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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The books were sorted in about a minute.
They were reformed.
The three stood up, Selina's back hurting. Selina slammed the book with her name onto the table.
"Don't you think that's enough investigation for today?" asked Jim.
Without taking her eyes off the book, Selina replied with a tired "Yeah."
Without much, Jim slipped through the entrance door to the library, going out of the castle in whatever way he had found inside. Silence.
She just wanted to go to sleep and call this a dream.
"Never again," said Alyssa in a low voice.
"Never again," echoed the little one.
Jim had left one of the lanterns in the room off the floor. What was it?
A vault?
It could be a vault as it had storage inside it. Of what sort?
She still was not sure.
As Alyssa picked the last standing lantern off the table, there was a footstep: a loud one, a sturdy one. Without hesitation, the two of them ran to the door, but the door that had been left ajar slammed shut in Selina's face. Alyssa dragged her sister by her hand, yanking her to the other side of the library, where they hid by a bookshelf. They both slid down the bookshelf, and Alyssa turned off the lantern as her fingers slipped off the dial. They both sat there noiselessly, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Selina's trembling hands still held the book of her name, confused—another footstep. Selina looked over at Alyssa, who she had never seen this shocked or scared before, with all color drained from her face. Alyssa looked at her, appalled, noticing the book she was clutching. Selina closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.
If someone snuck into the library, they would have heard them. But then again, they had heard thuds when they were in the room. Maybe that is when they came in—another step.
Were they wearing boots?
Alyssa kept her eyes on Selina's book as though it could fly out her fingers any second. Was this person walking?
She could not hear movement, yet she felt a strong presence. It was as though the person would be right behind them if she turned around.
"What do we have here?" echoed the mysterious voice.
The voice sent chills down her spine. It sounded so familiar. It was like the voice came from inside her. That was not possible. She focused on the present to clarify that the voice was not in her head but rather around her—a woman's voice.
Alyssa looked more scared if that was even possible. She could hear the footsteps of the shifting figure more clearly now, but her heart was still stammering.
It could not be a maid, no they would never dare talk to them in this manner. Her head started spinning with possibilities, but this was not helping her control her breathing.
Alyssa looked down at the lantern in deep thought.
Everything about this was so off.
More footsteps. They had lost track of time in the excitement of the events unfolding. The intruder stopped dead. The sisters looked slowly at each other. The stranger let out a controlled huff, mocking. Mocking what?
"Pretty close, don't you think?" continued the intruder. Alyssa sucked in her breath.
"Did it myself." Selina could not take it anymore. When the night started, she had been scared with excitement, but now it was just fear. She was never going to step out of line again.
With her breathing going loose again, Selina risked a glance at the infamous figure.
The woman standing vaguely was identical to her mother, but it did not align. Something about her hair, the way her voice scratched.
Her mother was not cruel, far from it. She was a kind, generous queen, always there to help her citizens. Why Selina's mind entered that headspace was beyond her.
It was now Alyssa's turn to try and get a look at the abnormality. Knowing they were in this mess together, Selina looked at the stranger again. She shuddered at her figure. There was a rose where her hair, twisted back, met. Through the darkness in the library, she still could not make the figure completely out. Then the wind came, twisting through her hair. There were no open windows in the library, but the wind came in uninvited somehow. Alyssa picked up the lantern from the floor and grabbed her wrist.
"Let's go!" Alyssa whispered.
"No!" Selina stammered. But Alyssa was already up, and she dragged her sister behind her. Alyssa turned the lantern on. The figure could not be found as the wind howled against the bookshelves, knocking off lighter books and tangling the pair's hair. Alyssa looked furious. The lantern shone throughout the library, but still no sign of her.
Alyssa banged open the library door, but she kept running with Selina's hand up the flight of stairs.
They did not say a word as they reached the landing where their room was. They both stood completely propelled at the occurrence. As they huffed, Alyssa looked at the ground, refusing to meet her eyes. Selina looked at her, not knowing what to expect. Alyssa's expression of confusion was wiped off as she now looked at her with a composed look.
"Go to bed, it's late," she said sternly. Silence. A bittering Silence. The lantern, still lit, bounced light off the walls.
She did not know where to start.
Alyssa put a reassuring hand on her back and led Selina to her room.
She turned on the lights in her room.
"Do you need anything?" asked Alyssa. Selina sat down on her bed.
Tick.
"Who was that?" questioned Selina. Something moved behind her sister's eyes. She sat down next to her on the bed. She looked at her, Alyssa's eyes swelling with wetness.
"Are you okay?" whispered Selina. Alyssa flashed her sister a warning look. She was warning her not to overstep it.
She was left with far more questions than when they started the night.
"Something's wrong," creaked Selina's voice. Alyssa gave her a cold look.
It was like time stopped. That this was an act, a phase.
Her head was hurting, very terribly. The book that they had found in the room was placed on her nightstand by Selina. Alyssa gave it an emotionless look.
