Lost in the Echo

On a thin ledge of a concrete building, a pair of tiny feet adorned with red shoes were trudging cautiously. A girl about ten years old, in a knee-length dress and a red hood, was trying to reach a nearby window. She was on the third floor of the building, and the building was lavish and aristocratic and was, in fact, a castle. After reaching the window, like a little ninja, she dexterously opens the window and enters the room.

Like the aristocratic castle, the room too gave the same vibe. She reaches for the archaic table and looks through several drawers on the table. They were full of myriads of papers and miscellaneous stuff, and nothing that she needs. She was looking for something, and she wasn't able to find it.

After many futile attempts, she closes all the drawers, stares at the picture frame over the table. The frame had a picture of a family; a happy looking aristocrat, a lithe woman in a gorgeous gown and a mirror image little daughter, who was the little girl.

She murmurs, "Agatha, think carefully. Where could Dad keep it?"

She purses her lips as she thinks harder. Her eyes fell on the tulip insignia in the centre of the table. She places her hand on the insignia and chants something under her breathe. Purplish glittery lights come out of her hands and spread over the insignia lighting it.

As a mechanical click sounds, she moves her hands away. A pedestal raises from the centre of the table, revealing an amber locket wrung on an immaculately crafted golden chain.

The locket was enchanting, captivating her into its brilliant lustre. It was bewitching. Whispers were entering her ears, words she couldn't understand.

She stretches her hand towards the locket. However, she stops midway after hearing some noise coming from outside. She hears metal clinking and sound of boots marching towards the room.

Grabbing the locket and undoing the magic she hides behind the curtains.

She hears metal clinking and sound of boots marching towards the room.

"Dorden. Stop. You cannot go ahead from here," said a middle-aged man with short height. He stood in front of the door, blocking the way to the room, "You have no permission to enter His Majesty's private study room in his absence."

"Blah Blah You cannot go in there," Dorden, a robust tall man mimicked the short man's squeaky voice and shouted at him, "MOVE."

When the short man didn't budge, Dorden shoved him out of his way. He was half his stature.

"This...This is treason," the man hyperventilated, "You can't enter like this. Stop."

The door was pushed open. Several armed men entered and searched the room.

"No. You cannot do this. His Majesty will_," the short man was thrashed aside before he could finish his sentence. He collides with the nearby coat hanger and other decorative things in the room.

"You speak too much."

The armed men threw books from the shelves, shook every book, checked every drawer and cabinet, pulled apart everything in the room.

Even after some time, when they did not find what they were looking for, the burly man turns towards the short man.

"Sebastian, I will ask you nicely. Where is IT."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Sebastian responded.

Dorden gestures one of his men. The man goes out and returns with an old maid. He then slices her throne in front of everyone.

Sebastian was frightened. He tightens his fist as the woman fell limpidly on the floor, staining the carpet crimson.

"Still not talking?" Dorden asks him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Agatha saw the gruesome scene in front of her leaking a tiny squeak. She blocks her mouth to prevent any sound from going out.

"I see. You don't want to talk. Maybe someone else will." Dorden moves to the farther end of the room near the window.

"Camouflage. Interesting," Dorden spoke to himself as he got near the window. He stretches his hands towards the window where the curtains should be hanging. The curtains became visible, revealing a silhouette of a little girl behind it.

"Caught you."

Before Dorden could touch her, Agatha jumped out of the window. His mouth was left agape from her swift response. Regaining his senses, he yells at his men, "What are you waiting for? Go catch her."

His men jump out of the window and run after the girl. Sebastian too comes to the window and yells, "Princess. Run."

Agatha had jumped from the third floor. She tumbled and rolled on the ground. She gets up, rubbing her aching shoulders. She doesn't stop for even a minute. She runs as fast as she could.

Few guards who had seen her jumping out the window approached her. However, she didn't stop for them. The pursuers behind her were closing in on her. The guards try to stop those armed men. Behind Agatha were swords clinking, slashing whoever stopped their path. Behind her wasn't a scene of a battle but a massacre. The guards didn't hold candles in front of the heavily armed men.

