The night was scattered with stars, shining brilliantly against the dark midnight colour of the sky. The neighborhood was far from quiet. There was the muffled crying of a child in a house next door, followed by the quarrelling between a couple over who had to get up to calm the infant. Hoots of owls were audible. Stray animals dominated the streets as every human was sleeping soundly in their beds, except for the father who lost the argument with his wife and had to go and pacify his disturbed child before going back to bed.

Despite the noise, Harry slept peacefully. He lay in bed, eyes closed, with his limbs sprawled out. His body covered the entire mattress. The blanket covered his body like a shroud.

Harry had not bothered changing out of his clothes since getting home from the castle. He had thrown himself on the bed the moment he got home, ignoring his fathers' interrogation on why he had been sent home. Harry had slammed the door rudely, much to Liam's displeasure. His parents opened the unlocked door and began to rebuke Harry even before they were in the room. Harry buried his face in his pillow, bawling, not much differently from a child. Upon seeing Harry in distress, Liam put aside his anger that was quickly replaced with worry. He told Harry to tell them what happened. After repeated refusal to spill, Zayn and Liam gave up and decided to let Harry to sort his own feelings out. Harry had cried himself to bed. His sobbing was disturbing but at least the boy found peace in his sleep.

The kitten that regularly visited Harry lay over his face like a mask. Her black fur was soft against Harry's cheeks. Her eyes were shut as she rested on Harry's face.

A sound from downstairs caused Harry to stir. It was the ringing of the bell above the door in the bakery. Harry shot upright. The cat on his face was flung against the wall. She cried in pain and fled out the window in unhappiness. "Sorry!" Harry shouted as she ran off.

Harry's thoughts began to run wild. He wondered if he had forgotten to lock the door when he arrived home. He pondered over the potential of a break in. It was possible. He did not exactly live in the safest neighbourhood, but what could an intruder want from his family? Maybe the burglar wanted bread. His family had those. They had lots of loaves.

Harry got out of bed and stepped to the door. As he pushed the door open, he asked himself if he should wake his parents before going down. He decided against it. Harry was tall and strong. He was confident that he could take on whoever was downstairs. Harry stepped out of his room.

.

Louis paced around in his room. He felt that his father was being irrational. Niall did not have to kick Harry out of the castle. How was Louis suppose to court Harry if Harry was not even here? Louis let out grunts of frustration. He pounded a fist on the wall in anger. He could not take his mind off Harry.

Louis slumped himself down on his bed. He glanced at the clock. It was eight o'clock at night. He thought about Harry's odd habit of sleeping at eight on the dot. Louis sighed. Even the goddamn time reminded him of Harry.

"That's it!" Louis snapped. "I'm not going to sit around here moping." Louis blew out the candle in his room so that the guards would think he had gone to bed for the night and not come into the room, so that they would not disturb his sleep.

The thing is, Louis would not be there sleeping. He would be missing from his room.

Louis climbed out of the window. He stepped carefully, so he would not fall. Ten metres is a long way down. Louis would hate to be found dead on the ground before even leaving the palace grounds. He steadied himself on the jagged bricks of the castle walls. He adjusted his foot with caution.

It was hard to maneuver himself across the wall at first but after a while, he got the hang of it. He was ten metres off the ground. Then, he was nine metres off the ground. Next, he was eight and after that he was seven.

Louis stepped down on a loose brick. He lost his footing and slipped down. He grabbed desperately at the wall as he fell. He managed to hold onto an outward protruding brick. Louis was relieved that he saved himself from potentially death but his hands ached. His fingers started to bleed. Louis wanted to scream but that could alert the guards. They would inform Niall and Louis will be in hot water.

Louis cussed in whispers. He continued his descend to the ground, stepping gently first to ensure the bricks were stable before exerting his weight onto it. Once bitten, twice shy.

Louis jumped off the castle when he was less than a metre off the ground. He climbed over the fence of the castle. His hands were stinging when he held the metal bars of the fence. However, Louis did not care. He just wanted to get out of the palace grounds quickly and climbing the fence was the easiest way to do that without having to face with security guards. Louis was out of the compound.

Adrenaline rushed throughout his body. It was his first time sneaking out of the castle. In fact, it was also his first time out alone. Usually, he'd take the carriage directly to where he wanted to go, a guard would follow him and the carriage would fetch him home afterwards. On this day, he was out, no carriage, no guards and nobody to boss him around(Ahem! Modeste. Ahem!).

Darkness enveloped Louis. The moon glared at him. Louis started to have second thoughts about his quest. He did not know his way into town and he did not know where the bakery was. He will have to find his way or he will be lost. Someone could take advantage of him. Louis regretted not taking his sword before leaving but there was no way he was going back now.

Louis kept following the dirt path from the castle, leading into town. He knew this would go there because the carriage always took this path going to and from town.

Louis finally made it into town. He was the only human on the streets. A rat scurried over the toes of his shoes. Louis shrieked in fear. "Be quiet!" A voice screeched from inside a house. Louis did not know whether he should apologise or not, so he just walked away.

The bakery should have some words to tell Louis that it was a bakery so Louis was pinning his hopes on that. Besides, Louis had been there twice. Surely, he would recognise the place.

