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“What is this place?” Emily whispered as she reached the large, rusted gates. She had followed the footprints from where Spencer must have fallen from his horse and they had led her through the woods to here. They were in the middle of the woods, far from any of the pathways that led from their tiny village to the neighbouring towns. Emily looked up at the darkened castle, silhouetted against the night sky. The ominous, forbidding fortress showed no signs of life and it was only the sight of Spencer’s beloved purple scarf, lying abandoned on the pathway beyond the gate which proved that he had been there.
Before she could stop herself, Emily pushed open the gate and hurried inside. She snatched up Spencer’s scarf as she ran towards the castle doors. Wherever Spencer was, whatever had happened to him, she would do whatever she had to in order to help him. As Emily reached the heavy oak doors, she pulled at the handle and to her surprise, the doors opened easily.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Emily called as she stepped into the darkened hallway. “Spencer?”
She was greeted only by silence. The only light was a flickering, flaming torch placed within a bracket mounted on the wall. Emily picked up the torch and continued her search for her brother. As she ventured further into the castle, she was almost certain that she heard the whisper of voices, however when she reached the source of the sound, there was no one there.
“Do you see her David?”
“I do, is she the one?”
“Let's hope so,”
“Is anyone there? Please,” Emily called once again into the darkness. “I’m just trying to find my brother.”
Again, there was no response. However as Emily stepped towards a darkened doorway, a misshapen lump confirmed that her brother was somewhere inside the castle. His satchel lay torn and abandoned on the floor. His books were still inside. Whoever had her brother had taken him by force and if they had hurt him…
Emily gathered up Spencer’s satchel and stepped through the doorway. A stone spiral staircase descended into the darkness and for a second, she felt a trickle of fear. However, Emily steeled herself, gathered her courage and focused on her brother. She would find Spencer. They would deal with whoever hurt him and then they would leave this place, never to return. Her footsteps echoed loudly down the stairs as she held the torch aloft to guide her way. She had read enough to know that the steps would most likely lead into dungeons or cells and with that thought, anger replaced her fear. Whatever brute had thrown her kindhearted, genius baby brother would have to deal with her and unlike Spencer, she was anything but gentle.
“Spencer?!” Emily called as the stairs levelled out onto a dark, cavernous cellar. Several heavy doors with iron locks and small barred windows lined the walls. “Spencer, are you in here?”
“Momma! Momma! Daddy and I saw a girl in the castle!”
“That’s enough, Henry, there was no girl.”
“Jen, did Henry tell you? There’s a girl in the castle.”
“Emily? Is that you?” Spencer asked nervously from the furthest cell. He wasn’t sure whether this was real or a combination of his terror and hope that he would see his sister again.
“Spencer!” Emily rushed towards the third cell from the doorway. Spencer’s thin arm reached through the bars and she fell to her knees by the door and reached for his hand. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
“Emily, what are you doing here?” Spencer asked frantically. “You need to get out of here!”
“Not without you!” Emily retorted as she pushed his scarf and satchel through the bars of the cell. The door was padlocked shut and as Emily lifted the torch aloft to search for a key, something hard hit her shoulder, causing the torch to fall from her hand and land on the floor, the flames dim but casting larger shadows across the stone cells. “Who are you?!”
“Emily, run!” Spencer pleaded, it was the monster, the creature that owned this castle. Emily didn’t deserve to even look upon such a beast. She couldn't pay for his mistake. Emily had always been the one to protect him from harm, now he had been the one who led her directly into danger.
“What do you want?” Aaron snarled as he took in the crouching figure beside the cell door. He had heard the others whispering about a girl in the castle and after everything else that had happened, he had gone to investigate for himself. It just took one or two, then more would come. And with them would come anger, outrage, hatred and blood.
“I’m here for my brother, please, he didn’t do anything wrong.” Emily insisted. Even in the village, even as children, Spencer had always been different. Mother used to say that he was born for a different time. His mind, intelligence and skills were far beyond what those in their village could understand. His love of inventing, sciences and determination to seek knowledge was often misinterpreted, sneered and mocked. However Emily knew her brother, knew his gentle heart and that there was no malice or cruel intent within him.
“He trespassed within my home!” Aaron retorted furiously. He didn’t care for the whimpering platitudes of the young man, the incoherent babbling of the others; even before… before all of this happened; there had been only one way he dealt with trespassers upon his home.
“Please, he’s barely more than a boy. He was lost and seeking shelter from a storm. Can’t you understand that?” Emily insisted. Whoever this man was, he seemed to be determined to remain in the shadows and although she couldn’t see him, from his voice she could tell he was tall and strong. Emily stood up to her full height to show him that she was not afraid of him. Whoever he was.
“It’s no excuse,” Aaron warned. Although he could admire the young woman’s bravery and loyalty to her brother; the simple fact remained. “He is a trespasser and my prisoner.”
