*BOOK ELEVEN* (Can be read as standalone)
"There's a problem with your theory," he murmurs, the touch of his fingers down my jawline, down my neck, a silent warning. I'm in the midst of a cold, calculated predator. "One side of me wants to preserve...
Lila looks around, the grin on her face full of curiosity and excitement. She's waiting for someone else to initiate this. To walk straight in first so they would be the first ones to deal with the consequences beyond this door.
"Go on," Mabel prompts.
Finally, Lila turns and pushes the door open, but doesn't immediately walk in. Beyond, is a stairway going down into a pit of darkness we can't see through. Esme takes a shuddering step backward, unnerved by the darkness, while Mabel steps forward curiously, clearly not worried about what might beyond.
"It's not too late to turn back," I remind them, hoping the would heed my advice and we would all head back to the sleeping quarters to forget all about this.
Lila shakes her head, straightening her shoulders in a false sense of confidence. "No, we go in and we see what's inside. No one is going to find us, it's late at night and everyone is asleep."
Not wanting to look bad in front of the group, everyone followed as Lila makes the first move down the stairs.
I hesitate, looking around me. No one else aside from us are around, and being the servants area, there are no cameras to record our activity. Plus, who knows what they are going to find down there, and right now, I'm the only one who has any sense in their mind right now.
Sighing through my nose, I follow.
The darkness swallows us all as we step down the first few steps, the door closing behind. I feel for the wall as we make our way down, trying not to slip on the smooth concrete steps.
When my foot passed the last step, my fingers brushed against something on the wall. A light switch, that when I flick on, blinds everyone in the room. When my eyes finally adjust, I realise we are standing in someone's living area, however, no one occupies it at this moment, jumping up Lila's confidence by a mile.
"Well, what do we have here?" Lila says, walking around a small amount, refusing to go any further from the group without investigating first.
Someone has definitely lived in here. We stand in a small living area furnished lavishly considering how deep it is nestled under the initial estate. I'm wondering who lives down here, considering how nice it looks - furnished with a chaise lounge, plush rugs under our feet, and around the corner, I assume there's a bedroom.
"We should go," I say quickly, backing a few steps. "This clearly belongs to someone and we shouldn't pry. Let's just get out of here."
Lila's shaking her head, wandering around. "No, we need to figure out what this is."
Standing back against the wall, I refuse to move anywhere, watching instead. Lila and Mabel are the most confident, lifting things up and looking behind rather dark abstract painting that mean nothing at first glance. Whoever this belongs to, it's not someone I'm familiar with. And from their furnishings, they don't seem like the...happiest person.
"Do you think this is Ren's?" Esme asks, touching things gently, looking around curiously. Mabel looks up from where she is approaching a side table. It makes me nervous seeing her get close to someone else's private stuff. Who knows what she might find.
Mabel shakes her head. "No way. He wouldn't own creepy stuff like this."
It bothers me only slightly that Mabel is pretending she knows what Ren's taste is like. That she is pretending to know him at all. However, I don't let it rise to the surface. From what I know about Ren, she is probably right. This stuff doesn't remind me him at all.
Lila picks up a strange piece of paper from another stand at the other end of the room. Paper in one hand, a leather bound diary in the other.
The paper has black markings all over is, swirling into odd patterns none of us can make sense of. The way a shiver is sent down my entire body, I have a feeling this is dark and sinister, and none of us want to find the truth about it. It even has Lila so shaken, she puts the diary down, not bothering to flick through the pages right now.
"Okay, weird-"
Just as we were all about to discuss what it might be, and what it could mean, the door to basement suddenly open, and each and every one of us freezes, unsure of what to do.
Mabel's eyes widen. "Hide."
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Want more of Ren!? On the site Radish, Ren is considerably ahead, so go check it out (:
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I've also just posted the second novel in the Immortal series (in no way in correlation to book one which is Fate
It's Time!
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