ECHOES OF TERROR.

Chapter 37

A whistling maid jostled down the large hallway. A lone lamp on hand as she blowing out the candles in her wake. Her feet paddled in comfortable ease for her last duty of the night.

A leisure curl up on her bed and a worn out but old erotic romance book awaits her after her duty. The little reminder add speed to her steps.

She passed by one of the many vast rooms only that one of these doors were open, with a scrunch to her brows she cursed the maid who didn't fulfill her work of closing the doors of the mansion.

She held the handle but before she close the door, something caught her attention.

A low golden glow.

Indeed they were few candles on table tops and one glowing at the far end of the room barely lighting up the still dark room.

With a frustrated groan at the increase in her work time she cursed under her breath and hustle forward gathering up her skirt to fasten her steps.

She blew on the candle furrowing her brows at the sign of it being like it was lit only recently.

"I'm sure it the work of Nila. She's the only incompetent one here". She grumbled putting out the flames.

"Like who puts flame up in an unused room" she cast her gaze sparingly around small lit corners noting furnitures and equipments covered by a thin material shielding them from dust.

After blowing out the flames from the surface tops, she walked to the lone candle at the far side of the room.

Noting it close enough to reach the closed curtain. She shook her head praising herself from saving the witch lucinda and her son— the whole mansion to be exact from a fire outbreak.

A muffled scream came from somewhere in the room after she blew out the last candle.

She perked up alert. Clutching the handle of the lamp tighter hiking it higher.

"Who's there!?" She called out in the quiet room. Her gaze darting around to access her now dark surroundings.

Gosh, she must be out of her mind, she wondered. The late into the night work must be getting to her.

As she turned around to leave, another insistent muffle split through the once silent room.

A whimper followed.

"Hello..?!" Her voice was small now but insistent.

She ventured into the darkness. The footstep small but purposeful, her way illuminated shortly by the lamp.

A short flurry of movement came from the side to stop a second later. She turned to it and moved getting closer.

She was now quaking from fear and hesitated treading forward.

She came to stand infront of a large wardrobe covered in linen like the rest of the items in the room.

Oh she hope she haven't stumbled on a ghost of one witchcraft shenanigans their lady must be performing.

As she stood in front of it, her skin prickled with unease and hair stood on her neck. She reached out shaky hands to part aside the cloth her fingers reach further to bend to pull down the shutter she was quaking at this point but committed to find out what was happening.

Slowly she raised her lamp to see between the darkened spaces.

Green orbs with golden flecks stared back at her, tears at its rim.

She shriek as she stumbled back in fright to hit a solid wall. Insistent muffled murmur came from the wardrobe. The hairs on her arms and neck stood on ends before she felt the warmth of the wall and realized with sudden dread. It wasn't a wall but an expanse of a muscled frame.

A strong arm gripped her and a cold metal pressed to her neck. Her eyes widened and jerked once more to the shutters to see the eyes widened in fright, and in the next moment her throat was split open.

She didn't have enough time, everything dulled for her as she tried futilely to clutch her rapidly bleeding neck spraying blood, a frightful insistent murmur rang out till she dropped, bleeding to death.

•••

"Argh! We should just go find her" a gruff voice grunted.

"Hold your horses. The others will arrive soon with her". The impatience man turned to his accomplice, scowling behind his mask that covered the lower half of his face. A haggard scar was across his narrow left eye. His foot tapping impatiently.

"You know i heard she's a cold beauty but it doesn't matter, the body will be warm and i don't mind as long as-"

A gruff chuckle escape the other man. "You never change mate. Must you sample all the women we kill?" A whimper drawled the man gaze to the child on the ground now next to the dead woman. The spray of blood coated half of his face and his white night wear. His bloodied small palms which was once in the puddle was wrapped around his small frame trying to wrap his feeble mind around this whole situation.

The maid servant was dead?!

That what these men that kidnapped him said after they checked on her body.

A bark of laughter " look at him. He's still so shaken up." The man bent to Theodore level.

"Hey kid," he tried to get Theodore attention whose eyes remained down cast. "Cheer up. At your age I wasn't shaken by blood."

"Yeah because you we're already covered by it" the other man snort.

"Hey! i'm trying to tell a story here" he called back to his chuckling accomplice.

"Kid!" He turned back to Theodore. Poking him on the side of his trembling frame.

"Poor kid." He tasked.

"Guess what kid. This guy here is gonna ravage your mama. You know the things mama and papa does. Only this time your mama will cry and beg-"

"He doesn't have a papa." The scared eye man in front of Theodore corrected.

"Look at you soaking up information about the victims. Why do i care? a kill is a kill. If we're lucky enough we'll find treasures to take"

As the scarred man shook his head in a chuckle and turned to the kid he saw him tremble harder but slowly rose his head mumbling something.

As his gaze met the child only then did he hear the words.

"I have a papa." The child eyes were dazed and blank. The golden fleck reflected by the burning lamp beside them but behind that gaze laid a look so fierce and sharp that it made the man lose his bearing and in the next second powder was blown into his eyes from the young boy now dried bloodied palm.

ARGH!! He shouted with a fury and Theodore acted fast , getting to his feet and kicked the lamp far away from them and ran.

The other man checked on the man still crying out "The bastard blew something in my eyes"

"Shit. Kid!!!" The man roared in annoyance as the child ran past the door.

The next second both of them started coughing as their eyes water.

•••

Theodore ran out of the door and into the arms of his mother Lucinda.

"Theodore!" Lucinda cried as she wrap her arms around her child. Her bloodied brave child.

She arrive a few moments ago. At the peak of the carnage. A dead maid and her bloodied son next to the corpse and those bloody assassins. Trying to sneak into the room, her son had seen her and someone concocted the plan to run away from them. Whatever he did to that assassin had work but it wasn't her intention for him to act. Her poor boy that should have been dazed and crying was silent and risked alot to get to her.

It was her turn to be strong. To put him out of harms way. She pulled back to assess his features in the dark. Spots of dried blood dotted his features. Unshed tears at the rim of his eyes.

"My child…" she put a hand to her mouth that muddled the sob.

"Mama, there's no time we have to go" Theodore voice was small but distressed. Only then did Lucinda hear the groaning of the assassins stumbling around inside.

She got her bearing, a fierce look in her gaze as she stood, and unsheathed something in her hand, the menacing cool metal of the blade seemed to gleam in the moonlit hallway. Only them did Theodore see it and his eyes widen in wonder. She gripped the hilt tighter as she held Theodore's hand. She nodded at her little boy and they took off running down the hall just as the assassins broke free of the room and called and ran after them in disoriented sounds.

Three more assassins trickled from other corners and were hot on their heels.