What Makes a Monster

♱Thirty-Six♱

There's shock. There's fear. I feel blood against my fingertips but soon realize the cut is not lethal nor all that threatening. It sure as hell stings though, and startles me enough to fall off the couch when attempting to run away. My elbow slams against the coffee table, knocking it back as I hit the floor.

Prince Baylor is amused when he whispers, "Let's see if that loyalty is mutual."

That amusement turns into pure joy only moments later when the door bursts open, a gust of foul wind filling the room. The candlelight and flames of the fire are snuffed out, leaving the room in a dim light from the hallway. That light illuminates Lord Makai's looming figure in the doorway, eyes a familiar searing red that only worsens upon seeing the situation at hand. There's almost a purple tint to his veins that are seen through his skin, like an electric pulse running through him that slowly diminishes.

"Lord Makai, is something troubling you?" asks Prince Baylor so innocently that, had I been a passerby, I'd truly believe he had no idea what was going on.

There is no response verbal response from Lord Makai. His focus is on me.

I turn away in shame, although I'm not entirely sure what I'm ashamed of. My feelings? Those feelings being caught? I haven't the answer so I merely stand on shaking legs and press my hand to the still stinging cut. There's little blood but I feel it slip through my fingers.

"Wallace, come here," says Lord Makai. His voice is shaking but I'd take that shaking rage over Prince Baylor's charming smile any day of the year.

I'm hiding behind Lord Makai in an instant, head down as the two converse.

"It seems I've been lenient with you for far too long, Cathen. You will regret this transgression, I assure you," Lord Makai growls animalistically. The familiar sensation of cold dread consumes the room as the darkness grows, pulsating from Lord Makai's form.

"No need to assure me. I'm confident you'll return this favor in kind." Prince Baylor leans to the left in order to peer around Lord Makai. He smiles when our eyes meet. "I only wished to have a chat. The cut was merely an accident."

"Do not lie to me."

"I would never, isn't that right, Wallie?"

I'm not sure if Prince Baylor expected me not to answer, but now that Lord Makai is here I feel safe enough to respond, "He definitely cut me on purpose."

Prince Baylor chuckles, pressing his hand to his stomach when he says, "Earlier you could barely stand out of fear. You're so ballsy now that your Prince Charming has arrived." He shrugs his shoulders once more, returning the dagger to it's sheath located beneath his golden cloak. "I've got what I wanted though. I promise not to bother either of you for the rest of the evening."

"I'm certain you won't seeing as we are leaving." Lord Makai turns, hesitantly pressing his hand to my back to usher me out of the room.

"But the party has only just begun!" cries Prince Baylor teasingly. "While you're here Wallie, why don't you ask Lord Makai to show you to his old room? He spent so much of his youth there, I'm sure it would be of great interest to you!"

Old room?

I hesitate at the mention of such a thing, peering into the office where Prince Baylor is smiling smugly. There seems to be yet another mystery tacked onto Lord Makai's past. I shouldn't be surprised. By now you'd think I'd have put some answers together but I haven't. The mysterious closed off rooms, the girl in the painting, an old room at the palace although history books claim Lord Makai went straight to the estate after Emperor Elyon's death; one unknown stacked atop another.