31
As I walked further inside I was happy in the knowledge that I wasn’t going to trip at the bottom and break my neck. Because I soon discovered that as I walked further down, a motion sensor would trigger the lights. I also discovered that this must have been a section of the castle that was built into the mountain, as it was clear from the rough walls this tunnel had been cut out of the rock.
It was a bit tricky at first, trying to manoeuvre both myself and my dress down the steps without causing bodily harm. But thankfully the steps weren’t steep, and they weren’t narrow. I also kept looking behind me and found comfort in the small slither of light from the hidden doorway, that at least I wasn’t locked in down here.
Wherever here was?
I don’t know how long it took me before I could see the last few steps opening out before me in a staggered fan shape, but it was obvious that it was leading into a large room. This time instead of electric lights switching on and flickering bulbs flooding the room with light, it was once again my arch nemesis…
Flaming torches.
Yep, this was when I knew my seemingly innocent curiosity could possibly take a turn for the worse, as I watched the walls start to ignite. Overly large wrought iron candelabras looked as if they had been first sliced in half and were embedded into the wall with carved stone hands holding them in place. These were alive with the dancing flames captured inside small teardrop shaped glass lamps.
But it wasn’t the light that had me gasping, no it was what it now illuminated, and the sight had me taking a staggered step back. It wasn’t just a room I was stood in, it was in fact a cavern sized space that one sound would have sung with an echo.
But again, it wasn’t even the size of the place that was staggering, but more like what filled it.
Because I had finally found,
Draven’s private vault.
This should have been shocking enough but it wasn’t. Because it was what filled the space that stunned me and the lack of wealth. As this wasn’t a vault for money, it was a sacred vault of all Draven’s worldly possessions that meant the most to him.
I knew this the second I was faced by the heavenly figure everything seemed to be centred around. A great marble statue of who I knew was his mother, Sarah. It was breathtakingly stunning in all its fine detail and it could almost be believed that any minute she would come to life, lifting the veil of stone from her divine figure.
I stepped further into the room and looked all around in utter astonishment. Shelves filled to the brim with rolled scrolls, too many to even fit in the space without spilling onto the floor. There were also large trunks piled high and dotted around the space. I was so curious that I gently lifted the lid to one, flinching when the old hinges creaked.
“Oh my god,” I uttered as I saw notebook after notebook, all crammed in there with different covers, but the age looked to be the same. Which is when I looked up and counted the trunks, asking myself if they were what I thought they were?
I knew the only way to check and even though it felt wrong, I still found my hand reaching for the top one.
‘April 3rd, 1877
‘This morning I found myself gazing from the window again, getting lost in my torturous thoughts. The dispute about owned land was an annoying murmur in the background, one I wanted to dismiss as soon as possible.
Something I did far sooner than my patience usually stretches to, and this was done with what I knew was a sharp tongue lashing out as I followed through with my impulse. But then again, I found I had no patience for such things these days and wondered if it wasn’t time to move on again. Start somewhere afresh and if possible, discover a new piece of this tainted earth that hadn’t yet been butchered by the human race.
My sister continues to drive me to distraction with her constant annoyance at my foul mood, one brought on by yet again the pressure to find my Electus that surrounds my soul. I often find myself writing about her and plaguing my mind with questions as to who she could be. With her presence a constant in not just my journals but also in the prison of feelings that I keep locked away in the hellish pits of my mind.
All I have left to hope for is that she won’t keep me waiting much longer.
For I fear for my angel’s sanity and my demon’s control.’
I dropped the book the instant I read those last words and then looked up slowly at the tower of trunks all stacked in a corner.
“Oh my god,” I said again, only this time in complete disbelief. It was true, all of it was true. Draven hadn’t just been waiting for me for thousands of years, but he had really been waiting for me.
I don’t know why this had hit me so hard, hard enough to place a hand to my heart as if to check it was still beating and this wasn’t just all a dream. But to hear it from Draven’s version, one long before he met me, had an effect that rocked me to my core.
I found myself asking just how many pages were in this room that held hope to the existence of me? How many more tortured words were written somewhere in this room speaking of the only name he knew…his Electus?
In the end I had to tear my eyes from the sight of what I could assume were catalogues of journals spanning throughout the ages, for fear that I would give into my impulse again and grab one.
So, instead I looked around the rest of the space and saw other things that also caught my interest. Like an array of small statues on plinths and a charred wooden throne as if there as a symbol of a torched past. Even paintings, none of which were of himself, but ones of horses he must have owned.
