Searching For the Heir Beneath

            Something surely went bump in the night and young Taylor could not help but be awakened by the sound. It was around ten o’clock and her parents were sound asleep; they could sleep through pretty much anything from thunderstorms to fire trucks or cop cars passing nearby on the street. She fished out a flashlight from her desk drawer nearby and switched it on, proceeding to the staircase. At the top, their Keeshond, Pepper, was laying on his side, paws sprawled out, tail, fluff and all. Hence given his name, he was a big pepper speck. This particular sight made Taylor chuckle a bit, but she remembered what she got up to do, then made her way down the steps.

            The house was silent as Taylor slipped her way into the darkness, though the kitchen light was often left on as so no one would lose their way around. She poured herself a glass of water and quickly gulped it down. She began to hear scratching noises now, accompanied by some bumps and crashes here and there. The noise was coming from the basement where all their extra storage was.

            What could be down there at this time of the night? She asked herself. Without fear, she made her way to the basement door. Slowly opening it, she felt a sudden wave of cold air that made her shudder. Aiming her flashlight downwards so she could see the stairs, she saw only darkness. Almost instantly, she heard something moving around.

            “Hello?” Taylor said softly from the top of the steps, moving her flashlight from side to side so it would reflect off the wall and noticed that the sound had stopped. She began to move her way down, each step being creakier than the last, almost like hearing sudden nails on a chalkboard. This particular sound made her cringe. When she reached the bottom, she saw how the back lamp was on. They never turned that light on unless they were down here, looking for something. Some of their storage boxes had been knocked over, torn open. Old sheets, Christmas ornaments, holiday decorations and other things were scattered along the cement floor.

            What is going on?

            Then she heard whimpering, as if someone was crying. She slowly shuffled her feet towards the sound and to her surprise; she shone the flashlight upon a boy who was hunched among some boxes underneath the back lamp that had been turned on. Except that he wasn’t a boy, he was more of a…creature, so to speak. He was short and small with dark hair, each strand being visible and looked as if he hadn’t washed it. Visible red marks or makeup made its way around his mouth and the outline of his face as if he had just came from getting jumped by a bunch of bullies in the schoolyard. His eyes had no lids and they looked bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept in days.

            “Who are you?” Taylor asked the creature. It wiped its face of fallen tears and peered up at her.

            “J-Jeff.” The creature stammered. Taylor turned off her flashlight and placed it on a nearby box. She then held out her hand.

            “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jeff.” He shook it nervously, but this made the girl smile. “My name is Taylor.”

            “What are you doing in my basement?” She asked him. He was shaking, shivering. Perhaps it was due to the cold air, it was never the warmest down here when it came close to winter time.

            “I can’t find a way out.” He said. He looked around nervously, as if planning is escape.

            “There’s a staircase right beyond those boxes over there.” Taylor pointed to show him. “I would assume that is how you got in here.” She suggested as she spun on her heel and began towards the entrance.

            “No, no, no!” Jeff wailed, which made the little girl stop in her tracks and return to where the creature sat. “I mean, I can’t get out of this body.” He moaned as he began to pull at his face, his hair and battered-looking skin. Taylor took a seat on a box that was located on the floor, folding her hands in her lap.

            “I don’t understand.” She said as she swung her feet lightly since they were just shy of touching the ground.

            “A long time ago, my father put a curse on me. He then banished me as his son and forgot about me.” He began a tale. Taylor loved stories such as this and was quite intrigued. Her father used to always read fairytales to her before she went to bed, though she was older now, but she still enjoyed them for the age of ten.

            “And no one tried to stop him?” She asked in response. The creature simply shook his head in sorrow. “How awful.” She put a hand softly to her cheek to show her sympathy for him.

            “Is there a way to change you back?” She asked, expressing her curiosity.

            “A kiss.” He said.

            “And what would that do to you?”

            “It would change me back into the handsome prince I was before.” Taylor was indeed curious about the change and she wondered what he looked like as a prince. She leaned in a bit, but decided to ask one last question:

            “How do I know you are really a prince like you say?” The creature simply couldn’t find a proper response to this, but only sighed.

            “Just close your eyes and trust me.” He said.

            Taylor took a deep breath.

            “Okay.” She said. “Close your eyes.” As she did the same.

            Jeff did as he was told. Taylor then leaned in.

            Closer. Closer, until their lips met. His lips were cold and dry; it didn’t surprise her since she assumed he had been down here quite a while due to his shivering so much.

            She then pulled away to part the kiss and opened her eyes, utterly surprised at what she saw.

            Jeff the creature was indeed, a handsome prince, just like he said. She couldn’t believe it.

            His scary face had faded; his skin looked back to normal. His hair was a dark, soot color and he was tall, not short anymore. He couldn’t help but throw his arms around her, pick her up and spin her around.

            “Oh, thank you so much!” He said. He patted himself up and down, pulling at his clothes and hair as if he could hardly recognize himself. “It’s really me!”

            Suddenly, there was a sound coming from the floor above them. The basement door opened and the main light was flicked on.

            “Taylor, are you down there?” Her mother called. Taylor had responded yes.

            “Well, what are you doing down there? It’s late.” Her mother moaned a sleepy response. Taylor then took the new prince by the hand and led him to the bottom of the steps to show her mom.

            “I found my prince!”

Author's Note

Same story, just newly edited version! :)

Reviews

[Aaron the Baron]

I've been meaning to read this too! How cute! If the girl were any older, living in today's world, her mind may have not been so open!