Behind the Castle's Door [COMPLETED]

Twenty-Seventh Door

Alcina and her daughters were enjoying breakfast in the dining hall. It's been two days since Clementine vanished, and the castle has been eerily quiet since then. The servants were even more terrified, especially because the daughters had been frightening them and making them quiver with fear. Alcina sighed as the four of them ate breakfast quietly, with none of them bothering to start a discussion.

Alcina drank the bleeding tea by lifting the cup to her mouth. She came to a complete stop when she recognized something.

"How come Ingrid isn't here?" She inquired as she slid the cup back into the saucer.

Adela and Red exchanged stares before returning their gaze to Alcina.

"My lady," Adela sighed. "Ingrid vanished the same day Clementine vanished," she remarked quietly.

Bela dropped her fork on the table, cleared her throat, picked up the fork she dropped, and proceeded to eat despite her want to speak.

"Disappeared? Thentwo of them?" Alcina's brows drew together.

Red smiled and nodded. "Ingrid informed me she'd be on the north wing, and Clementine would be assisting her, but we haven't seen them since."

Cassandra made a sneering remark. "It appears like the two of them ran together."

Before she could even say anything else, Alcina swallowed and thought about what she wanted to say.

"Did you look in Ingrid's room?"

Adela nodded. "All of her things are there, none missing."

Before Alcina could say another word, a servant entered the room bearing a rose bouquet, half of which had wilted and been burned, while the other half was still alive.

"I apologize for interrupting my lady, but this was delivered today," the maid stated as she handed her the boquet.

Daniela's brows drew together as she gazed at the roses. "You've been getting roses for a while, mother, but this one is different."

"What happened to the other half and why is it burned?" Bela enquired.

Alcina grabbed the boquet from the maid and examined it; she discovered a small card tucked within the dead roses' stem.

"She perished of burns, and you'll be the next."

Her brows furrowed as she read the note; she returned her gaze to the boquet and noticed something shiny on the other half, which she took only to discover to be a flower-decorated knife, which she promptly dropped.

"What the hell?" Cassandra screamed as she rose from her seat.

"Is that supposed to be a death threat?" Daniela hissed.

Vanessa stood in the kitchen, a wicked look on her face, and a tiny laugh escaped her lips before she walked away.

She muttered, "Death is near."

-

As Miranda stitched Eve's head wound, a sigh escaped her lips. Eve was laying in a bed within her manor's infirmary, while Ingrid was on another bed, being watched over by a doctor she had hired. She placed the needle and thread she used to mend Eve's wound away once she was finished.

"How is she doing? You stated her injuries weren't that bad," Miranda said as she walked up to the doctor.

"She'll be alright; she's just unconscious due to the blood loss, but she'll be awake in no time. Your daughter is something about which we should be more concerned," she bowed her head slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I know we already done what he needed to do, but her condition is getting worse, and there's a possibility that she might di—" she paused as Miranda's palm landed on her right cheek.