5.
~ "Oh, Thank God!" Grace was exclaiming as Arthur and Ariadne came back into the large foyer. Both of them were soaking wet and Ariadne was shivering from the cold. The old lady was handing her a coat from the hall closet and looking at her worriedly.
"Arthur, don't ever let her leave again." Grace said in a petulant, childish manner. Her face looking ready to cry and complain. "Never again!" She reiterated. Her voice close to tears.
"It's alright, Grace." Arthur said darkly as if humoring her.
"We have a guest room." Grace said to Ariadne. "Why don't you go and take a bath and try to get some sleep? I don't want you to drive in this rain."
"Alright." Ariadne said feeling the cold wetness in her shoes. Wishing she wasn't dripping water on the family's nice floors. She felt completely embarrassed as she stood there shaking from the cold.
"Phillipa!" Grace shouted and, like magic, the blond woman appeared again.
"Oh my." Phillipa said as she saw Ariadne standing there, shivering from the freezing cold rain. She felt Arthur's hand at her back has he seemed to take charge.
"Please, take our guest to the blue room and see that she's settled for the night." He told her. Phillipa nodded and did as she was told. Arthur seeming to have some authority Ariadne was not aware of.
As Ariadne followed the elegant blond woman up the rich stair case, she looked back at Arthur. No one had bothered to give him a coat from the cold, wet rain. He was just as wet as her and yet, he wasn't shaking from the chill. He gave her a nod as she followed Phillipa.
~ "Is Arthur one of your cousins?" Ariadne asked as Phillipa led her down a hallway.
"Yes." Phillipa answered. Giving nothing away. "You can stay in here. It's our best guest room."
The blue room was enchanting and lovely. It was decorated in white and blue. Like a china pattern.
"I think we have something you can wear, why don't you take a warm bath? We don't want you to catch a cold." Phillipa said politely.
Ariadne nodded as she wandered into the bathroom. It was clean and would have been modern 50 years ago. The fixtures still looked sound and serviceable, everything well cared for and still working.
She was shivering too much to question it. The rain and thunder pounding relentlessly outside made her feel a little afraid as the power of the storm threatened to barge in.
"It's alright." Phillipa said coming into the bathroom with fresh towels. "This isn't the worst storm we've ever had. I think we'll make it." She said handing Ariadne a white night gown.
~ Ariadne took a long hot bath in the antique bathtub. She would love to have a tub like this at home. It's luxurious feel relaxing her and making her body warm again.
The night dress Phillipa had given her was old fashioned. It had lacy, flowing sleeves that billowed out. Perfectly suiting the atmosphere of the castle.
~ Phillipa had already left when Ariadne emerged from the bathroom. The blue and white bed was beckoning her as the storm carried on outside. Ariadne gave no more thought to the castle, the family or the storm as all she wanted to do was bury herself in that bed and sleep.
~ A hard crash of lighting startled her from slumber as she cringed in her bed. Her mind trying to recall where she was. It was still night and the curtains to her windows had been left open. White shrieks of lighting were flooding the room she wasn't used to. She stayed still as her eyes moved about the shadowy figures of the room. The flash of lighting only giving her a gimps of the things hiding there.
She strained her ears as a creaking noise came from the hallway. Under the door, shone a light. Someone was still awake. Still prowling around in the halls.
She didn't move as she saw with wide eyes her door nob turning. Her heart beating in her chest as she wondered wildly if she had locked her bedroom door.
The nob turned and then stopped. Only to turn again. The door stayed still and closed. No one came in. She relaxed her breathing as she saw the shadow of legs walk away from her door and shut off the hall light.
~ She awoke to sunlight streaming in her window. The stained glass catching the light and distorting it into rainbows of colors and shapes.
The storm had been forgotten in the early dawn of day. A phantom that was best not thought about again. She wasn't sure how she had fallen back to sleep after what she had seen last night. Someone had tried to get into her room.
'Maybe it was just Phillipa, coming to check on me.' She convinced herself. 'Maybe it was just a dream.'
She sat in bed for a long time as she watched the sun rise and heard birds start to sing. She wondered here her clothes were. Phillipa had taken them away while she was taking a bath and all she had on was this long, white night gown.
~ She was too restless to stay in bed. She wanted to explore the house a little. On tentative feet, she left her bed and gently opened her door. Peering into the hall, she saw it was mercifully empty. She couldn't hear the sounds of the family. No noise seemed to carry to her room.
She stepped out of her room and immediately landed on a floor board that creaked loudly. She froze and looked around. The hall still empty and silent.
On quite feet, she wandered down the halls. Most of the rooms were empty and obviously kept as ready spare rooms. Like the blue room, they were all well decorated and furnished in heavy antiques that were beautiful and expensive.
Finally, she reached a door that peaked her interest. It was a narrow door that was tucked away in it's own alcove. There was a key in the lock and Ariadne felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland as she turned the key and it unlocked with a pop.
She was filled with a childlike giddiness as she was about to enter a place she was surely not supposed to be.
The room was dark and cramped. She almost screamed as she felt the whisper of something on her face in the darkness. She flung her arms across her face wildly trying to beat, whatever it was, off. Every horror movie she had ever seen jumping into her memory, when her hands alighted on a string above her. She pulled it and a dim light bulb snapped on. She was in a closet. The biggest closet she had ever seen. It was stuffed from floor to ceiling with clothing and smell of moth balls and old things. Like her grandparents closet.
As a child, she had loved to play dress up in her grandmother's closet. The smell of old clothes evoking a deep and happy memory in her.
She looked around and realized it was a man's closet. The clothing were mostly suits and shoes belonging to a gentleman. She wondered if such clothing belonged to Dom or even Arthur, but dismissed the idea at once. These suits were far to old for them. She carefully inspected a handsome tuxedo with tails and decided it was at least a century old. It's fabric worn from age.
'Must be where they keep the family's old clothes. I guess they don't throw things away.' She thought as her eyes fell over a Union officer's uniform from the Civil War. She felt like she was in a museum of sorts as she examined dress shoes and more military uniforms. No doubt they belonged to the Blunt men who had served their country in various wars.
Finally, she grew bored exploring the huge closet of vintage clothing and decided to find her way out. She had gotten a little turned around in the large, maze like, closet and wandered around till she found the door. She sighed in relief. She had to get back to her room. She wouldn't want to be found here. She turned the nob easily and felt a breath of cool, refreshing air as she stepped into a room of bright sunlight.
"Ariadne?" Came a surprised voice.
She jumped and turned around. Arthur was sitting in a winged back chair. A book in his hand. He was staring at her in mild shock as she looked over what was obviously his set of rooms.
'Stupid! Your in his bedroom!' She hissed to herself.