Chapter 1- Castle
Astérix banged on the wooden gate with her fists. The wind whipped her sandy blonde hair around her shoulders. Her legs felt like ice cubes because she was wearing green track shorts. The grey sweatshirt protected her arms from the chilling cold. Astérix kicked the door with her white sneakers.
"Let me out of here" she screamed. It echoed out into the woods. She was miles from the road, miles from the nearest city, and miles from any other human being. The grey stoned castle loomed menacingly behind her. If she were in a tower, Astérix would be able to see over the wall locking her in the castle grounds and possibly a way out.
Astérix smiled as she talked to her mother on the phone. She was a freshman in college on her way home to visit her family for spring break. She turned the car radio off to hear her mother better and held the phone between her ear and shoulder.
"Are those woods still there or are they cleared out?" she found herself asking.
"You're not thinking of coming in that way?"
"Yeah…"
"That's not safe; you can easily get turned around in there"
"That's why their clearing it out mom" Astérix turned on to the side road that would take her through the woods and into her hometown.
"I got to go mom I'm coming up on to the woods, receptions bad" Before her mother could say anything Astérix hung up. She tossed her cell into the front passenger seat. It landed with a small thud and slipped onto the floor.
"Crap" Astérix muttered, as she passed into the woods. She kept glancing down looking for her phone, finally spotting it through the piles of trash. Shaking her head, she kept telling herself she should pay attention to the road in front of her. The sound of music filled the car suddenly. Astérix again looked down at her cell. She took her foot off of the accelerator and the car started to lose speed.
"Alright little darling come here" she said reaching for the phone. Astérix kept the steering wheel steady; until finally she was able to grab the phone. She sat up straight and laid it gently on the seat beside her, having already missed the call. Her foot pressed down on the pedal as she spun around a curve. Soon trees swept past her and started to become dense.
"I don't remember it being this thick." Astérix spoke softly. Her ringtone again blasted out of the speakers.
"I thought reception was bad." Astérix muttered. She rounded another curve and at that exact moment a deer jumped out in front of her. Astérix screamed and swerved to the left to avoid collision with the animal. In an instant her car collided with a large tree. The windshield smashed apart into tiny shards, the air bags deployed snapping her head back into the head rest. Astérix blacked out, her car's horn blaring and her cell phone ringing on the floor.
Her body ached but she could sense that she wasn't strapped into her car…her car. Astérix groaned in pain and opened her eyes. There wasn't much light in the room but her eyes started to tear up anyway. She remembered the deer jumping out in front of her, swerving, then nothing. She lifted her left hand to her head. Her right was immobile. She glanced down to see it in a sling.
"What did I do…Someone has to be here" she muttered. Despite her body's protests, Astérix got up and finally took a look around the room. Soon she wished she hadn't. The room was dark and dank. Everything around her was grey stone. A four poster bed was on a higher level than the rest of the room. Simple grey linen sheets covered the bed and plain white pillowcase adorned the cotton pillow. There was a rail blocking the upper level from the lower level so no one would fall. A dead plant was shoved in the corner of the room by the rail. Three finished wooden steps led to the lower, carpeted area. The carpet was a grey color, almost as grey as the walls. The upper level looked like a stage. No pictures hung on the walls leaving them bare and unfamiliar. A small table was set in the corner of the lower level along with a dresser. Both were plain wood. Along with no pictures, there were no mirrors and no windows. She wouldn't be able to see the extent of injuries on her face now. There were no modern necessities that she could see; it was clear she was not in a hospital. Astérix stood up and held onto a bed post until the black dots faded from her vision. It felt like someone was continually kicking her in the head. The walls seemed dark, bare, and cold. The grey bricks looked like they were stained. With what, there was no telling. A door was by the bed on the upper level, she made a move to it. Placing a hand on the handle she jiggled it, but the door stayed closed.
"Damnit locked." she grumbled. Turning around she leaned against it and sighed. On the far side of the room, down on the lower level, was another door. Astérix moved toward it, walking down the stairs and across the carpet; her shoes were sitting by the door, carefully she slipped them on and tried the handle. This time it worked, the door swung open. She stepped out onto concrete. She was on a small balcony, no rails to stop her from falling this time. A small area lead to the left and stairs to the right. She chose to go towards the castle grounds. The stairs curved to the right as she walked down them. Lamp posts sat on the wall in random locations. Astérix trekked downstairs and ended up on a concrete balcony. She moved a lounge chair out of her path noting the haphazard way the whole balcony was set up. Rips were in the beige seams of the cushions and she ran her hand along the rough material. Metal bars holding the seating together looked worn and rusted to the point it looked like it would snap if someone sat upon it. She turned and saw her dusty reflection. The cloudy window made her back up against the wall to get out of view. She could see only herself and didn't want to take the chance of someone inside seeing her. Astérix carefully but quickly slid against the wall down the cracked stairs. In the distance she could hear thunder roll, clouds moved in to cover up the moon and darken the night. Finally she stepped off of the last stair and into soft grass. A dirt path went off to the right, a bigger path to her left a small set of concrete stairs led up to a concrete sitting area where no chairs or even a table sat the stone in poor condition was cracked; she went to the left eyeing the wall keeping her in. Unlike the concrete sitting area, there were no cracks or breaks.
