The Inner Circle | A Midnight Quartet

Chapter 12 | Carmen Foster

Carmen wanders down the sunlit hallways, keeping his hands crossed behind his back to keep him from poking at the delicate flowers throughout the area. The deep red dahlias are in honor of the princess, her favorite flower. He still wants to pick one out of the fancy bouquets.

He is hoping to bump into Darcy and tell her about what they had found. But she wasn't in her room or the library. His last place to check is the princess's room.

The door is cracked open, so he peeks his head in.

Darcy is sitting on the edge of the bed, fingering a small blue ribbon she always has around her wrist. Not wanting to startle her from her thoughts, he quietly raps at the open door.

She turns to glance at him from behind her shoulder. The sun streaming in seems to hit perfectly on her as a tucked strand of hair falls from her ear. Her eyes are red and puffy. He tries not to notice she is wearing his favorite blue dress. He stands there for a moment, unsure if she would be upset with him for intruding. She gives him a soft smile.

Stepping forward, he surveys the princess's room. I wonder what they are going to do with it now that she is gone, he thinks. He doubts they would turn it into a guest room. No one would want to stay in a room where someone had died, no matter how famous.

Turning back towards Darcy, he asks, "How are you feeling?"

She sniffles. "Just dandy."

He settles down on the bed next to her and nudges her shoulder.

"No, come on. How are you really feeling?"

She sighs and turns to look at him. "I can't help but feel this is all my fault."

He opens his mouth to protest but she places a dainty finger on his lips. "Wait, just listen. It is like everywhere I go, death follows. Everyone I love seems to... to die. My mother died when I was 9 years old. After that it- it was Emilee." She gives him a half smile, saying, "And I don't even want to talk about the number of cats I've lost."

He cracks a smile at her attempted joke.

"Now this," She gestures to the room. "I don't want to lose anyone else." She pauses, then looks back towards him, tears slightly brimming her tired eyes. "Especially-" She stops, brow furrowing as her gaze lands behind him. He freezes, frightened at her look and the threat of what is there.

"Is it a ghost?"

She shakes her head, eyes trained on the door. "Someone's here."

He spins around, finding the door still closed, but a shadow of feet are framed underneath it.

"Maybe it's just a maid?" He says quietly.

The door handle begins to rattle harshly. Apparently not.

Darcy jumps up and grabs his hand. "Get in the closet!" She whispers.

They slip in, silently shutting the door behind them. His heart hammers as he strains to listen to what is happening. The door is making clicking sounds, the same noise Miles had made when he was lockpicking. Maybe it's Miles?

The door creaks open and a scuffle of boots can be heard as the door shuts again. The person walks over to the bed, right next to the closet. He feels Darcy reach out and grab his hand. The sound of multiple drawers open and a moment later, slam shut. The man curses. There is silence, almost as if he is listening for something.

A second later, the door of the closet swings open, and Darcy is ripped from his grasp. She screams and Carmen jumps out to grab her.

The man steps away, holding Darcy to his chest. A knife is pressed against her neck. She breathes heavily, eyes squeezed shut.