Subtle touches. A completely silent night. There, he was, the man I have been trying to avoid is right now only an inch close to mine.
He chuckled, "My dear, the crown must be heavy ".
The crown. Yes, how could I forget. They wanted the crown. The little hole of this dungeon has welcomed the rising light from the outside causing his eyes reflecting on the broken mirror infront of us. That beautiful eyes I once liked is now a traitor to me.
"Raise your head however you like but that crown will eventually make you fall down on your knees", a whimper escaped on my lips. His cold whisper is sending shiver down my spine. A cold hand slowly rised up from my back to my head.
He pulled my hair then said, "If you don't want to see your downfall. You must bear with it" I screamed in pain. The strand of my hair is like slowly pulling out of my scalp. I opened my eyes.
"AMAYA! Wake up hellooo" the shout of my friend Theo beside me. The back of my head still hurts, it was vivid like a memory that came back to me.
I calmed myself first before facing my friend only to realize I'm wet cuz of water. I can't differentiate if its my sweat or he poured water on me.
Did he poured me water?
He received my glare, "Woah there. Relax, it's your sweat. Promise"
Excuses.
"Section B fall in line!" our class advisor ma'am Dolores. I was at the middle of the line.
I secretly pulled out my middle finger at Theo. He's tallest among our boy classmates so he was last in line. Theo just stick out his tongue that only made me more annoyed at his face. Our tour guide lead us the way inside of the Asterine Castle that are now a museum.
We all looked at the big wood door as we entered inside. It was painted in light pink that really show the beauty of Asterine Castle that is mixed with yellow and white. This castle was familiar yet unknown to me. While we were walking in line following the tour guide, I saw a white little poodle not far from the hallway we were standing. The poodle barking at me made me looked at my classmates but it doesn't seems like they heard the dog. Was I still dreaming?
"Evelyn, are you listening?" the voice of my teacher made me look back infront of the line. Did I heard it right? Evelyn.
"Amaya!"
"Ma'am? Sorry" I snapped back. Ma'am Dolores gave me a stare of 'I'm gonna scold you later'. Am I spacing out, again? I looked back to the direction where I saw a poodle barking at me but it was gone. Like it never been there. No one saw the dog? It was barking really loud. How did that happened?
"Out of this world again, Amaya?" my classmate Karina smiled to me mockingly. She was behind me. Karina is taller than me 3 inches.
Karina is our class vice and once my close friend. Due to our misunderstanding years ago our friendship broke. We're basically enemies now. She mock then I glare but now I don't have any energy to waste on her.
We walked again after the tour guide and teacher explained the meaning behind a picture of the late King Edward III and Queen Victorina. Our next stop was the painting of queen Anastacia before she became a crown princess after her sister died.
My heartaches again as I saw the crown of the queen Anastacia protected by the box of glass comfortably seating on its royal pillow. Our teacher let us all looked at the crown of the queen Anastacia. The crown was shining on red rhinestone.
"This was the crown of queen Anastacia she wore at her coronation day. The crown was made specially from the waven kingdom's mines" ma'am Dolores.
All of my classmates phone flashes to take a picture of the crown. Who wouldn't like the crown of the queen Anastacia? It is said from my textbook that because of her crown a disaster happened before she could claim it. But my grandma said it was not hers originally.
"hey wet dreamer" Theo behind me whispered to my ears. I immediately glared at him then pinched the side of his tummy. He was 5 inches taller than me so I have to damn look up for me to properly see his perfectly annoying face.
"Shut up. You literally poured me a water"
"There you go, again. Go on just say what you believe miss wet dreamer" his chuckles was irritating that I could punch him right now but it's not the right place to be acting violently. He was close to my ear so I could feel his breath. I could feel my classmates staring and I was right when I saw the reflection of them infront of the glass box where the crown lays.
It didn't bother me.
"Evelyn" I looked at the direction where the whisper came from. Theo's confusion was visible on his face. I gave him the look of 'just shrug it off it was nothing'.
"Next stop is the room of our.... "
Our classmates goes back in line but Theo remained beside me as I walked along with my girl classmates. But something feels off. I can't concentrate right now. I'm seeing things, hearing things and my dream that is unexplainably vivid to me.
"Evelyn" the whisper became high an inch volume than the first one that made me looked back. Karina gave me a 'what the fuck' look. I continued walking but the voice became louder and closer.
