The frozen heart

Chapter 34: Ink and Ice

The library felt like a hollow place without Kaiden. The vast, empty corridors of the abandoned castle seemed to echo with memories, but no sound filled them now except the quiet scrape of Anne's footsteps on the worn stone floors. The day had stretched endlessly without his presence, the silence amplifying the weight of his absence once again. Kaiden had left, disappearing into the night and Anne was left to fend off the gnawing worry that something might have happened to him.

She had roamed the castle aimlessly at first, hoping to stumble upon some sign of him, some clue that would tell her when he might return. But when the halls remained empty, she had found herself drifting towards the library.

It was a grand room, expansive and timeless, the walls lined from floor to ceiling with shelves packed with books—some ancient and crumbling, others pristine, as though untouched by time. Tall windows let in the dying light of the afternoon, casting long, golden shadows across the floor. The air smelled faintly of old parchment and dust, and there was a certain peace in the quiet, even if it did little to calm the knot in her chest.

Anne wandered through the rows of books, her fingers lightly grazing the spines as she passed. Titles long forgotten, stories from a time before she could even imagine, whispered to her from their place on the shelves. She paused at one particularly large tome, its cover faded and fraying, the leather worn smooth by countless hands over the centuries. She pulled it free and opened it, her fingers careful with the fragile pages.

But as she flipped through, her eyes couldn't focus on the words. Her mind kept wandering back to Kaiden, to the way he left without warning, to the feeling of his absence hanging heavy in the air. She hated it—hated the way the silence made her feel hollow, like she was waiting for something that might never come.

Setting the book back in its place, Anne moved deeper into the library, drawn to the back corner where the shelves seemed older, the books more mysterious. She ran her hand over a stack of books that sat on a small table, all of them bound in dark, cracked leather. None of them had titles on the spine, just blank covers that seemed to invite curiosity. But she passed them by, her attention drawn to a shelf just beyond them.

Something about it felt familiar, though she couldn't place why. The air around it seemed heavier, thicker, like the dust here had settled more deeply than in the rest of the library. Anne's steps slowed as she approached, her eyes scanning the rows of books. And then, there it was.

Tucked into the middle of the shelf, as though waiting for her to find it, was a book she knew all too well.

The Frozen Heart.

Her breath caught in her throat. The sight of it was like a blow, a punch that stole the air from her lungs. She stared at it, frozen in place, unable to tear her eyes away. It sat there, quiet and unassuming, as if it hadn't upended her entire life, as if it hadn't dragged her into a world that wasn't her own.

Tentatively, almost fearfully, she reached out. Her fingers hovered just above the spine of the book for a long moment before she finally let them rest against the worn leather. The texture beneath her fingertips sent a shiver up her spine. It was the same—the same book that had been in her apartment, the same book that had pulled her into this strange, twisted reality.

Her heart pounded as she carefully slid the book from the shelf. The weight of it felt too familiar, too heavy with the knowledge of everything it contained—everything she had lived through since opening it the first time. She hesitated for a second, staring down at the cover, her mind racing. How could it be here? How was it even possible?

The title, stamped in silver foil, seemed to gleam in the dim light: The Frozen Heart. The same story. Her story.

Anne swallowed hard, her throat tight as she slowly opened the cover. The pages felt crisp beneath her fingertips, each one turning with an unsettling familiarity. Her eyes skimmed the first few lines, and her stomach twisted painfully.