Misfit Trials

Chapter 26

When Rumpelstilzchen awakens, he is alone in the middle of the winter forest. Even the corpse of the dead horse is gone. But he doesn't feel cold. Actually, he feels intensely hot. When he looks down at his skin, he sees that it is pulled taut over his bones and muscles and the same bright fiery red of the imp that he had thought that he had dreamed. His clothing is different, as well. Instead of the commoner's rags that he had worn, he is wearing finely tailored clothes, a green traveling cloak, and a hat. He has a fine, pointed beard and he feels sharp teeth in his mouth with a tongue that has grown serpentine.

Terror grips him and he runs through the wood, looking for a frozen river. When he finds one and sees his reflection in the icy surface, he falls backward, screaming in panicked fear. An imp. The vile, evil creature turned him into one of her kind. He cries out, his loud, frightened screams catch he attention of nearby hunters. The call to him, letting him know that they are on their way.

Somehow, through his panicking cries, he hears the calls of the hunters. "They'll kill me if they find me! I have to hide!" As soon as the thought of hiding comes into his head, a feeling of intense tingling flows over his body. When the hunters break into the dense bushes around the river, they find a stooped and wrinkled old man. Rumpelstilzchen had learned his first trick as an imp.

And many more followed. Producing money. Producing food. Allure and seduction. Turning straw into gold. Tracking from a scent. And persuasion. Using these tricks, he traveled the kingdom, attempting to find his son.

And, eventually, he figured out a pattern to where his son's soul went. Always into a boy, always to a mother in a desperate situation. One that could be easily bought for the right price. That also satisfied the imp part of me. Rumpelstilzchen had to take souls as a price more often then not, though he never cursed anyone in the way that she-imp had cursed him. Rumpelstilzchen couldn't do that to anyone. It was a horrible and vile existence and he wouldn't subject anyone else to that. It was bad enough that he had to take their souls and condem them to Hell. He refused to condemn them to the constant hunger, the constant need for souls to devour, the constant need to find a deal that would appease the imp that converted him.

For she took all the riches that he created. That was part of the deal that she had struck when she turned him. If he didn't provide her with sufficient riches, riches that she then had to give to her overlord in Hell, then she would torture him. Could be physically or through the mental torture of Marta.

The only other thing that kept him going was looking for the child. Though all of his humanity was gone, the promise that he made to Marta stayed. It burned bright and pure inside of him where his soul used to reside. And it drove him from town to town.

After several years, Rumpelstilzchen figured out is how to find the child. His soul seemed to follow a very meticulous routine, following the pattern of North, West, East, and South. Sometimes it would be three towns over, sometimes it would be five, but it was never less than two and never more than ten. And that was how Rumpelstilzchen followed his son's soul.

Unfortunately, Rumpelstilzchen couldn't always get the mothers to agree to give him their child. Honestly, it was much easier for the mothers to part with their own soul than it was for them to part with their children. Stupid women, he though. You could always have more children. You would never get your soul back and the eternal torment of Hell was worth giving someone else over. He would know, he'd been to Hell for several such tormenting visits himself.

But, then again, he wasn't human anymore and had trouble remembering the love for a child. Not that he ever really had it for his own child, but he did for his brother and sister.

Where Rumpelstilzchen's difficulty was, was in timing. He had to stop frequently to meet the needs of his soul's hunger, as well as get the gold and jewels for his creator, at the same time, looking for his child. And it took more time than you would think. His creator had gotten lucky, finding him on the side of the road, delirious and nearly dead. Entering his thoughts and creating that dream like state was an easy play in a spot of great fortune. Most of the time, it wasn't so easy.