“That’s horrible!” Emily insisted. To cage Spencer was to cage a sparrow. It was cruelty beyond compare. There was so much Spencer was to do, that he could give. There were so many who would benefit from his knowledge, his help. She however… “Wait, let me stay here instead.”
“NO!” Spencer yelled from inside the cell as he tugged on Emily’s skirt. “Emily! You can’t!”
“I can,” Emily replied quietly. She could feel the surprise and apprehension from the man in the shadows and she knew that whatever he assumed she would say, that had not been it.
“ You- you would take his place?” Aaron asked, sincerely shocked by the devotion and care that the woman, Emily?, had shown towards her brother. Clearly a form of love and adoration that he himself had never experienced before. What was it like to love or be loved in such a way?
“If you promise to let him go and return him to our home safely.” Emily stated. That would be her one condition, whatever happened to her, she needed to know that Spencer would be safe from any further harm.
“I promise,” Aaron replied as Emily stepped into the light still flickering from the dropped torch and he saw her properly for the first time. She was more beautiful than he expected. Her pale skin illuminated by the dancing flames, her brown eyes shone brightly and her black hair lay in soft waves past her shoulders. She thought it cruel that he kept her brother imprisoned, yet would it not be even more cruel to lock such beauty from the world?
Maybe. After all, he was in this predicament due to his cruelty.
“You must promise to stay here forever.” Aaron added. One person running into the village yelling about a beast within the woods could be dismissed as having had too much to drink or a fit of madness. Two however, could lead to trouble.
“Let me see you,” Emily requested. The man clearly was tall but if the voice was his and was coming from as high up as she assumed; was he a giant?
Reluctantly, Aaron moved forwards into the small pool of firelight. Emily’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of the enormous beast that loomed before her. Seven feet tall, his body was covered in jet black fur. His long hind legs ended in large clawed feet and at the end of his arms were enormous clawed paws. Pointed, sharp tusks protruded from his lower jaw and curled horns rested atop his head. His clothes were worn, ragged and torn and his furrowed brow almost hid the dark brown, almost humanesque eyes.
Terror filled Emily’s veins before her resolution took over. She had to protect Spencer from his monster. No matter what.
Emily raised her gaze to the monster’s and focused on his eyes. There was something eerily human about his eyes. They were the only part of him that didn’t initially scare her. Indeed, he didn’t look as furious as she had expected. Instead, as he watched her reaction to seeing him for the first time with what she could only describe as sadness in his eyes.
And she could acknowledge the irony that despite her love of literature and languages, the only word which could accurately summarise the expression in his eyes was indeed, sadness.
“I promise,” Emily said bravely as Aaron barged past her and with one enormous paw, pulled the locked door of Spencer’s cell completely off of its hinges. Spencer scrambled to throw his arms around Emily, who gripped him back as tightly as she could.
“Emily, you can’t do this!” Spencer pleaded. “Please, go!”
With one paw, Aaron snatched Spencer and dragged him out of Emily’s grasp. Both siblings yelled in protest but Spencer was snatched away nevertheless. Aaron dragged him through the castle and out of the front door. An old carriage stood, the wheels tangled in vines. Aaron opened the carriage door and flung Spencer inside.
“Please, please let my sister go!” Spencer pleaded again, desperately.
“She’s no longer your concern.” Aaron snarled at him before he looked at the ancient carriage. “Take him to the village.”
With the snapping of vines, the wheels of the carriage slowly creaked and turned and as the carriage trundled across the grounds, Spencer attempted to free himself. Even as his calls for Emily faded into the night, the carriage continued onwards and instead, he began to think of a plan. As soon as he got back to the village, he would speak to Ian Doyle and the other men. Ian would certainly come to help free Emily from a monster, he always had been fond of her, even if Emily found him an annoyance at best.
They would not leave Emily to her fate.
Emily furiously wiped her eyes as Aaron returned to the dungeons. She was determined that the brute would never see her cry. She would show him no fear, sadness or any weakness. Emily had agreed to stay but she never agreed to be afraid. “You could have let me say goodbye.”
“What good would it have done?” Aaron remarked coldly.
“He’s my brother! Because of you, I’ll never see him again!” Emily argued as she blinked back tears. “You didn’t have to be cruel.”
“Perhaps not,” Aaron admitted quietly. She was courageous, loyal and caring. And most importantly, she was right. Perhaps Spencer truly meant no harm. However it had been a risk he had been unwilling to take. Even letting one of them go had been too much of a risk for him. “I’ll show you to your room.”
“My room?” Emily replied, puzzled. Clearly there was another mystery to this beast apart from who he had once been. Was it possible that there was indeed some fragment of kindness within him?
“Well you can stay here,” Aaron retorted sharply, his temper flaring once more. Emily bit her lip and instead, she nodded and stepped forwards. As determined as she was to hide any fear or terror from her captor, she was also determined to keep her promise. She would stay, solely to protect Spencer from any further harm. This was not her home. This brute was not her family. She may be here for now, but this was not where she belonged. Not here.
And especially not with him.