by Sonia Harper
Adelyn felt a strange feeling tingle through her body as the shelves not only moved back easily, but they also brought the wall with it.
“Please let this be a joke,” she muttered to herself and slowly opened the wall all the way, revealing a dark archway behind it. “This has to be just a wine cellar.”
Right. A voice inside her head popped up. Because wine is such an expensive commodity, they built in this secret passageway to the wine cellar.
“Shut it,” she told herself and grasped the wall tightly. “Sinatra?” She called into the darkness.
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
She knew that sound. The damn dog was going down the stairs.
“No, Sinatra! Bad dog! Come back up here right now!” She furiously whispered.
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
“Sinatra, you come back up here right now! I am not coming down there to get you!” She called down to him, hoping the loud voice would scare him into coming back. “I'm not kidding Sinatra. There's no light down there. I am not going down there. Come back here now!”
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
Adelyn kept waiting for more sounds, preferably coming back up, but it was clear that he was at the bottom of the stairs now.
“Oh god,” She lurched forward into the darkness and began feeling alongside the wall. Finding the first step cautiously, she began her descent, all the while keeping her hands on the wall for guidance. “Sinatra?” She whispered again. “Sinatra?”
No noise.
“Damn it,” she picked up the pace, forcing herself to go further and further down the staircase and into blinding darkness. Cursing her dog, the Manor, and anything else that she could think of, she tried to descend further down the stairs, but her foot landed on even surface. She was at the bottom of the steps.
Trying to squint into the darkness, she listened for any sounds nearby to give her some indication of the size of the room. “Sinatra?” She whispered again.
A blinding flash came from her left, and she froze in horror. As her eyesight adjusted to the light again, she realised she was at the end of a long hallway. This wasn't a wine cellar.
She looked up. That light wasn't a light, either. Wood torches were lighting one by one down the hallway. By themselves. With fire.
“Shit, I knew it,” she took a step back onto the staircase. “I knew it! Damn you, Kate!” Her heart began pounding, and all she could hear was the loud thumping from her chest as it resonated through her body. Something primal in her urged her to run away and save herself.
If it weren't for that damn dog, she'd have been long gone by now.
Listening for noises, and somewhat relieved at hearing none, she peeked around the corner of the staircase again. The hallway was still there, still lit, and still empty. Nothing was moving. It was if something was waiting for her to move.
“Sinatra?” she whispered again. “Sinatra, where are you?” She waited but again heard nothing.
Thinking quickly, she tried to imagine her life without Sinatra. Was it worth it to leave, possibly wake Gregory up, and ask him to come down here with her?
No, those torches lit themselves. Something unnatural was down here, and it didn't bode well with her to leave Sinatra down here with it.
Besides, that dog was probably the closest she would ever come to having a child. Hell, after all the time, money, and affection she showered on that dog, he practically was her child.
No, she decided shakily and irrationally. She wasn't leaving this place without her baby.
Testing the waters, she took a step off the staircase and stood in the hallway once more. Nothing moved, just as she was hoping. The loud, clipping noise of her heels was something she should probably do without, though. She quickly and quietly kicked off her heels and placed them near the staircase.
Standing barefoot in the hallway, she took a deep breath and began walking. Keeping her eyes on the first torch as she passed it, she searched it for anything electronic. Nothing. They were real wood; lit by themselves somehow.
Feeling a bit confident now that she had walked about ten feet and was still alive, she picked up the pace. Up ahead, more torches lit themselves as she approached. The light was cast all around the walls of the hallway, and the outline of a door formed itself out of shadows in front of her. Cautiously approaching it, one more torch lit itself, and she could see that the door was open just a tiny crack.
It was small but large enough for a small dog to get through, she quickly realised. She grabbed the cold metal handle, pushed opened the door without thinking, and walked inside.
Her eyes fell to the floor in front of her, and relief coursed through her body as the familiar tail wagged in front of her. She leaned down as quickly as she could and scooped Sinatra up into her arms. Burying her face in his fur, she sighed. “You evil bastard. I'm so glad you're okay.”
Sinatra, clearly excited to see her, squirmed around and began licking her face. His tail began thumping against her belly, and she laughed, relieved that he was alive.
“Come on, let's go back upstairs,” She raised her head from his body and all at once she felt her stomach drop to the floor and the blood in her veins run cold.
Somebody was standing no more than five feet in front of her, and he was not happy.
Frozen to the spot, her eyes widened as she became more aware of her surroundings. He looked half-dead. His skin was a light grey colour, a sharp contrast from the dark shirt he wore. She watched warily as his fists clenched and relaxed over and over, the muscles in his arms working and moving with each repetition. Drawing her eyes back up to his face, she noticed that the muscles in his cheeks were moving rapidly – he was grinding his teeth. His dark hair was shaved tight on his head, and his eerily light grey eyes drew her in and made her feel like she couldn't pull away.
He was furious. She could tell that much from the expression on his face.
A blast of heat appeared out of nowhere, enveloping around her and making her feel as though her skin was about to melt off her body. Without enough time to instinctively lift her arms in defence, she cried out. The moment that she did, the mysterious heat just vanished.
