The Cursed Princess

“That's not fair!” There's no way they can do this to me! They can't make me marry Prince Lucas! Being eight, I don't have much say in these matters but that's not the point! They can't do that to me. Shaking my head I look dead in their eyes waiting for a response.

Seeing my parents faces turn into a scowl, I knew I shouldn't have said that. “What have we told you about whining?” My mom asked me. “I'm sorry, it won't happen again.” Breaking eye contact, the food in front of me doesn't seem to call out to me anymore. Knowing that my parents will punish me I begin to eat slowly. Being punished isn't anything new to me as all princess's have to go through it sooner or later.

The princess's punishments can be anything from being sent to her room to being put into the dungeon depending on the situation. I have been sent to my room many times and have even gotten a few bruises. Knowing what it would do to my parents, they will never be shown to anyone not even my best friend who is only a kingdom away.

It was normally always quiet when we ate, but not on a night like this. “So, Evelyn,” my dad began. “You will meet Lucas tomorrow morning after breakfast. You will be kind and polite. Do you understand?”

Looking up from my food, I managed to put a smile on my face. “Yes sir.” He nodded in approval.

A few minutes later we all finished our food and left the dining area. “Evelyn I want to show you something.” My mother told me as we were walking out of the dining room.

“Okay?”

My mom began to lead me down the halls of the old castle. The castle of Newark has been here for hundreds of years. Sometimes people wonder how it's still standing with the damage in some areas. Either way you look at it, it’s a beautiful castle.

Not many people get to come to a castle like this or a royal kingdom for that matter. In order to come you must be invited or part of the family.

“Here it is.” We stopped in front of a door that had a moon symbol on it. I’ve never seen this door before even after being around this castle so many times, it’s nailed in my brain.

Handing me the key, my mother told me, “This is now yours, protect it with your life and good luck. This door is now yours.” I know! had a confused look on my face as my mom walked away.

I had no idea what laid behind that door or if the door should even be opened. Looking down at what I was wearing, the better choice was to go change. The maid didn't like it when anyone got their dresses dirty.

While still holding the key tightly in my hand, I walked to my room which took a few minutes as the castle was so big. Walking into the closet, I changed into a hoodie and some shorts. It didn't really matter what we wore at night as nobody was around to see. Even when my parents went to the village, being in comfortable clothes was much rather refereed than a tight dress. Although, sometimes my parents invited me to go with them. Wishing I could just be out there everyday gave me hope that life would be a little easier.

After changing, I went down the hallways once more in search of the door. Arriving at the door, there was a moon symbol on it. “What could this mean?” The moon was a crescent moon but it was a dark blue color. Unlocking the door, I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The door opened with a creak.

Looking down I saw a flight of stairs. It looked like it went under the castle, but there shouldn't be anything underground. While being careful, I slowly began to descend the stairs. It was dark, but the dark never bothered me. Reaching the bottom, I looked around the dark room. Looking in front of me there was a little light coming from what looked like a window. Maybe I'm not under the castle. I looked in the middle and saw a table. The table looked to have some kind of symbols on it.

Walking over to the table, I looked at the symbols. It looked like they were in some kind of pattern. Running my hand over them, I got a feel for each of them. “A cross...” I noticed that there were more crosses than any other symbol on the table. What can that mean? I looked at the books on the table. They also each had their own symbol that matched the tables. Taking the first one from the pile, I laid it down and opened it. I tried to read the words but it didn't look like anything I've ever seen. Making a mental note, I closed the book and put it back in the stack.

Looking over to the left of the room, there were some chairs and what looked to be like a board. This had to have been some kind of a classroom. Or else there wouldn't be anything in here. I saw writing on a particular desk and went to stand in front of it. On the top right corner was a name. Reading the name aloud, it was, “Mark Luther.” I've never heard of a Mark Luther. This doesn't make sense. I shook my head trying to shake all the possibilities of who the person could be. Was he evil? Was he a devil? Was he someone important or just nobody I need to worry about? I take a deep breath and trace my hand along the wall. Something tells me something is here that shouldn't be here. I walked to the other side of the room and looked at what looked to be a cell.

I looked closer at it and saw there was a flight of stairs below there. “Where can that go?” I need to be quiet, I don't know who's up. I just hope all this noise doesn't wake anyone up and people start coming to look for the sound. The darkness seemed to grow more the more I! looked down there. I went to open the door but it was locked. I looked at the key in my hand and wondered if it would open. There's only one way to find out I guess. I put the key in the lock and turned it. The door unlocked.

I pushed the door open and began the descent. Walking down, I could tell something didn't feel right. Eventually my feet hit solid ground and I let my eyes get adjusted to the new level of darkness. It seemed that my eyes could always shine a path in front of me. I don't know why, as my eyes are just as normal as anyone's.

EVELYN

After about a minute or so, my eyes were adjusted and I looked around. The first thing I noticed was a shadow like creature in the corner. What is that? Why is it near me? “Is anyone there?” There wasn't a response. I stared at the shadow. It stared back at me and suddenly the shadow’s face came into view and I screamed. I was frozen in place. The face looked like it had been stabbed multiple times. It looked like the person had died a horrible, horrible death. I could also smell the stench of death. The shadow moving closer to me snapped me out of my frozen stance. I began running down the tunnels.

Running, I could feel the shadow behind me. It felt evil like it wanted to kill me. I could feel the energy coming off of the walls I was running by. Each step I took, it felt like it was harder to breath. I turned a corner and stopped again. I was trying to catch my breath only for my fear to worsen. There was a bunch of bodies in front of me. All of the bodies