always tried to creep into our room. She was a naughty child. And she did something very bad one day. Stole a plate of food from the royal kitchens. My husband crushed her up for it. Didn’t want her bringing shame on our family.”
“I’m glad he died,” I said. “He was a monster.”
Bella heaved a sigh. I held my breath, wondering if she was going to continue talking. As much as I was horrified by what Bella was telling me and my heart went out to her, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Before when I was trying to drain her for information, she couldn’t tell me anything. Now the woman won’t keep quiet.
But after ten minutes, she began snoring. I heaved a sigh of relief.
Now the real work begins.
I pushed myself off the bed, making as little noise as possible, and padded across the room toward Bella. Her snores grew louder by the second, and I hoped that she was a deep sleeper. I knelt down on the floor next to her and looked over her heaving body. I scanned her waist, looking for the key. It wasn’t on the side of her that was facing me—her front—so, walking around her body, I crouched down on her other side. The keys weren’t there either.
Where in the world…
My heart sank as I caught sight of a glimmer of metal coming from her chest area. I knelt closer over her to spot the tip of the keychain—lodged securely beneath her shirt.
Oh, great.
I’d been hoping that once she’d fallen asleep—depending on how deep a sleeper she was—I’d be able to unfasten the keys from her waist and let myself out. I wasn’t sure how I would ever manage to dislodge them from their current position without her noticing.
I sat kneeling for several minutes, staring at the keys. When she hadn’t stirred at all for ten solid minutes, I looked around the room for anything that could possibly help me. My eyes fell on her knitting needles still lying on the table. I crept over to them and slid one of them out of her scarf, then walked back over to Bella. Holding my breath, I extended the needle, lowering it slowly and steadily beneath her shirt until its tip had slid through the chain. My hands sweaty, I pulled up slightly to gauge just how lodged it was. Since she was lying on her side, it was lodged well and good. It didn’t budge an inch.
I needed to get her to turn over somehow. If she was lying on her back it would probably be easier to pull out. But how would I do that without waking her?
It all depended on just how deep a sleeper she was…
I walked over to the large cupboard in the corner. I opened both doors, wincing as the wood creaked. I cast a quick glance back to check that she hadn’t stirred from the sound. She hadn’t. I scanned the shelves. My eyes fixed on a light silk shawl. I pulled it off the shelf and crept back over to her. Standing directly over her, I dangled the shawl down over her, letting the very tip of the shawl brush against the tip of her nose. She was still at first, but as I applied a little more pressure, her nose wrinkled and she reached up a hand to scratch it away. My mouth went dry as I expected her to open her eyes. She didn’t. I continued tickling her face gently. She brushed it away a few times with her hands, but eventually, she shifted position and lay on her back.
Once she was safely snoring again, I discarded the shawl and picked the needle up again. I lowered it beneath her shirt again and lifted the key chain. It was looser this time. I inched it upward slowly, watching her face for any sign of a reaction. I’d just managed to remove it and was lifting it back up toward me when she swiped her hand, sending the keys clanging to the floor.
I froze, barely daring to breathe. She didn’t react. It seemed that it hadn’t been loud enough to pierce through her snores, which had resumed again.
I picked up the keys from the floor and, watching her closely, moved toward the front door. I breathed out deeply as I reached it. I examined each of the keys. There were almost a dozen of them on this single chain. I tried to figure out which one would fit into this lock. I started with the longest key. It didn’t work. I made my way through the whole keychain. I was beginning to have a horrible feeling that perhaps the key wasn’t even here, and was tucked in some other part of her body, when the second-to-last key worked. The door clicked open. My blood pounding in my ears, I clutched the knob and was about to turn it whe
n Bella spoke suddenly.
“Hey!”
I froze, turning around slowly. I was expecting to see her standing, having finally heard the clanking of my keys as I’d tried to open the door. But Bella remained flat on the floor. In fact, her eyes were still closed.
“No! No!” she groaned.
She was talking in her sleep. I let out a sigh and turned my focus back to the door. I pushed it open just wide enough for me to slip out, and closed the door behind me.
