Chapter Three

What on earth am I doing here?

I honestly thought Odette wasn't allowed to leave the tower; so why is her father calling for her?

Did I do something wrong? Did those stupid maids call me out?

Ha, I could just blame it on Odette. But then that would make me seem like a crazy person. As if I wasn't one already.

"Why has father called for me?" I harshly ask the man leading me down the tower stairs.

"None of your concern, Monster." He blatantly tells me. Good sir, we both know that it is my business.

"Why has my father called for me?" I ask again, not receiving an answer.

So I ask again. 

"Why has my father asked for me?!" I demand. I'm starting to get angry at him.

Kill him right now. No one would even know. You'd be free. Free from them all.

Odette, as tempting as that offer sounds, I kind of want to save your life; not get you hanged for murder at the age of seven.

"ANSWER ME, DANG IT!"

"SHUT UP!" the man howled at me, his hand hitting my face as he yelled.

Did he just...hit me?

"You'll pay for that. With your life." This is not my voice. This is not me. Yet, was this ever me to begin with?

I feel as if my body has been consumed by darkness.

Everything happens so fast. A shout from the man, and a flick of my hand. A black mist is coming from my body.

That's when I look at the man. Dead. On the floor. His lifeless eyes staring into the darkest depths of my soul.

"What happened?" I gasp, almost crying. "What on earth did I just do?" I have to bring my hands to my mouth to stop from screaming.

I leave, racing back to the safety of my tower. The black mist is still there. All around me.

I race over to the mirror to get a good look at myself. That's when I realized.

I am the black mist. It's coming from me. The butterflies seem attracted to it, as they all surround me.

But that's not even the strangest thing.

What's even crazier is my eyes. They are red. Red like blood. Red like furry. Craving for more.

"No." I have to remind myself. "They are not yours. They are Odettes. She did this, not you. You would never hurt a person like that." And yet, I can't help but cry. The tears are salty as they stay on my lips.

Dark magic. It's a curse. That's what it is. The dark magic has corrupted her. I know for a fact that noble's aren't supposed to show any magical prowess until after their debut. So why?

It's a stupid question and I know it.

It's because she is dark magic. A descendant of an evil witch who was a powerful sorceress. But that witch has nothing on Odette. While that witch had to handmade her own potions, Odette herself is the magic.

She is the monster. A killing machine. Capable of murdering someone with a single thought.

Oh God. This makes everything even more terrifying.

No. I mustn't be scared. I have to fight. Odette must have her freedom. Even if that means hiding the fact that I just murdered someone.

Odette's parents and the rest of the world thinks of her as a monster just because of the butterfly thing and some type of prophecy I remember from the game. And that prophecy only labeled half of her power.

She is death itself. She is the shadow of the night.

She must be free. She will be free.

And I'll be the one to free her. And myself too. We will be free together, Odette.

A scream comes from downstairs. I know for a fact that whoever is down here will come kill me themselves. Someone has come to kill me for this crime.

"LADY ODETTE?" a voice I haven't heard yet calls out to me.

"LADY ODETTE? WHAT HAPPENED?!" This voice isn't fearful. It's...almost caring.

I poke my head out the bedroom door to see a maid I haven't seen before looking up at me from the stairs.

I start crying. That's when the woman comes up to me.

"Shhh..Miss, what happened here? Everything will be okay. Just tell me what happened." I grab onto her and she is shushing my cries and soothing me.

I calm down enough to say, "You're...you're not..a-afraid of...m-me?"

"No. Of course not. Why would I be?" The woman's voice is gentle. Unlike any of the other maids I've met so far. She seems...kind. Like a mother. A mother I never, and will never, have.

"Because. I'm a monster. I just killed a person." I make an effort to wipe my tears but fail.

"You just..lost your temper. That's all. Plus, I'll be honest, that man was a royal pain in the butt if you know what I mean," the woman winks at me, making me smile a little. She grabs out a handkerchief from her apron, wiping away my tears better than I could.

I think this is the first time that Odette has smiled in front of a person since I got here.

"Come, Miss. Let's make you look more presentable for your father," she says as she leads me to the vanity.

I'm staring at my tear stained face and notice that the dark mist has disappeared and Odette's blue eyes are back to normal.

She hums as she starts brushing my hair, smiling as she does so.

"Miss...what's your name?" I ask her, staring at her in the mirror.

She pauses mid-brush. "Genevieve, Miss. My name is Genevieve. Pleased to meet you, Lady Odette." She offers me a kind smile and then goes back to brushing my hair.

"Thank you, Genevieve. Thank you for being kind to me, when everyone else is too scared to even come in and feed me." I give her a sad smile.

"Well, you're welcome, Miss. It's only my second day working here. I got sent up here to ask that man you..erm..put to sleep, what was taking you so long." She says as she finishes my hair, tying it with a blue bow.

I gasp.

My hair is tied in two beautiful braids, with some strands of hair in the front. "Genevieve! This is beautiful! Thank you!" I feel very tempted to hug her.

"Don't worry about it, Miss." She hugs me. "It was my pleasure." She smiles at me.

This must be what having a loving mother is like. A woman to talk to about your problems. A person to confide in. A mother to love you.

All of a sudden I feel like crying again. And then I am.

"Lady Odette? Please don't cry," Genevieve says, wiping my eyes again.

"Sorry," I say. "It's just..no one has ever done that for me." I offer her a melancholy smile.

"Aw, well, if you ever want me to hang around all you have to do is ask," she smiles at me.

"I'll kindly take you up on that offer," I say, thinking. "Is it too early in your career here to ask you to be my personal maid?" I ask her in the kindest voice I could muster.

She laughs and says, "I would love that."

"Thank you Genevieve."

"You're welcome, Lady Odette."

"Please, call me Odette. I really hate formalities." It's mainly got to do with the fact that Odette is never called by her birth name. It's always 'Monster' this, and 'Monster' that. But I don't tell her that.

"Come quickly now, the Grand Duke is waiting for you." She says as she takes Odette's small hand and leads me out the bedroom door, down the stairs, and past the murdered butler.

I keep my head up as I walk past him, looking toward the door of the tower.

Beyond that door is my first taste of freedom since I became a monster two weeks ago.

I will enjoy it so much. I will enjoy it so much that I will cry tears of joy. And smile like I never have, ever.

***

To be continued.

(A/N: If there are any errors (Like the fact that I thought that Odette was five years old and I had to re-read this 500 times to make sure I wasn't going insane), just know that I am deeply sorry. Feel free to point them out to me and I will fix them.)