Regan was pacing around, her fists clenched with rage and resentment. How could she been so stupid to live a lie? The tears had dried, leaving only tightness in her chest, only a suffocating weight turned to revenge.
She was staying in the property of a monster who killed her family. She had to get out of here. She wanted revenge, but for now, she needed a plan instead of acting impulsive.
She rummaged though the wardrobe and found a cloak that was good for concealment. She wore it, tied the lace on her waist and put on the hood. The fabric made her feel hot and uncomfortable but she ignored it.
Ruby watched her with a puzzled look, her black eyelashes curling up her wide eyes. "We have to get out of here," Regan whispered at her. She didn't know where, but she couldn't stay here any longer.
She hid Ruby under her cloak, careful to not block the air supply.
Quietly, she opened the door and peeked outside. It was a chilling silence like everytime, except, there were guards around. Armed guards.
Her mind worked fast for a plan. There was no way for her to go, without being seen. "I'm stuck here," she muttered to herself. Ruby nuzzled on her arm, trying to comfort her.
Maybe she had to try, tell them a lie. Who knows, maybe they let her go if she excused herself.
She stepped out of the chamber, the guards hearing her. One of them turned and asked, "Where to?"
"I was going to....I was going to see the garden. It's a lovely day outside, and I thought I could use some fresh air," Regan improvised, trying to sound casual despite the nerves fluttering in her stomach.
The guard narrowed his eyes, eyeing her suspiciously. Then, he exchanged looks with the others and turned to her, "Very well, but don't wander too far. We have our orders." He gestured for her to proceed, keeping a suspicious look.
Regan tried to keep her composure, her heart pounding with each step. She quickly disappeared from their side and kept going straight, not wanting to be near his quarters. The corridors were a maze nevertheless, and every turn could lead to unexpected challenges.
After finding a pair of less wide stairs, she stepped down, feeling a stab of fear at the darkness and the torches whose fire flickered with weird shadows. Suddenly, she heard some footsteps and her heart lurched in her throat.
She pressed herself on the shadows on the wall, hiding and praying to not get caught by whoever was coming. Ruby seemed to hold her breath too. The footsteps came closer and she saw that it was general Vlad, that man she had encountered in the morning.
He seemed focused, perhaps on some duty, unaware of Regan's presence. As he passed, she sighed in relief and continued her escape, moving with swift and calculated steps.
She clenched the cloak tightly, rounding a corner and finding herself in a hallway that ended with just a door at the far end. Regan felt like it was the door to freedom, but that was just a thought. She couldn't afford going places she didn't know.
But the footsteps appeared again, and her heart was pounding. Her eyes scanned around and when she saw shadows moving on the walls, she knew she had to hide.
The door seemed the only way.
Regan tried to keep her steps light as she ran to the door, hoping it wasn't locked. She swiftly turned the knob and disappeared into the unknown room withing the second.
But as soon as she did that, she felt an emptiness in her side. Her eyes widened. Ruby wasn't there under her cloak.
"Ruby!" Regan whispered worriedly, "Ruby, where did you go?" She felt a pang of sadness and hurt. How had her pet slipped from her hold? Maybe Ruby hadn't wanted to escape. Had she left her alone too?
But Regan couldn't go back. She had to finish what she started. The sight that followed after made her gasp. The room she had entered wasn't just a room. It was a grand library, with shelves towering endlessly, every single one of them filled with books that whispered of secrets, their spines adorned with intricate patterns.
But Regan knew that she was in a precarious situation. She couldn't afford swooning over a gothic library. The footsteps weren't anymore audible but as she moved around the vast space, she couldn't shake the loss of Ruby running away.
Regan's eyes scanned the grand chamber for any signs of exits and hiding spots. The windows were tall, looming behind the same size of curtains, as if the library would crumble if a glimpse of light entered in.
But the more she moved around the library, and thought about where to go, the more curious she became. The books were much more attractive than the ones in her room, the smell of their old pages filling the air. Regan ram her hand through a set, the scripts on their backs, totally unknown to her.
She stopped, when she noticed an orange spark floating in the air. She attempted to catch it, but it vanished. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw other sparks appearing, leaving a trail behind them.
Startled and confused, Regan followed their direction and it led to a certain bookshelf. The last spark met with a book. Regan grabbed that book and flipped through the pages, but she didn't catch anything interesting other than the unknown script.
As she averted her eyes from the book, she saw that the spark now was on the end of the bookshelf, right after the book was placed. A handle glinted there in the dim light, and Regan's breath caught.
She touched the handle tentatively, feeling the cold metal under her fingers. She turned it just lightly, but immediately, the bookshelf shifted and she flinched away.
