Yuki had a plan. Granted, it wasn’t a good one, but she guessed she had about half the chance it would work. The goal was simple: to escape the cage. The lock was a wood contraption with a single wood bolt holding the door closed. Yuki’s paw could barely reach the lock, but she was confident she could reach the lock.

She hopped closer, then looked at the lock again. Sturdy, heavy, and smelling of fresh-cut wood. She sniffed it, the scent was pleasant and calming, it made Yuki think of lazing on a comfy reading chair, a book in hand, and hot tea in the other. She shook her head, now wasn’t the time to get distracted. She extended her paws outside and tried to pull the bolt out. It didn’t work. Yuki’s claws scraped the wood but found no purchase. She tried from another angle with the same result. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t move it. She sighed and tried one last time.

The claw stuck on something, and the bolt shook. Yuki held back her euphoria and finished dislodging the thing blocking the door. The piece of wood clattered away, and the door opened with its familiar creaking. She jumped out and hopped about, overjoyed at her newfound freedom.

The door to Jenny’s room flew open, it hit the opposite wall with a bang. Jenny ran inside the room, holding two envelopes in her hand. She turned and closed the door then locked it shut.

Yuki froze. Jenny shouldn’t be here at this hour. It wasn’t even noon! Why was she here?

Jenny locked eyes on Yuki and strode forward. With an agile movement, she cooped the rabbit in her arms. “It’s finally happening Biscuit!” The girl giggled, twirling. “Finally!”

Yuki closed her eyes, dizzy from all the whirling. When the movement stopped, she opened her eyes again. Jenny sat on the bed shoes and all, with two envelopes laid in front of her.

One, a simple piece of parchment, the seal already broken, the other an opulent letter with the wax seal still intact. The simple envelope had blocky, utilitarian letters, while the fancy one was written in flowery cursive. Yuki couldn’t read any of those, but the cursive looked pretty.

Jenny smiled at the rabbit, then tapped the one with the blocky script. “This one is from Ferdinand.” She picked up the parchment inside and scanned its contents. “He’ll arrive today and stay for the festival tomorrow.”

One of those words pinged something in Yuki’s memory. Ferdinand, Yuki was pretty sure it was a name. Somehow, she disliked it. Her teeth ground against each other.

Jenny sighed, her nose scrunching. “He’s the son of a viscount.” She placed the parchment in the bed and sighed. It was a tired, defeated gesture. “Not anywhere close to a duchess, but it will have to be enough.” She crushed the parchment into a ball and then threw it across the room.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Yuki hopped closer and sniffed the fancy envelope. It smelled of roses.

There was another sigh, and Jenny took the envelope in both hands. With gentle and cautious movements, she broke the seal and took the white paper from inside. She sniffed the letter, a small, pleased smile breaking on her face.

Yuki watched the girl read the correspondence. Jenny’s face shifted between a range of expressions. She furrowed her brows, then growled like enraged beast. “I’m gonna kill that bastard!” At some point, her eyes were wide and disbelieving. Then she giggled like a lovestruck girl, and when she finished reading the letter, she was in tears, full-on ugly crying. Jenny hugged the letter and choked between sobs. “Oh Gizelda, you silly girl.”

Yuki had heard that name a few times, Gizelda. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was the same girl Jenny kept a portrait by her bedside. Awkward and not sure what to do, she hopped on Jenny’s lap and pressed herself against the girl.

Jenny hugged Yuki and the letter. At some point, she had laid down on the bed, crying in silence. Yuki wasn’t sure how much time they spent there, but Jenny sat up and cleared the tears with the back of her hand. She then put Yuki on the bed, and with the letter in hand, she went to the mystery door. She unlocked the triple lock and stepped inside. Unlike past times, Jenny forgot to close the door behind her.

Yuki debated. Should she do it? Jenny seemed to need some time alone, but Yuki was curious about the room. Why the triple lock? What did Jenny do inside it for hours on end? She knew she shouldn’t. It broke the trust between them, it was an invasion of privacy, and it was wrong. She hopped closer. Why was she even thinking these silly thoughts? She was a rabbit, and rabbits were curious creatures. Of course she was going to check out the mystery door.

Donning her spy persona, code-name: Ivory Intel, Yuki sneaked around the room, then across the door. The room on the other side was small and dark. A small cubicle, maybe it once was an indoor wardrobe, now the walls were bare, the flickering candle on the far end casting ghostly shadows. Jenny sat on a floor cushion near the source of the light.

Yuki’s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, and she wished it hadn’t.

Jenny sat in front of what could only be some sort of altar. In the center, a portrait of the Gizelda girl. Arranged around it were a carefully arranged stack of letters, small glass containers with a variety of colorful liquids inside, and an assortment of flowers in elegant configurations. No, the altar wasn’t the problem, the problem was the wall behind it.

Nailed to the wall, some with knives, forks, stakes, and even nails were hand drawn pictures. There were a lot of them, all arranged in a way to emphasize the picture in the center of the wall. A fat, balding man with beady leering eyes. A knife pinned the picture to the wall, piercing it exactly on its mouth. A red, blood-colored X crossed the face.

Jenny reacted to Yuki’s entrance. The girl turned, her eyes were wide and unfocused. Her smile was unhinged and with too many teeth. On one hand, she held a portrait of the girl on the altar. Jenny beckoned. “Biscuit! Come, let me introduce you to my best friend!”

Yuki heard the words; she understood her — not wanted — new name. She saw the inviting gesture. Yuki turned tail and ran out the door. She needed to escape, and she needed to escape now!