Hiding my head in my hands as tears stream down my face, my sobs silent as I try to swallow them back.
It’s useless.
Crying seems the only thing I can do right now.
So I cry. For my little flat back home.
For my job.
For my friends who may not even know that I’m gone yet.
For my morning coffee shop server, who won’t see me in the morning.
For the old lady, who visits the botanical gardens every morning with a smile.
I’m not sure how long I spend in here with my restless thoughts, but it’s long enough that when I return, the lights are off and the knights have both left me alone.
I lie in bed, thinking about everything, anything, and nothing. I haven’t felt this scared since I lost my grandmother and had to learn to exist in a house that no longer sounded like her. Back then, the silence had been unbearable, but this—this is different. The world I knew feels impossibly far away now, and here there is only stone, shadows and darkness. Eventually the black outside the windows thins as pale light slips through.
I haven’t slept, and wherever the hell I am… I’m still here.
Chapter 4
Elodie
Enough light filters into the room that I can’t keep pretending it’s still night. I push upright, heart already racing, though I don’t know why.
There’s nowhere to be.
The stone beneath my bare feet is colder than I expect. I’ve no idea what to do next except sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the dark, empty room.
No alarm.
No commute.
No familiar hum of life waiting outside the door.
No list of jobs to do on the whiteboard.
Just silence and waiting.
Standing up from the bed and pulling my shoulders back, I move towards the small window. When I glance out, the sun hasn’t fully risen yet, and a soft amber glow bounces off the stone of the castle courtyard below. I’ll admit, the castle is stunning. I lean in closer, resting my hands against the cool stone. My fear nearly dissolves in the face of this place’s beauty. I stare down at the empty courtyard. A cloaked statue with wings stands at the centre. It looks so still without the jagged movements of knights. It feels almost peaceful. Beyond the courtyard walls, a forest stretches outward in a dark, uneven line. Somewhere beyond that tree line, the world continues without me. Cars, streetlights, coffee shops opening early.
The thought aches.
A pale glow flickers near the iron gate.
Just once.
Blue.
Then it’s gone.
Shaking my head, I wonder if it’s just my imagination. The sound of knocking behind me pulls me from my trance. I grab the blanket from the bed, wrapping it around myself before tiptoeing to the door. Slowly opening it and peeking my head around, the knight stands with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
“Good. You’re up,” he grumbles at me.
“Does it count as waking up if you never went to sleep?”
