SECRET PASSAGE
Her bare feet padded over the soft quality carpet leaving no traces or sound for one to hear. Everything her curiosity explore on its own, forgetting the sole purpose she stepped out of the room. Running her fingers over the walls and paintings with great curiosity and excitement, she felt the textures of the framed paintings, walking in the opposite direction, not where she had to go. It was nowhere near the kitchen. She was heading into the deeper and darker side of the mansion.
"Uff... where on Earth are you going, Vili? You could have asked for help from those maids..." She scolded herself under her breath. Sighing out, she shook her head and continued to head straight, believing she'd get the was somehow following the lead of the bewitching paintings, but then, it was quite visible that she wasn't on the right path.
The more she walked in the more the paintings turned gothic but one of the paintings which she came across caught her attention the most stopping her tracks. She moved closer to the painting and ran her fingers over the hooded figure. For some reason, she could not take her eyes off the painting. It was the same creature that nearly strangled her to death. It wasn't a picture of its entire figure but a side profile. The very picture reminded her of the incidents that she could not remember earlier. Shrills ran down her spine and her heart was beating at a faster pace, but her curiosity was to no end.
The painting felt so real as if it was moving. She leaned forward observing it more closely and clearly. Suddenly, feeling something moving from the corner of her eyes she turned to her left only to see the eerily quiet hallways but then, there was a white handkerchief. She walked towards it and kneeled taking the handkerchief. She opened the crumpled handkerchief and frowned looking at it which earlier looked white was now soaked wet in red. Only the borders weren't stained. Vilian brought it closer to her nose and smelled it. It gave an iron rusty smell.
'It was BLOOD!!!' Vilian got alarmed and searched for the person to whom it belonged or where it came from. The air that had been so still now had gained a slight movement, as if it had discovered its direction yet was content to meander at its own pace. She felt the sudden breeze hit her. It was quite confusing for there weren't any ventilators or windows visible. She got up from the floor taking the handkerchief with her and heard someone's sharp footsteps padding over staircases echoing faintly. Vilian searched for the source where the sound was coming from but could not for there weren't any stairs that were visible to her sight too. She started to follow the sound.
"Seems like the sound's coming from the other side of the wall... But it looks like there's no way to go there from here," said Vilian, keeping her ears over the cold wall. Hearing the footsteps moving she followed the same way keeping her ears on the wall. Half walking and half running she heard the footsteps stop, making her abruptly stop in the middle of the hallway. There was a torch that lit dimly giving a source for her to observe her surroundings. Vilian turned to her right and stood rooted, tilting her head.
"What?! That's it?" she asked annoyingly. In front of her was a huge stone brick wall that lead nowhere. "Something doesn't seem fine..." she thought with a frown mearing on her forehead. "There should be something," she said and started to run her fingers over the wall and observed it keenly and then saw a brick that was a bit smaller than the other bricks placed leaving a small gap around it, "Secret passage!" She whispered.
"What curious little kitty you are?" came a deep voice from behind that made her startle and bite her tongue.
"Ouch..." winced Vilian feeling the tip of her tongue go numb.
"How troublesome you are? Didn't I say you not to step out of the room alone? This isn't a park for you to wander where ever you wish to," he said. Vilian could not turn to face him feeling him so close to her. His heat was radiating behind her. "How hard is it for you to follow just a simple word?" She felt him placing one of his hands above her head and the other ran over her shoulder to her right hand. She felt ticklish but suppressed her giggles hardly.
Astrel moved closer to her ears, his surprisingly soft lips touching her earlobe, "You wouldn't want yourself to be dead coldly, blood drained out of your body, would you?" he asked with a dangerous tone. Vilian could imagine the devilish smirk tugging on his lips as he spoke. She felt tongue-tied, trying hard to find out her voice. Her throat felt so dry that she could not make out a word under his eagle-like eyes gazing at her slightest moves.
"I-I heard s-some footsteps echoing when I came in search of Mr. Falcon..."
Swiftly twirling her around like a ballet doll, he made her face him, raising her chin with his index finger. Vilian felt her breath hitched. "Isn't hearing footsteps something normal, or is it the first time that you've heard it?" He asked, sliding her golden hair strands behind her ears.
"N-No..." stuttering her words she shook her head and remembered the stained handkerchief. "I heard it behind these walls. The footsteps were echoing as if the person was descending the stairs. Look, I found this bloodied handkerchief before I heard the footsteps," she said, handing over the handkerchief that she took out from her pocket and dangled it in front of Astrel's eyes. He took it and examined it.
"Bloodied, you say?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Vilian nodded her head but her eyes went wide looking at the handkerchief which was stained bloody red earlier when she look it was now pure white. Not a hint of dirt was on it.
"H-how?? I just saw it was wet with blood and it smelled of blood. Thi-this can't be happening. "A-Astrel, I saw it lying on the floor earlier but not clean white like this," she shook her head vigorously not believing it. Astrel neither ignored it nor accepted it, leaving her in a questioning gaze.
'Looks like, he does not believe me,' thought Vilian and took hold of his hand, which made him taken aback. She dragged him in the direction where she saw the painting. Astrel let her drag him where ever she was to take him. His gaze was on the small hand that was holding onto his long index and mid finger so tightly. She had small hands that were the half size of his hands. He felt like comparing a baby's hand to a grown-up man's hand. The thought made his lips tug upwards. He wasn't smirking but smiling.
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[Dear MBI readers,
My sincere apologies to the readers for giving late updates. As it's been a week since I've uploaded a Chapter. I'll make sure not to do it once again. If something like this happens in the future, I'll make sure to upload extra chapters along with the daily updates.
Thank you!
Much love,
OSM_1015❣️]