Blood & Cinders- Choose your Own Adventure Story

Chapter 9

A sliver of dawn broke over the horizon. Pale listless gray blanketing the morning sky as lukewarm rays adamantly cut through the dreary clouds, driving back the darkness.

Isabelle lay on her bed, counting the stones around the window. She let out a sigh of relief when the light slid across the decorative window pane, dipping them a lighter shade of gray. It signified that she had survived yet another night.

Wearily, she lifted her hand towards the window, wishing she could touch those rays. Imagining they'd be warm and tingly as they slid under her skin, heating her body and brightening her dower mood.

It had been several moons since that incident-perhaps more. She'd lost count of her time in the castle as days and nights blurred together under the dim melting candlelight and constant gray sky. There were nights when the screams echoed louder through the halls and she lost sleep, the long hours of night and day bleeding into one another like a patchwork quilt.

She stretched her long limbs end to end on the small cot; smiling when she felt the familiar prick of claws running across the thin night dress that covered her stomach.

"I see someone's already awake."

She lay out a hand for Rosie to hop into before carefully sitting up, swinging her legs over the bed and shuddering as her feet touched the cold floor. The chill stole what little heat she had gathered. Isabelle stood on achy joints, moving to the window to bask in the glow.

"I suppose fall is almost here." She stroked Rosie's soft fur thoughtfully. The dark nights seemed to be stretching longer now and she'd seen the blue robed scully maids stoking the fireplaces more often.

It was hard to tell the season from the trees. Her window view faced toward the back of the castle overlooking a forest of evergreens now freckled with rusted brown and leafless birch and maples whose spindly arms wound toward the heavens reaching for salvation- for a sun they hadn't seen in years.

The sound of the morning bell rang through the corridors, pulling her out of her reverie. She gave one last longing look at the sky before turning to put on her bloodmaid's dress. Her eyes flickered to the door, checking to make sure that the bolt was still there.

The large bolt lock on her door had been fixed after that first horrible night, and since then, Prince Adam was nowhere to be found. It caused mixed feelings for Isabelle. Both relief and yet, somehow, concern. He had treated her kindly up until the incident. She wasn't sure she would get the same treatment from another creature.

In the evening after such a horrible, traumatic event, Isabelle had told Jacqueline what had transpired, why there had been screaming. She had been shocked when the blood maids around the table had burst into mirth, having a good laugh at her expense.

"Silly girl," Jacqueline had chided in amusement, wiping a tear from her eye, "everyone knows you cut first and let it rest before serving. Why, it's like you were begging to be eaten."

The girls had laughed at that statement, covering their mouths to stop them from spewing food. Isabelle hadn't found it very funny.

She hadn't known. No one told her! And because of her mistake, a girl had died. She could still hear the screams ringing in her ears, screams of a frightened soul begging for her life. Isabelle now knew those screams belonged to a new girl. A girl who had -like Isabelle- learned the hard way about wandering the halls at night.

They had announced her name, Dorine, in the dining hall and had asked the girls to bow their heads for a moment of silence. Isabelle had been shocked, frantically searching her mind for why that name had been familiar.