Surprisingly, Mel's instincts were correct and a hidden door right below her opened and she fell into it with a yelp.
The door was connected to a slide and she held her breath as she slid in.
The slide led her to another side of the mansion on the 2nd floor.
She sighed as she got up, cursing the slide.
The room didn't have a door, if she remembered clearly, on the 2nd floor.
" Ok, so let's find the switch for the lights. " She muttered and pulled out her phone for the lights.
There were a lot of candles placed on a huge table along with a lighter, nothing more.
" Great! " She exclaimed and lit all the reachable candles.
The sight was warming and beautiful as the books kept in the huge shelves were lit dimly, but it was all good before she turned to face the other side.
Huge swords, guns, pistols, daggers- different types of daggers, creepy bottles filled with something, a black leather cape, a hood attached to it.
" Holy cr*p!!! " She exclaimed and retreated, crashing with the table behind her, knocking the candles down.
The room became pitch dark again, not a single exit visible!
She took in a deep breath and lit the candles.
After the seeming shock she roamed around curiously.
The shelves looked odd at one corner, which piqued her interest, but she was scared to open it- " What if it had reptiles? " she shivered.
But, yet again her curiosity got the best of her.
She pulled out all the books carefully and placed them over the table. She could see a compartment as she kept clearing the books.
At last, she found a small door with a single book inside.
" A diary? " she guessed as she picked it up, ' Why hide it so carefully in your own home? '
She tried to open it when she saw that it was locked. It had three locks over it.
" As expected of Deetra! " she sighed. ' Woah, I'm sighing a lot in here. '
She tried to find a way to open the diary... she shook it, tried the locks with the keys she had, the bat!
' The bat would damage the diary, not the locks, genius. ' her subconscious snapped.
" Ok. It's not like in the movies or books to open it somehow so, stop snapping at me, " she retreated and she settled down on the table.
She really had to find the door out. She shut her eyes and sat quietly trying to hear any noise.
She could hear the voice of Erick in a whisper. She got off the table and tip-toed, still listening to the whisper. She saw another compartment which was mostly like a tunnel with stairs that led somewhere.
She took in a deep breath and walked in.
' On second thoughts... ' she ran back inside and hugged herself tightly and nodded to herself.
" Ok, you will be able to do it, Melanie Lambert," she muttered and went to the place where all the weapons hanged.
She took pulled out a small, coal-black dagger off the shelf- as it looked cute! and took the diary with her and got into the tunnel.
She pulled out her phone for the torch and descended the stairs.
She walked out and found herself in front of another door.
She kept mumbling prayers and opened the door... just to find herself inside a closet.
" Cr*p it's creepy. I'm never going there again, never!!! " she vowed and ran out.
Erick jumped up as he saw Mel run out of Deetra's closet, petrified.
" What the hell is wrong with her? Why was she in a closet? " he asked the butler, who looked just as terrified and surprised as him.
The butler gulped in and coughed lightly, " Sir, I think young miss was too excited to play detective. " he said, and turned to see Mel's retreating back meaningfully.
" Too, very excited... "
....
Mel entered her room and put all the things into her table locker and jumped on to her bed.
She was petrified to get out of that close and the narrow stairs were her end...
Tears flowed from her eyes from the thrill, " This would've never happened if you guys were here with me or if I would've been with you. " She mumbled punching her pillows and throwing them away.
Suddenly the door opened and Mel threw the pillow reflexively at the figure who entered.
" Such a warm welcome, little lady. " Erick said, holding the pillow up and walking to place it back.
" Sorry, " she wiped her face and got down the bed. " I just... "
" You found Deetra's hideout didn't you? " he asked patting her head gently.
She nodded and sighed.
" By any chance, do you know its entrance? " he asked, " And how did you get there? "
" Well, I really don't know how I got there much less the way to enter," she answered, doubtfully.
