#merlee

The prophetess hurtled down the creaky wooden stairs as fast as her floor-length gown would allow, hiking up the fabric so as not to snag the toes of her shoes. Sweat pooled behind the bridge of her glasses and she stayed them with a hasty finger. Reaching the bottom of the staircase only rewarded Merlee with the sight of a grey, drab stone wall a short distance ahead. To her left, however, were two sets of double doors with designated signage above them. She burst into the far set labeled with a pink sign.

Merlee strode past a number of stalls before choosing one and locking herself inside, climbing onto the toilet seat and pressing herself flat against the cold wall tiles. She braced her arms against the stall on both sides to steady herself. And she listened.

Merlee grimaced as a distinct scuttling sound grew in volume and paused just outside the bathroom entrance almost immediately. The doors creaked open. That monstrous thing had been right on her heels after all, she simply hadn’t had the time or courage to check. The sound of those spindly, black legs tapping slowly across the floor was enough to hitch Merlee's breath. Thankfully, Merlee had seen at the start of their chase that the thing was too large to squeeze into the confined space where she hid. What had the arachnid done to the other residents of the mansion? The question conjured images of Merlee's trusted servants, trapped somewhere else or worse. She shuddered. The mansion staff were the main locals in Gloam Valley- if anything happened to them, their mistress would be the only living soul left in the whole region.

“Aww, was this something you didn’t foresee?” Asked the monster. “That doesn’t sound like you, Merlee.”

“He’ll stop you, I say. Heed my words and go away,” Merlee warned, mustering up a stern tone. The spider giggled at that. Any attempts to ward off the creature would be fruitless when cornered like this. All Merlee could do was hope and pray.

Skipping down the carpeted front halls of the mansion, Mimi smoothed the front of her skirt and tied a scalloped apron around her waist. Scaring the mistress of the house into hiding was embarrassingly easy, it was a wonder she hadn’t considered doing so sooner. Now the devious girl just had to wait for that supposed hero to arrive and the plan would fall into place. Mimi strode into a mostly empty foyer where she sat an ornate vase precariously on a high shelf. She giggled at the image of another hapless victim falling prey to her priceless trick. Oh dear, if only dummies would stop acting so careless and breaking the mistress’s precious décor! The girl pulled out an old-fashioned feather duster and busied herself with fake work- she was SO above manual labor, but she would have made such a cute little maid. It would be a waste not to play into the role at the moment. She might even consider taking up cleaning back at the castle if Count Bleck approved.