Lilith took a few moments to breath properly. Now with the light from a candle, the claustrophobic feeling from the darkness around her ceased up a bit and made her pulse slowed a little. She couldn't see the bottom of the hole, and she very much prefer to stay away from it for the time being.
"Are. . . are you alright?" a soft voice called behind her. It took Lilith another few seconds to remember that yes, she was just saved earlier by someone, wasn't she?
. . . Ghosts wouldn't be able to touch her, yes? Since the stories mostly told them as some translucent beings with no physical bodies.
With her heart rate speeding up again, Lilith slowly looked behind her to see her rescuer.
And blinked a couple times.
Stare. And blink again.
To make sure, she used her finger to touch and. . . yeah, that's a real face, alright.
"Um, what are you doing?" the other person asked in a small voice, confusion clear on their face as the finger continued to poke to her cheeks.
That was when Lilith finally shrieked and crawled back. "Wh-what are you?! Why do you have my face?! Are you a ghost here?!"
The other girl merely blinked at her, surprised at the sudden burst. "I'm. . . normal? I believe so? Is that what you were asking?"
"No! I'm asking why you have the same face as me!"
Which was not exactly an exageration. The other girl do resemble Lilith well that they might just be reflections of each other in a mirror. The only difference she could see was the long braided dusty-blond hair falling on her back--Lilith's wore hers in a long bob style.
The other girl looked even more confused right now, her head tilted to the side. "But. . . this has been my face? I don't think the two of us even met each other before now," she pointed out.
The two of them continued to eye each other, the other unnamed girl patiently waiting as she crouched down her side, not making any sudden movements to scare Lilith off. This somehow made her feel like a little kitten being bribed to calm down.
Whatever the case, Lilith's pulse soon return to normal when she realized that the other won't do anything and she slowly relaxed. The other girl smiled slightly, "Are you feeling calmer now?"
"Hn, thanks," Lilith mumbled. As the initial shock and fear subsided, the feeling of embarrassment is slowly replacing them. She stood up as started dusting off her clothes, cringing how her light-colored clothes now looked like she decided to roll around in the dirt. Her parents would be mad at her for this.
"Oh, you're hurt!" the girl exclaimed as she pointed to her left arm. True enough, the side of her hand was scraped red, most probably when she almost fell down that hole earlier. She tried to poke it a bit and hissed.
"You need to clean it up," the other girl stated. "Come. I have some clean clothes and antiseptic in my room you can use." The girl picked up the candle and led Lilith through a couple of twists and turns in the maze of a hallway. With her dark clothes, Lilith almost missed her steps and crashed directly towards her, not noticing the girl stopping in front of a large double door. Unlike the other doors she found here, this one looked newer and clean. The girl opened the door for her and they stepped into a surprisingly large room.
Unlike the rest of the place, the rest of the furniture in the room looked new and taken cared of. There was a round table with large stacks of books on and beside it, with a rather small bookshelf filled with more books and papers. There was a single cushioned armchair close to the table, and the girl led her to sit on it. The carpet looked a little color-worn, but it still looked infinitely better than the ones outside.
The most surprising part of the room was the really large glass window, letting in the setting sun's in and bringing a sort of warmth that Lilith never though she would be really grateful to. The odd thing was that the window. . . doesn't have to have any ways to open.
The girl came back carrying a box. She quickly grabbed the only remaining chair in the room and dragged it closer to Lilith. "I hope this will be enough. I rarely had anyone here staying long so I don't have much to offer to help."
Lilith looked at the things inside, "No it's alright. This is actually more than enough." She grabbed the alcohol and cotton. "You. . . live here?"
The girl nodded.
"All by yourself?"
Lilith looked at her with disbelief. "How can someone actually stay in this place? The hallway outside your room looks like it was haunted!"
The girl looked bewildered at that and then shook her head. "Oh no! It's not haunted at all! I could say, I always clean the halls outside when I have time!"
"That's not actually my point," Lilith answered. "And why would you choose to clean outside? It's so dark out! If you have enough free time, go out the house and take a walk, not clean and old hallway!"
"I can't."
"Can't what?"
"Go out," the girl clarified. "The end of the hallway was the farthest place I'm allowed to go."
Lilith could feel her mouth hanging open. "Why are you not allowed to go out? And to stay here alone?!"
The girl hesitated for a second, "I have some people coming down here on some fixed time, mostly to deliver some things, but if you're asking if there's anyone else here with me then no. I'm the only one. If I try to take even a single step out then I'll just end up in trouble."
"That's. . ." really awful, Lilith would like to say, but she kept her mouth shut. She looked around the room once again with new eyes, her eyes lingering on the glass across the room. A room that looked like it was owned by a well-off young lady as per the objects and furniture around here. . . but was actually more of a prison?
"But. . . why?"
The girl looked down on her lap, her fingers fiddling with each other. "I do not know. They never really told me why, only that I should stay here no matter what."
The silance that passed was different and a little awkward. Lilith quickly finished bandaging her hand and thanked the other.
"No need," the girl replied. "I was the one that scared you earlier without meaning to. It's the least I can do."
Lilith looked again at the girl's too pale complexion and familiar face--with barely any difference from her own. She smiled and offered a hand. The girl looked at it curiously.
"Anyways, thank you. My name's Lilith."
The girl blinked before giving an answering smile. "It is nice to meet you, Lilith. My name's Aurora."
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Author's Note: the plot for this chap was inspired from Frozen II's OST "All is Found." I love the soundtrack from that movie.
Next chap will be inspired from yet another Disney song. The secrets are all piling up.