Chapter 6: Discovery

I woke up, only to see Daniel towering over me. He was staring at me in amusement.

"Were you really that tired?" He said tauntingly, "You were dead asleep by the time I got back." With a yawn, I crawled off the bed reluctantly.

"Where's Isabelle?" I asked.

"She's still by the fountain. Apparently, it's fascinating to her." He replied coolly before turning away to examine the trashed room. After a moment of silence, the man circled back to me.

"How's your shoulder?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"I-it's fine." I lied. Actually, it hurt like hell, but I didn't want him to worry anymore. I was sure that Daniel was tired of taking care of me. I had been injured enough by now, and I was positive that my shirt was completely torn from the amount of times I had been clawed. It must've been ripped, for Daniel raised a brow.

"Here, put this on." He tossed me a white shirt that was lying on the ground. Catching it in one hand, I glared at Daniel with suspicion.

"Fine, I'll leave." He retorted before marching out of the room. With a sigh, I slipped on the new shirt. Fretfully, my gaze flickered across the room, the sudden feeling of paranoia seeping in. With a sigh, I went off to find Daniel. He was waiting just outside the Guest Room.

"Took you long enough." He snorted with exasperation.

"I wasn't that long," I retorted.

"Yeah, sure." He sighed, "Let's go get Isabelle." I nodded and we sauntered down the staircase. She was still sitting by the fountain, gaze absent. When we drew closer, her head shot up. Isabelle glared at us until we were right beside her.

"What do you guys want?" She snapped, obviously irritated.

"We're going to go explore the rooms," Daniel replied, unfazed by her rude tone, "We still haven't thoroughly checked the Guest Room."

"Then you two can go by yourselves." She muttered. Disconcerted, I nudged Daniel and we left Isabelle's presence.

"What's gotten into her?" He whispered in my ear.

"She's probably tired of everything that's been going on." I replied with a shrug. Daniel didn't reply as we reentered the Guest Room. We went into the section with the bed when Daniel suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"There's a crowbar on the table. How did I not see that?" He sounded frustrated as he walked over to pick up the crowbar.

"What's that doing in here?" I said inaudibly. I watched as the russet-haired man examined the piece of metal before turning back to me.

"I know what this is for." He said flatly before exiting the bedroom. He stalked over to the remaining door in the Guest Room. With a grunt, Daniel shoved the crowbar in the hinges of the door and pried it open. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over like the time in the Archives.

"Hey, are you alright?" I stammered. Slowly, his gaze turned towards me. The color was back in his emerald eyes.

"There's a key somewhere in here." He replied hesitantly, as if doubting his words. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, a growl sounded from behind us. We didn't linger for a moment; both of us frantically scrambled inside the nearest wardrobe. Sweat poured from my forehead as I listened for any sounds besides Daniel's breathing. I could hear the monster slashing its way through the door, searching for any victims. After an agonizing moment of nothing but fear, I heard the horrifying beast leave.

Daniel let out a long sigh of relief before climbing out of the wardrobe. He waited for me.

"That thing is really persistent, isn't it?" He said with a slight chuckle.

"How can you be laughing about that?" I replied with provocation. He shot me a grin that only sent fresh waves of anger throughout my body.

"You, Felix, are the angriest person I have ever met." He sneered.

"I have every reason to be," I shot back, "I'm stuck with you."

"Ow, that hurt my feelings." Daniel pretended to cry before breaking out into a fit of laughter. I couldn't help but smile either, but then I remembered something.

"Didn't you say there was a key in here?" I asked. Daniel stared at me for a moment before nodding. He turned away from me and began to tear the room apart, desperately searching for the key. In his frenzy, the man knocked a painting off of the wall, only to reveal a small compartment.

"Hey, Daniel, it's right there." I pointed toward a small glass jar. Sure enough, there was a key inside of it. The man picked up the jar and smashed it. Glass flew through the air as he reached for the key.

"It says Machine Room." He said aloud, reading the label on the small piece of metal.

"Then is our next stop the Machine Room?" I asked.

"No, we still need to go to the Study then Storage." He replied sternly before heading towards the exit. I followed quietly, pondering to myself. I wonder what's going to happen next. I think I should ask Daniel why we are heading deeper into the castle. I still have no idea why Isabelle and Daniel want to. Why don't we just try to leave?

"Hey, Daniel?" I asked as we stood on the balcony, gazing at the fountain. Isabelle was gone, probably off exploring.

"What's wrong?" He turned toward me, emerald eyes glittering with concern.

"Tell me something." I said quietly.

"What is it?" He whispered.

"Why are we going farther into the castle?" I asked. He seemed taken aback by my question. For a moment, his eyes were full of different emotions, until they settled on one.

"Do you really want to know?" He breathed.

"Well, I'd like to have a reason instead of blindly following you and Isabelle." I snapped. He sighed, as if revising his answer.

"Well, when I woke up in this castle, I had no memories. None. That was until I found a note. It told me to go to the Inner Sanctum of this castle and murder a man named Alexander. Apparently, Isabelle is in a similar situation."

I listened, wide-eyed, as Daniel continued to speak. When he finished his long speech, I shot him a look of contempt.

"Why do you want to murder him? You're going through all this danger just because a note told you to?" I hissed. "How stupid can you be? I can't believe you didn't tell me earlier! Why didn't you?"

Daniel was obviously caught off guard by my sudden outburst of anger.

"Well-,"

"Do you have any more secrets you want to tell me?" I interrupted, seething with anger. I knew I was overreacting, but I was really distraught. Even I was bewildered from my reaction. What the hell is wrong with me? Calm down!

"Well, I'm afraid that if I tell you anything else, you'll bite my head off! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving now." Daniel whipped around and sprinted towards the Study. I watched him go, fury slowly withering. Once he was gone, I let out a sigh of frustration and stalked towards the fountain.

I wonder what Isabelle is up to.