Regan watched with wide eyes as the wooden structure moved slowly with an old, raspy sound, rising a mist of dust in the air. Regan could make our the outline of a secret passage. She swallowed hard. Since it was hidden so well, she was sure there things going on down there.
Regan's hand trembled as she grabbed a lantern from the wall, extending her arm to lighten the passage. But all she could see was a stone ground glistering with decayed water, and washed, cracked walls with spider webs.
The sound of the library's doorknob twisting sent Regan's heart to her throat. Someone was probably suspecting. Without another thought she entered the passage, the bookshelf-door closing immediately behind her with a thud.
Regan could hear her own heartbeats in the chilly silence, save for the droplets of water meeting the ground, and a far sound of metal being dragged. There were only a few torches flickering as she ventured cautiously deeper into the passage.
The path was narrowed, and she had to keep her forearm to her mouth to keep from breathing the heavy air of sulphur or whatever that was. A muffled cry escaped her when she saw rodents and other terrifying small creatures crawling under her feet.
Regan quickened her pace, trying to not cough, not make any sound. She shouldn't have gotten here, but now she had and she had to be extremely cautious if she didn't want it to be a grave mistake.
She rounded the passage's corner, the flickering torches and their shadows dancing on the walls like hungry beasts. Regan's steps halted when she heard sounds. Not just the metal dragging or water droplets. There were sounds footsteps, cries, groans, sounds of death and torture.
She picked up her pace and soon realized that the cries were getting louder and more desperate. It was like a horror game, walking only forward, because she was terrified of what could happen if she turned behind.
Her grip on the cloak was almost tearing as she tried to peek behind a wall, her eyes widening with horror at she saw. The narrowed path had opened up into a series of cells, with guards doing a strict, back and forth walk. The cells, some filled, some not, painted a picture of imprisoned creatures, some clenching the bars, some laying on the ground.
The realization hit, she was in a prison. The castle had a prison. She had been sleeping above the cries of the innocents, or the damned, she wasn't sure which.
Regan immediately hid back, her hand trembling on the torch. She wasn't supposed to be here. Who knew what they'd do if they caught her?
She changed the path, turning on the right to hide under the shadows of a dimly lit corridor. There was another section of dungeons, but with no guards.
Regan tried to cover her face with the cloak, but it seemed like nothing could guard her from the sleeping and snoring creatures.
She quickly passed by, hoping to be as far from the guards as possible. She ended up in another corridor, and one of the creatures there was awake. A human-looking male that had reached the bars, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was tall, bruised, and Regan tried to act like she didn't notice.
But he spoke, and his voice was like a snake's hiss. "Who are you? What brings a fine lady like yourself to our humble abode?"
Regan took a step ahead, trying not to show her face, "I'm just looking around," she said, her voice flat.
"Will you free me?" he asked, his voice like velvet, his eyes never leaving her.
Regan halted for a moment, "I can't," she said elusively.
"Please," the creature hissed, his hand reaching further, "you're the first friendly face I've seen in an eternity."
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"It doesn't matter," the creature replied, a dubious smile stretching om his scarred face. "I've been a prince before. But the lord of this godforsaken had me thrown in here. I had a family, a kingdom. But all gone, because of him."
Regan didn't know if she should believe the creature or not, but his words painted the same portrait she thought she knew about the man who was holding her against her will. Her own family was taken from her, and now she was hearing a similar story from a creature she didn't know.
"I didn't come here for trouble," she said, trying to sound firm.
"But this whole place it's trouble, isn't it? You know, I had children," the creature's voice grew softer, his eyes glazed over with a mix of pain and madness. "Back in my kingdom, they were the light of my life. And now, I'm here, forgotten, rotting away."
Regan's hand tightened around the torch. She didn't know what to say, but the creature's words hit a nerve. "I'm sorry," she murmured, taking a step back.
"If you free me," he said, his voice desperate, "I can help you. I know secrets about this place, about Sirius, that could be of use to you."
"I'm a prisoner as well," Regan's voice was tight, and she couldn't afford to let it shake, "I barely can help myself." She knew she couldn't trust him.
The prisoner's smile grew wider, his teeth showing, "Oh, but we can escape together," he said with gleaming eyes, "I know a way out of here, I've been watching, waiting for the right opportunity."
"No," Regan shook her head, her whole being screaming to get out of here as quick as possible, "I don't trust you."
"Come on," the prisoner purred, his voice dropping to a whisper, "you're just like me, aren't you? Trapped by that monster's whims. Let's help each other. My name is Mathias, by the way."
