The Queen Of Choice

CHAPTER SEVEN

         Calysta knew that she should have gone to bed, but after meeting Pan and realizing how complicated the relations between humans and demons had become, it just made her supposed 'duty' even more overbearing.  With her mind a mess and her emotions jumbled Calysta knew that there was no way that she could sleep.  So, deciding that getting a better idea on her surroundings would be beneficial and she was fed up fumbling around and if she had to run through this place again, she would rather have a general idea of the layout, especially if it made the difference on her survival.

Wondering through the halls Calysta found a luxurious large grand staircase that had black velvet carpet along the steps. For the most part Calysta had stayed on the main floor of the castle and she began to wander what she could find on the upper floors. Led by curiosity Calysta placed a hand on the banister and began to make her ascent while the watchful eyes of the stone gargoyles stared down upon her. At the top of the stairs Calysta instantly could tell that this floor seemed different, for one there was less art to be found, in fact the walls were practically bare.  The hallways seemed to stretch into eternity and there were very few doors and dust coated everything in it's path.  Calysta ventured to guess that very few people ventured up here for it to be neglected so.  Walking down the hall Calysta felt the eerie silence cover her like a friendly embrace, it was seductive almost, this quiet solitude drew her in.  Here was a place that was quiet away from everyone else, a place where she could potentially get away and collect her thoughts and process it all.  Finally at the end of the hall Calysta came across a set of two very large doors that had at one point been painted black, but the pain was beginning to peel off.  The door knobs had also begun to rust, but they had been crafted to look like large horned demons with even longer tongues hanging from their gaping mouths.

The door definitely had an ominous look to it, but Calysta couldn't help but wonder what could be held within a room like this.  In a story surely some kind of untold treasure could be hidden within, or in her case maybe it was the home to a monster.  As it was becoming more evident Calysta had a curious mind and this was definitely a place she should not be in, but despite that Calysta couldn't help but grasp one of the horns and pull the door open and stepped inside the darkness.  Light was all but gone from this room as the darkness invaded every inch of the place.  In fact, it was so dark Calysta wondered if the room had been designed as such so that it could hide something.  Even as held the door open it did little top pierce the darkness of the room.  Going inside a darkened room that may or may not contain a demon inside was probably not the best of ideas, but Calysta wondered if there wasn't something hidden inside, something that could potentially give her an edge against Luscious.  If nothing else it could be something that would protect herself with and that was worth the risk. 

Taking a deep breath Calysta carefully eased her way into the room maneuvering about slowly allowing her eyes a chance to adjust as much as possible.  Making her way deeper into the room Calysta began to notice darkened shapes take form, couches and chairs and what Calysta hoped were statues filled the room.  Suddenly, like a beacon was a tiny silver stream of moonlight peeking out from behind a set of curtains.  Calysta knew that if she could peel back the curtain further back enough light would be casted for her to see the rest of the room and then she could really investigate the area. Calysta reached her hand out hoping to feel her way towards the glowing light as she ran her hand along a couch guiding herself further, but the couch felt different.  The fabric was tougher, almost like thickened skin, she had never felt a fabric like this before.  As Calysta's hands runs further along the furniture the room echoed with a loud, deep menacing growl.

Calysta snatched her hand back as the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, panic leapt upon her as she spun around as her eyes began to frantically search for what she was certain was her impending doom.  She at least wanted to see what was going to consume her before she died at it's hand.  Her heart pulsing at unsafe speeds Calysta cursed at herself for not getting to the curtains and pulling them open so she wouldn't be stuck inside here with whatever it was, maybe she could still reach it.  Taking a risk Calysta turned back to towards the curtains and cried out in shock as a large shadowed figure danced across the path of light.