Prologue

"Mol! Mol! Wake up!"

Molina groaned and sat up angrily, glaring at her sister. She shook her short black hair and sighed.

"What do you want Matils?!"

"Let's go and explore the locked rooms!" Matilda whispered. Molina opened her eyes wide and jumped out of bed.

"What?! No, we can't! Mother said it's extremely dangerous!" She said. Matilda rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Oh c'mon Mol! In fairy tales, the princesses never stopped because they heard it was dangerous. They kept going! And we're going to explore!"

"Ughhh" Molina moaned as she was dragged out of their room. She grabbed a few hair ribbons on the way and tied her hair back into neat ponytails. Matilda grinned and dragged her down the hall, doing the same with her hair. When they got to the other end of the long corridor, she turned and pointed to the door in the centre of all the locked ones.

"C'mon Mol, I double dare you to go and unlock that door right now and explore the room"

"THE CENTRAL ROOM?! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" Molina shrieked. Matilda put her hand over Molina's mouth and dragged her into a walk-in closet nearby.

The hallway light flickered on for a second. The girls father walked towards the closet and opened the door slightly. Matilda pulled Molina further into the closet and sighed in relief after their dad had gone. Molina turned to her and whispered angrily "no!! I am not going in the central room! It's haunted!"

"MOL! There is no such thing as ghosts!" Matilda whispered loudly. "There is no need to be a scaredy-cat, okay? And I'll be right behind you! We'll do this together"

Molina took a deep breath before replying.

"Ok. Fine, but you'll be right behind me. Disney Princesses may not have needed a twin but that's because none of them had one."

"Yay!" Matilda squealed excitedly and covered her mouth quickly. Molina took another deep breath and began to walk through the big closet.

Once they got back to the central room, Molina sighed and began to try and pick the lock. Matilda watched silently, wondering what was inside.

Molina paused slightly and Matilda leaned forward.

"Hey, Mol, it's okay. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere"

"Ok" Molina said quietly as she opened the door.

Suddenly the hall light was switched on and quiet footsteps could be heard walking down the corridor.

"Oh shit. Hide. I'm sorry. I love you. Quick!"

Matilda shoved Molina into the room and ran. The last thing she saw was her sister hitting the floor with a thud, her hair still tied back and her purple pyjama top getting covered in dust. She didn't want her sister getting into trouble, so it would be safer for her to be in the locked room then wandering the halls.

She heard the quiet footsteps behind her and jumped into another closet. She landed on a pile of brooms and hoovers and groaned.

"Ow"

She saw her Uncle walk past and hand her father a key and held her breath, despite the fact she could feel a lot of pain in her side at that moment.

"The central room was open, there was nothing inside though, so I locked it."

Matilda felt a shiver run up her spine. Her twin sister was locked in a supposedly haunted room.

After her Uncle and Dad had left, Matilda walked over to her room, hoping Molina was there and had escaped. When seeing there was nothing there, Matilda ran to the central room. She knocked quietly and quickly on the door.

"Mol? Mol are you in there?!"

After a few seconds, Matilda heard a muffled reply come from inside. She looked through all her pockets anxiously, before whispering through the door "Mol! I don't have any hairpins left! I'm gonna go get some from our room okay?"

"No! Don't leave me again!" Molina shouted. Matilda sighed.

"I'm sorry Mol, this is all my fault. I heard footsteps and thought you'd be safer in the room then in the halls. I didn't think about Uncle locking it! I'm so sorry! But I'm gonna make it up to you tomorrow, after I've got you out of here"

"No! PLEASE! NO!" Molina shouted again. Matilda sighed and started walking back to her room.

"I'm sorry" she whispered quietly, trying to hold back tears.

When she got to her room, she suddenly heard a crash of glass and a high-pitched scream. But not just any high pitched scream . . .

"MOLINA!"

Matilda grabbed a hairpin off the desk and ran again. Of course, how could she have been so stupid. The central room was also off limits because it was the window closest to the main road, and people kept breaking in.

When Matilda got there, her Uncle and Father were outside trying to find the key. Matilda quickly used the hairpin and ran inside. But it was too late.

The window was completely smashed. There were signs of someone struggling on the floor, and there was . . . A blue hair ribbon, Molina's blue hair ribbon, attached to a shard of glass in the window place.

"NO! Nononononono! MOLINA! NO! PLEASE, MOLINAAAA!"

Matilda collapsed onto the floor sobbing and screaming. Her mother came running and held her back, and in the end collapsed with her. The two sat curled up on the floor hugging. Her Uncle was calling the police and Molina's hair ribbon was flying in the wind. Matilda reached out and grabbed hold of it before it could fly away. She held it close to her and whispered "I will find you Molina Julianna June, I promise, I will" as she was lead out of the room.

The Police searched the room high and low, but they couldn't find any leads or evidence as to who took Molina. They looked at everything, and yet they never noticed one thing . . .

The cupboard in the corner was open, and  it was glowing . . .