8 : The Unexpected

Immediately, Ashley's mouth fell wide open. "Oh gosh, this can't be happening", she thought. "The monster king's son is standing there, a person who might be the monster prince, I mean the dark prince, after all."

He looked at her questioningly, his rather ethereally beautiful - um, not beautiful - face marred with a deep scowl, which seemed to be directed towards none other than her. The dark ink tattoed on the right side of his face seemed to intensify any emotion displayed.

"What the hell did I do, Mr. Prince?!" Ashley asked him instinctively. "Aw shit! Shouldn't have asked that! Because his scowl only seemed to become even more fierce at that," she internally berated herself for her thoughtlessness.

"What are you doing here?" he asked; very rudely, must she add.

"Um...I guess I came here before you did," Ashley replied, frowning slightly.

"Well, you should go now, since I am the prince here while you are just a common girl," he said coldly.

Ugh...she tried not to mind his words, but they did cut deep. Add arrogance to his personality list... Ashley pouted to herself, thinking. What should she do?! Going away would be a cowardly thing to do, whereas staying could risk her precious life! Who knew...he could be murderous! After some deliberation, she decided to avert her eyes from his, and looked beyond the beautiful lake.

"Are you deaf? I just asked you to go away!" he shouted angrily.

She stood there, ignoring him. She might as well act like she couldn't hear him. The sky beyond the frozen lake was an oceanic blue colour. The clouds floated lightly on the sky, making is a little whitish. It was like a painting on a canvas. A mixture of pink, blue, white, and some crimson in parts. The clouds were lined with silver and grey streaks. The trees on the opposite side of the lake was softly moving with the breeze. And the snowy white drops against the green background was surreal. Her gaze flickered. Suddenly, she could see a blinking light at a distance on the opposite site of the lake, the midst of the bluish green trees. It hovered for a second in thin air. The next moment though, it had vanished. What was that?

Ashley stepped forward, trying to find the light. It could not have disappeared like that, in the middle of nowhere! It had not seem like a lamp or something, either, for she was sure she had not seen any person there. It had been like a mass of sparkling white star, or a luminous glass ball hanging from an invisible thread.

"What happened?" someone asked nearby. Who was it? She could not remember anyone being there with her, she could not see either. Oh...shit. What was happening to her? Ashley's mind became frantic, as she tried to grab at the answers she couldn't reach. All she saw was the spot beyond the lake! The light seemed to have returned. It stood there, hanging in nothingness. It was a strange white light, which seemed to become hazier and hazier as the seconds ticked by.

"Are you okay?" the same voice asked her again. But she could no longer discern it's meaning. Her mind was becoming fuzzy, losing all it's focus, her vision was blurring and her body was becoming numb.

"Damn," she muttered, before collapsing on the ground.

***

"What did you do?! The girl was not our object! Leave it to you to go on and involve her," thousands and thousands of miles away, a voice angrily growled. "Isn't there one thing I can rely upon you to do correctly?!"

A short, plump man stood on the other side of the table separating him from the voice. His hands twitched nervously, as his face betrayed his fear. He said timidly, "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"Won't happen again? That's the best lie you could come up with? You seem to forget our aim!"

The other man looked even more depressed at that.

"What do you plan to do about the girl?" the voice asked.

"I have deluded her, sir. She will be unable to remember anything when she wakes up," happy to be able to boast of at least one achievement.

"Fine. One problem over. Make sure not to repeat it. Now, are you sure you will be able to do the rest of the job?"

"Yes, yes, I will," he said hastily, somewhat hurt that his master was doubting him.

"Go and continue the job you were supposed to do, then. But make sure not to be too hasty. Wait till the time is ripe. Now I dismiss you," it said for one last time, before the other man swiftly exited the huge, silent hall, his footsteps fading away.