Chapter One
The Little Girl in the Basement
The village looked a little poorer than the others I have seen. The cottages looked small with a few bigger ones here and there which I thought held a family. I stopped in my tracks before a couple of children ran past me laughing and a little girl running after them crying. I smirked as I stopped the two boys from running any farther and they looked a bit perturbed when I took the doll from the first boy’s hands.
“Hey! What are you doing!?” They exclaimed, almost together. “Give that back!”
I noticed the little girl fall down trying to catch up to the boys in front of me. I smirked evilly at the two. It amused me when they trembled.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I walked past the boys and knelt down to the little girl only a few steps away holding her newly scratched knee. I push past her adorable red curls from her emerald eyes and held out her dolly the boys had taken. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled as she took her doll and hugged it close to the scraggly clothes on her chest. She nodded her head towards me and ran back towards what I thought was her home.
I glared back at the two little boys and the look of terror on their faces brought a smirk to my face as they quickly ran away.
“Lady Kimiko, that little girl didn’t even tell you thank you…” Daniel, my servant, stated crossing her arms a bit. Her beautiful sky blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon sunlight as she looked over towards me. Her golden curly locks of hair bounced a bit as she turned her head; they were neatly pinned up a bit with braids and I thought she looked adorable. Daniel was only a year younger than I, an age of 16. Although she wasn’t as developed as I was, and her corset looked a bit empty, she still was pretty and I had to watch the boys around the castle for her. She’s a bit air headed.
I smiled back at her, which turned her frown into a smile itself. She has told me how beautiful of a smile I had, with my straight perfect white teeth; hers almost just the same.
“No, she didn’t even have to tell me thank you, Danni, heh,” I laughed a bit. “I could see it in her eyes, how they sparkled; the simple smile on her face. I could just feel it.”
“You and your vibes, Lady Kimiko.” Danni smiled.
We walked around the village, greeting people, talking to them and enjoying some food some an elderly woman made us. She even gave us shawls to keep us warm on our way back of which she made herself. They knew we weren’t from around there, and they treated us like gold. We dressed different; though my clothes were more simple than the ones I’m used to wearing. A simple corset over a white blouse paired with a simple skirt. I think what really set us off was my pink gem necklace I couldn’t help but put on. It wasn’t something real extravagant, so I thought it wouldn’t tell anyone of our origin. Daniel wore even more simple clothing, she was my servant after all, the poor thing.
“Lady Kimiko, should we head back?” She asked, looking up at the sky. It was getting dusk, the sun was setting.
I sighed a bit, I didn’t want to go. But I knew that I had to do something about the poverty of this village, I could just tell my father; then whine and complain to get my way. I laughed at the thought; it’s just how I got my way.
Just as I started to turn around to head back to the carriage to go back to the castle, a man busted out of a cottage right beside us. He looked a bit drunk, and angry. He struggled to walk down the stairs; I watched him fall to the ground and noticed what looked like blood on his knuckles. I ran over towards him; I wish I hadn’t, he reeked of alcohol.
“Sir? Sir, are you alright?” I reached down to help him up and he grabbed my wrist very tightly and pulled me down towards him. He laughed and I wish he hadn’t. His teeth were gross to look at; all of them were either rotting or falling out. His grip tightened as he helped himself up and started to drag me into the cottage. I growled at him, twisted my wrist around and grabbed a hold of his own wrist.
“How dare you!” I turned around to face the back of him, set my free hand right above his elbow and with all the force I had pressed down. I heard his elbow crack and felt it break in two as the man screamed in pain.
Daniel gasped a bit, as she just noticed what was going on. I kicked the man down the steps and glared down at him.
“How dare you grab your Princess in that manner!”
I heard the man whimper and sob a bit; but then heard another piercing scream coming from the cottage behind me. It made me stop and cover my ears, even though it quickly ceased.
“What the hell is going on in there!?” I kicked the man again. “Tell me!”
He laughed again and then said something that I knew just wasn’t true,
“There lives a little demon in there…”
I felt as though that “little demon” must really mean a child, my heart sunk.
“You bastard! Danni, come with me!”
“Princess, wait!”
I turned to see a few villagers run up towards us. They were carrying torches in able to see, since it was pretty much dark out around this time.
