“If the person making the declaration isn’t of pure intent, the box will kill whoever is inside and whoever attempted to free the prisoner.”
I tensed up, pushing against Silas in an attempt to get away from the box. “Wow. Ok. So how did Danny and Gerald escape?”
He stepped away, allowing me space. “My guess? Takeo threatened Alice with something substantial—something that would transform her statement into a sacrifice. Maybe he told her that if she didn’t open the box, he would kill somebody that she loves, or something worse. By that logic, her freeing the prisoner is a selfless act to save a person’s life. She is of pure intent.”
“Damn.”
He stopped before the next box, his head tilted to the side. “They left you a note.”
I locked up my reaction and approached with only a surface layer of curiosity instead of the full-body panic that I was becoming prone to. Silas was right, there was a rhyme scribbled on the glass in black marker—a welcome deviation from Danny’s usual, sloping red handwriting. In fact… it didn’t look as though Danny had written the rhyme at all.
“Humpty dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall?” Silas read the words out like a question, and I knew that he was thinking the same thing as me.
“Maybe we’re supposed to go and find them?” I glanced around the room once more, though I trusted Silas enough that I didn’t really expect to see anyone. “Maybe that’s supposed to be a clue?”
“Only one way to find out.” Silas shrugged and started walking back toward the doorway. “Let’s go up to the roof. It’s one of the only parts of the original structure that hasn’t been altered. From inside, this place is some kind of elaborate mansion, but from up there… it’s just an old castle. With a wall that’s easy to fall off.”
We left the prison room with the glass boxes and started to ascend to more familiar parts of the house. Silas avoided the elevator, using staircases that had been tucked away and forgotten, first at one end of the house and then at another end altogether. We walked in silence and for a long time, but I didn’t mind. It gave me time to ready myself, at least mentally. By the time we broke through a door at the top of a particularly steep and dusty staircase, I was halfway to convinced that I could face Danny and walk away alive.
“Ah!” a voice boomed out, just as a wild gust of wind whipped my hair into my face. “Our guests have arrived! How nice of you to join us! Didn’t I tell you that you wouldn’t be able to help yourself, Seraph? But… only two of you? Shame, girl. You were supposed to make this easy for me.”
I pushed the hair out of my face and squinted through the shadows of the rapidly-darkening sky to where two men were silhouetted against the backdrop of an old castle parapet. It was made with large, crumbling blocks of stone, and I wished for a frantic, selfish moment that the slightly smaller man—who was sitting atop one of the blocks of stone—would suffer the fate of a gust of wind and tumble backwards. I had no idea what was on the other side, if anything, but it was better than me having to deal with him.
“Hello Weston,” I said coolly. “Hello Danny.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to you right now,” Weston replied, reaching over to pat Danny’s shoulder. “He’s upset with you.”
“Why are you both still here?” I ignored Danny entirely, since it was easier to focus on Weston. “Why haven’t you escaped yet? Why are you waiting?”
“Well, you see, I set up a little test for you when you came to stay here, Seraph.” Weston kicked away from the wall and walked toward me, his hands hidden inside his pockets.
Silas stepped in front of me immediately, his tense arms slightly outstretched.
“You failed,” Weston continued. “You failed the test, and now I’m not sure if I can redeem you.”
I peered around Silas, noting that Weston had stopped walking. He met my eyes, but then he turned his attention to Silas.
I curled my hands into tight fists. “You use your power on him one more time, Weston, and I’ll use my valcrick to fry you from the inside out.”
“Is that a threat?” Weston tittered, his tone patronizing. “You really don’t want to make me angry right now. Not after what I’ve discovered about you two. About the five of you.”
“It’s not true,” I immediately stepped out from behind Silas. “I know what they told you. It’s not the first time people have tried to spread these rumours. It isn’t true. You’ve tested it yourself.”
“Evidently not enough.” Weston was almost sneering now.
An eerie laugh broke through the tension that had the three of us gripped, and we all turned back to the wall—to where Danny sat.