Chapter 11

Lightning crackled in the sky, illuminating the windows of the unsuspecting rooms. Thunder boomed high, promising heavy rain and nightmares. 

Cecilia laid wide awake in the dead of the night, the thunder adding to her anxiety. With a push she uprighted herself and shrugged off her blanket. Rain drops began hitting the glass until a steady flow of rivulets encompassed it.

She clipped her hair back, to get some semblance of order and breathed in the cool air. Restlessness would bar her from sleep tonight. Finally leaving the bed, she slid into warm fur slippers and paced around the room.

A myriad of thoughts clouded her mind but the one that was at the forefront was Ivan's sister. Time was of essence, she'd die two years from now, succumbing to loneliness, misery and sickness. 

The blurry flashes of the newspaper in her brain but only one word stood out.

Tor Island.

Miles away from the mainland, surrounded by dangerous waters, shrouded in deadly tales of sea creatures. A handful of people were aware of its existence, the ones who exploited it for their own gain. 

A single newspaper unleashed the horrors that it housed, the so-called asylum and its wretchedness. It was a place where gangsters sent the people they wanted to disappear, where husband's abandoned their wives, where the sane lost their way. 

A woman conveniently disappearing after her frantic claims that her son was kidnapped and the police had failed to save him, caught the attention of the prince.

His investigation led him to uncover the secrets, so carefully hidden and with that, his husk of a sister. 

•

"If your wife does not produce an heir soon, I'll send her to Tor!"

"FATHER!"

Cecilia had trembled as her father and grandpa fought over something she couldn't understand. 

What did grandpa mean? 

Send mother away?

'Tor'

Somehow that name had persisted in a corner of her mind, not to be looked back on as the years went by. She had gripped the newspaper until her knuckles turned white, reading the name over and over again and sure enough, it was the same name. 

Cold sweat broke over her forehead at the numerous what ifs. What if her mother had been sent there? What if she had not been able to live the few precious years she had left with them? 

•

The realisation that she was biting her nails brought her back to the present. Sighing at her battered nail, she dropped her hand. 

How had her grandfather known about that place? Is there something she was missing?

His study.

He never allowed anyone to go there, not even his closest servants that muttered his praises in every breath. Keeping the room locked in his absence wasn't even the responsibility of any of the staff, He'd do it himself. 

She peered out the window at the tall, old building that loomed ominously not far away. Often she'd wonder why the ghastly building hadn't been struck down and how it still managed to stand so proudly.

Unkept, forgotten, abandoned and a reminder of the long passed head of the house, the tower stood as if challenging anyone to step in. Maybe there was a reason father hadn't yet struck it down or even considered renovating it.

Shivering at its dark and yawning windows, she mustered up all her courage and grabbed a shawl. She couldn't believe she was doing this after having been warned to not venture in there. 

Slowly stepping down the stairs, looking around to make sure there's no one to witness her out and about in the dead of the night. Tightening the black shawl around her, breath hitching as she very slowly opened the main door. 

It gave an audible groan that made her heart stop, looking back at the dimly lit halls she sprinted out. 

Heavens! Why did she not grab an umbrella? 

Cursing her stupidity as the rain soaked her clothes and skin, she ran through the water. Praying that no guard spotted her, she reached the daunting tower. 

Locked. 

Of Course. Would it be open for her adventures this late at night? What had she been thinking? She shook the lock, its heaviness taunting her. 

Her cold body begging her to go back, take a warm bath and get into bed. Turning back her gaze fell on a window and she couldn't believe the thought that occurred to her. Looking around once more, she walked to the window with an almost broken hinge.

She turned the handle to get a feel of how weak the hinge is and sure enough it looked ready to fall apart. Grabbing the handle, she shook it and the hinge came apart, pushed the wood and it fell inside with a thud. 

Thankful for the rain that masked that sound, she grabbed her skirt in one hand, held the wall with the other and eased herself in. As soon as she stepped foot on the floor, she started coughing, having disturbed the dust. 

Covering her nose with her hand, she looked around in the darkness. It was hard to make out anything, and she didn't have a torch. Mostly feeling around the furniture, she almost blindly made her way towards the direction she remembered the stairs were. 

Prodding her foot here and there, trying to feel the elevation of the first stair, she felt anxious. The darkness surrounding her as if ready to swallow her whole. She needed some sort of light.

"ARGH" 

The corners of what was probably the stairs, dug into her skin and she toppled over them. Wincing through the pain, trying her best to get a hold of herself, she got up, grabbed the railing and made her way up. 

The silvery glow blanketed the halls up here, making it easier to navigate. Trying not to breathe in the dusty air, she aimlessly walked around taking in her surroundings. The creaks and groans of the floorboards ominous, making her want to forget she even dared to place her foot here. 

No.

There's no turning back now, her future depends on this. 

Racking her brain to conjure up the pathway to her Grandpa's study, she reached a simple door. It was unassuming enough that you'd walk by without a single glance. 

Having sneaked in here to visit her grandpa as a kid, she knew this was it. Heart thumping in anticipation of being right, she raised her hand, paused at the possibility of it being locked, then pushed. 

Creak.