Sarah Anderson, Castle's Hallway.
As the silvery moonbeams lurked through the stone-windows and levied on top of the aligned soldiers' armors, it provided the aged, rustic castle with a solemn brightness enhancing its triumphant aura of repeated conquers but, at the same time, its lull ambiance letting the passengers know that such place continued to be of nobility and benevolence still. I stopped middle-track. I felt uneasy with my surroundings. The walls around me stood mute. It seemed they were ready to engulf me anytime soon. I closed my eyes, breathing in and out, trying to tame down my tingling senses. The sound of small undulating waves splashing perpetually against the tower's bottom reached my ears. Intrigued, I made my way to the nearest window. The soft breeze outside brushed against my face, making my hair flutter. Looking down I spotted a river circulated along the borders of the castle. Its water moved only upon the call of the wind to ruffle and move as a molten glass of deepest green. Despite its beautiful, slick movements, something about that river made me uncomfortably sick to the stomach. Upon observing it, something caught my eye. I bent over a bit and squinted my eyes. I gasped, taking both my hands to my mouth in shock. I shook my head mutely and immediately stepped back. "No way--" I mumbled terrified. They floated over its surface like lifeless dolls, some with their limbs at awkward angles and other missing them. "A-Are they... dead--?!" I cried out in horror as I tried to steady my breathing. It wasn't real, how could it be. I gasped once again and jolted up upon a door opening.
-- Creeeeeaaaaaak --
"W-Who's t-there--?" My voice cracked as fear formed itself as a nod in my throat.
No response. Silence only.
I gulped down but, even so, approached. "H-Hello?"
Still no response.
A quick step and I was glued to the door. "Anyone in here?" I gave it a slight push.
-- Squeeeeeeeeee --
The lack of light inside made a chill run down my spine. "Hello? Anyone in here" Taking tentative steps towards inside, I repeated my question from earlier. In that dark room, there were shapes in monochrome, of course, the daylight could bring brilliant fuchsia or deepest scarlet, but for now, it could be a scene from a black and white movie. The silhouettes were already more discernible than they were only a short while before as I continued walking. Suddenly, the door behind me slammed shut and everything went dark. "Eeeek!" I jumped frightened. I was not expecting it. The darkness came like the thick velvet curtains of the theater."T-This was a bad idea--!" I whined and cursed at myself. "Ah--!" Then, I remembered: I saw some cute, grey curtains hanging on a rod at the end of the room. If I could just reach out to it, perhaps, the room would lighten up. However, shadows of light and dark were all that my eyes could detect. Not losing hope, I stretched my arms in front of me, and, using my hands, I looked for the curtain fabric."Where... where... where is it, Goddammit!" I let my fingers wander wildly through every wall and furniture; might have broken some things on the way... "Ups-- S-Sorry! I swear I'm gonna pay for that later!" But, in the end... "Yes!" I found them. I grabbed each edge of both curtains and pulled them to opposite sides. Light quickly lit the entire room, enveloping me and all inanimate objects inside. It was that kind of brightness that sears into your retinas making you close them out of fear of going blind; a brightness that would make fresh snow look grey and dull. It was a brightness to rival the sun itself. After getting used to the brightness, I ran to the door and tried to open it. "W-Wha--?" It didn't open; not even an inch it moved. "It won't budge?!" I yelled, not believing I was stuck inside. I let go of the doorknob and, out of fury, I kicked the door. "Ngh--... my foot!" I moaned as a sharp pain vibrated throughout my leg. "Ugh!" I dropped to the floor, letting my hand slide through the door, feeling its roughness. "Why must these things always happens to me..." I asked, despite no one being there to hear me complain about my bad luck. "Why God... why?!" I smacked the door unrelentingly. "Eeeeeautch--!" I kissed my knuckles and blew on it to ease the pain; it hurt like hell. I sighed and leaned my forehead on the door. I closed my eyes, feeling helpless. "Someone will find me... eventually..." I muttered, trying to convince myself that, someone with its psychic powers, would find me in that particular one room among the thousands prevailing in that castle.
A flapping pair of wings interrupted the deafening silence. The chirps came in bursts, and it was as bright as the nascent leaves and as fresh as the falling rain.
