Chapter 4.

Annabella unfroze, and slowly walked towards the Mongrol Forest. There were horrific sounds of ghostly whispers, terrified screams, and loud growls. She trembled in fright, but pulled in her might. She braced herself. Upon making her first step into the forest, a creature with thick white fur, long gray hair, chunky claws, and a momsterous body jumped from behind a tree. It was a mongrol. Annabella tripped on a twig, landing in the dirt. The mongrol jumped in her face and growled. Annabella screamed loudly for help. Unsure of what to do, Annabella shielded herself with her left arm, in fear and in hopes that the mongrol would not attack her. Just as he tried to claw Annabella's face, a second mongrol leaped from behind another tree and aggressively fought the first mongrol. Peeping through the cracks made her fingers, still covering her face and sitting on the ground, Annabella witnessed the action. The second mongrol gruesomely fights off the first mongrol until it runs away crying in defeat and in shame.

The second mongrol turned around, facing Annabella. He said, “What brings you to our forest, the Mongrol Forest?”

Annabella replied, “My father!” She stands up in her dirt stained rags. “I just need to get through here to see my father.”

“Aren't you afraid? The Mongrol Forest is not a place for little girls.”

“I will not allow you to stop me from seeing my father. I am going to get what is rightfully mine… a better life.”

“Who are you? What makes you so special?”

“I am Annabella Pomper, the daughter of King Henry Pomper the 17th.”

“...And I am Abe, a nobody… Your royal bloodline does not make you special in the middle of nowhere. I don't hurt people, but some of the other mongrols do. Now, get off our ground and step back onto your land!”

Annabella asked, “What is a mongrol?”

Abe responded, “We are humans on the inside, but monsters on the outside.”

“Why, I don't understand.”

“The King! The King! Your father is a terrible person. Why do you think your town is poor, and his is rich? Being a beast himself, he sleeps during the day, and causes bad things to happen at night.”

Annabella, tired of hearing bad things about her father, shook her head in disbelief.

Abe said, “It's getting darker. It's not safe. You need to leave.”

“I need to visit my father,” Annabella shouts as her stomach growls loudly.

“Fine. Come back tomorrow at this same spot, during the early evening. I will take you to see your father.”

Abe reached into the pockets of his fur, grabbed a handful of coins, and handed the coins to Annabella. Annabella gratefully accepted the money, agreed to return tomorrow evening, and ran away to home.

Once home, Annabella hurried inside and locked all of the bolts on the door. She checked to make sure the front door and back door was locked. Mother was coughing tremendously. Thankfully, she was also asleep, so Annabella did not have to explain why she had got back so late.

Yawning and blinking, Annabella hopped in bed, and rested.