44. Brody
Brody
Idon’t know where to go. All I can hear is the word run being repeated over and over in my head.
Run.
Run.
Run.
Run.
But where to? I feel like a headless chicken, blind and desperate.
And then I find myself in front of a huge painting of the Dartmoor countryside.
Of course. The tunnels. That’s where I need to go.
Ari had pressed a spot on the frame, on the left hand side just around my shoulder height.
I find it and with a click a gap opens, just big enough for me to slip behind the painting.
I pause for a moment, willing my heart rate to return to normal, I can feel the blood pounding in my skull.
But I can’t stay here. This corridor is in constant use by the staff, it’ll only be a matter of time before someone finds me.
My point is proven when I see a waiter heading towards me, carrying a platter laden with fruit.
It’s the same one from last night, the one who knew I was human.
“That way,” he tells me. “Left at the T-junction.” There’s an urgency in his voice. “Hurry. If they catch you…” he trails off. He doesn’t need to finish the sentence.
“Thank you,” I say softly and then I start running again, dodging other waiting staff as I make my way down the corridor, turning left, then heading straight again until I hit an exposed brick wall. This was it. The entrance to the older tunnels, the ones no one remembers. Will I be safe back here?
It feels like it takes forever for me to find the right brick to press to open the door, but it’s probably only thirty seconds, barely enough time to catch my breath.
The temperature drops as I duck behind the wall.
The air is thick with dust and it’s dark, no sconces line the walls back here.
I search for a torch and eventually find one hanging by a string to the left of the entrance.
It flickers as I switch it on so I give it a thump with the heel of my hand and the beam grows brighter.
The door behind me slowly closes and all the sounds from the staff corridors fade into silence. I creep along, right hand trailing along the wall, left hand holding the torch out to guide the way. I try to remember the route to the room I was staying in.
“Brody?” A voice calls, one I don’t recognise. “Brody?” It’s coming from my left, so close they must be upon me. I try to turn right but it’s a dead end. “Brody?” But there is no person around the next corner, no one waiting to jump out and grab me, just a vent to another room in the castle.
I keep going.
A loud thud somewhere ahead of me causes me to leap from my skin.
I take a deep breath and try to steady my nerves.
If I can get to my room then I’ll be safe.
I repeat the words over and over like a mantra as I twist and turn through the castle, looking for the crude drawings of two little girls etched onto the wall. A young Ari guiding me to safety a hundred and sixty years after she sketched them.
If I can get to my room then I’ll be safe.
The torch flickers and goes out.
I’m plunged into a darkness blacker than the night.