Page 3 of Their Pretty Little Monster

There it is—the double doors hanging off their hinges.

I burst out into a plume of smoke and ash, following the path I know is there. Screams come from all around me, and I can just make out silhouettes darting through the smoke and chaos. The ground trembles beneath me, and fear smothers me.

Regardless, I press forward.

Before me, two figures emerge, the smoke unfurling around them. I blink, clearing my vision, and recognize them.

My chest beams at the sight.

Father!

He’s back from hunting. Broad and tall, the Silvercrest Kingdom needs him now more than ever. The ing of our realm.

In front of him stands his vassal, General Bren, in charge of our military.

“Father–”

The ground starts to rattle violently, stealing my words.

Crack!

The piercing sound echoes through the air, the ground tearing apart and leaving my skin crawling.

Terrifying screams flood the air.

With no relief, I catch my balance from the swaying ground, my father and the general blurring in and out of the moving smoke that clings to everything. Each breath grows raspy, my lungs burning.

Snippets of General Bren’s deep grumblings to my father reach me.

“Ruined… Kingdom… Change is coming. I will rule.” His voice is a low growl, dripping with venom.

I clench my fists, anger rising through me, fury pushing me to take a step closer to the reality of what I’m hearing.

My father has always told me he trusts the general, but as my father bellows back at him, words I can’t make out, I notice the curl of the general’s mouth.

In that heartbeat of a moment, he wrenches his elbow back, close to his body, then he plunges a blade right into my father’s gut, deep and forceful.

I shout, my response lost in the panic around us, in the croaking sound I’m making.

Father slumps forward, a white-knuckled fist grasping the general’s jacket. His face is twisted, broken, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, eyes wide, filled with pain.

Bren shoves my father aside just as fast, and he crumbles to the ground.

“Father!” I shout, my legs shaking beneath me, rage cutting through me.

The sight of him lying there, lifeless, sends me spiraling. I lose all control and lunge at the general, who still hasn’t seen me.

Vengeance. It consumes me.

But before I can reach him, a tremendous explosion sounds behind me.

I glance back to see the castle coming down.

Crumbling.

Boom.

The collapse reverberates through my body, shaking everything. A sudden rush of air and dust slams into my side, throwing me off my feet and tossing me aside.

---