She drew in a shaky breath. A few moments passed between them, and neither one of them said or did anything. Sinatra began shaking in her arms. She made no move to comfort him. Rationally, she didn't know where that heat had come from, but something inside her already knew that it was something supernatural and that it had somehow come from that man.
After a few more minutes had passed, it was clear that he wasn't going to be the first one to move. Perhaps if she said something to him, or explained who she was, he might let her leave in one piece. She just needed to make it to the top of the staircase. From there, she could access the intercom system in the kitchen and call for help.
She cleared her throat. “Hello,” her voice cracked.
His head tilted ever so slightly to the side, but he made no other movement or indication that he was in the mood to converse. His eyes were still raging, and his chest rose and fell heavily with each breath he dragged in. His lips were pressed together so tightly that they were two thin lines of white just above his chin.
“I'm...Adelyn. Work...upstairs,” words failed her as the adrenaline in her body kept coursing through it. She slowly made a motion to point upstairs. The man wasn't speaking, and even though Adelyn was sure it wasn't because of a language barrier, she made the motion anyway.
“I work...with Gregory. I'm sorry I came to your...,” Adelyn's eyes broke away from his after much difficulty and quickly scanned the room. A large four-poster bed was in one corner, and the walls were lined with empty, broken bookshelves. Only one of the shelves carried books. The bed made it clear to her...she had entered someone's bedroom. “Bedroom?” She finished her sentence and felt her eyes being dragged back to his.
His head slowly tilted upright. She watched the movement and noticed that his skin was no longer the grey colour it had been a moment befo
re. It appeared to be returning to a natural hue. Or perhaps it had been that colour all along. Nobody could have skin that colour and still be standing. Her overactive mind must have taken over once she realised she couldn't explain the self-lighting torches.
Silence fell between them, and Adelyn wasn't quite sure what to do. Her eyes felt locked in his, and she couldn't look away now even if she tried.
He was just...standing there and staring at her with that angry look on his face. His fists kept clenching over and over again without pause as if it wasn't something he could control. She thought briefly about asking him his name but then decided that pleasantries probably wouldn't help anyway. She had already apologised for coming into the room, and he still hadn't done or said anything.
Maybe he would just let her go if she started to walk away? That thought worried her a bit as she came to realise that she was somewhat trapped in an unknown cellar underneath an isolated Manor with a potentially dangerous man.
How exactly do I get myself into these things? Adelyn asked herself, feeling much colder now that the heat had completely disappeared.
Sinatra wiggled in her arms and twisted around so that he was facing the man. He sniffed the air for a moment and then growled.
The man's eyes finally broke away from hers and landed on the small dog in her arms. There was no change to the expression on his face. Now that she was no longer captivated by his gaze, it was if something broke between them. She looked around the room once more, taking in a sweeping glance at the barren room. Did he live down here?
Gregory made no mention of any cellar. She had been working there for only two weeks, and she had only met two of the brothers – the two that morning. Gregory had mentioned that the rest of the brothers were gone most of the time.
Besides, the people that owned this company were ridiculously rich...Adelyn doubted that one of them actually lived down here. It was so bare and so cold.
Leave.
Adelyn jumped back in shock as a man's voice suddenly resounded in her head. Her eyes widened, and she looked back up at the man in front of her. His mouth hadn't opened. He was still standing there, staring furiously at her.
She thought about running back upstairs, but her feet were frozen to the floor and adrenaline had turned her legs to useless jelly.
Leave!
Adelyn heeded the voice this time and turned her back on the man, legs wobbling as she moved as fast as she could through the door and down the long hallway. Clutching Sinatra a little too tightly to her chest, she cried out as the lit torches burst into giant flames as she passed them. Finally reaching the stairway, she ignored the heels she had left near the bottom step and ran barefoot up the stairs, praying to whatever deity was nearby that she wasn't being chased.
Pushing back the thought of being brutally murdered underneath the Manor, Adelyn threw her body up the last step and through the false pantry wall. She dropped Sinatra to the ground, and with all her might, she shoved the wall closed and collapsed against it, her breath coming in and out in painful bursts.
“Oh god, oh god,” she moaned and pulled herself up and away from the wall. She needed to get back upstairs, into her bedroom, and to her phone as quickly as possible.
Reaching down, she scooped up her shaking dog and ran out of the kitchen and down the hall. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and her muscles screaming from exertion, but she forced herself back up the stairs to the second level.
Upon seeing her bedroom door, she sobbed in relief and quickly made her way inside, slamming the heavy door shut and locking it behind her. She threw herself and Sinatra on the bed and immediately reached for her phone, dialling Gregory as quickly as she could with shaking fingers.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” She chanted as the phone began ringing at a pace that was far too slow for her liking. After the second ring, she thought briefly of calling the police, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hang up and dial 911. It would take them too long to get here. Gregory was closer.
“Who is this?”
Adelyn jumped as a harsh voice other than Gregory's picked up the phone.
“Gregory?”