"I don't care what your name is," Regan's eyes narrowed with skepticism, "I can't free you." She turned to leave, but the creature's hand shot out, gripping the bars with surprising strength.
"Fine. But at least give me the key," Mathias said, his voice dripping with desperation, "You don't have to let me out, just give me the key and I'll do the rest."
Regan knew that was a terrible idea, "What key?" she asked nonetheless.
"It's on the vault," Mathias whispered urgently, his eyes darting to a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor. "The guards keep it there when they're not watching."
Regan's watched him for a moment, her heart pounding. She did anything but trust this man, but anyway she found herself walking over to the vault, her hatred for Sirius burning bright. The guards weren't even in sigh as she opened the vault's metallic door. It was almost too easy, too suspicious. She took out the key from the secret compartment where Mathias had indicated.
The prisoner's grip on the bars didn't loosen, his eyes glinting with something unreadable.
"How do I know you're not bad?" she asked, holding the key out of his reach.
Mathias chuckled, a sound that echoed eerily in the damp corridor, "Maybe. But the lord of this castle, this sadistic demon and his general, they're the true monsters here. We all have suffered enough at their hands. You don't know what happens here, girl. It's not just men that get punished. They bring women here, too. And do you know what happens to them?"
Regan's swallowed the bile that had raised up her throat, thinking of what Sirius could've done, "What do they do to them?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Mathias leaned closer, his breath hot against the bars,"You know what a playroom means, right?"
Regan's stomach turned. She had read enough books on Earth to know, but she hadn't thought of these kind of punishments here, "A kids room, right?" she said, hoping against nothing.
Mathias's laughed again, "Ah, you're so naive, girl. So you've never been punished. What kind of prisoner are you?" he said, his tone mocking.
Regan felt a shiver of disgust. It was total cruelty, total degradation. So he didn't punish women just physically but sexually? She felt sick. So this was what Althea had meant when she persistently warned her about the consequences of disobeying? It wasn't so surprising though.
"Well, I'm not like these women," she retorted, her voice a little too loud for comfort. "And I don't care about the playroom."
But Mathias was intrigued by her now. "So you're not a prisoner?" he quipped with a hint of disdain in his voice.
"I am," Regan said firmly, "but not like you think."
The prisoner's eyes narrowed, "Yeah, you're a prisoner wandering here with a key," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "If you haven't been in the playroom yet, you're either too obedient or not his type."
Regan's grip on the key tightened. "I'm not here to be his plaything," she spat back, feeling a surge of anger rise through her bloodstream.
"And you're betraying him. How....quaint," Mathias drawled with a sneer, his eyes gleaming with spite. "You don't even know what will happen if he finds out, do you?"
Regan felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. "Why, what will happen?" she snapped, a hint of defiance in her voice.
The prisoner's smile was more wicked than Sirius's ones, "So you've been living under a rock, I see. Or maybe you're sent here by him and you're selling me lies," his expression grew darker.
The strong smell of sulphur hit Regan's nose more palpably now and it made her recoil. She didn't know what to say. But she didn't have to think. Another feeling of unease crept up her chest and she realized with a stab of panic that he was coming.
Sirius.
She could feel his presence, like a dark shadow over her. "I have to go," she said quickly, the key still in her hand. But Mathias wasn't one to be trifled with. His hand shot out from the bars and grabbed her wrist with surprising strength.
"Give me the key!" he demanded, his grip tightening painfully around her wrist. Regan gasped, her eyes widening with fear.
She tried to jerk away but the prisoner's grip was surprisingly strong. She had made a terrible mistake coming here. "Let me go!" she hissed quietly, trying to pull her wrists away from the creature. But Mathias's eyes had lit with a malicious intent. He grabbed her hand that was holding the key and forcefully snatched it from her.
Regan's eyes filled with a surge of anger and she prepared to shot him with a blast of magic, but Mathias was faster. He shoved her back and she fell on the ground with a thud, her limbs aching from the hard impact. "Well sweetheart, enjoy the interrogation of your dear lord," he said with a sinister grin, sliding the key on his torn pocket.
The sound of booted footsteps grew palpable and Regan stood up quickly, brushing of the dust from cloak, "You asshole, you think you can get out so easily?" she whispered through gritted teeth, her eyes scanning the shadows across the walls.
"Well, I'm not the one who's about to get spanked to oblivion," Mathias taunted as he turned back to sit on the old bed with a depraved smile on his face.
But Regan knew he wasn't entirely wrong. If Sirius found her here....God knew what he'd do. She quickly moved out of sight and ran to the way where th
ere were no cells. She heard Mathias chuckle from behind, but she didn't bother looking back. The path narrowed again as she kept going, fear and panic raising within seconds.