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The constant ticking of the grandfather clock follows us downstairs, unchanging in pitch or volume. The sound digs into the crevices into the brain, until I feel like screaming just to tune it out.
Instead, I say, "You were right before."
Raphael's voice is almost a murmur. "About what?"
"The sunshine," I nod to one of the windows we pass, displaying a colorless night. "It's been hours, but there's no sight of day."
"And what do you suppose that means?"
I shrug. "Maybe we're up coast somewhere? Where there are longer nights?"
"Maybe," There's a lightness to his voice as he says it, almost as if he's hiding a secret joke.
I glance over at him. It's a mistake, because just then I trip over the hem of my robe. Raphael catches me by the elbow before I even have a chance to fall. His hand, steady and warm, blisters into my skin. I tug my arm away, shaken, and keep my distance from him.
Don't trust Raphael, I repeat to myself.
We go further down the castle.
I made the suggestion to go all the way to the bottom of the castle and see if there's an exit. Raphael had smiled at me, but not in an agreeable way - more like the way you smile at someone when you decide to go along with their antics. It reminds me of the way Wilson, my ex-boyfriend, used to smile at me.
I hate that smile.
"What are your thoughts on the doors?"
"Huh?"
"The colors," Raphael knocks a chartreuse door, wooden and short, as we pass it. His knuckles create a hollow sound. "You must have noticed that they follow the order of the rainbow. Do you think it offers some type of significance?"
I glance at the doors lining the spiral staircase, each a different shade and size, as they turn from shades of dusted gold to hues of minted green. We pass one with a texture so bright it shows our reflections. "How would I know?"
"Take a guess."
"I'd have to see what's inside them," I run my finger along a pair of giant, metal doors with no visible doorknob or handle. "One of these green doors held a dressing room."
