Louis secretly kept Harry in his room for the whole day. Louis knew he was grounded but he did not know if he was allowed to have guests over. Seeing that his father was not on good terms with Harry, Louis decided to play on the safe side and not make Harry's presence known. He did not want to risk agitating his father again.

"Are you staying the night?" Louis asked.

"Um," Harry hesitated before answering. "Okay, Lou, but I have work tomorrow morning."

"How's the fish?" Louis asked. Since Harry was not supposed to be in the castle, all Louis managed to sneak for him was a slice of cake, by pretending to be hungry, and a serving of tuna, by saying it was for the cat. There was only so much for Louis could ask for before the servants would get suspicious and expose his dirty little secret.

"It's alright," Harry commented. He chewed at the tuna. He had long finished the cake and was eating the fish from the bowl with a spoon. The cream on the spoon from the cake mixed with the tuna, giving it a weird taste.

Larry had taken two bites of the fish provided for her and hopped onto the bed, sitting down on the pillow next to Louis'. "Larry, be a good girl and finish your food." Harry coaxed, shaking the bowl so the food would even out such that the centre of the bowl would not be an empty space. Harry set the bowl on the floor. Larry ignored Harry. Louis piped up, "Yeah, Larry! Good tuna doesn't come easy." Larry ignored them both.

"I'm sleepy. I think we should go to bed soon." Harry yawned. Louis took a glimpse at the clock. It was a quarter to eight.

"What's new?" Louis mumbled.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"Nothing." Louis said. "I just think that it is expected of you to be tired nearing eight o'clock."

"Well, I'm sorry that my sleeping patterns are the way that they are but I won't change them." Harry turned his nose up to the air.

"What if I wanted to stay up late?" Louis asked. Harry shook his head.

"You can stay up late yourself!" Harry joked.

"What if I wanted you to stay up with me?" Louis inquired.

"Hmm..." Harry hummed as he pondered. "What will we be doing?"

"Anything you want." Louis spoke in a husky voice.

"I want to sleep." Harry grinned.

"You're no fun." Louis whined.

"I can't hear you!" Harry pretended to be asleep. He had placed the empty bowl with the silver spoon in it on Louis' table. The smell of fish was still ever present in the room. Harry closed his eyes and curled up on the mattress.

"I want to ask you something." Louis said and paused to give Harry time to respond. When Harry nodded, Louis continued, "Modeste told me not to stay up all night. Any idea why?"

"Can we not talk about Modeste tonight?" Harry requested.

"That doesn't answer my question." Louis stopped speaking but Harry did not reply. Louis asked another question, "Does Modeste have a liking for wild animals?"

"Well, she's definitely wild." Harry remarked, to which Louis raised an eyebrow. "Oh wait, no, she's not." Harry rambled, realising what he had just said. "She used to say that she liked lions. That was her favourite animal." Harry stated. "Does that answer your question?"

"I guess. Did she used to go into the forest a lot?" Louis asked.

"Your questions are so weird."

"Just answer the question!" Louis screeched. "Or I'll keep you up all night." There was a slight sexual undertone in Louis' voice.

"No, she did not." Harry stated.

"Did Modeste like pets?"

"I don't think so. She tried to play with Larry but she'd always get scratched. After that, she hated anything with claws and there went her love for lions."

"The demon had no claws." Louis muttered his thoughts.

"What was that?"

"Nothing important." Louis blurted out.

"You sure?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Louis insisted.

"Okay. Goodnight!" Harry turned over and shut his eyes.

"Harry! Don't be rude." Louis scolded, but his words fell on deaf ears. 

Harry dozed off within minutes. He snored lightly as he slept. Louis decided to go to bed as well. He cuddled Harry in his arms, resting his chin on Harry's shoulder. Larry decided to lie in the most inconvenient position ever: on Harry's face with her tail dangling in front of Louis. Larry's fur tickled Louis' nose, inducing a sneeze.

"Bless you!" Harry whispered.

"Aren't you asleep?" Louis inquired.

"You woke me up with that adorable sneeze of yours." Harry said. Louis' cheeks were coated with red and pink tones but in the darkness of the room, nobody saw it.

Both boys fell asleep but in the middle of the night, Louis woke up alone in bed, much like before. In the dead of the night, Harry was missing from the mattress. Louis' heart raced. "Maybe Harry is just homesick and went for a walk like the last time." Louis thought. Louis glanced at Larry who was lying quietly in Harry's spot on the bed.

