Chapter 21: Rose
I was woken the next morning by a knock at my door. I got out of bed and looked around. But whoever it was had already vanished.
A black bundle sat on my doorstep. I picked it up and shut the door, then walked over to my bed and unravelled it.
Wrapped up in a black sheet were clothes. Underwear, beautiful gowns, fluffy slippers, and a warm woolen coat.
About time, I thought. I’ve been walking around in this apartment barefoot with blankets pulled over me in this smelly old nightgown ever since I got here.
I took a shower and, discarding the old nightgown in a bin, I pulled on fresh underwear. I was relieved that it was the stretchy, comfortable type and not the itchy, lacy kind. Then I reached for one of the gowns and pulled it over my head. It was deep purple and made of silk. I layered the coat on top and looked in the mirror.
Hm. Not too shabby.
I brushed my hands through my hair to tame it.
Now all I need is Kristal’s makeup.
Kristal. Her name sent a dagger through my chest. I prayed that nothing had happened to her or her brother. If anything does, it will be all Ben’s and my fault.
I have to get out of here and save all of them.
Putting on the slippers, I decided to leave the room and go for another roam around the castle.
Walking around confirmed that Caleb was my only hope. Apart from Frieda, no other vampire would even speak to me. They avoided me in the corridors. I tried to talk to one of them, and she gave me a funny look and hurried off.
I reached the ground floor and walked from hall to hall until, at the back of the building, I found the entrance to the kitchen Frieda had taken me to.
I walked around, running my hand along the metal counter. The kitchen was huge—as big as any of the other halls.
I wonder where they keep all the humans? If these vampires drink their blood, it would be convenient to keep them near the kitchen. Perhaps in a dungeon. That’s normally where the poor mortals end up being stuffed in fairy tales.
I looked around the room for any sign of a door in the wall, or a trap door, but found none.
Hmm.
And then I heard it. Distant sobbing. I held my breath as I tried to make out from which direction it was coming.
I retraced my steps back out of the kitchen and took a sharp right turn. I walked along the corridor until I reached an open door. I peeped through it. In a hall I’d never passed by before, a woman perched on the windowsill, the window flung wide open. Her whole body convulsed as she cried out against the mountain wind.
The witch? Huh?
Her wailing was so heart-wrenching, I had to remind myself how she had treated me and Caleb to stop myself from going up to her and asking her what on earth was wrong. I had never expected such a creature could experience sorrow and grief. Even the witches back at The Shade were guarded with their emotions. So to see this woman howling disturbed me deeply.
I stood dumbstruck for several minutes. I was knocked to my senses only when footsteps came down the main staircase. I scrambled away in time to see three male vampires descend into the entrance hall and walk straight through to the dining room. I climbed back up the stairs and returned to my apartment.
Shivering, I jumped into bed and curled up beneath the blankets, the witch’s wails still echoing in my head. Her grief reached into the marrow of my bones.
Whatever and wherever this place is, its halls are haunted with sorrow and pain.
I miss The Shade.
I miss home.