The clash between the brothers cast a shadow on all of us, and the day passed slowly. Once noon arrived, the bell rang to announce the lunch hour. The noise level inside the tower was bearable, but the entire place seemed to vibrate every time it rang.
During our first day here, Estelle cried, saying she was going to get out of here. But now, a week later, she realized how powerless she was and just wrapped herself in blankets.
"What if the tower falls? Sasha, have you ever seen a bell tower fall?" She asked, worried about the vibrations.
"I've never seen one fall, and even if I had, this one won't. Don't worry, we're not that high up." I reassured her with a smile.
"How high up are we?" She asked, frowning.
Did she believe me? "Um, around the 5th floor, I think?"
That was a blatant lie, since we were high enough on the tower that we could see the bell over our heads. But as long as I could lessen Estelle's fears with those words, I didn't mind lying at all.
After so many days of confinement, a routine had been established. We woke up early in the morning and ate after washing up. Then, once the bell rang at noon, we had our lunch. The afternoon was spent with no snacks until we ate dinner at six o'clock, when the bell rang again for prayer time.
Today Benya didn't show up during lunch or dinner. According to Letis, he holed himself up in the library and didn't respond when spoken to.
I couldn't understand why Benya was acting like this. What triggered him? He wasn't the type to sulk for so long for something so trivial. Honestly, I should be the one sulking, not him. I couldn't even fathom why he was acting like that. No one told him to ruin the atmosphere.
We didn't see Benya again until nighttime.
* * *
I woke up early on the next morning and took a quick glance at the ceiling window. Since the sky above us was still dark, it had to be sometime before dawn. Lowering my gaze to the spot beside me, I watch the deeply asleep Estelle for a while.
Why did I wake up so early? Was I excited that today was the last day that we had to stay in this tower?
Going back to sleep was no longer a possibility, since I was already wide awake, so I got up. My first thought was to tiptoe toward the bathroom and try to not wake up Estelle, but a stray thought suddenly popped into my mind and I turned around.
I had no idea what made me check downstairs at that precise moment. Maybe I had been under some sort of spell.
With a lit candle I took from a drawer, I carefully made my way down the narrow and dark stairs. The entire floor was dark, the only source of light being the faint glow if the candle I held in my hand. I walked forward, but and the first thing that came to view was...
... The tray cart standing in silent vigil in front of the mirror door.
I frowned, confused. Did we cover the trays yesterday? I couldn't remember if we did.
Still frowning, I approached the cart and opened the silver cover on the top. Unsurprisingly, it was the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner that the siblings and I ate all week. But we were going to leave this place today, weren't we? Why did they bring us our meals, then? Were we going to leave during the night, perhaps?
And most importantly, when did that Harris or Parris guy come and go with this cart?
A cold hand suddenly touched my shoulder and a whisper tickled my ear, almost making me jump in fright. "What are you doing?"
