Trying to form some sense, she sounded out the words written below her portrait. As she worked through the sounds, a strange energy began to build in the room. She could almost hear the walls humming, and despite something pulling at the edge of her brain, telling her to stop, curiosity piqued her interest and she continued to sound out the inscription.
Just as she finished sounding out the last syllable, an unbearable pain shot through her head. Gripping the edge of the table, she screamed out in agony. The entire world felt as if it were shaking, but when she looked around the room nothing seemed to be moving but her.
She spun around to the sound of someone’s voice and found old Mary standing in the doorway with a horrified expression on her face.
“Miss! Miss! What’s the matter? We’ve been looking everywhere for ye…” She stopped speaking as Blaire cried out once more.
Blaire tried to focus on Mary’s words, but the edges around the woman were blurring, and she saw the servant’s face swirl in on itself.
It was the most excruciating pain, and she couldn’t stop the agonizing screams that were escaping her lips. She was certain she was shattering into a million pieces.
When she looked down, she could no longer see the end of her dress, and she knew she was dying.
Her last conscious thought as she disappeared into the dust was that maybe she would get her wish after all.
Chapter 8
Scotland
Present Day
It took less time than we had expected to get to the castle ruins, and as I rounded the last corner of the road, I could see my mother fidgeting with anticipation. She started giving instructions the second I turned the compact rental onto the rocky road leading to the site.
“Okay. Just pull over here. We’ll walk the rest of the way. I’m going to go ahead and scan the area so I can decide how I want us to maneuver this. Meet me up there after you unload everything.”
I pulled over to the side of the road and watched as mom jumped out of the car to make her way to the base of the ruins.
Okay. Sure thing, Mom. You go on ahead. I got it. Really. I’ll have no problem carrying both of these backpacks. They’re only filled with enough supplies to last us a week or two. I rolled my eyes and continued my mental, one-way conversation with her as I stepped out of the car and walked around to the trunk.
I heaved the two backpacks out of the car and, balancing as best I could, I hung one around my right shoulder and one around my left, wobbling to the top of the hill to meet up with Mom.
Looking out over the expansive area, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could tell one area of the ruins from the next, but as I walked up behind Mom, I noticed she was already mapping out the site.
She pointed to the far right corner of the ruins. “See over there, honey, that was the laird’s chambers, overlooking the sea. To the right was the grand dining hall, and where we are standing right now would have been the main entrance. Can’t you see how beautiful it was?”
“I’m sure it was, but I have no idea how you are able to tell what room was what from staring at these piles of rocks.”
“I’ve been studying this for years. I’m as familiar with these rocks as you are with your classroom, but I’m hoping I’m not quite as familiar as I think, otherwise there’s no way another room actually exists in the basement. I think we should go straight down into the basement and start poking around there.”
“I’m following your lead. But first, you have to take your backpack.” I shrugged the heavy pack off my shoulder and dropped it at her feet.
“Let’s get started.” She quickly picked up the pack and, swinging it onto her back, took off toward the ruins, motioning for me to follow.
I stayed close behind as I followed her to a spot on the left-hand side of the ruins.
“Is this where the basement is?”
“Yes, it’s right up here. It’s been locked up to keep visitors out. Not completely safe, you see, but I have the key.”
“It doesn’t look as if it has been opened in a long time.” I stared down at the metal door on the ground, closed with a lock that was covered in rust.
“I don’t imagine anyone has been in since we stopped our excavation on the site. No other archaeologists have worked here, and now it’s mainly tourists that come to look at the ruins.”
In unison, we dropped to our knees. I grabbed the side of the heavy lock, holding it up in Mom’s direction, so that she could insert the key.
“It’s really stiff. I hope the key doesn’t break off when I turn it.” She paused nervously before turning the key to the left.
Luckily, it popped open with ease. Lifting the metal door open was another matter entirely.
Grass had grown up around the edges of the door, nearly burying it in the ground. Mom was already ahead of me, slipping on her yellow gloves and grabbing her shovel before I had a chance to swing my backpack off of my shoulders.
Half an hour later, with enough dirt dug up around the edges of the door, we were able to grab the large handle and pull it out of place, flipping it onto its other side on the ground.