Agatha was huffing as she climbed the stairs of the watchtower. She takes out a tiny whistle from her pockets. She blows, but no sound comes out. The soldiers on the tower were alerted and sheathed their swords. As she reached the top of the tower, they formed the last line of protection for her. She looks back. The road behind her was stained crimson with most of the soldiers lying dead.

She was frightened and grief-stricken to see so many soldiers dead. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and jumps from the top of the tower.

A small butterfly flies towards and transforms into a gigantic butterfly, catching her and carrying her on its back. They fly towards the jungle away from the pursuers in the castle.

She couldn't breathe in relief as her pursuers were still on her tail. They were chasing behind her in massive flying beasts. Someone drew an arrow and aimed towards her.

The butterfly was swifter than the pursuers, but they were tenacious. It dodged all the arrow that came towards them. Agatha was shivering. She was scared. Those men didn't care about her life. They could kill anyone without blinking an eye.

The butterfly was flying at an unbelievingly fast pace, but, their pursuers were several and also armed to the teeth. Arrows were being rained on them. Few arrows hit the butterfly, making it quiver, but it still kept on flying.

As Agatha saw her companion battered with arrows, she started crying, "Dolores, don't die."

An arrow came flying straight towards Agatha. It was aiming for her back. A shot that could claim her life.

Just as the arrow was about to strike her, the massive butterfly takes a 360-degree turn, causing the girl to fall and itself to get hurt in its vital parts.

Agatha falls but is immediately caught by the butterfly. It then descends to the grounds and falls with a thump.

Agatha was crying bitterly. She knew her companion would die soon, but her pursuers were soon reaching her.

She clutches the locket, which apparently was the cause of all these brutal killings. She then runs forward deeper into the woods.

The pursuers spot the massive butterfly on the ground. They descend near it. As soon as they approach it, an explosion took place, killing all of them, leaving one who was still in the sky. This was Dorden.

"Useless," Dorden spits on the ground and gives out a disgusting smile, "She sure runs like a rabbit. And like I rabbit meat."

Agatha was tired from all the running. She could hardly move any further. Her wobbly feet stumble on a tree root, and she falls. She bursts into tears. She looks back. She knew if she did not get away from there, she would not be safe.

"Daddy, help me," Agatha calls out for her father while sobbing. She takes support by the trunk of the tree and stands up.

A thin streak of light appears in front of her. It grew larger and larger enough for her size. She peers at it, wondering what it was. She stretches her hand to reach it.

Dorden had entered the forest too. After running for a few distances, he sees a red cloth behind a tree. He laughs smugly as he gets near the tree.

"Found you."

He found no one. There was only the red hood left behind. There was neither that girl nor her footprints leading anywhere else as if she vanished into thin air.

The princess was lying unconscious on an asphalt road. Nearby were trees and few vehicles passed by. She wakes up. Her face was covered in dust. Her dress had turned raggedy because of all the chase. She looks around her surrounding, puzzled. She opens her big eyes more widely and stared at everything. A few distances away was a tavern. The board over the tavern said 'Kentucky Pub'.

She goes inside it. Inside were men in suits and tall hats. They were talking animatedly.

"This time, it will be different. Believe me. America will become a great nation."

"Blah. Blah. Abraham Lincoln. I do not trust this man. He is talking about unbelievable. Abolishing slavery. It is impossible."

As the men talked, the bartender notices the girl standing in the middle of the pub and looking around with big eyes.

"What are you staring at? Give me my drink," said a man in a tall hat as he turns to see what caught the attention of the bartender.

Agatha sees a few empty chairs and sits on one and continued looking around. A 10-year-old child in a pub was not a common sight.

"Girly, are you lost. Where are your parents?" asked the man.

She looks carefully at the man, after some while, she replied, "I don't know."

The man was holding a newspaper in his arms. On it, a few words were 'A strong contender Abraham Lincoln' and dated 23 Feb 1861.