Scrape

40. Enter and Weep

"Come on, hoist me up!" I groaned, tugging on it.

"Agh!" He moaned. "I can't...you're slipping!"

I gripped the metal rope harder, still attempting to force my body up it. The trouble with it was that I had little grip strength, and so Sebastian was repeatedly hauling me up.

"Damn you, if you let me slip, I swear, I'll, I'll-"

"Do what?" Sebastian chuckled from below me. "You're cute when you're angry, kitten."

I sighed in exasperation, and once more began yanking at the rope.

"It shouldn't be taking me 10 minutes to get up to that window though, should it?"

I struggled around, and accidentally knocked Sebastian to the side.

"Now, if only you'd laid off the cream pies..." He began.

I ignored him, and after about 20 more minutes of hoisting, managed to slip over the ledge of the window at the top, forearms burning, panting on the floor like a rabid dog. Sebastian followed swiftly, but nearly tripped over me once he'd gotten into the room.

"What are you doing...?" He questioned, eyeing me strangely.

"Oh, I don't know..." I responded sassily, "Searching for a better lover?"

"I don't think the floor is the place for that," he told me, offering a hand which I gladly took.

The room was small, containing a child's bed against the wall. A wooden box lay against the opposite side of the room, with toys spewing out of the cavernous hole. As we crossed the child's room, I stepped on a squeaky toy doll. It exhaled, screeching ominously throughout the room. My heart jumped, and so did I.

"Are you scared?" Sebastian mocked, as I reached the door.

"You wish." And I yanked it open, revealing a furnished hallway, with pale walls and a burghundy floor.

It was almost as if the place could have been a normal manor house, with a few added adjustments. However, I knew it could never be that, not as long as Mauro stalked these halls, making wretched plans even as we wasted time sneaking down it.

"Come on," I ushered him, and began running down the hall.

"A door, any door. That one. It will have to do." The orb said.

It was a smallish rounded thing, with a locked handle when I rattled it. I stayed still, considering my chances. Could I...? I'd have to. I backed against the opposite wall, then drilled my foot right into the part of the door by the handle, trying to break the lock. Instead, the whole thing came flying off, landing in the room. It was dimmer in here, and a murmur of voices could be heard, although it was faint. I continued on, as Sebastian, with brows raised, followed me skeptically.

"What?!" I demanded defensively.

"Nothing." He held up his palms, as though attempting to calm a feral beast. "Nothing at all."

I rolled my eyes, then surveyed the room. It seemed as though it was a tacking room, for horses. Although, surely, we were too high up in this home to be encountering horses? Before questioning the stone walls and horse whips bound to them on metal grills, I went over to the wall, running my hand over it. It was a little damp in one spot, although I wasn't sure why, but there were definitely voices from behind here. And surely, there hadn't been any more accessible doors from the hallway for a long while.

"I wonder why this guy keeps these here?" Sebastian contemplated, flicking the whips and running his hand over a clichè horseshoe tacked to the wall.