Chapter 4: Things Always Go Wrong

The moment we exited the Wine Cellar, the ground shook with devastating roughness, an echoing roar sending chills down my spine. Isabelle's eyes were wide with terror, obviously bewildered by the earsplitting reverberation. When the castle stopped trembling, an eerie silence dragged out for what seemed like an eternity. Then Daniel broke the silence.

"We need to keep moving." He stated sternly before walking across the corridor to the door that read "Laboratory". I nodded, dumbfounded, and followed the man blindly. When we entered the laboratory, every torch was lit. I should've been nervous but the light was soothing. I was slightly amused that the light actually hurt my eyes. I must've been in the darkness for quite some time. I thought, staring down to the bottom floor.

We went downstairs with trepidation, obviously wondering why the place was lit up like a birthday-cake. On the bottom floor, there was another door to my left, and I nudged Daniel in that direction. He nodded in acknowledgment and we entered the next room. This castle has too many rooms. I thought with irritation as we stumbled into some sort of chemistry chamber. Glasses, bottles, and all sort of things were filling the multiple shelves in front of me. Daniel wandered off to a table that had some sort of equipment.

"Hey," he said, "Bring me the four chemicals." Without protest, I pulled out the one I was carrying: Orpiment. Isabelle brought over her two and Daniel pulled out the last one. I realized that four glass containers were attached to a pipe. It was obviously made for mixing chemicals, but we needed some sort of pot. Glancing around the room, I spotted something that could work. As Daniel turned on the burner and poured the liquids into their glass containers, I put a chemistry pot under the nozzle. The three of us turned the wheels and watched as all four chemicals mixed together and poured into the pot, sizzling and gurgling with acidic power. Daniel's eyes were gleaming with triumph.

"Maybe we can use this to get rid of that fleshy wall." He stated.

"I completely forgot about that…" I mumbled.

"Let's take this acid and go already," Isabelle whispered, "This place is creepy." The moment the words left her lips, a frightening crash came from the main room. It was the sound of wood splintering and crashing into stone. I jumped at the sudden noise, catapulting into Daniel, and we both fell onto the dirty floor.

"S-sorry!" I gasped, climbing to my feet and brushing the dust off my clothes.

"Don't do it again," Daniel said, amused.

"I know you two are having a moment, but we have more important things to worry about!" Isabelle snapped. I shot her a look of disdain before turning to investigate the source of the noise. When I saw, my hope plummeted.

"Guys," I said with a sigh, "The staircase collapsed!"

"Really?" Isabelle sounded exasperated, "Can things get any worse for us?"

"Well," Daniel started, "We could've been trapped in here with the monster with no means of escaping."

"Well, aren't you Mr. Sunshine…" I muttered.

"I'm just looking at the good side of things," He sounded offended.

"Well, let's stop messing around and figure out how we're gonna escape." Isabelle said with a mute tone. She looked around, examining the now dark room through narrowed eyes. Then she spotted something.

"We can stack up those boxes!" She said excitedly, pointing with one finger. "Then we can jump onto the platform." I nodded before sauntering over to pick up one of the wooden boxes. All three of us placed one box on the collapsed staircase, and I realized that we could now jump.

"Who's gonna go first?" Daniel asked.

"I'll go, because it's ladies-first." Isabelle said with a sneer as she began to climb. You're such an asshole. I thought with a laugh as I watched her balance precariously on the third box. When she jumped, I held my breath, faintly hoping she'd miss and plunge toward the stone ground. But my wish didn't come true, for she landed easily onto the platform.

"Alright, who's next?" She said triumphantly. With one quick glance at Daniel, I decided to go next. It proved to be easy as I soon joined Isabelle on the platform, and then followed by Daniel moments later.

"Let's get going." He muttered imperceptibly, gripping the pot of acid firmly. I exchanged a worried glance with Isabelle before following.

The acid did its work wonderfully. The fleshy wall was dissolved within moments, opening a new passage that lead deeper into the castle. We entered without hesitation, relieved to finally be making some progress. I still didn't know why we were descending deeper into the castle. Daniel and Isabelle obviously had a reason but they hadn't told me anything. It was beginning to irritate me, but I figured they had a reason.

"The next room is called the Refinery." Daniel stated, examining the door though emerald eyes. It doesn't sound too bad… I thought briefly before Isabelle kicked the metal door open with astounding force.

Of course, we had to be greeted with thick, consuming darkness. I let out a sigh and decided that Daniel should lead. He seemed to know where he was going, but then my thoughts traveled back to the maps. I know where to go as well.

