"Am not your wife, and there's no way I am going to share a room with you." I stubbornly fold my arm.
"It's either that, or we don't sleep tonight."
"Let's look for another inn. There must be one somewhere else. There's no way this can be the only inn in business."
Even if it takes us forever to locate another inn, it'll be better to go there than sleep in the same room with the devil.
"I doubt that's a great idea. Not only is this the only inn in the entire village, but there happens to be something that goes around at the strike of the tenth time.
No one have being able to see the said thing, but we've seen its handiwork. The people the strange thing happened to always have something like a mark on the faces, it's a mark that shows they've had fun in with the spirit."
" You can't scare me with such a feeble tale." I frown at him.
" It's true! " A small lad I failed to notice until he spoke, exclaimed. " You see that man over there, "he points to the tables at the end of the inn.
From where I am standing, I can see more than five tables occurred by only males. The few occupied by females are the ones close to the door.
The rest are occupied by males.
"Which of the men?"
"The last table near the window, the male sitting at the extreme." He points again.
This time, I got the exact person he's talking about, Not only for the fact the male happened to be the bulkiest one among them but there's a hideous scar on the side of his face.
A scare that can be seen as he points it out to those around him.
"That's the only one who survived the run-in with whatever it is that comes out at the stroke of ten." The young lad continues, "aside from that male with the scare, none of the victims survives. They're all killed, and their hearts removed by the…." hastily taking the key from the table, I dash towards the stairs, and the devil close on my heels.
I don't think I can endure hearing such a tale. It's not for someone like me.
"Wife, wait up." On the last floor, I stood still. In my front lies many doors, and I don't know the one that's ours.
Not only do the doors all have the same colour, but none looks like the suite they talked of.
"Which one is the room?" I ask the Devil without turning. Looking straight ahead, I try to calm my racing heart, while trying to also locate our room.
"Follow me, your room is Just round the corner." The same young lad appeared.
"Okay." Taking a very deep, steady breath, I follow him.
Only when I arrived in the room did I notice something, "where's the Dev…. The man I came with?" I turn to the lad in question.
"I don't know. He went back the moment I came up."
"I see." I nod with a self-satisfied smirk, "Thanks for showing me the way."
"It's my pleasure. I hope you enjoy your stay!"
"Thanks." I smile at him.
Unlocking the door with my key, I enter the room, I lock the door behind me to ensure the Devil doesn't come in.
There's enough space downstairs. Should he care to sleep, he can sleep on the benches.
Chuckling to myself at how clever I am, I decided to check out the room.
The room isn't like mine back in the kingdom, but it's okay.
The bed doesn't bleed, but it's enough to occupy two people, but that doesn't mean I am thinking of sharing it with the Devil.
There's no way in hell I am going to do that. The devil is better off in the inn.
The window on the right side of the room not only gives a complete view of the outside world but should there be a cause for me to escape from this room, I can make use of it.
As the ground isn't all that far from here, there's a possibility I might be able to jump down without incurring any wounds on myself. My legs might not get broken from the fall.
The dressing table with its olden day's mirror reminds me so much of mine back at the palace. The mirror and the dressing chair arose a nostalgic feeling within me.
I know I don't like my family, but that doesn't mean I don't miss the things I have back in the Palace, not to talk of Aunty who might not have shed a tear when she made me up, but deep down, I know she's balling her eyes off.
Running my hand through the mirror, my mind got transported back to the days when I was still ignorant of my future.
Days when I thought I was normal *not that, am still not normal. Of course, being normal.*
*
*
I took a needed bath. Shedding the same clothes I fought the Devil with, I breathe out a sigh as the warm water touched my skin.
The feeling is a well-cooked homemade meal.
Taking as much time as I want, I slowly took my bath. Only when the water became cold did I decide I'd had enough.
Drying my body with the towel I saw in the bathroom, I exit.
"Gods!" I shriek in fear when I saw the Devil casually lying on the bed. "What…. who…. how did you come in here?" I frown at him as I tightly clutch my towel.
"I have every right to be here just like you do. I don't know, I need to have a reason to be here." He raised a brow.
I rush to the door, tugging on it, I turn to him confused. The door is still locked.
" How did you enter here?"
"I might be acting a little too human, and that made you forget who I am." He smirked, "don't forget, darling, am still the devil."