Living in a marble castle does not mean life is a fairytale, for Annalise it is anything but. It all started with flash backs of the old castle burning to the ground but these flash backs become more violent and frequent leaving Lise questioning abo...
The sun was setting when I woke from a restless slumber. Odd I wonder I fell asleep hours after sunset. The air around me was thick with the scent of rose oil, almost suffocatingly so. My eyes drift throughout the poorly lit room, looking for familiar silhouettes.
My heart quickens as I fail to find my eloquent vanity or any other tell-tale sign of my room. This room is made of warm red bricks and maple tree wood. In the far corner a fireplace crackles and pops.
Rubbing my eyes in disbelief I gasp, this is my room, from before the fire. I dash to the bookshelves instantly remembering the layout of my old room. My fingers soak in every detail of shelves, from the floral carvings to the spine of every book.
Gleaming on a breakfast table are my porcelain dolls, each perfectly intact. I cradle my favourite figurine between my fingers. Her milky white skin, powder pink dress and crystal shoes send tears racing to my eyes.
I stand back taking in the room I haven't seen in what feels like an eternity. Everything is as I left it, five years ago.
The hearth emits a warm glow in the room, casting shadows in the dark crevasses of my quarters. Everything looks So Perfect So real But it's not.
Memory's of the marble castle flash behind my eyes, I can see the old castle the one I am supposedly in now, burning into blazing embers. I pry open my eyes, but I can only see the room of warm brick around me
The sun has now retreated from behind the horizon leaving behind a dark sky, littered with violet streaks.
I close my eyes and force my mind to remember the fire. My eyelids reveal nothing but darkness and I let out a cross between a laugh and a sob.
It must have been nothing more then a nasty dream, the fire couldn't have happened if I was standing in the very castle that supposedly burnt.
The thought of my mother flashes before me, I dash for the door and reach for the handle but it's locked From The Outside.
I push down hard on the brass handle but nothing happens. A wave of déjà-vu sweeps me into a panic. I have lived this moment before. Still, pictures run through my mind at a speed so fast I can hardly comprehend them.
I can the memory of this moment, once repressed now coming back in cloudy bursts. I step away from the door and stare at hoping the stillness will remind of some secret trick to opening the door. But There Is No Trick
Somebody had locked my door from the outside. I press my palms into my eyes and take in a shaky breath.
I take comfort in the scent of rose oil, focusing on it to calm me down. Outside the wind changes steeling the floral scent and replacing it with dry smokey air.
It curls around my nose, setting fire to my lungs. Every breath has become a struggle for oxygen. I gasp both in desperation and in realization.
My déjà-vu has unfurled itself in my mind releasing the memory it held hostage. This is the night the castle burned.
I slam my shoulder into the wooden door until I'm certain it won't unlock. Underneath my cotton nightgown, I can feel deep purple bruises forming.
The smoke has made my vision cloudy with tears, as I slam into the door one last time and collapse to the ground. I lay there thinking this will be the last moments of my life.
My eyes flutter and my lungs scream for air but my mind drifts to memories of Joel. Being a princess can get lonely.Your parents are never around, always at meetings and in planning committees or at things little girls can't do.
They could never seem to find time for me, but Joel did. I remember one day in early spring, the ground muddy from the melting snow, was one of those days where I was particularly unimportant.
Joel was outside of the stables lugging a metal bucket of water with him. I was about eight at the time and had been watching him from some bushes for about week. Every day I would burst out of the castle before breakfast, wearing nothing but my night clothes and wait for him behind a shrub.
Today was the first time I had ever spoken the Joel, the start of a long friendship. While hiding, a wasp flew through the bushes and circled around my head. Being only eight years old I was severely frightened and jumped out of the nook screaming.
During the chaos, I ran right into Joel knocking us both to the ground. The pail he had been carrying was filled with water, or at least it was. I looked down at myself, my night close drenched and my finger cold. Joel was on his back when he started laughing.
Once he started he couldn't stop which made me laugh too. We sat there for up to half an hour completely soaked laughing on the ground. It wasn't until a maid came to collect me when we stopped. After that, I came to Joel every morning I could, and then every hour I could spare.
I wish I could have stayed there forever but of course, I woke up.
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Hey guys sorry for the super long break. I've been very busy but I'll be back on track updating every Wednesday for now on. I hope you enjoy!
