Villains Aren't Born, They're Made [1]

Nine: I Sneak Into A Necromancer's Bedroom

Now look, I know what you're thinking - "Orpheus, you said you weren't one for boring, in depth details" yeah... I know what I said. I don't like BORING details, key word, boring. Anything and everything to do with the descriptions of Serenity Daybreak do not qualify as boring in 'The Book Of Rules And Regulations Of Understanding Orpheus Bloodwell'. Anyways ... On with the story.

I stood there, staring at the door as all sorts of memories; good and bad, crossed my mind. I wanted to back out. I wanted to turn around and just hope that this new girl wouldn't stumble upon the book. She couldn't. I wouldn't let her; not after everything I had sacrificed for it. The truth would come out eventually, but it couldn't be yet. Serenity's death had delayed our plans, it wasn't time. I had to get the book.

My hands shook as I grabbed the door handle. It was cold, as always. I could feel the slight indents Serenity's fingers had left over the years. She felt so close, yet I knew she was gone. "Get it together." I whisper to myself, as if I'd listen. I pushed the door open, hoping I didn't wake the girl up. I had no interest in getting to know her, and I definitely had no interest in having to explain why I was in her room in the middle of the night.

The door, as always, creaked so loud that I believed even the dwarves on the other side of the Kingdom could them. Honestly, after all the years of sneaking in and out of this room, you'd think someone would have heard it by now. I tip-toed into the room, making sure to step in all the right places so I made little to no noise. I had learned this as a kid. Years of sneaking up on Serenity on her birthday took practice.

I looked around the dark, lifeless room. It looked the same as it did after Serenity died. All the decorations were gone. It was simple and bland. Yet, the room really felt lifeless. As if life itself was void of the room now. I had been to places where life wasn't welcome, and this felt like one of them. My experiences with these places were never too good. I had multiple encounters with hostile spirits in Hades' dungeon type lare thing. Aeolus would always fuss at the ghosts, saying he'd tell his father that they were misbehaving, though he never did. I never understood how literal death was able to produce someone like Aeolus. He's always been selfless, thinking of others before himself, even if those others were literally dead.

Where was I? Oh right, the book. Anyways, I decided to keep my head in the game and look for the book. In and out, I had told myself. In and ou-

Creak.

Ha. It's funny how I actually thought I could successfully go through with a plan.

I snapped my head in the direction of the sound and saw the girl turning in her sleep. I panicked as I saw what I came in here for.

Lupus non timet canem lantrantem.

It sat on a nightstand next to her bed, underneath useless, boring books. I mentally cursed myself as I remembered that I had forgotten to hide it last time I had it out. Luckily, there was a spell placed on it, so nobody could read what it really said unless they knew the password. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way over to the bed.

I looked at the girl who was sleeping in Serenity's bed. I still couldn't believe that out of all the rooms in the castle, my parents gave this room away. Maybe this was some sort of twisted apology. Maybe they expected me to marry this girl. Not a chance. Her hair was black, almost blacker than Serenity's, which seemed impossible. Her skin was incredibly pale, like Aeolus and Hades. 'She's not the priority' I thought to myself.

I rolled my eyes as I turned my head towards the nightstand. It was stained with circles left by Serenity's various tea and coffee mugs. I ran my fingers across the spines of the books that were piled too neatly for my liking.

Alas, Factus sum mors
The Takes of Vrozar

The little boy who cried wolf .

This had been the fake title of the book. It was fitting at the time, considering it was a tale told across the kingdom for centuries. It wouldn't be questioned as much as a random book titled Lupus non timet canem lantrantem, as it wasn't a title of any book in the kingdom.

I pulled the book out of the pile, hoping it wouldn't be too noticable and that she wouldn't wake up. Of course with my luck, one of the books fell off the nightstand and into the floor. I could basically hear Aeolus making fun of my actions already. I turned my head towards the girl once more and saw her eyes beginning to open. Mid-panick, I did something incredibly stupid.

Now you see, I could have just hidden. It was very dark in the room, she couldn't have seen me. I was only able to see because I have an ability called Nox Visio, which for all you non-latin speakers is night vision. You'd think someone like me, so talented and all would be wise. However, I'm not.

I quickly put the book down on the bed, then I used my hand to cover her mouth. I knew she would scream. Who wouldn't? Waking up to some strange guy in your room in the middle of the night. She looked right at me. "Sh" I said, hoping she wouldn't scream.

In that moment, my life flashed before my eyes. Everything I had ever said, done, thought, everything was going at a billion miles per hour.  My lungs started to fail and I could feel my heart stopping slowly. She was killing me.