BEHIND LOCKED DOORS
724 Words
CHAPTER 4
The door did not open.Arielle twisted the handle again, harder this time, the lock held firm.Her breath came out shaky,She stepped back slowly her eyes fixed on the door as if it might suddenly move on its own. The room felt smaller now, the walls closing in, the silence growing heavier with every second.
She was locked in,her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
She told herself not to panic.This is "Blackwood." Nothing happened by accident in this house. If the door was locked, it was because someone wanted it that way.
Her stomach twisted,had she broken a rule?
She replayed every moment in her mind,every word she’d spoken, every glance she’d made. She had been careful,silent,and obedient.So why?
She heard footsteps.
They were distant at first, slow and deliberate. Her heart raced; she backed away from the door instinctively, stopping when her back met the edge of the desk.
The footsteps drew closer, then stopped.
Silence followed thick and deliberate.
Arielle pressed her lips together, her chest rising and falling too fast. Whoever stood outside wasn’t rushing. They weren’t confused.
The lock clicked opened.
Lucien stepped inside,"Arielle’s knees felt weak"He didn’t look angry and that unsettled her more than anything else. His expression was calm and unreadable,
“You tried to leave,” he said.
“I—”she stuttered. “I finished cleaning, sir. I didn’t know where else to go.”
He studied her in silence, as though weighing the truth of her words.
“No one told you,” he said slowly.
“No, sir.”
“You were meant to wait,” Lucien continued. “People reveal more when they’re unsure of what comes next.”
She swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean to disobey.”
“I know,” he replied calmly. “That’s why you’re still here.”The words settled over her like a warning.
He moved further into the room, his footsteps unhurried. Arielle stayed where she was, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
“I didn’t lock you in to frighten you,” Lucien said, his voice low.“Fear comes naturally here.”
Her breath caught.“I locked the door because the west wing is not for wandering eyes,” he continued. “And you were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“You apologize too easily,” he said. “That can be dangerous.”He stopped a few steps away from her.“You will learn something quickly in this house,” Lucien said quietly. “Obedience isn’t enough. Awareness matters.”
She nodded, her heart pounding.
“You will stay where you are told,” he added. “You will wait until you are not dismissed. And you will not touch what does not belong to you.”
Her mind flashed to the empty space behind the bookshelf.“Yes, sir.” she said
His gaze lingered on her face for a moment longer than necessary."You’re dismissed,” he said at last.
The door unlocked with a soft click.Arielle didn’t move immediately.
Lucien watched her carefully.“Go,” he said.
She rushed past him, her shoulder barely brushing his arm. The contact was brief, accidental but she felt it all the same. A spark of awareness shot through her, sharp and unsettling.She didn’t look back.
That night, Arielle lay awake in her narrow bed, staring at the ceiling.
The memory of the locked door replayed in her mind. The calm way Lucien had entered. The way he had watched her not with hunger, not with anger, but with something colder,Control.
Her thoughts wandered to the other servants. How many had come before her, broken under his gaze, under his rules? How many had failed? And what did failure look like?
A shiver crawled up her spine. I belong to this house now. Every word he had spoken echoed in her mind, wrapping around her like chains. Every corner of the West Wing felt alive, watching her, judging her, waiting for her to slip.
She pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to force herself calm. I can do this, she told herself. I have to. For my family.
But deep inside, she knew the truth.
"Behind locked doors in Blackwood,”nothing is accidental.
- Writer
