𝐓.𝐇.𝐄

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒

I have forgotten how it is to set foot in the gloomiest and most depressing place. Darkness sucks Jonathan and I in, and the usual dirty and acidic smell makes me feel sick. But what makes my nose wrinkle is something else. It's difficult to understand what it is, but of one thing I'm sure: it's smells like rot.

As we enter in, the light behind us illuminates a pale and trembling Lucy, with her eyes fixed at nowhere. Or, at least, I think. The room is lightened from a little and consumed light bulb blocking our eyes from seeing what's frightened Lucy or if she's hurt somewhere. I stroll off along the rough paving, and the sound of my sneakers hitting the marble echoes against the wet walls.

"What's wrong with her? Why does she seem petrified?" Jonathan mutters on my ear.

I turn my head to meet his widen blue eyes, "that's what I want to find out."

As we get closer to Lucy, I start scanning her body, but no blood or wound is on her. This bewilders me even more. "Lucy, are you okay?" I ask, softly.

I have never seen her, the bravest one who watches horror movies alone in the middle of the night and afterwards sleeping peacefully, so terrified from a dim room.

"Lucy, what's wrong? Tell us." Jonathan's voice is more exigent than mine.

She stands still, covered by sweat. Every drop of it falls fast travelling all her pale face, and ending to her wet and dirty uniform. Suddenly, still trembling, she raises her right arm with her finger pointed out at something in front of her. Jonathan and I step closer to her, until we are right next to her, with our shoulders attached to hers.

I follow her arm with my curious widen eyes, stopping once I reach the point of her finger. Slowly, I travel my eyes on the imaginary line until they meet... I gasp, suddenly feeling my arms' hair lifting and my heart swelling to twice it is normal size. I hear Jonathan stuttering senseless words, but my mouth muscles seem paralyzed.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I wanted to run away from not just this room, but from the whole Palace. Never in my entire life I would have imagined a horrifying scene like the one in front of my eyes.

"They are.. they.. dead." Lucy's shaking and weak voice interrupts Jonathan's, still with her finger pointed at the two bloodless cadavers.

"We must run away from here! We must tell them!" Jonathan says, loudly.

I would want to tell him to stop yelling, but I feel like my energy has been sucked away. I can't remove my eyes from those dreadful dead bodies, but I feel like I have lost control over my body. I feel everything, but I can do nothing.

"GIRLS! ARE YOU EVEN HEARING ME? WE MUST-"

"Stop-talking, Jonathan." Lucy's firm and low voice orders him, and he seems surprised by her words.

"We can't just stand here, staring at.. God!" He continues, irritating the living out of me.

Suddenly, I feel my head turning towards Jonathan, and my eyes start giving him killing looks. He seems to notice me, or them, as if he has felt them hitting his body. "Oh! So you heard me!" He says, relieved.

"Indeed." I murmur, sharply.

He is about to add some more senseless words, when Lucy's voice is over his, "who are.. they?"

I analyze the bodies, still distant. They are surely males from their height and physical structure; nothing seems to have been left of their faces, except bones. The one from the right has blonde hair, while the opposite one has brown hair and is curled against the other body, as for protection. The blonde one is sit on the pavement with his legs and hands crossed and his head lies on the brown one's shoulder. They both wear black trousers and sweater, but they are ripped in a cruel manner, as though some wild animal had grabbed them furiously.

But something on their little skin left convinces me that it wasn't an animal, but a person. Or better, a person commanding an electric machine. Their wounds are similar to lightnings, dark and zigzag lightnings. Something about them captured my attention even more, and I creep towards the dead bodies to have a better view. The more I get closer, the more the lightnings take form, similar to words. I focus my eyes on them, but no letter I manage to spot.

I follow the lightnings all over their bodies, travelling sorry part of them; the dirty and long legs coded by their incumbents, the exposed and bloody chest, their skinless hands, until I get to their faces. My stomach starts churning, but my eyes seem to be intrigues by this view. Or perhaps, by their strangely familiarity. However, I push away this sudden feeling. Why would two male cadavers dressed in what seem to be uniforms would be familiar to me?

I gasp.

My mind starts connecting every particularity, and anxiety takes control over me.

Two cadavers...

Males...

In uniforms...

"No, it can't be." I whisper under my breath.

"What?" Jonathan and Lucy chorus.

I feel the blood getting thicker, looking deeply shaken and incredulous. My dry mouth as throat cause a sharp pain and the incessant need of water assaults me. Staring unblinkingly at the cadavers, a flashback of that day strikes my mind, waking up dreadful and vertiginous feelings that I've tried to scratch away in all possible ways.

"Avelyn? Do you know who they are?" I hear Lucy's comforted voice.

"Yes." I mutter slowly.

"Then, who are they?" Jonathan asks, exigent.

I open my mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say, I close it again. How could I possibly tell them that they are the guards of the sixth floor, that tried to assault me because for the second time I tried desperately to find out who is the person everyone tames and that, thanks to one and only fearful man that hides behind that door, they didn't succeed?

Lucy and the other girls just know that I'd seen him, but I skipped to them these details. I swore to myself that I would forget about it and I would move on. Why do things come back around?

I open my mouth, knowing I will have to spend hours and hours explaining everything to their curious an hungry minds.

"The Lord's guards."