"Damnit!" she hissed under her breath. Up ahead of her, not even 15 yards away was a large wooden door. Spotting it, Astérix charged up to it. Her heart beat, hastened by the thought of leaving. She would find her car, grab the phone, and call for help. Reaching the door she grabbed and yanked on the handle. The door didn't budge. She tried pushing on it, still it didn't move. Astérix banged on the wooden gate with her fists. The wind whipped her sandy blonde hair around her shoulders. Her legs felt like ice cubes because she was wearing green track shorts. The grey sweatshirt protected her arms from the chilling cold. Astérix kicked the door with her white sneakers.
"Let me out of here." she screamed. It echoed out into the woods. She was miles from the road, miles from the nearest city, and miles from any other human being. The grey stoned castle loomed menacingly behind her. If she were in a tower, Astérix would be able to see over the wall locking her in the castle grounds.
"How the hell do I get out of here?" she asked stepping away from the door.
"You don't." Astérix jumped and spun around. There was no one behind her. Her heart beat quickened.
"H-hello is anyone there?" She called out meekly. This time there was no answer. The silence hung heavy in the air. She took an unsure step forward. At that moment lightning flashed and rain started to pour down. Astérix stood in the cold before running towards the stone prison. She squinted to try and keep the water from blurring her vision but it was useless. The grass, green with life quickly became a hazard and Astérix slipped on the turf. A scream broke through her mouth as she hit the ground and sat up. Cradling her arm she continued to the castle at a slower pace than before. The crackling of thunder rang through her ears making her impervious to sound. She took the crumbling steps two at a time, taking care not to slip on the loose pieces. Her hand sliding along the stone walls, edges leaving tiny, bleeding scratches. Astérix passed through the balcony tripping again. She kicked the overturned chair away from her; lifting herself up again she continued through the thickening sheet of rain. Astérix finally reached the room she was just in. She wrung out excess water from her hair and tried to peel the shirt away from her back. Like static electricity her clothes stuck to her skin. Using her cut hand, she combed back her wet hair and tied it up in a ponytail, tiny blood streaks prevalent in her hair. Stepping up onto the upper level her shoes made a loud squeak. From the other side of the locked door Astérix heard footsteps. She quietly walked over to it and placed her ear against it. The door vibrated as someone pounded on the other side. Astérix screamed and fell backwards twisting her left ankle as she fell down the stairs onto the lower level. The lock on the door clicked, and then whoever was there walked away. She stood up slowly wincing as her ankle burned in pain. Limping to the door she turned the knob. It unlocked and the door swung open. In front of her was a hallway, still bare walls and grey carpeting donned it. Someone had a thing for boring. She limped down it, her left hand resting on the wall. Checking all the doors in the hall she found all but one locked. Pushing the unlocked door open, Astérix stepped through. Another hallway greeted her, it was bigger than the last and she could see the huge grey arcs holding the castle up. A small garden was to her left, it was a small greenhouse section in a castle. Flowers grew and thrived healthily. Astérix stared at the flowers, someone had to be here, there were flowers alive, and her wounds were taken care of, not to mention the voice she heard by the front gate. The words replayed through her head.
She decided to move on and limped down the second hallway. Not long after she found a small alcove in the wall. A door was in the middle of it. Astérix tried it and it opened. Inside she found a small library. Book shelves lined all four walls. A small desk stood in the right corner of the room, there was no window. She hobbled in to look through the study. The books were split into sections, divided and grouped by authors. Most were older books such as Shakespeare's Othello and The Twelfth Night. Her nose wrinkled up at the sight of Romeo and Juliet, she hated that book. Astérix noticed, tucked away in a small corner, was a finished wooden desk. It looked brand new compared to the bookshelves that seemed to have fallen into ill-repair. She placed her hand over the metal bar and pulled at the drawer. It rattled in her hand but didn't open; locked. Trying the other drawers, she concluded that all of them were locked. The person that lived here loved to have everything be under lock and key, what was so secret? Stepping away from the desk Astérix heard a loud smashing sound like china being shattered on a hard floor. She hobbled over to the door and looked out. No one was in the hallway; so she decided to continue down the way she originally headed toward; toward the loud sound. Leaving the alcove behind, Astérix walked closer to the end of the hall, a small open room. No door separated the hall from the room that stood before her. A shadow was cast on the far wall, a large, threatening shadow. Chills ran down Astérix's spine as she inched to the corner edge. The shadow made movements of lifting something into the air and bringing it back down. The sound of shattering china filled her ears, startling her, and causing her to gasp. The shadow froze as if the person heard her. Astérix cursed in her mind and backed up down the hall as the shadow moved slowly towards her.