Donovan Castle Chronicles: Volume 1

Chapter 7: Selene

CHAPTER 7

SELENE

Lady Heather looks at the room nervously, wringing her hands. She flits her eyes between the three of us and the exit door. "We really should leave; it is forbidden to be down here."

I glance at Lady Heather, not understanding why she's nervous. However, we can't get in trouble with Karev—her late husband—since he's dead. Unless he's a ghost and still around. We may not have found Karev yet like how it took centuries for us to find Lady Heather.

I briefly toy with the concept of why some ghosts stay while others move on. I mentally remind myself to ask Nesaia and the other ghosts here why they haven't gone into the light. I push the thought to the back of my mind and focus on the task at hand.

Directing my attention back on Lady Heather, I smile at her to calm her nerves. "Why do you say this?" I ask, trying to understand. Perhaps she still believes these rules apply even though it's been centuries. Could it be from previous trauma? Some trauma lasts years.

Lady Heather shakes her head quickly. "Karev forbade it. I mustn't be here. There is a strange energy down here."

It makes me nervous as well. It's a strange energy that I've never felt before. Tingles prickle along my spine and at me limbs. I rub my hands together to rid of the sensation as I look over to Sasha.

Sasha is spinning about, having a fun time.

Guess it's not affecting her. Makes sense though. Her underwater apartment is in the bowels of the dungeon and is used to the eerie feeling. This is not the time for fun and wonderment. We have to protect the castle from the nearing danger.

Mason and I had purchased this castle to protect and care for our family. Now that we have friends and loved ones staying here, we need to look after them. And that means protecting the castle at all costs.

I look back at her. "Thank you, Lady Heather; we are going to need to get ready for the thieves. Plus, one of us should really check on the man in the cellar. You are welcome to join us, if you like. If you want to stay here and guard the fortune, you may do that as well. Most of us who reside here tend to communicate telepathically. Can you speak to us telepathically? It would help us readily notify each other."

She moves her delicate fingers as she thinks. She looks me in the eyes, "I would prefer to stay here and guard the fortune, but I feel like I need to exit." She straightens her neck even more. "I shall stay in the castle, but not in this room."

"All right," I nod.

She turns her palm upward, "As for the telepathy. I am unsure what that is, so I do not know."

"Telepathy is speech through the mind," I tell her.

"Thoughts?" she wonders.

"Not exactly, telepathically speaking is different." I glance at Nesaia, debating how to explain it the Heather.

Lady Heather shakes her head, "I have never tried to speak telepathically; I will give it a go. What are the steps needed?"

"Think about the person you want to talk to. Speak to them as if you are speaking to them aloud, but instead of aloud, speak in your head as if you were thinking." Nesaia explains to Lady Heather while using hand gestures pointing to Sasha and me.

Lady Heather pulls out a pocket watch and glances down at it.

Why does a ghost need a pocket watch? How did she find it? Did the previous tenant have it or is it hers? I glance at it closer with my excellent vision. I can see that the hands on its face don't even move. Her watch is broken. I suppose she carries it around habitually? Maybe her watch stopped the moment her life did?