" Did you see what was there, anything at all? " he insisted, " Do you want to go again? "
" NO! " she shook her head, she had enough of fright for the time being. " Not for a few days at least. "
Erick sighed, ' Wish I could find any way to get to my Deetra. I don't even know whether she is alive or dead. ' He smiled understandingly and nodded, " Sure, don't get in there. Get some rest. "
Mel nodded and heard the door shut as he left, " Why is Grandpa Rick so hell-bent on knowing those things? "
' Well, at least he has a reason to be curious, cause she's his wife, unlike you! ' her subconscious snapped at her audacity to speak about being curious!!!
....
Days passed, Alki beach:
Scarlet and Steph were sunbathing as Skylar and Hayden were quite happy with the time they got to spend with their girls.
Steph and Hayden were easy to agree to Scarlet and Skylar's relationship and them being together as they knew how hard it was to fight for love and even harder if they tried to hide it...
" I'll be leaving tomorrow, I have somewhere to be, when are you guys planning to leave? " Skylar asked Hayden as he drove the yacht.
" Well, I must bring her back home tonight. I promised the old lady you see. " Hayden shrugged.
Skylar was surprised, " The old sac gave you the permission to date Steph? "
Hayden was quite happy to flaunt his skills, " You see, I just got some awesome skills to get people to agree with me. " he walked over and put an arm over Skylar's, " Learn from the man, boy. "
Skylar frowned, ' Do I really need to hear this from a boy who is 2 years younger than me? DO I? '
" Get the hell away from me or I'll throw you down into the water, " he growled as the girls entered.
" Skylar, control your tongue with the small boy. " Scarlet glared at him and Steph looked like she was about to murder him.
He glared at Hayden, " This is not over yet!!! " he whispered and got back to driving.
....
3 days later, DT syn. base, LA:
Amory sat at a huge meeting table with 9 members sitting along with her and 3 elders guiding them. All in their symbolizing masks.
" So, the boys have finished the training. Who would want to recruit them into your teams? " Amory asked as everyone was settled.
" I would like to have 5 men for the ammunition team, Empress. " Vermillion Dragon requested.
Amory nodded in thoughts and moved to the others, " Go on, let me listen first. "
" I need 2 girls. " The enchantress called out in her seductive voice, " Well, it would be easy to have more girl power to win over men. "
" I need a few chemists here, and I would like to choose them for myself if I'm permitted to Empress. " Venom called out.
" I need 8 men for the waters, it would be easy to pirate with more crew. " Devilfish, the pirate who helps with the sea trade for DT syn. asked.
" I need men who are good with their fluidity skills such as escaping, fighting, and surviving. And in total, I request 4 men, Empress. " Azure requested.
" I need 3 men in the corner- left and the one in 2nd row, 3rd column and the girl in the right corner. " Dark Prince called out, confusing the other board members.
" You can't do that. " Dragon argued, glaring at him through his dragon mask.
Dark Prince smirked in his creepy mask, " Oh, trust me I can. "
Dragon: " YOU... piece of pesky pig!!! "
Prince: " YOU... piece of fart worm!!! "
Dagon: " YOU... Tartar sauce!!! "
Prince: " YOU... poo on a stick !!! "
" Enough! " Amory stood up and banged the table. Not a single expression on her face.
Her black hair curtaining her cold face.
The hall fell silent.
" Both of you will do all the chores in the 3rd level for two days. " She said to their distaste.
" NO! " both of them called out and glared at each other.
" Well, I got a good catch. " Glen Lee smiled, satisfied with their punishment.
Both of them looked at him and sighed, ' At least someone's having a good time... '
...
The 3rd level in DT was to clean away the mess or massacre caused by Glen Lee.
The torture room was a perfect white room with torture equipment and a drainage system, in built...
" Blood, Bones, fingers, eyes, urgh... " Dragon felt like to puke even at the thought.
The Dark Prince frowned, " I guess you can let me out of it as I've worked for the entire of the past year? " he asked, unsure.
" NO! " the 3 three elders replied and went back, being mute.
" Great help, thanks. " he snapped and left with Glen for a stomach-churning cleaning session.
" What about... " Dragon grinned...
" NO! "