"This was the room where the queen Anastacia sleep"
We're now at the second floor of the castle. It has tons of rooms but only the important ones were shown. But still even if we're far from the location where the whisper came from I can't help but feel unease at this room.
Is this castle haunted? Or was I not getting enough sleep?
I caught Theo looking at me. "Something wrong?" He asked with a concern tone in his voice. I shook my head like it was nothing. Maybe he noticed I was being a little too quiet and felt my uneasiness.
"Did you heard a dog barked when we were at the painting room?", I'm making sure if I still have my sanity or not.
"No? Dogs are strictly prohibited inside. Why ask?"
"Nothing"
I looked back to ma'am Dolores with the tour guide but I saw a girl behind them with a falling veil from its head with a blood stained red gown staring deep to my soul. I screamed in terror then fainted.
"Evelyn"
"THEO!" I woke up and I was sitting at the bus with my friend Theo looking at me in confusion. What? I checked my forehead and neck that is covered with my sweat. It was sticky so I could tell its not water. My breathing was heavy like I had a panic attack. Theo gave me water while patting my back.
"What happened to you? Did you dreamed about me huh?" Theo smirked. I aimed a punch to him but I realized some of my classmate near our seat was staring at me but goes back to picking up their stuff.
"Amaya, are you having nightmares?", ma'am Dolores looked at me concerned. Why are they still inside the bus? Did I sleep that long? I fainted right?
"Uh I'm good now ma'am" she nodded before going back to talk to the bus driver.
"Okay class B ready your things and form a line outside okay?"
I was confused. Is this deja vu?
"Theo, are we at the Elaya shrine?". Theo furrows his eyebrows like I'm joking at him. "What do you mean? We're at the Asterine Castle"
After hearing his answer my heartbeat race. So all of it was a dream? I'm confused.
"Didn't I fainted? Are you serious? I thought were done at visiting the Asterine Castle"
He laughed.
"Damn. What a wide imagination, Amaya"
"I'm serious!" I yelled at him as he walked down of the bus not even bothered by my seriousness. I clenched my fist in frustration but quickly sat down as my vision started to spin. What really happened?
I fall in line with my other girl classmates and the boys were in our left. I secretly pulled out my middle finger at Theo but he just laughed and stick his tongue out that made me more irritated by his perfectly ugly face. It's weird. This happend already.
"This was the first portrait of the late King Edward III and Queen Victorina"
My head was still aching so as my vision spin. I felt thirsty even after drinking my water bottle. It was cold. It was very cold. My body temperature began to go low but a heat from someone's hand had me startled.
"Amaya," Theo. I don't know what's happening to me.
"Are you sure you're really okay? You looked pale" he looks concern while checking my temperature using his hand on my neck.
Murmur began to play as our display of so called affection may have been trigger their jealousy. Wanting to get touched by Theo. But we're just friends, like a sibling to me.
"Dang. You're cold, Amaya" his eyebrows furrows. Ma'am Dolores noticed what's happening and gave me a permission to rest. Theo insisted to stay but ma'am scolded her saying he will just make my condition worse. Well she's not lying.
After they walked upstairs as I already knew because of my dream, the soft wind touched my skin with sound of someone's whisper, "Evelyn". I could see other students from the outside enjoying their free time as they're already done with the tour earlier than us but no one seems to be calling their friends. So the whisper is calling me again.
I decided to follow the whisper that have been messing up with my brain. It kept on going until I finally found where the whisper is leading me. Infront of the crown of queen Anastacia on my right there was a hallway without light or even a sunlight from the window cannot be reach at the corner of the hallway. It's looks like the cursed part of the castle.
I walked out from the painting room then followed the whisper.
From a breif of moment, I suddenly felt so ill as I step my feet to the ground, this uncomfortable cold breeze running through my spine while gnawing my teeth in such a unknown reason. I hardly catch my breathing, out of nowhere my mind suddenly played a unfamiliar memories, inside of my mind those people whom I never met in my life is flashing before my eyes while the memories are fading a shattering glasses is almost breaking my eardrums making me deaf for a split of second.
I reached where the glass box is and saw something unbelievable on my eyes. There was a corpse. A CORPSE! Behind the crown. She was the Princess Evelyn of Asterine.
"Here lies the crown of Princess of Asterine, 1867"
P