It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 36

A little while later, Angel was entering the abandoned mill. It was a spooky place, filled with shadows and fallen beams lying at crazy angles.

"Vaggie? Princess? You ladies still awake?" He called. There was no answer. "Come on you two, don't play any games. This place is giving me the creeps."

Still no answer. He heard a clang from up above a ladder. He was about to climb up and investigate when Vaggie popped out to stop him.

"Angel!" She said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just coming in to check in on you girls. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Yep, just fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Where's Charlie?"

"Sleeping."

Angel looked around the very small room for any sign of the princess. He didn't see her.

"Where?" He asked.

"Up there." Vaggie pointed upward.

"Why up there? That's a little unsafe don't you think?"

"Oh no. No it's plenty sturdy. Now why don't you go on back outside and leave her to rest. You wouldn't want to wake her up, would you?"

But Angel wasn't going to be easily swayed this time. He had a feeling that Vaggie was hiding something. 

"What's going on?" He asked her.

"Nothing."

"You lie. Where is Charlie? Why is she hiding?"

"She's not hiding."

Just then they heard quick footsteps from up above and suddenly a rotted beam broke with a resounding crack. There was a scream and something fell. In the murky darkness, a figure slowly rose from the floor coughing. It looked very menacing at this angle. Angel panicked.

"Ahhhh!" He screamed as he pulled Vaggie behind him fearfully.

"No! No! No!" The figure cried.

"Oh no! Help!"

"Shhh!" The figure hushed.

Angel picked a piece of wood and held it up as a weapon.

"Back! Get back!" He said.

"Angel stop it!" Vaggie said. "It's okay!"

"What did you do with the princess?!" He demanded of the figure.

"Angel shh! I am the princess." The figure said moving closer. "It's me, in this body."

"Oh my God! You ate the princess!" He concluded. 

"No!"

"What?!" Vaggie said at the preposterous notion.

"Can you hear me?!" Angel shouted toward the figure's stomach. "Keep breathing! I'll get you out of there! Alastor! Alastor- Mmmph!"

Vaggie clapped her hands over his mouth.

"No one has eaten Charlie ya moron!" Vaggie said in frustration. "Now I'm going to let go of your mouth and when I do, you will not scream or so help me, I'll rip out your voice box. Got it?"

"Mmm-Hmm." Angel nodded with his voice muffled.

 Vaggie released his jaw and then she turned to the figure who was already trying to retreat into the shadows.

"No use trying to hide it from him any longer Hon." Vaggie said. "Come on out and let him see you."

The figure gave a sigh of resistance and fater three minutes of still slience, it stepped out into the moonlight so Angel could see it better. Standing before him and Vaggie was an anthropomorphic female with smooth, fine, alabaster fur all over her body. Her face was like that of a doe yet at the same time like that of a fae, her eyes were dark but there was a red twinlke to them, white and fluffty deer ears were sticking out from her long blonde hair, and underneath her dress there wiggled a fluffty tail.