Louis tossed the blanket off his body. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes with his palms. He sighed sleepily and stood up. Louis set off on his quest around the castle to look for Harry.

Louis opened his bedroom door. The corridor was dark, as expected. Louis' footsteps echoed as he walked. He called out Harry's name. Someone down the hallway gasped. Louis' voice took them by surprise. Louis hurried towards the sound.

When Louis turned round the corner, he was faced with an empty corridor. In the dark, he could barely see but from what he could make out, there was not a soul present.

Smoke spiralled from the wick of a candle on a long table at one side of the corridor. Louis walked over to the lamp. He brought a hand near to the candle. Heat exuded from the freshly melted wax. The candle was still drippy. Hot wax rolled down the side of the candle. Louis picked up the lamp subconsciously. He scanned the area for anyone. Frustrated, he slammed the lamp on the table. A meek squeal was heard. Louis slowly lifted the sheet of white table cloth, draped over the table.

Under the table, there sat a girl in a purple dress. She hid with her knees pulled up to her chin and her legs pressed against her chest, in a place tighter than a coffin.

Louis yelled at the girl, "Modeste, what are you doing here?" Modeste squirmed. Louis reached a hand to help her up from under the table but he did not do it gently nor with care. He yanked her to her feet and did not appear to be the least bit concerned when she bumped her head on the table.

A palace guard walked into the corridor. He approached Louis and Modeste. 

Before anyone could even speak, a low groan captured their attention. "The King!" Modeste cried. She ran towards the king's room but the guard restrained her. Modeste squalled, "No, you don't understand! We're all not safe here. The demon is-"

"Silence!" Louis instructed, refusing to let Modeste speak anymore. "Take her away."

Louis ran to his father's room. Muffled sounds were emitted from the bedroom. Louis sucked in a deep breath before opening Niall's room door. When the door was pushed open, Louis almost had a heart attack.

King Niall was missing from his bedroom. In his place was the creature that Louis dreaded with all his heart. The beast had shredded the sheets with its teeth. It snarled threateningly. Its animal snout dug into the mattress and pillows. Feathers and fabric was tossed into the air like confetti. A terrible odour of rotting food wafted out of the beast's mouth. Louis breathed through his mouth but he could practically taste the pungent smell. It was awful. On the green-tinted scalp of the disgusting creature, it wore the crown that had been passed down from generation to generation in the royal family. Tufts of black fur stuck out from under the headwear.

Louis' skin went pale. His blood turned cold. He put two and two together and came found a conclusion. He had not expected it to be this way. His father was in fact a terrifying demon.

Modeste had tried to warn Louis. She told him that they were in danger. Modeste desperately tried to alert him but his stubborn self turned her away. Louis sent her out. Louis regretted his decision. It would make sense that Modeste knew. Modeste had known Niall much longer than Louis had. Louis wondered if Niall trusted Modeste more than him, Niall's only son.

Louis struggled to come to terms with the idea that Niall was the monster. He had spent most of his life living in the same building as Niall and only now he realised that his father was not the man he thought Niall was. He was a beast, an ugly, horrendous demon. Louis hated the thoughts that surged through his mind. He tried to block them out but they kept coming, as if they were attacking him one after another, trying to take over his brain.

Louis' body was stiff. His legs refused to move. Louis was left frozen in his spot. He did not move, despite the intimidating beast that was starting to approach him. It staggered towards Louis, with short, lumbering steps. It ran its tongue over the rows of pointed white teeth that could tear a man's flesh from his bones without any difficulty at all. Louis did not want to be that man.

Louis was in too much shock. Perhaps this was why the king wanted him to marry Harry. Harry was strong and fit. He could probably take the beast down effortlessly, weapon or no weapon. Harry could protect Louis from Niall if it ever came down to it. Speaking of Harry, where was the boy? Where was Harry when Louis needed him so much? Louis was vulnerable and helpless. The poor prince could not even move.

Louis' head spun at all the thoughts that rushed into his mind. It was overwhelming. Louis could not take it. His vision blurred. The room was suddenly very bright, despite it still being nighttime. Louis blinked, trying to see clearly and get rid of the dizzy feeling. Louis gasped for air.

The last thing he saw before he collapsed onto the floor was the two flickering red dots, contrasting the unsettlingly white surroundings, that moved closer and closer to him. Louis' thoughts were cut off as his body fell onto the ground. One moment, everything was white. The next moment, Louis blacked out completely.

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