Dust's sleep was for once without any twists and turns.
Neither dreams nor nightmares came to disturb him.
It's just a black hole, a welcome void.
Sleeping is after all a mini death.
He wakes up almost breaking Red's nose. The other's face barely a few centimeters away risks receiving an unfortunate headbutt after a little stretch.
He freezes when he realizes the imminent impact then steps back.
The man sleeps like a log, motionless among the green sheets. Uncomfortable, he doesn't linger to look at him any longer. He gets up now perfectly rested but in no way relaxed. Without disturbing the other, he discreetly leaves the bed to go to the bathroom once again. The cold water that splashes his face clears his dark thoughts. After thinking, he fills the bathtub, then returns to his room to get new clothes. He chooses a white shirt made of fabric so thin that it is almost transparent and a pair of fairly loose jeans in a light color.
Dust feels clean, since he washed the "day before" but staying in the hot water while doing nothing is a pleasant and comforting idea even for him. What else can he do here anyway?
Boredom can be dangerous, so he need to busy his mind.
The more he gets bored, the more time he has to dwell on his situation
And there is also hunger that can be ignored for the moment but if he does not occupy his mind the idea of eating will very quickly become an obsession. Pensively he massages his stomach.
He estimates that he was able to hold out in the swamp for two or three days without eating, here since he is sheltered he must be able to not eat for 4 or 5 days. At least he hopes so.
Here he's warm, and in perfect health.
His eyes follow the steam rising as his hands wash his hair.
He doesn't miss the pain his "encounters" in the swamp gave him either.
He runs a hand over his smooth, uninjured skin.
He dries himself with the towel provided and then gets dressed.
Standing in the middle of the room, he asks himself the same question. What to do now?
In the end, he decides to leave his apartments to walk. Just to tire himself out enough so that he has no more energy to worry.
Once again, he goes back to the room. Red is still sleeping like a log.
Dust looks at him for two or three seconds before approaching. He doesn't want to leave his companion here alone. Not with this secret passage that probably allows everyone to get in easily.
It would be so much more reassuring to know where the hidden passage is.
They should have all gone together to find it. Here everything is symmetrical in this building.
If there is a hidden staircase, on the right there is necessarily another one on the left.
The boy goes to the man's bedside.
He grabs the latter's shoulder to shake him lightly:
-Red, I'm leaving the room, do you want to come?
His companion frowns and growls. It is the only response he gives.
Dust grimaces and shakes the other a little harder:
-Do you hear me?
The man murmurs a muffled yes.
The smaller of the two waits a minute or two. Then, noting that Red has no intention of getting up, he leaves.
He leaves but with great hesitation.
He doesn't want to insist on disturbing the other, but what if the passages were really there to harm them? For someone to attack them?
It was Red who even insinuated the idea... Even if he did it to tease him. How can the other be so unconcerned?
The boy grits his teeth, he feels a little ridiculous. After thinking about it, they must have slept for hours in this room, the equivalent of a whole night's sleep. And nothing happened to them. Why does that make him anxious? Red is a big boy. And he won't go too far.
He'll just wander around the hallways. And he won't be gone for long.
Dust leaves the bedroom then the living room and finds himself alone in the hallway.
His eyes stare at the tapestry for a second before he retraces his steps.
He re-enters the living room, on a shelf he grabs a statuette.
The little trinket is then placed on the ground close enough to the door so that once opened it hits the stone effigy.
It should make a sound, loud enough to attract Red's attention if an intruder sneaks in. At least he hopes so.
Dust closes the door, feeling even more ridiculous than he did five minutes ago.
Three steps later he... retraces his steps.
Irritated by nothing but himself, Dust goes back into the room to shake Red more vigorously.
Red buries his head in the cushion, taking the jolts like it was nothing.
He asks with his eyes still closed:
-What?
-Red, where's your knife, the one you got in the swamp?
The man sighs, his voice numbed by sleep:
-In my pant's pocket .
The boy looks at his feet where the said pants are.
He grabs the knife and places it on his companion's pillow.
That way if someone comes in, Red will only have to reach out to grab a weapon.
-Your knife is right next to it. I'm leaving okay?
No answers. Dust abandons the lost cause.
He leaves a little more confidently. And a little embarrassed to be so worried about the other.
Once in the corridor he starts walking.
He wonder if he shouldn't go up the other floors, the ones they didn't search to understand their situation. But.... There you go, he doesn't want to venture alone.
He already didn't want to when he was with Red so...
The boy doesn't want to admit it to himself but the corridor he has already taken alone seems more worrying than before.
Nothing has changed in the decor though.
He could also go and look at his portrait now that he is more rested.
No, he says to himself, I'll wait for Red to wake up.
So he is trapped pacing up and down the corridor.
From left to right, and from right to left. He counts 140 rooms for the entire floor. 70 on the right, 70 on the left.
The boy is impressed. It's more than he estimated.
He thinks back to what Red told him. If other people come, does that mean that there will be 138 other people in the future with the two of them?
Maybe it doesn't work like that.
How many have already died? Or who have "disappeared"?
Princess, Two, Purple-belly, Handsome, ... and Eyes...
Will they be replaced?
No wait. If once you die you don't get replaced that mean... There is not just five death ...
Running is an action that comes naturally to the boy. All caught up in his thoughts he does not realize right away that his walk has turned into a kind of jogging.
He passes and repasses in front of the stairs while running. His strides are regular.
When he becomes aware of it he simply accelerates. Why not after all?
It is better to work on his stamina in case other creatures of all kinds come to pursue him next time.
His thoughts return to Charismatic and Potatoes who survived another "Nightmare" before joining the group. There was Handsome as well now that he remembers. The trio survived but not the others with whom they were. How many were there? Should they also be removed from the total number of "Residents" of this castle?
Not just five but more ?
It is on this question that Dust get hit by a door.