There was a long pause, and she could hear rustling in the background over the phone. “He isn't here.” The voice finally answered. It sounded as if the voice was reluctant to speak.
“I thought this was his phone? Do you know where he is? It's an emergency,” She rushed out, glancing furiously towards her bedroom door, making sure that it was still shut.
“I don't know where he is,” the voice barked back at her. She heard some muttering in the background again. Whoever it was on the other line was obviously not alone.
“Is that Gregory?” She asked hurriedly. “Is he there?”
“No, damn it, I told you, he isn't here!” The voice was getting very angry now, but Adelyn didn't care. She needed help. Now.
“I need,-”
“Damnit, hang on,” the voice cut her off.
“Adelyn?” A muffled second voice came on the line a moment later.
“Gregory?” She clutched the phone harder, hopeful.
“No, it's Pytho. What's going on?”
“Pytho?” Through her sheer panic, confusion seeped in. “What's going on? Why do you have Gregory's phone? Who was that man that answered? Oh my god, why am I even asking?” She moaned and reached out for Sinatra, pulling him closer and staring at her bedroom door once more. “I don't care. I need help. Are you in the Manor?”
“Sort of,” he replied after a pause and more muffled background noises. “Why? What's going on?” His voice went low.
“There's a man in the Manor. I don't know who he is, and I don't know what's going on, but I need someone to come here to my bedroom and get me out of here.”
“Hang on. There's someone inside?”
Adelyn shrieked in terror as a loud crashing noise came from outside the bedroom door. She dropped the phone on the floor and ran into her closet. It was clear that there was no way out, and she was in immediate danger. She tore through the racks until she found what she was looking for. Tearing open the suitcase pocket, she reached in and pulled out her pepper spray. Silently thanking her neurotic mother for forcing the weapon on her years ago, she aimed the tube properly in her hand. It was a fairly small tool, and certainly wouldn't be helpful in an attack against anybody with a gun, but it was a weapon, and she was prepared to use it if necessary. She ran back to the side of the bed and scooped up her dog.
“Shhh, it's okay,” she told the shaking dog. “It's okay. I need you to be super quiet and stay in here,” she told Sinatra as she carried him into the closet. The minute his feet touched the floor, he ran under a rack of clothes and hid, his nose barely visible under her clothing.
“Good boy,” she told him and shut the closet doors. “Just stay here and be quiet.”
She turned around and decided upon a course of action. She was terrified, but there was no point in cowering on the bed anymore. It was clear she was on her own for the next few moments anyway. She wasn't sure if Pytho was able to get to her in time, but she needed to find out what caused that noise before it got to her first.
She ran and turned out the lights in her room. Standing in the dark next to the bedroom door, she firmly grasped the small can in her hand and pressed her ear to the door, waiting for any indication that someone was outside. After a few minutes of silence, she felt a little braver and carefully moved her hand to the doorknob.
Clutching the cold metal in her hand, she forced herself to take a deep breath. Moving her pepper spray in front of her defensively, she carefully turned the lock and opened the door a crack.
Scanning the hallway from what she could see through the crack, she leaned closer and listened carefully.
Silence.
She opened the door a little further, cursing mentally as the door squeaked when it opened halfway. She leaned outside the door, pepper spray arm first, and turned to the right and left, scannin
g the hallway for signs of life.
Nothing.
Adelyn stood there and tried to think of her next course of action. Maybe the crashing noise wasn't what she thought it was. Maybe Gregory was here, and he had knocked something over? The man on the phone had said that Gregory wasn't there, but perhaps he was still in the Manor.
Making her way into the hallway, she made sure to shut the bedroom door behind her. Walking down the hallway, she quickly made her way back to the staircase, frantically checking behind her every other step to make sure there was nobody behind her. Peering down from the bannister, she found the hallway below to be clear. Glancing across, however, she saw scattered pieces of glass strewn across the floor, spreading from the entryway of the parlour to the front doors of the Manor.
She scanned the pieces of glass for blood or footprints but found none. After waiting and listening for noises, she finally decided to begin her descent to the first floor cautiously. She kept her back to the wall and kept whipping her head around in every direction, paranoid that something was going to jump out at her at any given moment.
She finally reached the bottom of the stairs and froze as a sound reached her ears. It sounded like a thick thudding noise, and it came from outside. The light switch caught her attention as she paused. Without even thinking about it, she immediately reached out and turned off the lights. Intruders wouldn't know the layout of the Manor, which would give her the advantage in the dark.
Straining to hear the noises once more, she slowly began her way to the front door. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, and she cursed herself for leaving her phone upstairs. That earlier thought of dialling 911 was now beating around inside her head, impossible to ignore.
She carefully inched around the glass on the floor. The moon must have been full tonight because a soft light was pouring in through the windows and lighting her path to the door as her eyes adjusted in the dark. Stepping down, she bit back a cry as a piece of glass bit into her naked heel. Tears sprang from her eyes, but she managed to stay silent as she carefully leaned down and pulled the piece of glass out of her skin. Dropping it behind her, she hesitantly moved forward again toward the front door.
