Chapter Six

"Oh," Lucianne said, her pride stinging from the implied rejection. "Okay." She turned around, nearing the door.

"Wait."

She spun around. "Yeah?"

"Make sure you get the correct version," he said.

She looked down at the red book in her hands. "I'm so sorry, I should've double checked the list."

"It's alright," Gabriel said.

"Thanks for understanding," she told him before she left the classroom.

The rest of the day were filled with classes that were rather uneventful, and her mind wandered often to other things. The professors were all much kinder though. Not that Gabriel was mean to her. She had seen his mean streak before, but it wasn't directed at her.

When the bell for the last period rang, she almost jumped out of her seat for her tower. She made her way straight to it and found herself within the four comforting walls again. She lit a candle and placed it on the table beside the bed after she had washed up and rested her back on the bed. Within moments, she had drifted off to sleep.

Her sleep wasn't great. She drifted in and out of consciousness, a symphony at the back of her mind playing over and over again. She opened her eyes, only to close them again, before she felt her mind wake. Her thoughts did not make sense and she would try to blink, only for her mind to submerge in her dreams again.

She dreamed. And they weren't sweet dreams. She could see Genevieve, pacing about in a bedroom much like hers. She was in her nightdress and her entire face was drenched in her sweat. She was muttering prayers, well, useless prayers.

Because the door burst in and the townspeople threw themselves forward at her in a horde. Their hands grabbed onto her arms and they lifted her body up in the air. Carrying her out, they threw her to the sandy ground before her castle. She got to her knees, begging them for mercy.

But they did not heed her cries for mercy. They yanked her by the hair and pulled her towards the sea. Dropping her before the shore, they passed a heavy object to the front.

It was a horizontal basket shaped like a coffin, but it was weaved with large holes along the sides. It was just large enough to fit a human inside. At the end was an opening with a lock fastened to it.

They laid hold of Genevieve, forcing her body into the basket coffin. She struggled, screaming and kicking, but they got her body to fit inside. She laid on her back in the basket coffin and the people lifted it up by the handles and approached the sea.

Lucianne tossed in her bed, her eyes opening for a short second before it closed again. She could still hear Genevieve crying for mercy, and her skin felt wet, as if it had been touched by seawater. She could also hear a melody in the background, playing softly.

The song was slow but haunting. It sounded like regret and seemed as if the person who had composed it did so after the death of a loved one. The symphony was smooth and expertly played like a world-class pianist was at the stage presenting it to everyone.

Her mind drifted again. Genevieve was scratching at the basket weaves until her fingertips drew blood, and the skin on them peeled backwards. She cried and cried, begging the townspeople, but they knew they were doing a service to God.

They took the basket coffin towards the sea and as they got further into it, the water sloshed about into the holes, drenching Genevieve's nightdress. She shook in fear, her screams now silent. They marched on and on, and the level of water rose and rose. Then they released the coffin into the murky waters.

The coffin submerged with Genevieve's weight, and disappeared beneath the waves. Her mouth opened and closed in soundless screams, her lungs filling with water.

Lucianne tossed to the other side of the bed. Genevieve's hands reached up to her head and she clawed at the lock. She tugged it back and forth, back and forth, until finally, the lock separated from the rattan. She pushed her feet onto the holes and swam out of the basket coffin.

Free at last, she swam to the surface but before her head burst out of it, she stopped herself. Instead, she peeked her head bit by bit out of the water, her nose a little beyond the water to let oxygen in. She glared at the townspeople, who thought that they had gotten the best of her. A smile broke out onto her face, and her eyes seemed to glint blood red in the moonlight. Then she submerged herself in the water again.

Shooting up from the bed, Lucianne panted hard. She rubbed her eyes, finally awake from the nightmares. Panic tore through her body as she recounted her nightmares. Slowing her breath down, she paused and jumped when she heard the same symphony from her dreams playing again.

She had assumed the piano melody was a figment of her nightmares. She didn't know they had been real. But who could it be? She was alone and she had locked the tower door. Curious, she left the bed and unlocked her room door, stepping out.

The piano melody halted the moment the door opened. She walked out towards the grand piano, stopping before it. The cover was open, when she was sure it was closed before. She stared at the piano keys closely.

There was a thick layer of dust over it, but for some keys, there seemed to be spots of no dust. She couldn't understand what could cause dust patterns like these until she held a finger over one key and touched it. The circle fit her fingertip perfectly.

These were fresh finger marks.