His Dark Obsession

6. An Attempt

and left through the same doors his father did moments earlier. I was left in the Prince’s room, and even I didn’t miss the look of pity in the eyes of the guards. “She’ll be dead by morning.” I heard them say as they shut the door. “Pity, she’s so young too, to think the Welhavens raised her and just discarded her…” I fell to my knees on the cold floor of the Prince’s quarters. It was far more modern than the rest of the castle I had seen, but like the prince, even his personal quarters were dark and cold. There was no expression or feeling to the room. I placed my face in my hands, sobbing into them. What did I do to deserve this? I really did try to be the best I possibly could, but it wasn’t enough… Wiping the tears away, I looked around. This couldn’t be the end. Forcing myself, I got to my feet and after scanning the room, I noticed it didn’t have a window. I hurried to one of the three doors on the other side of the room, the first was locked, and I rushed to the second, not giving up. Luckily, it opened and I stepped inside, realising I was in Zedkiel’s bedroom. To my relief, I saw this room had a window. It was the only thing that didn’t match the modern interior of the room with its sharp pointy dome-like shape, and the intricate metal design around the edge of the dark frame. Please open… I didn’t know how, but I was sure he wouldn’t come up so soon… if I could get away, I would leave Dark Falls immediately. I’ll go far, far away. I’ll live amongst humans. I’ll get a job or something, anything would be better than staying here to be killed. With shaky fingers, I brushed away my tears, pulling at the window handle. It opened pretty easily, and relief flooded me, but the moment I looked down I felt sick. It was high… extremely high. “That or stay here and die.” I whispered, stepping away from the window. I removed my heels, pushing them under the bed before I rolled my dress up to my knees and returned to the window, I stared up at the cloudy sky. It was going to rain soon… if it did, it would mask my scent… Gingerly I climbed out of my window, this room was towards the back of the castle and even the gardens below were lit with far fewer lights. “Goddess help me.” I whispered as I squeezed out of the window, I lost my hold and almost fell, I grabbed hold of the ledge just in time, my heart thundering in my chest. I didn’t think this through… Deep breaths Evangeline… I bit my lip as I slowly climbed down, grateful that the stone wall provided plenty of footing. It was hard, trying to find good niches to grip onto was difficult and at times I lost my grip. My nails were broken, as I dug into any hold I could find and I had cut and scraped myself several times. At times, I froze when I heard someone approaching, yet luckily no one looked up. Soon I was a few feet from the ground, but I dared not drop, if someone heard… Twenty minutes later I was finally out through the gates, I broke into a run, my mind racing. I needed to get out of here as fast as possible, but how? Wait! Josie’s car! Josie was one of the staff at the Welhaven manor. She was out of town visiting some family for two days… What if I snuck in and grabbed her keys from the staff quarters? Yes, I’ll do that, and then I’ll leave. I’ll get as far as I can. I was trying not to give in to the emotions and the pain I was feeling. Not only that, but I was running on adrenaline, the only thing rushing through my mind was to survive… – I reached the manor, which was dark and silent, and I wondered if the Alpha had returned. I hoped not… I entered and quickly hurried to my room, relieved that I didn’t run into anyone, and quickly changed into a hoodie and leggings. Finding my sneakers, I pulled them on, quickly grabbing a few items of clothing and the small stash of money I had saved. It wasn’t much, but it would get me a room and food for a few nights. For a second, I was tempted to see if I could find any money in Grandmother Philomena’s room, but I couldn’t bring myself to steal from her. I felt guilty at just the thought. I shoved the dress I had worn at the back of my chest of drawers and looked around, the place that had been home for the last ten years, one final time. Home… A place that was now no longer welcoming… Sucking in a shaky breath, I wiped away the tears that brimmed my eyes. My emotions that were wreaking havoc inside of me were barely held at bay threatening to break their damn. Turning I left my room, sneaking to the staff quarters, I bit my lip hearing the two chefs chatting in the kitchen. The wooden key box that held all the staff’s car keys was in sight, but I had to be careful no one heard me… I’m sorry for stealing Josie… I slowly reached for it, hearing a chortle from the kitchen I took the chance to open the glass door. Carefully, I lifted the key in front of it slowly and moved it onto the hook next to it, as I stared at Josie’s bunch of keyrings. If I moved that they’ll hear, instead I silently got to work unhooking it from the bunch of keys. It was painstakingly slow, I paused several times as the fear that someone would see me, or that the monster himself would realise that I was missing, ate up at me. My arms were beginning to ache too, but soon I had the key. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the goddess, although I wasn’t sure if she was watching out for me… I took one final glance back down the hall before I slipped out into the now pouring rain. I was going to be safe. —– Three hours had passed, and I was lost. I didn’t know where I was and without my phone, I had nothing to guide me, they would know I was missing by now. Would someone come after me? Tears burned at the thought of the monster I was given to. Like I was nothing more than a piece of property. I wouldn’t go, I wouldn’t let him take me. Betrayal washed through me; how could they do this to me? My knuckles were white, my nails digging into my hand, threatening to break through my tender skin as I gripped the steering wheel with all my might. My hands were clammy and a bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck as fear perfumed from my pores while I tried to navigate the roads. Rain battered down on the windshield, making visibility extremely difficult, and I was straining to see past the hood of the car. The wipers were moving as fast as they could, but it did nothing to help see the road ahead. “Please come on…” I whispered, peering out at the darkness. The road was narrow, winding around the bend of the hilly, rocky side. One wrong move and my car would go hurtling down the side of this very mountain.  How far was I? Would they find me? I press my foot on the gas a little too hard, the back end of the car sliding on the slippery roads. Quickly I lifted my foot off the gas pedal, I didn’t even have a driver’s licence, so this wasn’t one of my brighter ideas considering driving wasn’t