"Stay close and do not fall behind." The man hissed urgently. I obeyed; watching as the darkness seemed to grow closer, hungrily waiting for its next victim.

We had been walking for quite a while until Daniel suddenly dropped to the ground, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along with him. Isabelle followed, confused at our sudden action.

"I swear I just heard something," The man muttered, turning towards me. My blood turned icy as I strained to hear over the hissing cockroaches.

"You must've imagined it." I said at last.

"But I swear-,"

"It was nothing!" Isabelle interrupted, "Now let's just keep moving. This place is almost as creepy as the Wine Cellar." I decided to be reckless and took a step further into the wall of gloom. I could see a faint outline of a doorway, possibly leading to some other room. When I took another step, a threatening growl rumbled from in front of me. Daniel darted out and grabbed my arm before dragging me to safety.

"What were you thinking?" He snapped quietly.

"I didn't want to sit here forever until you thought it was safe to move!" I retorted, voice rising carelessly.

"You're such an idiot Felix! You could've gotten some unwanted attention!" He fired back, frustration obvious in his timbre.

"No, Daniel, I'm not that careless. And I'm not that stupid either. I-,"

"YOU GUYS!" Isabelle was on the verge of screaming. We both turned to look at the fuming woman, "Quit yelling at each other! We've got something far more important to take care of." I threw one last glance at Daniel before nodding.

We had entered the next room where I had heard the growl. My hands were quaking, expecting some sort of horrible event to happen. But everything seemed relatively calm. There were four doors and we entered the nearest on the left. When nothing caught our interest, we moved onto the next. That's when I saw another bottle of that strange green liquid. I darted over despite Daniel's hiss of vexation and grasped the bottle.

"What is that?" Daniel asked.

"I think it's called laudanum." I replied soundlessly, examining the glass through an uncompromising gaze.

"Isn't that some sort of painkiller?" Isabelle broke the silence, her voice indicating boredom.

"Yeah, I found a bottle earlier. I think it might come in handy." I said mostly to myself before tucking the bottle inside my shirt.

"Alright, let's keep moving." Daniel said. The moment he moved, the nearest door slammed open, stopping my heart in terror. I expected the beast to come sauntering through the open entrance, but after a few moments of eerie silence, nothing happened. Daniel let out a long sigh of relief.

"L-let's just keep g-going." He stammered, obviously startled and scared by the event. I followed willingly, eyes widening as we entered a room with an abundance of wine bottles scattered across the floor. Isabelle wandered off, kicking a bottle and smiling when it broke. Daniel walked to the end of the room, yelling in surprise when he stumbled over a box. I laughed, trying to annoy the russet-haired man even further. But he ignored my taunt.

"There's something behind these boxes!" He said excitedly, kicking one box from its spot next to the wall. Sure enough, light was pouring through from the other side. All three of us went to work, moving the boxes until an entrance became visible. I ducked under and examined the new room.

"It looks safe." I stated before going in fully. The hidden room had an eerie red glow to it, obviously from the torches. One side was dark, hidden behind a massive barrel. As I walked over, I noticed some sort of trap door on the ground.

"Hey, help me get this open." I called to my companions. Isabelle let out a taut snicker.

"There's an easier way," She said, voice laden with arrogance. "There's a pulley system." She pointed to a series of ropes attached to the trap door. I didn't notice that… I saw a wheel at the opposite side of the room, hidden in the dark half.

"Here, I'll pull open the door. You guys can go in first." I said before jogging over to the wheel. I grasped the wheel and started to open the trap door. It was almost open until something decided to break through the door that only a few feet away from me.

I could see a fierce looking metal blade slashing through the wood as if it were butter. Panicked, I began to spin the wheel faster, hoping that the door was open far enough for the three of us to slip inside.

"Felix!" Daniel screamed as the wood shattered, "You need to run, NOW!" I took his word and sprinted from the wheel, panicking as I could hear something heavy thundering after me. Quickly, I looked over my shoulder to see.

The thing was hideous. Its head was split in two, five teeth barely clinging to the flesh. Metal plates were sewn into its sickly green skin and its right hand wasn't a hand; it was a blade. In my awe, I stumbled and fell right as the beast lifted its arm to swing its weapon. The thing must've been caught off guard by my fall, for it barreled into my back and the blade grazed my shoulder.

And by grazed, I mean it went deep into my skin. Pain shot throughout my body and I couldn't tell if I screamed or cried, but the last thing I remembered was falling through the trap door and into Daniel's arms.

"Felix!" He yelled, but his voice barely reached my ears before things began to spin and sway.

Why does this always happen to me? The thought barely escaped my mind before everything went black.