Evermore

by Child of Dreams

As all fairytales do, this story begins with the simplest of words: "Once upon a time..." But that is where our story, a different type of fairytale, takes a turn. For this is not another tale of fair maidens and foppish princes... No, this is the story of two people drawn together under the most interesting of circumstances, a tale both as old as time and as fresh as a rose...

10. Devil Take The Hindmost

Chapter Ten: Devil Take The Hindmost

Christine gasped, dropping her now useless source of light, and backed up against the bars of her father's cell.
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice shaking slightly.
"The master of this castle," the Voice hissed darkly.
"Please, let him out!" she pleaded.
"He's old, and his health has never been the best..."

Almost on cue, Gustave gave a hoarse, rattling cough that caused his entire body to shake.
"This man is a thief!" the Voice snarled, and Christine's temper snapped.
"He is not!" she screamed, but the Voice paid her no heed.
"I gave him shelter, and what did I get in return?
A rose stolen from my garden..." the Voice trailed off.

Christine was disgusted.
"So you gave him a life sentence just for picking a flower?" she scoffed.
"I was sentenced to eternal damnation just for refusing a flower!" the Voice snapped back furiously.
"If you ask me, mademoiselle, I think he got the better deal!"

"Wait," Christine called out desperately, as it seemed like the Voice was about to leave.
"I asked for the rose, take me instead!"
The Voice let out a barely audible sound of surprise.
"You? You would take his place?"
The Voice was soft, almost hesitant, with a strange sense of longing hidden underneath.

"Christine, no!" Gustave called out desperately.
"I lost your mother, I can't lose you too!"
The redhead steeled her nerves.
"You have my word," she said as firmly as she could manage.
"Done!"

Immediately, she felt what seemed like a cloak brush past her and impossibly cold, almost bony hands roughly pushed her away from the cell door before the sound of a key turning in the lock was heard.
Then, just as Christine was getting back to her feet from where she'd fallen after being pushed, hissing at the pain from her scraped elbow, which, thankfully was not bleeding, she saw her father being manhandled down the tower steps by a dark, shadowy figure.
"Wait," she protested.
"Wait!"

The figure turned back and she saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes.
"Your word, mademoiselle!" the Voice hissed ominously, causing Christine's eyes to grow wide as she let out a horrified gasp, shrinking back almost instinctively, before both of them were out of sight.

A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Eleven...