Keeper's Oath

Chapter 10: Knowledge

Hope woke up the next morning on Christmas Day or so she hoped. With her luck, she had slept for another week. Something inside of her told that she was back to the regular sleeping schedule.

Light was coming through the curtains onto her bed. That had been the culprit that woke her up. She sat up stretching her arms while gazing outside. The snow had stopped falling but everything was pure white outside and frozen over. The brightness of the sunlit snow was nearly blinding to look at. She couldn't imagine how cold it was outside the window. The heat kept her room warm throughout the chilly night. She was glad for that.

Automatically she reached out looking for her phone. It was then when remembered what had happened. Hope had forgotten to ask where her phone was. It wasn't important anyways, she frowned. It wasn't like she was able to make contact with anyone who was on her phone. Everything previously she had... it was all lost before she knew it. That version of her had died.

Looking for a clock or something in the room, Hope ended up not finding one. It felt like it was still before noon. The young woman was used to getting up early in the morning with Melanie's schedule. She was sure that Livius would have come to wake her up if she slept too long. Or at least he would have checked up on her.

She was wearing the same white pajamas that she had woken up with last night. Only if she could have kept the clothing she had in her bag. That bag must have burned with the limousine along with the rest of her belongings. Realizing this, Hope tried to shake her emotions away.

The young woman got up from her bed. The tiled floor was cold against her feet. She stretched her legs for a few seconds. Her leg muscles were sore from yesterday. It would take a day or so for her to get back to normal. She told herself that over and over again. Hope knew nothing would be normal again. There was so much new stuff she had to learn and get used to.

Walking over to the window, Hope pulled aside the curtain to see the wide clearance. There were few trees here and there in the yard that stretched out towards the stone walls which protected them from the outside world. Their branches were covered with snow and ice. She spotted a circular hut to the left side. It was mainly made of stone. Smoke was billowing from the chimney.

Hope eyed the grey stone wall surrounding the area around her. It was at least ten feet tall. A rusted gate was in the front which was shut. There were already footprints in the snow, she wondered if Livius had been outside yet.

She decided to see if Livius was in the room next door. The young woman assumed that he would be there. It felt weird walking barefoot, she wished that she would at least have socks or something. Hope opened the room's door and took a quick look outside.

Not a soul was in the hallway. It was eerily quiet which greeted Hope first. There was a stale scent in the air of coffee along with the same aromas as last night.

Slowly, she closed the door behind her trying not to make a sound. Hope knocked on Livius' door gently and waited a few seconds to see if he was even awake.

No answer.

Hope pondered on what she should do. Moments later she decided to open the door a tiny bit to see inside. She kept on opening the door slowly until she saw the bed was empty. There was no Livius in the room. Even his bed was made.

Next, Hope decided to go check out the dining hall if Livius or Ritter were there. There was no way she would go outside into the snow without any shoes. Walking down the hallway, a cold breeze was coming from somewhere. She assumed there was a door open somewhere near her. Maybe the entrance was close to the dining hall.

She was getting closer to it now. It was that moment she could smell someone cooking that was starting to make her hungry. Hope walked faster towards the smell in the dining hall. She took a quick look into the dining hall, there was nobody there she could see right away. There were sounds coming from the small kitchen area.