As the crazed woman entered the house, she stopped abruptly, probably scanning the room. Muttering under her breath, she began pacing with small steps. I slipped back into the room with the trapdoor and threw myself under the bed, heart pounding so hard I feared she’d hear it. My hands trembled uncontrollably, sweat rolling down my face as panic surged through me. One mistake, and I was dead.
She muttered again, her words muffled, incomprehensible. Then, with slow steps, she climbed the ladder. Each creak of the rungs sent a wave of dread through me, the sound grating against my nerves.
"Thieves found this place, huh?" Her voice was sharp, laced with irritation. Reaching the top, she gripped the last rung tightly before hoisting herself up. "Damn idiots."
She retracted the ladder and sealed the trapdoor. Her sharp eyes swept the room as she turned to leave but paused suddenly, glancing back over her shoulder. Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding audibly. For a brief moment, her usual mocking smirk vanished, replaced by something much darker—raw hatred. The intensity in her eyes made my skin crawl. She looked like an entirely different person, her demeanour ice-cold and menacing.
Shaking her head, she inhaled deeply, holding the breath before releasing it slowly, almost like she was calming herself. Her hand brushed against the hilt of the dagger strapped to her belt—the dagger I needed. If I could just grab it, I’d run and never look back. This wasn’t about stopping her; it was about surviving. And I needed that dagger to survive.
“They broke into my home,” she hissed, her voice dripping with venom. “I should eat them for that alone.”
Her words sent a chill down my spine. I stayed frozen as she left the room, heading toward the curtained doorway. Quietly, I slid out from under the bed and flattened myself against the wall near the door, peeking out just enough to see her. She was in the other room, holding the strange book I’d found earlier. She flipped a page, her expression tightening. She was---reading an empty page?
“I’ll find another one,” she muttered, gripping the book like it was her lifeline. “I swear. How about that man outside?”
I leaned a little more, trying to see if anyone else was in the room with her, but she was alone. Talking to herself.
“Why?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Please… stop. Don’t make me.”
Her fingers curled tightly around the book before she hurled it against the wall with a frustrated shout. It bounced off and landed on the floor with a dull thud. Grabbing at her hair, she pulled it messily, her face contorting with anguish. I didn’t know what her problem was—and I didn’t care. The dagger was my goal, not whatever was happening in her mind.
“No, no,” she begged, her voice trembling. “Let me be… It’s dark there! I don’t—”
She froze mid-sentence, her hands dropping limply to her sides. Slowly, her mouth twisted into a sly grin, her entire demeanour shifting. Picking the book off the floor, she placed it gently on the table, her movements unnervingly calm now. The change was almost too stark—it was like watching two different people inhabit the same body.
Footsteps echoed from below. Hearing the trapdoor click open, I dove back under the bed, holding my breath as the ladder creaked again.
“I’m getting too old for this,” an older woman muttered, her voice tinged with fatigue.
Suzan’s mother ascended slowly, her greying hair dishevelled and her shoulders hunched. Reaching the top, she shut the trapdoor behind her and stepped forward. Her posture straightened when she saw Suzan step out of the curtained room, book still in hand. The older woman knelt on one knee, her head bowed low.
“My Queen,” she said reverently, her voice trembling with devotion. “We can finally move to another city. We have enough gold.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Suzan’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Not yet, my loyal subject. I want one more victim.”
“Who, my Queen?” her mother asked, lifting her gaze.
“That boy. Axel,” Suzan growled, her voice dripping with malice. “I want him. In me.”
My stomach twisted. I had assumed these two were just deranged cannibals, scavengers devouring whatever they could find. But this? This was something far darker, far stranger. Their relationship was nothing I could have anticipated. Queen and loyal subject? This was too much.
The older woman nodded solemnly, her expression unwavering. “Then you shall have him, my Queen. Shall I go and find him for you?”
“Yes,” Suzan snapped, her tone sharp and commanding. “Bring him to me. As soon as possible.”
I swallowed hard, bile rising in my throat. Whatever this was, I was in way over my head. And now, I had a target on my back… the last thing I needed.
The mother opened the hidden entrance and descended the ladder, her footsteps fading into the distance. Suzan lingered in the doorway, her head tilted slightly, her gaze fixed on the floor. After ensuring she was alone, she began pacing, her steps slow. Then, with a sigh, she entered the room where I was hiding and sat at the edge of the bed.
The mattress sagged under her weight, pinning me even tighter against the floor. I froze, one hand clamped over my mouth to muffle my breathing, my chest tightening with the effort to stay silent.
She unbuckled her belt, letting it fall carelessly to the ground. The Queen's dagger rested on it, gleaming faintly in the dim light. It was within arm’s reach—so tantalizingly close. My instincts screamed at me to grab it and bolt, but my rational mind knew better. If I made the wrong move, she’d have me in an instant.
“What the shit!” A voice from outside broke the tense silence. “Oi! Are you okay?”
Suzan snapped her head toward the sound, her expression shifting to annoyance. She jumped to her feet, moved to the window, and pried a plank loose, peering out. It had to be the other man—the one I’d knocked out and stashed inside the beast’s corpse. He must have woken up and discovered his dead friend.
With a low grunt, she stormed back to the hidden entrance, yanked it open, and began descending.
This was my chance. I could have placed the dagger in my inventory just to be safe, but the thought of Suzan catching me without any weapon to defend myself felt like a death sentence.
I crawled out from under the bed, heart pounding in my ears, and snatched the dagger from the ground. Sliding it into my sheath, I crouched by the trapdoor, waiting for her to fully disappear. The moment I was sure it was clear, I leapt down.
Pain shot through my leg as I landed hard, my wounded knee buckling beneath me. I bit down on a cry of agony, crawling frantically across the floor before I could force myself back onto my feet. Every step was a struggle, but adrenaline kept me moving.
“Shit… come on, come on.”
Peeking through the door, I saw Suzan outside. She held the man by the neck, lifting him effortlessly off the ground. His legs kicked wildly, his hands clawing desperately at her face. She only grinned wider, her expression one of sick delight.
Then, with a quick, horrifying motion, her fingers clenched, crushing his throat as if it were paper. Blood sprayed from the wound, and the man’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered, barely able to process what I’d just seen. My stomach churned, but there was no time to dwell on it. I ducked back inside as she turned, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
Her footsteps approached the house, growing louder with each passing second. I darted behind the nearest couch, crouching low and pressing myself against its base. My hands trembled violently, and cold sweat dripped down my face. If she found me, there’d be no escape.
Suzan entered, her steps echoing ominously as she moved through the room. She checked every corner, like she was looking for something---or someone. My pulse quickened with every sound she made. At one point, her footsteps stopped, and the silence became deafening.
I dared to peek out, inching my head around the edge of the couch. My eyes scanned the room. She was gone—vanished as if she’d evaporated into thin air. Panic gripped me.
I turned back, and there she was. Standing right in front of me.
Her twisted grin stretched across her face, her eyes alight with malice. “Yellow, Axy-Axy,” she purred, her voice dripping with mockery. She cocked her head, her expression utterly delighted. “You don’t know how much Suzan and I missed you.”