Then there was a row of stone mannequins against the wall, all wearing different styles of amour like an army of frozen warriors, ready at the front line of battle. Even a few broken pieces of furniture and pottery were dotted around the edges. But with every single piece I found myself desperate to know why, how and when?
I don’t know how I felt about finding this place, but I knew now that I had wished for Draven to have been the one to have shown it to me. Not only so that he could have been the one to explain to me the stories surrounding all of these things. Things that meant something to him. But mainly because right now I felt like an intruder.
I turned back towards the way I had entered, noticing that framing each side stood stone centurions that looked as if they were the vault’s guardians. They even had their weapons raised high and spears crossed over the threshold.
Yep, suddenly this place didn’t seem like such a good idea as all the objects around the space started to cast flickering shadows across the dirt floor. I felt like I was in Aladdin’s cave, only instead of jewels and mountains of gold to find, what lay in here were too many lifetimes’ worth of secrets to be told.
So, I decided enough time had passed as the last thing I wanted was Sophia not knowing where I was if she came back…or worse still, Draven finding me down here after searching everywhere for me.
But as I made my way back towards the entrance something made me stop and I looked back at the room one last time. As I did this, something happened as one of the lights further back suddenly came to life, making me wonder if there had been a delay in the ignition or something?
Well, whatever it was, I could now see that the space went even further back than I had originally thought. This was when something shimmering caught my attention and unfortunately, it was enough not to leave.
I knew what I should have done, but this didn’t seem to register as my feet were already taking me closer to what it was. The closer I got I could see that the flickering flame on the wall was reflecting off a strange pool of water. It looked like some kind of old well and from where I was stood it looked as though that water was close to spilling over the edge of the small stone blocks that surrounded it.
I decided to take a closer look as if something was telling me I needed to. This time it wasn’t just my curiosity that was pulling me forward, but something else, something deeper. Like a voice was speaking to me without words, tempting me with a glimpse into not my future but Draven’s.
I found myself getting closer. So close in fact, that before I knew it, I was stood only a foot away. But then the clear water started to change as if some sort of black substance was being released below and merging up to the surface. I squinted as I could see something down there shining, something white that every now and again was catching the light. I got down on my knees by the edge without even thinking about my dress or the fact that I should no longer be down here.
It was as if something was speaking to me now, telling me to just reach down and grab it. ‘Take it, it’s yours’ it said over and over. To the point where I was just about to reach in and…
And thankfully, before the impulse to do something so stupid could take full control of me, I started to pull back. Only now as I did this the once clear water started to ripple as if something had been dropped in the centre. Swirls of black liquid mixed into a darker shade, making it now almost impossible to see beyond the surface.
“What on earth…?” but that was the wrong thing to ask, as the second I uttered the words a shadow started to emerge as if rising closer to the top. A dark shape, barely even seen in the obscure water but the closer it got, the more visible it became.
However, the second my mind started to process what it was, I was too late. I barely had time to scream as suddenly a demonic arm shot out from the water and grabbed my face before suddenly pulling me under. The last thing I saw was a pair of demonic eyes of Hellish sun looking back at me, grinning sadistically through the murky depths.
The beast had wrapped an arm around me, capturing my body as I fought for escape. But with the strength in those arms, I knew it was impossible and I was running out of air. The only thing that saved me from gulping in all that water when I screamed, was the demon’s hand that had clamped firmly over my mouth and nose.
I knew this was it, the demon had been granted his wish. Because now I recognised the face from my nightmares, only this time I knew I wasn’t dreaming. Because you can’t die in your sleep. You can’t feel the air as it’s being sucked from your lungs with your need to breathe as it becomes desperation. Draven’s arms weren’t around me, holding me safe in a tight embrace on the bed until I managed to fight the monster away and back to reality.
No, because the truth only now started to hit me, pounding into my soul and into my heart like the death that would soon follow.
That night of the war. The night Draven had no choice and no will of his own before he plunged that dagger into my chest.
Now I knew that Draven killing me had never been the prophecy after all.
It was never about that.
I knew this when a memory hit me and infected my mind like the water that was now drowning me.
I finally understood what it was that my demon said to me that night. Both his ancient words and barely spoken whisper being a threat of my future, one taking place right now.
A sentence that said it all,
‘Queen of the Netherworld and seventh slave, you will come to me and I…I will make you my slave in Hell.’
A threat, from who I know knew was...
Draven’s Demon.
To be Continued
In Happy Ever Afterlife
Part 2
Coming End of April 2018
Read on
For a teaser chapter of…
Vincent’s Curse
Kings of Afterlife
Book1
Coming Soon
Summer 2018