Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 10--Well, That Worked Fabulously...

"You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go 'according to plan.' Even if that plan is horrifying!" -- Joker
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I cringed as my knife plunged into the man's chest. I quickly let go of the handle and closed my eyes, taking a big step back, not wanting to see him fall to the floor. I waited, my back turned to him, to hear the pained sounds of the dying. 

It never came.

"You held the knife wrong."

My eyes snapped open. I could feel myself start to shake more than I had already been.

There's no way.  I stabbed him through the heart, I'm sure of it. This guy is dead.

But the fact that his feet were still firmly planted on the floor made me think otherwise.

"You did better than most, though. Normally, people can't even get into the castle, let alone stab me."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I looked up at his chest and the lower half of his face. The knife was still stuck at the place where his heart should've been, exactly where I had put it.

A large hand reached up and grabbed the hilt of the dagger, and a low groan followed by the wet sound of metal slowly being pulled out of flesh followed.  He tilted his head and stared at the silver blade, then started fiddling with my knife expertly, moving the blade between one finger and the next faster than I'd ever seen.  He stopped and held it in his monstrous hand. With the other hand, he pointed to his fist.

"Hold it like this. Gives you more thrust and let you block easier."

I felt like I was going to be sick. The mark on his chest was completely healed; the only evidence that I had stabbed him was a hole through his black shirt. My breath came out quickly.

"Y-you should be dead," I stuttered softly. "That should have--"

"Killed me? Yeah, didn't work too well for you did it? I, however, have all the ways I could gut you here and now running through my head, all at one time. It's a bit troublesome, if you ask me."

I took a step back. 

I need to get out, now.

 Like an animal, he noticed my fear.

"You want your knife back?" he laughed.

That did it. In one motion, I swiped the dagger and started running as fast as I possibly could toward the stairs. If I could find the door, I could get out. I heard what sounded like laughter.

"I'll give you to the count of ten, girl!"

I've never heard anyone sound so joyous who is hunting someone down before.

It dimly occurred to me as I ran that I had absolutely no clue where I was going. All I knew was that I had planned to find the 'out' door, but I really didn't know where that was in comparison to where I was. I still heard the beast counting.

"Ten!"

He was after me. I grabbed the first door knob that I saw and turned it, yanking the door open. As I slammed it behind me, I took in my surroundings. The only thing I saw was a bed in the corner of the room, in the darkest place it could be. I ran over and found a cubbyhole in between the bed and the wall that I could squeeze into and duck down.

The door creaked open as soon as I managed to force myself into the corner.

"Now, you're not making this fun for me. Hide somewhere better next time."