4 Red eyes

Ava was having her beauty sleep when someone banged on her house door. She thought that window must be shuttering, but then she heard the bell ring.

Startled by the sudden bang, she snapped open her eyes as her sleep vanished with the constant ringing of the doorbell.

"Coming," she shouted, getting out of her room and walking to the main door.

The sound of the bell didn't stop even after she yelled. Ava frowned, cursing the person who spoiled her sleep and not stopping his action even after asking to wait.

"Is he asking for a beating" she went ahead and opened the door in a swift.

"Do you have any death wish" she spoke, watching at the entrance, but her words died when she didn't see anyone outside.

"Huh..."

Ava took a few steps to see if anyone was pranking her, but she didn't see anyone, to her surprise. She knitted her brows as the calm wind blew on her fragile body, sending a shiver on her skin. She looked up and wondered if wasn't it raining the other night. How come it's so chill outside today?

She shook her head at her thoughts and again looked around the small lawn in front of her house before getting back inside. She closed the door and turned around to walk to her room,

" Aargh...."

"Ahh...." Ava screamed out, watching the person in front of her in horror.

"Hahaha.... got you," Felix laughed, holding his stomach and watching her scared face.

Felix Mathew was her childhood friend who was of her age. He worked as a stableman in the royal castle. He had replaced his father's position after his demise. The royals were good enough to not let his family live without any job, so they asked Felix to take his father's place in caring for the royal horses.

"You pig..... Felix, you scared me....." she yelled before continuing," Is this a way to come and meet your friend" she held her chest, trying to calm her breath.

"I was just testing you. I had heard someone say that Ava doesn't get scared of anything" Felix smirked when he repeated the words she spoke whenever she got scared.

He went and sat on the chair next to the dining area. Resting his hand on the table, he kept looking at his friend. She got scared, and that made him laugh at her. At first, he didn't want to pull a prank on her but her too-solid resolve of being the brave one now crumbled when he scared her.

"A sensible person walks straight in from the door, not from the window" she looked at the window and went to close it. She had forgotten to shut them before going to sleep.

"What brings you here?" Ava walked and sat next to him, pulling another chair for herself. Even if she wanted to smack his head, she still couldn't do that to him. He had always been like this with her, who loved to tease and pull her leg.

"I got a day off" he took an apple from the basket and took a bit.

Ava couldn't believe her ears listening to his words. She lifted her hand, reaching her palm on his forehead. Did she hear him right? she thought.

"From where did the sunrise today."

Felix jerked her hand away from his head and gave her a stern look. Now she was teasing him.

"From where it rises every day" he kept eating the apple until he finished it all.

Felix wanted to get fresh up as he had directly come from the castle. He thought of meeting her first as he didn't get a chance to see her that often.

"Has the king softened his heart for giving his servant a day off?"

Ava had never seen Felix free from work or spending time with his family. He would always be in the castle taking care of the royal horses, and sometimes he would sleep in the stable.

"Thanks to the King.... he is rumored to be dead. I heard he was being killed by his enemy" he stood up to leave, making her gasp at his words.

The castle was flooded with the news of the King's death, which spread like fire all over the kingdom.

"Don't tell me, the cruel King died" she was shocked by the news herself.

She had heard from her father about the King being ruthless. The most powerful one from their legacy. He was vital to kill hundreds of men with his own hands, without sparing a glance whether it was old or young.

He was the heartless one who would spend his night devouring every woman for satisficing his desire, and if anyone didn't obey him, he would not think twice before slicing their throat.

"It's just a rumor which I heard from the royal staff. But didn't get the liberty to see Dominic's corpse" Felix rolled his eyes at her shocked face. If she kept her mouth open for even five more minutes, definitely a bug would enter it.

" What if he is dead, they won't spread such news if it was not true" she closed her mouth when she saw him roll his eyes at her.

"I hope so, but I'm happy that at least his rumored death gave me some time to meet you all, or else I thought I would grow old serving the royals," he huffed and walked out, waving his hand.

"I will meet you soon," he shouted.

Ava kept looking at his retreating back, recalling his words," How can a powerful man like him be killed?" she thought before getting up and walking into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

***************************

"What! The King died?" Karissa yelled when Ava informed her about the death news Felix had given her.

"Yes.. that's what Felix told me" she shrugged her shoulder.

Karissa came to stay for a night at Ava's house. When Leonard told her that Coal would be out tonight and it would take him at least two days to return, she decided to give her friend some company.

He was traveling to the neighboring village to treat the people there. He got the information that people being attacked by wild animals would kill them brutally to ease his hunger. The villagers tried to catch it but were severely injured by his claws. The people who survived his attack were poorly wounded, while others were mercilessly killed.

"Father has asked to lock the door and shut the windows before going to sleep. He said not to open the door for anyone" Karissa was the coward one in them.

"Don't worry, the animal won't come here" Ava shook her head in disbelief, watching her friend scan the whole room.

"What if it does, Ava we can't take the risk okay" she kept following her like a scared cat helping her to shut the window and lock the door.

After ensuring that every door and window was looked at, both girls entered Ava's room.

*********************

Karissa fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was the one who would sleep as soon as her body lay on the bed.

After having dinner, Ava cleaned the kitchen table and washed the utensil before going back to sleep. Her sleep had far left her eyes as she slept the whole afternoon getting refreshed. She took a book from the bookshelf and started reading it to get her eyes tired.

After reading the book for more than an hour, she started feeling sleepy. Ava closed her eyes when she heard the growling sound from the window.

She opened her eyes when the growl sounded like a familiar one. She creased her brows and got up, rubbing her eyes to stay fully awake. Pulling away the curtains, she looks outside. It was too dark outside, with only the moonlight falling on the green grass.

Ava looked outside the window, watching the trees and listening to where the sound came from. When her eyes stopped at a particular red light that came from the tree a distance away.

She narrowed her eyes sharply, looking at the tree, when she saw a shadow standing there, and the red light was nothing but the colors of eyes that kept looking at her window.

Ava gulped in fear when she felt the shadow coming away as the red light darkened. It felt like a predator who was howling behind the tree. Was it the same animal father talked about, she thought...

She clutched the curtains and slid them to cover the window. She was sweating on what she had seen just a moment ago. Was it true that the wild animal was roaming around, taking people's life? But it was in the neighboring village. How can the animal come here in their place?

But... what if the animal is now in their place? she took a deep breath, taking the courage to look once more to confirm her doubts. She again pulled back the curtain and watched the same place where she had seen the shadow, but this time... she didn't see anyone, and the sound was also stopped.

"Ava... I think you are too sleepy... you better go back to bed and stop hallucinating anyone" she closed the curtain and went back to bed before dozing off to sleep.

Outside her house, the shadow came quickly and stood close to the window where she was sleeping. The red eyes kept looking at the window as if it was waiting to see her before retreating.