Part 1: Servitude- Chapter 4

I stared at the scroll in my hands. It had been a total disaster. Lucard had been furious. He had stormed out of his father's room, but not until after having a very loud argument with Donovan. Well... It would have been an argument if he had allowed his father to speak at all.

 

"Ignore him, Penelope. I don't know what has gotten into my son. If he loved you as much as he claimed, he'd be happy for you."

 

"Lucard has no love for me. All he truly loves is material. He wanted to inherit this estate more than anything, Lord Donovan. The only reason he wants me is because he doesn't own me. At least, not entirely."

 

"Penelope, Lucard is foolish. But, you did remind me of something. Come on, help me up." I took his hand in my gloved one and hauled him to his foot. He put his arm around my shoulder. "Take me to the bookcase in the back room, will you?"

 

I let him put his weight on me, and together we moved to the back wall. I led us to the fireplace, and pulled on the carving of a dragon's head. A section of wall opened to reveal the secret backroom. We walked into it.

 

The back room was where Donovan kept all the most valuable possessions. Ancient scrolls, antique weapons, jewels, contracts of all manner. Nobody but me and Donovan knew of it. In the very back was a massive bookcase that held hundreds of texts and scrolls.

 

"Third scroll from the right on the fourth shelf. Grab it." Donovan instructed. As I grabbed the tiny blue scroll, I heard a very faint click. "Now, grab the red one to the right of it." I did. With another click, the bookcase began to slide to the right. Behind it was a very long tunnel, which moved gently downward.

 

"What is this, Lord Donovan?"

 

"You'll see. Bring me back to my mat, because I can't make it to the other end of the tunnel. Then, go down it. I have a feeling you'll like what is at the other end." Donovan laughed.

 

After I laid the old man down, I walked over to the secret room entrance and rested my hand on the dragon head. "Good bye, for now," I said over my shoulder as I pulled the dragon head. "Father."

 

 

 

The tunnel was very dark and cold. I thought about putting my scarf back around my face, but Donovan told me not to hide my face or my hand. He said that doing so would be a very bad idea, even with all my supernatural strength. So, I kept walking, feeling the cold chill on my face.

 

It was irritating, to have my face uncovered. The air made the bone-textured skin feel odd. At first glance, people thought it was bone. But, it merely looked and felt like bone. It was just like normal skin, besides those differences. And it still felt the cold.

 

I looked up, realizing that I had stopped moving. I looked ahead of me, and saw that there was two paths. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the one that went farther down was collapsed. So, I started up the path that lead upwards.

 

As I walked, I noticed a change in the atmosphere. The air grew thinner, and colder. The walls had even changed. Instead of the rough stone, they had smoothed and came to resemble the walls of an ancient temple. Red moss grew along the corners, where the floor and wall met. The floor was icy, and I had trouble walking on the slippery stone.

 

I saw a light coming from ahead, a hazy light that looked like mist. Feeling my heart beat faster, I walked faster towards the exit. As the light grew brighter, I smiled widely to be out of this darkness. I ran through the tunnel exit and into the misty light.

 

"Father? Father Donovan? Is that you?" said a musical, female voice.

Author's Note

thoughts?