Chapter 8
746 Words
PENELOPE POV
Sleep never came.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt him.
His lips.
His voice.
His impossible confession.
You are my executioner.
The words wrapped themselves around my mind like ivy, tightening with every passing second until I couldn’t breathe beneath their weight.
I sat upright in the enormous canopy bed, staring into the darkness of my room.
The castle was too quiet.
Not the peaceful silence of a library.
This silence listened.
The crimson curtains swayed although every window was shut, and the candles lining the walls burned with pale blue flames instead of gold.
Nothing about this place felt alive.
Yet somehow…
Everything was watching me.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
“I need answers,” I whispered to myself.
Not from Julian.
Never from Julian.
From this castle.
From my father.
From whatever truth everyone seemed determined to hide.
My eyes landed on the candle resting beside the bed.
I picked it up and struck a match.
The tiny flame danced, throwing long shadows across the crimson walls.
Slowly, I opened the bedroom door.
The hallway stretched endlessly before me.
Portraits lined both sides, their gilded frames catching the candlelight.
Every face looked eerily similar.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
Cold eyes.
Valerius.
Each painting felt less like art and more like a warning.
As I walked, something strange happened.
The eyes followed me.
I stopped.
The portraits stopped.
I swallowed hard.
“You’re imagining things.”
The words sounded weak even to me.
The castle answered with silence.
A cold draft brushed the back of my neck.
I turned sharply.
No one.
Only darkness.
I kept walking.
The further I wandered, the older the castle became.
The polished marble floors gave way to cracked stone.
The luxurious chandeliers disappeared, replaced by rusted iron sconces dripping melted wax.
The air smelled different here.
Damp earth.
Old incense.
And something metallic.
Blood.
Then I saw it.
A narrow wooden door hidden behind a faded tapestry embroidered with three black ravens surrounding a broken crown.
It was slightly open.
A faint golden light flickered beyond it.
Every instinct screamed at me to leave.
Instead…
I pushed the door open.
A spiral staircase descended into darkness.
My candle trembled in my hand as I began walking down.
One step.
Two.
Twenty.
The deeper I went, the colder it became.
The walls were carved with names.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
Some had dates beside them.
Others simply ended with a single word.
Forgotten.
My heartbeat quickened.
At the bottom of the staircase stood another room.
Unlike the rest of the castle, it wasn’t grand.
It looked like an abandoned chapel.
Dust floated through shafts of moonlight pouring from a broken stained glass window.
In the center stood a stone pedestal.
Resting upon it…
…was a leather bound journal.
My breath caught.
The initials burned into the cover made my knees nearly buckle.
E.T.
Elias Thorne.
My father.
“No…”
I rushed forward, nearly dropping the candle.
With trembling hands, I opened the journal.
The first page was written in my father’s familiar handwriting.
If you are reading this, Penelope… they have already found you.
My vision blurred.
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them.
He knew.
He had known this day would come.
I turned the page.
Another letter.
Another warning.
Do not trust Julian Valerius.
He will make you question your own heart before he asks for your blood.
If he tells you he wants to die… believe him.
But never believe that death is all he wants from you.
A chill raced through me.
Footsteps echoed somewhere above.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming closer.
I snapped the journal shut.
Someone was descending the staircase.
I looked wildly around the room.
There was nowhere to hide.
The footsteps stopped just beyond the doorway.
A woman’s voice drifted through the darkness.
Soft.
Elegant.
Curious.
“So…”
she murmured.
“You’re the last Thorne.”
I slowly turned toward the voice.
Standing in the doorway was a breathtaking woman dressed in emerald silk, her dark curls spilling over one shoulder. She watched me with an unreadable smile, her emerald eyes glinting with dangerous amusement.
“I’ve waited a very long time to meet you.”
She stepped into the candlelight.
“My name is Selene.”
“And if Julian discovers you’re down here…”
Her smile widened.
“…we’re both going to have a very interesting night.”
- Writer
