Chapter 5: My Castle secrets
1023 Words
I lay on the bed again, the familiar ache of boredom and loneliness settling deep into my bones. The only comfort I had was my book, the one thing that felt like a friend in this silent cage. The room was cold, but I wrapped myself tighter in the thin blanket and stared at the ceiling, watching the faint shadows move with the slow passing of time.
The door opened. I didn’t even flinch. It had become routine people coming and going, doing whatever they needed with me or for me, never asking for my consent or even a glance. I barely noticed when they stepped in, but then they carried something toward the wall above my dresser. I looked up, curiosity sneaking in despite myself.
It was a clock. Pretty, delicate, and pink the kind of soft, girlish color that felt out of place in this cold, harsh place. But what made my heart skip was the picture inside it. It was me. A photo, carefully framed, smiling on a day I could barely remember now, a moment from a life that seemed far away.
I gasped quietly, my hand trembling as I reached out to touch it. The door was left wide open. They didn’t even close it behind them. I felt a sudden flutter of something dangerous in my chest hope? Fear? Maybe both.
Maybe he was coming.
I straightened myself, trying to smooth the creases in my dress, brushing the tangled hair out of my face. Why did I care? Why did I feel this strange nervousness for someone who barely looked at me? The thought confused me, but I didn’t have time to unravel it before a lady stepped inside.
She was different from the others older, maybe by just a few years, but enough to seem almost maternal. Her eyes were tired but kind.
“Doll, it’s your castle. Wander in it,” she said softly, her voice a gentle breeze in the stillness.
Doll the name echoed even after she left, i was like some item they had to care for, a delicate glass that could fall and break and am sure if it happens death would be far from the punishment logan was sure to offer them, not to seem unfair but he looked cruel.
None of them knew my name and they didnt care, doll this doll that at least she spoke to me i was beginning to think they were deaf or dumb around here, wanted to question logan about why no one talked to me but my courage was only in my thoughts nothing more, i sighed still in my thoughts.
She didn’t wait for my reply, just gave me a faint smile and left, closing the door behind her quietly.
Clutching my diary the only thing I trusted I walked out of the room. No one walked with me this time, but I knew their eyes were still watching from the shadows.
The corridor opened up into a garden.
I stepped outside, though ‘outside’ wasn’t exactly the right word. The garden was breathtaking, too perfect to be natural. Rows of flowers bloomed in impossible colors, redder reds, purer whites, and blues so deep they seemed unreal. The grass beneath my feet was velvet-soft and trimmed to perfection, but I knew it was all an illusion.
Above me stretched an enormous dome of glass, sealing the garden in a frozen moment a synthetic sky that kept the light steady but never let the real sun in. The air smelled faintly of flowers and something metallic. It was obvious this place was made for him to keep his doll safe, or maybe just to keep her locked away.
I felt bitter. While he was out there, somewhere in his mansion, enjoying the freedom I’d never have again, I was trapped beneath this fake sky, a prisoner in a cage that looked like paradise.
I wasn’t allowed to see the world anymore. At least my new pink clock told me it was noon. I wondered what the real sun looked like today, how warm it would feel on my skin, how the breeze might have carried the scent of rain or earth.
I wandered slowly, taking in everything the marble statues of women lining the garden paths, their faces frozen in solemn grace. The maids and guards were all women too, moving silently and watching me like shadows. I hated their eyes so empty, so cold.
Then I came across a hallway unlike the others. No guards, no maids. Just silence.
Curiosity pulled me inside.
The walls were lined with portraits paintings of women, all beautiful, each face more haunting than the last. They were arranged in perfect order, numbered like trophies. I stopped at the end and my breath caught.
There was a painting of me. But it was different. It wasn’t numbered. The portrait before mine was marked thirty-four. Mine had no number. Not yet.
I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.
A large door stood at the end of the hallway. I wanted to turn away, but something stronger pushed me forward. I grasped the handle and pulled.
The room beyond stole my breath.
Glass chambers lined the walls rows and rows of tall, cold fridges. Inside each was a woman, naked and still, as if in a deep sleep. Their skin was pale and perfect, their bodies frozen in time. Some looked peaceful; others had eyes half-open, like silent screams trapped behind glass.
They were preserved, frozen, imprisoned.
My head spun. My heart pounded so loud I thought it might burst. I stumbled back, clutching my chest.
I always fainted when fear and despair flooded me.
I ran, my breath ragged, my legs barely holding me up. Was i next, would i die, am i safe, i need to get away, i still love myself, please, I darted past the portraits, past the marble statues, the endless corridors.
When I finally reached my own hallway, my legs gave out. The world tilted, then blackened around me.
I collapsed, lost in darkness.
But even more lost in fear.
- Writer