I looked up and down the dim lantern-lit corridor I’d just stepped out onto. I shivered. The temperature was freezing out here compared to in my room. I examined the walls and the ceiling. While the floor seemed to be made of a sleek marble, the walls and ceiling were made of rough stone.
I remained beneath the shadow of my doorway for several moments before I was sure that there was nobody in this corridor. Sticking close to the wall, I began walking forward as softly as I could. Since I was wearing thick woolen socks I’d found in the bedroom before leaving, this wasn’t too difficult. The most sound I was making was my harried breathing. I clasped a palm over my mouth to stifle it.
I had no idea where I was going as I padded along that corridor, but I couldn’t just stay where I was. Since Bella was still refusing to give me answers about this place, I had to at least attempt to figure it out myself.
I managed to reach the very end of the corridor without meeting anyone. There was a tall window pane, reaching almost as far as the cavernous ceiling. I peeked through it. It was pitch black outside, so there wasn’t much I could see, except for the vague outline of the mountain peaks surrounding us. I looked down a new stretch of corridor I’d just appeared at the beginning of.
The west wing. This is the west wing.
I was about to begin my journey down this new corridor when deep voices echoed off the walls. I strained my eyes to see a group of three large ogres approaching me from the other end of the corridor. None had seen me yet, it seemed. I had to keep it that way.
I rushed along the new corridor, out of sight. I scanned door after door, all the walls I passed by, looking for any nook or cranny I could hide myself in until they passed. There was nothing of the sort. It sounded like they were seconds from turning the corner, when I would be in full view of them. I looked around desperately, my eyes falling on the nearest door to me. I pressed my ear against it and, gripping the handle, pushed it ajar.
I slipped through and pushed the door closed. I breathed out in relief to see that the room was empty. I was half expecting to walk into the bedroom of a sleeping ogre.
I waited until the ogres outside passed before I allowed myself to look around. I left the door and walked into the center of the room. I’d just walked into some kind of kitchen. There was a wide sink and counters lined with massive pots and pans. In the center of the room was a giant stove. Shelf after shelf of books lined one of the walls. I ran my finger along one of the spines and heaved one off the shelf. It was too heavy for me to hold without straining myself, so I placed it down on the floor. There was no title on the front. I opened the hard cover and flipped to the first page.
There were no words, only pictures. And as I continued flipping the pages, I found myself more and more horrified by what I saw.
It looked like a biology textbook specializing in the dissection of human bodies. There were entire chapters dedicated to each body part—the facial area, muscles, organs. I found myself feeling queasy as I flipped to the last page.
I heaved the book back onto the shelf, then picked up the next one and spread it out on the floor. This one was no more comforting. There were scrawlings under various depictions of ingredient substances—but it was an odd writing and I couldn’t understand it. I only needed to get a few pages into the book to realize that this was a cookbook. And as I turned to the very last page, my breath hitched. I was staring down at a depiction of two human arms sticking out of a pot of broth. These ogres are man-eaters.
I’d suspected as much, after the old man I’d met in the corridor had told me that I needed to be fattened. But now that this was confirmed I could barely stop myself from shaking. I replaced the book on the shelf and backed away.
My heart hammering against my chest, I hurried to the exit of the room.
I have to get out of this place.
I opened the door and, after checking that the corridor was clear, I stepped out and began to continue down the corridor.
I needed to find that gate that led back to the human realm. I had no idea if Caleb would still be on that island, but anywhere on earth was better than where I was currently.
I reached the end of the second corridor and arrived at a wide staircase. I peered down it, straining to hear any noise coming from the floor below. On hearing nothing, I began descending. I reached the foot of the stairs quickly and found myself in yet another corridor. It looked practically identical to the last. The same sleek floors, the same stone ceilings and walls, the same heavy wooden doors on either side of the passageway.
I took the path to my left first. I lurched forward as a door to my right creaked open. An arm shot out, grazing my shoulder as I dodged. I didn’t dare look back as there was a shout and a quickening of footsteps. I reached the end of the corridor and sped down another flight of stairs. I swung myself down the stairs and stumbled as I reached the bottom. Forcing myself back up, I cast a glance over my shoulder to see three ogresses stumbling down after me.
