Once Upon A [Stolen] Time - [Stolen] Series I

CHAPTER 8

"I don't see any light fixtures here," commented Tyler. "Is it a tower or a dungeon?" He asked Julia.

Julia thought for a moment. "As I told you, I haven't read anything about a dungeon here. I'd just heard of the tower—it was used to punish people."

The dark, narrow passage ended at a wooden door. Steve threw the light on the door to find the handle. He moved it, pushing the door wide open. Endless spiral stairs led to the tower. The walls were so narrow that there was only space for one person to climb at a time. I had seen these stairs in many abbeys and monasteries, but usually, one stair is used for ascending and the other for descending. Here, no other staircase was present. There were no windows or openings outside, but another passage was adjacent to the stairs. I wonder where it led to.

"Okay." Steve turned around to ask Julia, "Are we going up or following that passage?" He pointed to the unknown path.

"Let's check upstairs first," I interjected before Julia could say anything.

"All right." Steve took the first step, and we all followed him.

It took almost five minutes to reach the top landing of the stairs. There was a vast open area with several wooden doors, all black.

"Which one do we pick first?" Steve asked me.

"Shall we do eeny-meeny-miny-mo?" Tyler joked.

"What do you suggest, Dr Watson?" I asked our guide.

"Let's check one by one, starting from the left corner," Julia answered.

We agreed to her suggestion, and Tyler opened the first door on the left. It was a dark room with a tiny opening to the outside world and nothing else. It was completely empty, but the smell in it was rotten.

"It stinks in here," I said. "What's the smell from if it's been closed for six hundred years?"

"It reeks blood," Steve replied. He looked around the room. "Strange...if it's been so many years since people were tortured here, why does it smell like fresh blood?"

Steve's question sent goosebumps all over my body. I rubbed my left arm with my right hand, checking around the room. I walked to the small opening and looked outside. I wondered if this room was a part of their defense system, as the openings were no wider than arrow slits.

What I saw from the slit gave me a jolt. I instantly fell back, but fortunately, Steve stood close to me, so he caught me by the shoulder.

"Easy!" he said.

My breath was ragged. "It's... it's..." I was completely out of words.

"What's wrong, Myra? What did you see?" He asked with concern.

Tyler peeked through the slit. "Dude, come check this out," he called to Steve.

Steve steadied me and walked towards the opening to look outside. "Oh, good lord!" He gaped. "The black tree scared you?"

"Tree? There is a tree here?" Julia interrupted. She walked to the opening, peeking out herself to observe it. "That's strange. Nothing can grow on this land, but there's a tree?"

"Yeah, but if you look at it, it's a dead tree as if it had been set on fire once," added Tyler.

"That's not what I saw!" Taking a deep breath, I glanced outside. "For a moment, the tree looked like a woman with many arms, and she was moving."

"All right, Myra." Tyler raised his arms over his head. "Just because we believed your story in the chapel doesn't mean we will buy this shit!"

"No," I objected, turning to Steve, pleading. "You have to believe me, Steve. I saw it moving its hands."