“What the hell is going on here!?”
“What that man says is true,” A woman stated. “That demon killed the elderly couple who cared for her…”
“Keep this man here! Danni, c’mon!”
I couldn’t help but ignore their protests. A child could not have done anything like that. Daniel quickly ran up behind me as I walked into the cottage, slamming the door shut behind me. I could feel my anger rising, I was getting even more pissed when I heard another cry from what sounded like the basement. I swung the door open as the stale air brushed my hair and skirt back; it smelled horribly of dry blood.
A whimper. My heart sunk, this is where they kept her, the “little demon” as those horrible villagers called her. I started down the stairs very cautiously, the stench getting worse with every step I took. Daniel clinging onto my arm, watching every step she took so she wouldn’t trip over her own feet or my skirt. I heard what sounded like a smack of something hitting skin, and then another whimper. I continued down the stairs and then stopped in my tracks at the bottom step. I felt my mouth drop open from the sight that I saw…
There was a little girl, who looked like an age of nine, chained to the basement wall by her wrists and her neck. Blood was dripping down her forehead and she looked like she hadn’t been fed in a couple of weeks. I felt my anger rise even more, I could feel it pulsing through my veins. Daniel had gasped, which the man who was beating the girl must of heard since he stopped right before he hit her again.
“Who the hell are you?!”
I stepped down from the step and glared at the man. “Princess Kimiko.” I stated as calmly as I could. “You,” I smirked evilly and started to breathe heavily. “Are under arrest!”
By then, I knew my guards from the carriage had all ready made it down here, I heard them behind me. They quickly seized the man and carried him up the stairs to take him back to the castle. I looked over to the little girl, who was looking down, her hair long enough that it was flowing on the filthy floor and was blood stained. She didn’t look as though she had a bath in years, and she reeked of the stale blood air.
“Be careful…” I heard Daniel whisper.
I couldn’t help but walk over towards the little girl. I got an uneasy vibe, so I was cautious. As I kneeled down to check if she was alive, she shot her head up, only inches from mine and growled at me which made me jump back a few inches. The look on her face was a mixture of anger and fear, my heart sunk at the new blood running down her round cheeks. Even though she looked as though she was practically starved, her cheeks remained round and a little chubby as though her baby fat was still there.
I build up the courage to get a little closer to her which to that she seemed a little threatened and she growled at me a little more. Her eyes were big and round, they looked like a pair of black round charcoal looking back at me; and her hair was stained with blood.
“I-It’s okay, sweetie, I-I’m here to help…”
She growled at me again as I reached for an axe to cut down the chains.
“I promise you I’m not here to hurt you…” I cut down the chains holding the girl to the wall all in one swing. She fell to the ground onto her hands and knees. I dropped the axe onto the floor and knelt down to the girl. As I did, she lunged herself towards me but one of my guards grabbed her by the little chain left on the brace around her neck and she fell back towards him. He went to strike the girl…
“Liam, no! Stop!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
He hesitated, but eventually let her go.
I watched her look up at the guard, then over at me with a questionable look on her face. I stood up and held out my hand to her, only then did I noticed that she wore a pair of gloves, and her clothing looked as though they were old pieces of cloth sewn together very poorly. Her sash that held everything together was blood stained, just like everything else was. The gloves, especially, caught my curiosity. I reached into my corset and took out a pink handkerchief and knelt down to the girl’s height.
“May I?”
I wanted to wait until she gave me permission, but instead she snatched the handkerchief from my hands and rubbed it on her face. I laughed a bit, it was kind of cute.
We headed out of the little cottage; I had the little girl follow me back to the carriage. I noticed the village people backed away from us and stared in disbelief that I had this “little demon” walking next to me. We got into my carriage, Daniel and I and of course the little girl. Then something hit me while the carriage started moving; I didn’t know her name.
“Sweetheart, what’s your name?”
There was a pause as she looked up at me as though she didn’t understand what I was asking. That adorable clueless look on her face made me smile down at her.
“It’s okay, you can tell me. My name is Kimiko…see? I told you mine…so how about yours?”
The girl giggled a bit and shoved my pink handkerchief in my face as she stated:
“Pink.”
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