Louis peered into a random shop. "Oi! What are you looking at?" Someone shouted and drew shut the curtains. The man yelled a string of profanities as Louis apologised, backing away.

"Okay. It's fine. I'll find Harry. This next one looks like the bakery." Louis thought silently as he walked in front of the shop. He pushed the door open. The bell rang like it did every time he had come. It was to Louis' surprise that the door was unlocked. "Did the peasants not lock their doors or was it just Harry's family?" Louis wondered. "It does not matter." Louis was in.

The smell of chocolate and butter from the day's baking wafted around Louis, pulling him in. If he had not recognised the place from the interior design, the aroma would have been a clear indication. Louis stepped behind the curtain and to the staircase. Louis placed one foot on the stairs and the wood creaked under his feet.

There was a low groan coming from upstairs. Louis looked up. His throat constricted. He saw lengthy, thin legs, but not that of Harry's. He saw green, but not that of Harry's eyes. He saw something long but not that of Harry's -Nevermind. Basically, Louis saw the monster in all its long limbed, lime coloured skin, serpentine fingered glory.

Now Louis really wished he had brought along his sword.

The demon stood at the top of the stairs. It wobbled as if it was not used to standing still. It wrapped one of its long fingers around the banister. It wheezed disturbingly. Beads of sweat formed on the beast's ugly skin. It stared Louis down, compelling Louis to look away from its glaring eyes.

Louis backed down onto the landing. The demon had not moved a centimetre from its spot since Louis had noticed its presence. Louis quickly but cautiously stepped away from the creature and out of the bakery.

"Had the demon creature followed me to Harry's home?" Louis thought silently. Louis began to panic. "Oh no! Harry and his family are still in the house with the monster thing."

Louis went to the back of the shophouse, where Harry's bedroom window faced. He looked up at the open window. There was no light coming out of it. Louis looked around, trying to devise a strategy to get up to Harry's bedroom. A soft meow caught Louis' attention. Two amber coloured eyes with thin pupils stared at Louis. The cat's coat blended in with the night sky behind her. The feline creature sat on a brick wall. She strutted along the wall and climbed onto the branch of a tree that grew almost into Harry's room. The cat merely had to hop off the branch and she was on Harry's windowsill. She sat down and licked its paws. The cat looked down on Louis, literally. Louis felt that the cat was trying to tease him.

Louis rolled his eyes. He grabbed the top of the short wall and pulled himself up. His hands hurt. He stretched his arms out, steadying himself on the small surface. He took a few steps until he was at the side of the shophouse. There was no way that the branch that the cat walked on was going to support Louis' weight, even though he was small. (Louis/N: I am 5'9"!) (A/N: Okay, Sweetie!)

Louis closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, gathering up his courage. When Louis opened his eyes, he threw himself off the wall, not giving himself anytime to reconsider taking his leap of faith. Louis managed to hook his hands on the window sill to Harry's room. He squirmed at the pain as his wounds were aggravated.

Louis pulled himself up and peeked into the room. Harry was missing from the bed. The demon was in Harry's room. It turned towards the window. Louis ducked under the window to prevent being spotted. The kitten continued to bathe itself in saliva, completely oblivious to the monster. The monster pounced at the cat. The cat screeched in terror. Louis grabbed the cat with one hand, the other hand still on the window sill. Holding onto the kitten, Louis dangled from the window. The monster lunged up at Louis. Saliva foamed in its mouth. Louis released his grip on the window, causing him to fall. He landed on his side. He held onto the spot that hurt as he moved away as fast as he could. The cat held onto Louis. Her nails dug into his skin.

"I save your goddamn life and this is how you thank me!" Louis scoffed as he ran with a slight limp. He was being stalked by the vicious monster. Louis scampered aimlessly. He found himself going into the woods.

Louis regretted it immediately, realising that if he found himself in danger, or more danger than he already was in, nobody would be present to save him. Louis found it ironic, that the prince was helpless against the beast. In a lot of books he had read, it was the princess who always needed saving and the prince who had to be the hero.

Louis held the kitten tightly as the beast confronted him. Both Louis and the kitten cowered in fear.

Louis remembered when he thought his previous encounter was a nightmare. The beast was definitely not simply a part of a dream. Louis was wide awake. He heard the monster snarling clearly. The cat trembling frightfully in his hand felt very much real.

The pig ears of the monster twitched. Louis knew what that meant. The beast would run off and Louis and the cat would be alright.

A feminine voice called for the monster. The voice sounded human. As soon as the creature heard it, it sprinted away like it had multiple times before.

Louis thought into it. A human had called for the demon. It meant that a human was taking care of the demon that killed a palace maid. The demon was a tamed one? Its irresponsible owner let it roam and as a result, someone had died. The next life the monster took could have very easily been Louis' one. It had many opportunities to end Louis' life. All it will take is a bite out of Louis' face for the thing to kill him. It is only a matter of the creature taking its chance. (A/N: or chonce)

.

.

.

Hey guys

Who do you think the feminine voice belongs to?

What do you like about this book so far?

Please vote and comment :)