chapter 23

Darkness spread across my surroundings, no ray of light was visible and I found myself standing on solid ground in an unrecognizable and unearthly area. A figure in jet black robes was pacing towards me; the same tenebrous creature I had encountered in the water, which I recognized through its razor-sharp vampire teeth which were sparkling and the only source of luminescence there which in turn enlightened my way through the blackness.

 I began sprinting away in terror nowhere, in absolute darkness. I tripped and fell on the ground as the murkily repulsive creature approached me, it stood an inch away and a bony hand protruded out of his robes being directed towards me while exposing its ghostly head with the holey mouth held wide open. 

“No, no, please don’t hurt me, no!” I hollered and my eyes jerked open.

 I was lying on a king-size bed, with three distraught faces of Judy, Alex, and Matt surrounded and staring at me tensely, I was in Matt’s house. 

“Ellie, are you alright?” asked Judy worriedly, sitting beside me and placing her hand on my forehead. 

“What happened?” I whispered weakly, barely able to recall anything much other than the hallucination or nightmare or whatever that I had for the hundredth time.

 “We heard you scream from the bottom of the lake when you jumped into it, and discovered you floating unconsciously,” blabbered Matt and Alex simultaneously. “But before any of us could dive in to rescue you…” Matt paused, unable to continue further, which I assumed was something mysterious that they witnessed.

“What?” I urged him to continue, feeling impatient as a bubble of fearful inquisitiveness was blown in my tummy. 

“Before we could take any action,” he resumed profoundly, not facing me. “We saw you emerging out of the water, lying unconsciously in the arms of that freaky dude we had encountered when we arrived here,” he conveyed, in a fit of rage, clearly unable to conceal his jealousy from us. 

“You have been howling your head off all the way when we brought you here and while lying here too. What’s the matter Ellie, what happened in the lake? Did that guy do something to you?” she inquired, frantically, possibly expecting a distasteful reply. 

However, I remained taciturn. I had no strength left inside me to reciprocate, I was at a limitless loss to respond to anyone. What on earth was happening to me? Was I hallucinating? Or was some foul dark magic being played on me? In addition to these unanswered queries, the mystery of that youthfully enigmatic man puzzled me beyond anything.

“Ellie….Ellie….” a slow and hissy voice filled my ears. “Come to me...come to me... the hour has arrived Ellie…come to me….” 

 My eyelids opened in a flash, as this presumably hypnotizing and hair-raising chant struck my eardrums. With the quietness of a mouse, I got up from my bed as though sleepwalking, and ambled out of the mansion, without a tiny sense of sensation left inside me.

 I walked across the dense forest, the unusually ruthless wind piercing my throat and my legs felt numb, as though they hadn’t moved in ages. The moonlight guided me towards a path I was magnetically attracted to. With absolutely no idea in the world where I was heading, I was merely a puppet in motion, whose strings were being controlled by an unknown force.

Shivers ran down my body and my heart was palpitating as though a bulky rock had been attached to it which was oscillating and banging it. I felt like a cactus, as prickly goose pimples wrapped me up. Time seemed to have just halted, and I felt I had travelled a million miles across the forest when unexpectedly an incandescent ray of light punctured through the moonlight filled darkness, which appeared to be arriving from the end of the forest area.

My body started yearning for that light and was drawn towards similarly to how an insect of light gravitates towards a luminescent young flame. I advanced, and pushing aside the leafy branch of a tree, I viewed on the ground at the edge of the forest, the enormous silhouette of a colossally intimidating castle and heard a blood-curdling cackle which boomed all over.

The gates of the colossal castle opened automatically as if they had been expecting me for a very long time. A prolonged hallway came into view, upon entering it, I was eventually led to a gigantic hall. A purely magnificent and towering ceiling with carvings probably dating back to the fifteenth century came into view, along with an ornate glass chandelier hanging from it. Two extremely lengthy red-coloured sofas were placed opposing each other, besides which stood a massive curved flight of stairs leading to the top. And in the exact centre of the hallway, laid three enormous thrones made of gold which glittered as though they were constructed only yesterday. The one in the middle stood quite higher than the ones on its sides, presumably, it was the king’s and the other two of the queen and their lone prince or princess respectively. The entire hallway was lit luminously with torches bearing fire which were placed perfectly in caskets on the walls. It reminded me exclusively of vampire movies as the castle evoked a much similar aura but here, the light was scintillating.

“Welcome young lady,” exclaimed, a girlishly sweet and silky but intimidating voice. The flight of steps was descended, and a slim tall figure came into perfect view, it was a young maiden hardly in her twenties, beaming with eternal youth, donned in glamorous floor-length maroon robes with a sparkling crystal crown on her silky jet black hair which was let loose. Her face was the face of the moon, perfectly embellished with enchanting sky blue eyes with dazzling long eyelashes, and a unibrow to enhance her distinct facial features. Her reddish-white skin was such that blush would be invisible on her face. And on her delicate neck hung a luxuriously massive necklace of a diamond which considerably augmented her radiance, thus, providing an absolute treat and relentless awe for the eyes of the viewer. Even I was spellbound by her incomparable beauty and splendour. She was much taller than me such that her presence on the large staircase portrayed her as a giantess, had bizarrely broad masculine shoulders.

