Escape (part 2)

I curled tightly into a ball. Hoping that I could make myself smaller and less visible to any hostiles that might spot me. I didn’t know how long had passed but I soon drifted into a trance, counting my breaths as I tried to ignore the sharp pelts of rain on my back.

My protector never came back. Perhaps she was captured when she tried to free the others but I didn’t dare pursue that line of thought. Some things were better kept unknown and ignorant about. I flexed my fingers and rubbed my hands together to get some warmth into them. My whole body was numb and my mind was dulling too. I needed to get to somewhere safe! But with my own house under breach, where else could I go?

I stood and cautiously made my way further into the streets. Anywhere far away from the house should be safer so I trudged aimlessly, with my back to the place I lived in my whole life. Tears ran down my face as I recalled the fun times I had in the house. The family meals, the times I spent with my sister and now I even miss the quarrels we had. Could we ever get back to that ordinary life? I looked up, peering through my hood and stared at a gloomy looking castle. (The type where you are so sure it’s haunted or at least about to fall apart) But strangely, this derelict castle gave me a sense of warmth and comfort. I felt a strange pulling force from it, as if the castle was beckoning me inside.

I walked up the front steps and searched for a doorbell. Without one in sight, I used the heavy doorknockers that were ice cold to the touch. With one knock, the door heaved back an inch and so with my shoulder to the door; I pushed it back far enough for me to creep in.

“Hello?” I called out to the dark empty hall. The hall was dimly lighted by the high hanging chandeliers a cast an eerie shadow that appeared to sway in the non-existent winds. I walked up the curved ornate stairs in search of the owners so that I may ask them to let me wait out the rain. Each step echoed in the empty corridors yet with each step, I felt more confident that I’m meant to be here. Soon, I could see that there was a door right at the end of the hallway. The doorframe glowed, showing that there was light on the other side of it. This was where my journey would end.

I turned the doorknob and swung the door open to reveal a mirror behind it. I was staring at myself. At myself dying right where I stood. As my body turned stoned cold, the warmth from the house felt stronger and I let myself give in to its comforts. I understood now. This house saw the whole thing and ever so kindly invited me in. It gave me a place to stay, safe from the horrors of the other side.

#dream