I have to get out of here.
I rushed to the end of the corridor. My heart sank to my stomach as I found myself standing at another staircase leading upward. With the ogres closing in, I had no choice but to take the risk.
They were catching up. Their legs were about twice my length as they hurtled after me. I rushed madly ahead, reaching the top floor.
Their shouts echoed around the floor, and soon more doors opened as I rushed past.
And then I stopped. I’d lost track of how many hallways I’d run along, and now I found myself standing at yet another dead end. But this time, there wasn’t any staircase to save me. I gripped the handle of the door closest to me and tried to force it open. Unlike the library I’d entered before, this room was locked. I moved to the door next to it, my pulse quickening as a group of ogresses were now within a few feet of me. My hope ebbed away as that door didn’t open either.
I let go of it and stumbled back, climbing up onto the window ledge so at least I could gain some kind of height advantage. As the first ogress reached me I kicked out and caught her nose with my foot. She groaned, and stumbled back, clutching her face.
Two ogresses pushed her aside and wrapped their hands around me, pulling me down roughly from the window and pinning me to the ground. I glared up at one of the ogresses pinning me down. Her face was contorted with annoyance. She twisted my arm so tight it felt like it might break.
“No!” I shouted.
“Where did she come from?” the ogress I’d kicked in the face grunted.
“Don’t know,” another said.
One of them bent down and took a closer look at me. “New recruit, perhaps,” she said.
Three pairs of eyes looked me over, a grubby hand now closing around my mouth.
“We should return her to the rest.”
I found myself being hoisted up until my body was leaning against an ogress’ chest.
“Don’t touch me,” I said through gritted teeth.
The ogress holding me let out a hoarse laugh and began thundering down the corridor.
“No, let’s keep her. I fancy a midnight snack.”
To my horror, she stopped outside the kitchen I’d been in previously.
“This one probably escaped from the dungeons downstairs,” she said, setting me on my feet. The door slammed behind the last ogress, trapping me inside the kitchen with them. As I tried to force myself against the door, one of the ogresses caught me and threw me across the room. My head slammed against the wall. I dug my teeth into my lower lip, forcing myse
lf to get up.
These monsters aren’t going to make a victim out of me. Not again.
I was so sick and tired of being thrown around. Just because I was an underdog didn’t mean that I couldn’t bite.
I stared at the three ogresses hurrying about the room preparing the equipment. One of them heaved a huge metal pot onto the stove and began lighting it. I scanned the counters. My eyes fixed on a drawer one of the ogresses had just opened—filled to the brim with carving knives. Adrenaline coursing through my veins, I saw red. I lunged for the drawer and pulled out a knife. Throwing myself at the nearest ogress to me, I plunged the blade into her chest.
I’d expected it to be hard to pierce through her leathery skin, but it wasn’t much more difficult than I imagined stabbing a human would be. I could only assume that this knife was extraordinarily sharp. Either way, my knife met its mark. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp before she began choking on blood.
I pulled away, drawing out the knife with me. Clutching the stab wound, she collapsed on the ground, squirming as the blood spurted out of her.
I turned on the other two ogresses. Neither of them were armed—yet. I lunged for the closest one to me and plunged the knife deep into her stomach. Her hands gripped my neck, but I moved fast, even though my head was screaming with pain. There was a squelch as I pierced some kind of organ. Blood oozed out, soaking my already wet hands. Her hands loosened around my neck as she fell back against the wall.
I didn’t understand why this was so easy. Perhaps they were so used to humans around here being docile, they were in shock—long enough for me to take the next one down too. I stabbed her in a similar place—the highest spot I could reach, just above the abdomen. I stabbed the dagger in twice to make sure I’d done enough damage. She staggered back, her head slamming against the stone wall as she slid down to the floor.
The three monsters now all lay on the ground.
I searched myself for any regret that I’d just claimed three lives. I felt nothing. I realized I’d been through so much, I’d become jaded. I was so sick of being a weak human, at the mercy of supernaturals. As I stared at the three corpses, I felt nothing but triumph. Satisfaction, almost. Something had snapped in me, and somehow, I felt there was no going back.