The Vampyre's Princess

|| PART II ||

Willow had found herself in the endless hallways. Of one of the largest gothic castles, she had ever stepped foot in. She hid behind a pillar and attempted to catch her breath. Dressed in a red chemise gown that she wore beneath her extravagant dress. She tip-toed in her bare feet as quietly as she could. Hiding in the shadows and trying to remain hidden from the guards. None of the guards managed to notice her. Soon enough she had found herself lost. Willow stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a group of ladies walking down the hall. It was some of the women who had pampered her before. The ones who had made her look like a porcelain doll. The French woman she had seen before was leading them down the hall. They giggled as they talked amongst themselves only to stop when the French woman did. Causing the girls behind her to abruptly stop.

"Our apologies madam Roux..." the girls around her apologised one after another.

"Willow, your supposed to be having dinner with Warren..." she said as she offered Willow her hand. "Did the trials frighten you?" she asked. "They frightened me too," she said.

"Trials?" Willow asked.

"You were to fight him, yes?" she asked.

"I smacked him with a plate..." Willow admitted only for the others to giggle behind their velvet fans. "Why have none of the guards noticed me?" she asked.

"Oh my dear, they've already noticed you... They're not to interfere during the trials" Roux answered. "Don't let him catch you, I hid for three days until Vance found me... Warren has the patience of a sparrow" she said.

"Is he going to kill me when he finds me?" Willow asked. "What is this some sick game of hide and seek?" she asked.

"I'll give you a head start, go and hide in the library... Three doors on your left, can't miss it" Roux told her before walking off and her girls followed behind her. "Good luck..." she called.

Willow glanced down the other end of the hall to see the Prince slide into the hallway. Before spinning around on the balls of his heels to see her. Willow ran down the hall. Three doors on your left. She ran up to two large wooden doors and slipped inside. Willow turned around to find herself in a maze full of bookshelves. That stretched to the high stained glass ceilings. Willow heard the Prince's steps behind her and took off down one of the aisles. Running as fast as she could through countless hallways lined with books. The further she ran, the more scattered the books became. Books spilling out of shelves. Open books askew on the floor. Misplaced stacks of books. Willow yelped when she tripped over a stack of books and fell to the floor. Warren heard her terrified yelp and dashed into the maze of books. His stomach dropped when he heard that sound escape her. He thought she was in trouble. The Prince wanted to call out to her but knew he would only frighten her more. Soon enough, he too found himself lost in the grand library. Never-ending twisting hallways of books. Warren leaned again a bookshelf in defeat. He closed his eyes and listened closely to his surroundings. He could hear her rapidly beating heartbeat. She was close. He grabbed a ladder and locked it into place before climbing to the very top of the shelf. Which stretched nearly four stories high. Warren could see Willow had the same idea. She had climbed on top of the shelves to get a broader look at her surroundings. In an attempt to find some kind of exit or place to hide.

"You can't hide forever!" The Prince called out to her.

"I will not play your sick game!" Willow shouted back at him.

"We have to, we don't have any other choice!" he said. He didn't want to be doing this either. Chase some stranger around the castle for god knows how long.

"You mean the trials?! This sick game of cat and mouse, I'm not letting you kill me..." Willow growled. She was not going to let some spoiled Prince touch her. She would fight to the death if she had to. Even if that meant beating him with a book.