“What brings you to this solitary house of mine my dear?” she inquired keenly in her buttery voice.

“Nothing, I just lost my way into the woods and discovered this castle,” I lied instantly, unwilling to express the possibility of me being dragged by an unknown force towards the place and for her to question my sanity. At that instant, a surge of thunder sounded from outside the castle.

“Oh dear, it appears to be raining heavily,” she exclaimed, placing her palm on her bosom portraying a typical sophisticated ladylike gesture. “Young lady, I would insist you spend the night here and be my guest,” she requested beaming while holding my hand and utterly unnerving me. I could muster no sensible reason or for that matter a will to reject her hospitable offer and thus, I courteously gave in to her insistence.

“May I know who you are, and what is this place?” I asked inquisitively, ogling the place like an alien and trying to sound as polite as possible, as she walked me across the hallway.

“I am Malena, the queen of this castle, my family is one of the royal families of Windsor, I am the last of their descendants and thus, their sole heir,” she proclaimed, in a subtle but noticeably haughty tone. “Now you might be wondering how come I reside here solitary. I do not, I stay in London, and every year I visit this ancestral home of mine to pay homage to my forefathers as per the family’s traditions,” she explained in a slight, but sheepish tone which built an extra compartment for doubt in my mind as she escorted me to one of the innumerable rooms at the far end of the hallway.

“Here, make yourself comfortable, and I would ask you for your pardon to allow me to retreat to my chamber, if there is anything else you require, do not hesitate, and just call out my name, I’ll be there in an instant. May you have a lovely night,” she wished jovially and departed.

The entire place appeared one large mystery to me despite what Malena said. My mind ached with the events of the night. What exactly was this perplexing place? I thought, glancing around weirdly, and why and how was I magnetically gravitated towards it. In addition to that, there was something very odd about that young woman Malena as realization struck me. She had hardly even asked my name, let alone enquire about me or my activities lately. Another very bizarre action of hers that came to my notice was her strangely typical medieval manner of conversing. That was simply not a piece of tradition she was following, I thought humorously. I didn’t go inside the room that Malena showed me, instead, I decided to take a tour of the place.

I moved towards a door located in the far left corner of the hallway which appeared decayed and guarded by cobwebs. I opened it with a crack, and it led to another hallway, however, this one looked decently more ancient than the main hallway. It was fully empty with no piece of furniture around, the walls appeared extremely corroded and stank profusely. The light inside was very dim compared to the main hallway but strangely, it seemed to emit a subdued glow. Across the walls, I noticed various portraits of men and women dressed royally and seated on thrones, all lined in a row. Presumably, these portraits were that of the various kings and queens who had ruled the place over the centuries.

In the end, what particularly caught my attention was a humongous but faded blue and violet coloured tapestry dangling freely, which portrayed something that appeared to be the family’s lineage beginning from early sixth century till the late eighteen hundreds. I voraciously read through the tapestry as though it was a list of data I needed to memorize for my exams. There was something very incongruous about it which was worth speculating…Malena’s name wasn’t present anywhere.

 Though the tapestry was faded, it was visible enough to be conspicuously read. I studied the family tree with complete focus nearly seven times but discovered no trace of her name. Instead, the last name on the tapestry read: Talia. I started pondering as to whether Talia was Malena’s second name or something and just as I had begun to contemplate on the theory, I tripped atrociously and banged my head against the marble floor. A trickle of blood began oozing through my hair and trickled across my cheek, and spilled on the ground lightly like drops of rainfall.

My head was spinning and began throbbing simultaneously. In a desperate attempt to retain my senses and regain my balance, I caught hold of the tapestry, and just as I did, it fell, revealing another painting, that of a girl. She was wearing a golden robe, and was adorned with amazingly simple jewellery; just a slim pearly necklace with light golden oval-shaped earrings (unlike Malena), while sitting with her chest thrown on a throne. She appeared to be the emblem of royalty and beauty, which allured me, even when I was in no state to smile. A girl, whose beauty caused Malena’s attractive face to be brutally devalued in the eyes of the viewer, like comparing the full moon’s glow to the faint sparkle of the stars. She was slender, with a slim cute face, wearing a smile of glistening white teeth that could bring summer. Her unique reddish floor-length hair touched the bottom of the enormous throne and whose flare could heat the sun’s scorching rays. Her skin appeared to be dipped in milk, and green eyes, glittering aesthetically as though emerald had been placed there. A teeny jet black mole on the lower lip which could be viewed distantly on the snowy angelic skin. Fleshy roseate lips, glossy enough without a lipstick, capable of raising a storm of insecurity in a girl and a cyclone of lust within the opposite gender. 

Even from the blurry vision of my fainting eyes, her face was like.....staring into the mirror...