Escape

It had been hours since she had started looking for an exit. She had apparently made it out of the mansion she was in, and was now wandering the castle. She would not be able to walk much longer, and was nearly crawling as it was. She had found a curtain that she had draped around herself. She entered a large, open room that looked quite a bit like an entrance hall. This gave her some hope, and she moved as fast as she could down the stairs toward a set of doors on the other side, but stopped about halfway down.

There was a man standing between she and the door. A huge man. And unlike the last person she had encountered, this man was very much alive. He had seen her, and was staring at her. When she looked at his face, chills ran down her spine. He looked almost... deformed. He slowly started toward her. She took a deep breath, and tried to speak to him.

"Thank god you're here... I need to get out. Please help me."

He said nothing, just kept coming toward her. He was making strange grunting noises and reached out his arms, as if he wanted to touch her. She stood still, knowing she could not run in her state. He reached out and felt her arms as she stared at the monstrous man in bewilderment.

"Who are you? Please... I need help! I need to find the exit! Please help me..."

He stopped, looking at her desperate, tear-streaked face, and seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, he lowered his head and his arms dropped to his sides. He shuffled to the side and pointed toward the large doors in the front. She hesitated for a moment. This man looked so lonely... Was he the only one here? She felt a pang of guilt, but it was swiftly forgotten when she remembered her need to escape.

She murmured a thank you and limped toward the entrance. The huge man turned and watched her go with sad eyes. Finally, she made it to the doors and, with some difficulty, opened them. There was a bridge leading to two huge wooden doors, undoubtedly the castle's front gate. She made her way across the bridge, her remaining stamina quickly fading, and, finding the gate unlocked, pushed on it with all her might.

The big door slowly swung open, and she stumbled out and fell on the grass. She could see a road from here, and a dark forest around the castle, but everything beyond that was just barren-looking countryside. She was wounded and exhausted to the point where she could no longer move. She took one last look at her surroundings and blacked out.

Weston drove toward the castle, this time accompanied by three more officers from the Silverpool Police Department, Officers Gado, Meier, and Rivers. When his backup reached the scene of the accident and had investigated it, they decided it might be dangerous and so they decided to come with him to the castle. They had managed to identify the victims as Ugo and Ayla Belli. They hadn't lived at the castle themselves, but they were apparently close relatives. There was definitely something going on here. Soon, Belli Castle came into view, looming over the surrounding countryside. It stood, looking the same as always, tall and imposing. They reached it, and got out of their cars. As soon as Weston got out, he knew something was wrong.

A girl, bloody and unconscious, lay on the front lawn. She was wrapped in what looked like a curtain, and lay unmoving not ten feet from him. Quickly he ran over to her.

"We have a person down here!"

There was a silence as the other officers hurried to his side and Weston checked her for a pulse. Finally, he lifted his hand.

"She's alive. We need to get an ambulance here, fast."

Officer Rivers started back toward his car. "I'll call one in. Get ready to move to the castle."

Weston stood up and unholstered his gun. Whoever did this to her couldn't be far. Officer Gado was checking the girl's body. She was quite beautiful, but... her hair... she had no hair, and she was covered in some sort of liquid. She had three gaping holes in her back, and her feet were bleeding.

Gado stood up. "These aren't gunshot wounds, Jack. These patterns... looks like something was surgically inserted."

"Well, be alert. It's more than likely that whoever did this is still at the castle," replied Weston. "We'll have to take extreme caution. Somebody will have to stay here with her and wait for the ambulance."

"I'll do it," said Meier. "Call me right away if you see anything in there. I'll join you as soon as possible."

After Rivers returned, he, Weston, and Gado, prepared for the worst, moved through the gates and into the castle.