I slowly moved my head, without detaching my forehead from the door's surface, and looked over my shoulder.
A small sparrow had rested himself on the handle of a cup on top of a medium wooden table in the center of the room. It had a short stubby beak, bright eyes like black onyx beads, milk chocolate plumage, plump chest, shiny black wrinkled feet, a saggy fold of skin at the ankle, and three thin toes forward and one back. He tilted his tiny head in my direction. He was in an alert state.
"Oh-- Hello lil' one~" I sang in a melodious tone as I got up.
He responded; the chirps came in bursts, bringing a small smile to my face.
I walked over and sat on the fermob Montmartre chair which stood by. On top of the round table, I noticed there was an old fashion porcelain tea set and a plate of various, different shaped-cookies with sugar coating on its surface. My belly growled at that scene. Yet, not only had cookies but also muffins, macaroons, and cupcakes."I wonder if there's tea in it..." And I opened the teapot lid. "Yes!" I clapped my hands together very satisfied. "Let's see if it's still warm." I cupped the teapot in between my hands and verified if it was still warm. "Ah! It looks like luck is on my side!" I grabbed the teapot by its wing and poured its content in the tea-cup. Three cubes of sugar and it was ready for drinking. "Do you want some, Mr. bird?" I kindly offered.
He responded by tilting his head again.
"Here." I poured the tea in the cup he was on supporting on.
He tilted his head to the other side.
"I think it's not that hot, but let's see~" I raised the tea-cup to my lips and took a sip. "Red fruit tea! My favorite!" And took another sip. "Hm~" I was totally delighted with that unexpected treat. "I'm gonna grab one of those cookies too!" I withdraw one and split it in half, taking the smallest to my mouth. "Hm~" I stuffed the other in, still not having finished eating the other half. "Delicious!" I moaned with my mouth full. "I think I'm going to take a second round. This is too good to let it go to waste just like that!"
And so... seconds, minutes passed.
"Ah~" I leaned back. "I'm full! Aren't you full as well, Mr. Bird?"
The small sparrow chirped back.
I laughed at my pathetic self, as you would expect in a situation like that. "For real Sarah? Why are you talking to a bird? Get a grip girl! I--" My ears popped; all the noise around me blurred and started to sound distant. Sudden dizziness hit me, my head started to spin around, making my vision extremely disorienting. I supported myself on the table to find some stability, but I was taken by surprise by some horrid hallucinations.
- Ssssk -
"Ngh--" A few drops of blood fell from the now freshly, open wound on my arm. "!!"
The cute, small sparrow from before had metamorphosed into a terrifying creature with three heads and piercing red eyes. "Hissssss--!" A sharp sibilant sound came out from him.
White with fear, I turned the table over.
- Crack - Prac - Prec -
The creature hissed once more before flying away through the window.
I took several deep breaths, not understanding at all what was happening. "W-Was that... real?" I mumbled to myself in disbelief while looking towards the window. "No... I must have imagined it..." Soon, the imagery around me started getting blurry very quickly. Small dots appeared in my vision sight."W-What is wrong with me?" I took my hands to my head and closed my eyes, desperately trying to regain control of my body reactions but unfruitfully. My stomach and my head were pounding in pain. I curled up over myself and groaned loudly. "Ugh--!" My body trembled while coiling up in agony. I bent over, coughing. I couldn't stop, even how hard I tried. The cough was rough and wet like some thick, moist substance was sliding up and down my throat with each violent expulsion of air. I tasted blood coming in my mouth; drops of blood spattered on my lap and knees and the dust at my feet. It oozed between the space between my fingers as I cover my wound with a shaky hand. After that, my condition only escalated further. In the blink of an eye, I stopped being able to breathe. I brought my hands to my neck and panic took over me. I tried to get up, to get away to somewhere near a window but, ended up collapsing on the floor clenching to my neck, struggling for air. Soon enough I heard the door open again and shut close right next, its creaking noise bringing a chill to my spine.
- Creaaaaaaak -
I stretched my arm across the floor, encountering some porcelain pieces on the way."... Help..." It was the only word I managed to cry out before passing out cold on the floor.
- Tap - Tap - Tap - Tap - Tap -
- Halt -