Selina Rose leads a normal life as a princess: attending balls, tending to her garden, and going to school. But soon enough things start to fall apart.
Nothing makes sense in this princess's castle: the walls seem to hear secrets, the library seems...
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"How did you get in anyway?" inquired Selina as they lazily strolled behind Alyssa.
"Well, let's just say your sister is a babble mouth to the point that I know of all the little secrets in this castle, specifically how you can get in," they both stopped as Alyssa started climbing. "Undetected." finished Jim.
"So you knew we would be here?" said Selina, whispering so Alyssa could not hear.
"Like I said," Alyssa stopped on the ladder. "Babble mouth."
"Bag," Alyssa demanded. Jim reached over to a messy side bag that Selina assumed Jim had brought in or been instructed to. He drew out a big sack, and Alyssa threw books off the bookshelf absent-mindedly.
"Slow down!" Jim struggled to get the books in the sack without waking the residents.
Tonight was the night, or so they planned, to investigate the mysterious metal square. It was rather intriguing as there was not much fascinating at the usual hours.
One by one, or more, hand-by-hand, Alyssa de-shelved an area of the bookshelf that was exceptionally high above the struggling Jim and the anticipating Selina.
Soon, Alyssa threw down the final book.
"Okay!" gasped Jim. Selina saw the square in the wall glimmering as it usually did.
Selina liked to think of it as a vault because the other alternatives seemed to trouble her. Alyssa thought for a moment and then gave the metal a knock. It was hollow. A vault, Selina repeated in her head.
"Something's inside," said Selina in her normal voice.
"Yeah, we figured that," said Jim, dropping the sack.
"Well, I don't understand," whispered Alyssa as she let in a breath. She took a step down the ridiculously lengthy ladder and looked at Jim. He picked up the sack again.
Selina read 'A Complete Guide: Herbology and the Science Within' in the library lounge as Alyssa threw more books onto Jim. He said it was probably wise to clear out the books in the areas near the metal or vault, as Selina told herself. The lounge gave her a perfect view of the library, overlooking it, and she saw her sister rummaging through the books on a high shelf from across the library. Alyssa would furiously grab a couple of books and roughly aim them towards the sack below her. She had become quite an expert on book aiming by now.
It was 11:27 pm when they first asked Selina for guidance. When Selina made her way back, many books were on the floor that Jim had dumped out due to the lack of space in his sack. Alyssa had cleared out a massive section of the wall around the object, leaving empty bookshelves. Now, what was in front of them was haunting, as they could see all the edges.
"Have a look," said Alyssa as she encouraged her sister to climb the long-winded ladder after making her voyage down. The figures of Jim and Alyssa became smaller as she ascended.
Nearly a minute later, Selina approached the metal. The letter 'R' was etched in the middle of this metal that now had edges. It was much bigger than any of them would have assumed it could be, yet it was small. Vault. It had no doorknob or handle.
"What do you think it is?" yelled Selina, immediately getting conscious of the noise they all must have made in the past hour.
"Don't know," said Alyssa. Vault?
But why?
Selina descended carefully as the conversation between Jim and Alyssa came into focus.
"Well, what? You plan to stare at it until it opens itself?" argued Jim.
"Well, it can't just be there," Alyssa sounded frustrated. "There isn't just a door in the wall!"
"Oh yeah, why not?" Jim had his hands on his hips.
"Why would it even be there in the first place?"
"Oh, I don't know, but it would go with the list of absolutely absurd things your family does!" Selina landed.
"Vault," said Selina. There followed a bittering silence.
"Why-" tried Alyssa, but her sister cut her off.
"It could be a secret vault to keep extra money in."
"WHY WOULD IT BE SO HIGH OFF THE FLOOR?" Jim's voice rang through the library over both their voices, yet Selina overrode it.
"WHO CARES?" The crickets outside the cathedral-like window could be heard. "Wouldn't you think our parents would know if there was a mysterious vault?" she said calmer, towards her sister.
"It's not a vault," pushed Alyssa.
"On the wall?" chimed Jim.
"It has a 'R' on it," said Alyssa matter-of-factly.
"What are you suggesting?" Selina was getting frustrated.
This was a deficient idea. They could not be caught, not like this. The trio was bickering over metal in the wall with books lying all over the floor. They would be in deep trouble.
But for now, there was a lasting silence in the hall. The eeriness of the area fell over them. The three warm lanterns prevented the absolute darkness and chill of the room from taking over.
After a bit, Jim stood up from the floor where he had been glued for quite some time and started climbing. Alyssa looked at him with hope.
"It's hollow," Alyssa said in a whisper. Jim slowed his climbing. Surprisingly, Jim was the first of the trio to tug at the edges of the metal.
"This can work!" he yelled down. Then he whipped out something shiny, another metal, a crowbar from his side bag.
"JIM!" But he ignored Alyssa as he plowed the crowbar onto the edge. He pulled hard. Selina could not see him making any progress through the metal, but the noise that formed in the hall was screeching, and if the people in the castle were not awake already, they had to be now.
"Jim, I think that's enough!" The crowbar was yanked out of Jim's arms, leaving an outward dent formed in the metal. There was a loud thud as it hit the ground.
Great. More commotion. More evidence.
Where the metal was stretched outwards, there was a small gap through which you could see inside. Jim looked down at them and tried to silence a laugh. The sisters looked at each other, Selina giving an impressed smirk.
Jim was now furiously climbing down the ladder, breathing heavily, he lifted one of the lanterns off the table and started climbing back up.
