Another chapter of the tale of mystery.
FAMILY SECRETS
A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC
Chapter 45
There was utter silence for a long time after our fight. No one moved. No said anything more. It was like we were all stunned into silence. Eventually, 'Seus' made a hasty exit. I knew that he would be back. Next time he would not be alone. Next time he would be back with his employer. I had to get out of here. Only Edvard stood in my way.
Edvard was still in shock. He did not expect any of this. I used his confusion to make a hasty exit myself. I had to get out of here before he recovered. I ran away blindly. I couldn't help it. I was terrified! Which ended up with me getting hopelessly lost. Forcing Howl to interfere. He returned to his normal shape then called out, "Sophie, stop. Calm down! Please you're making it worse."
I turned and faced my husband. "Don't you think that I know that! It's just . . . It's just . . . I don't know what to do! Oh Howl, this was a terrible idea!"
He held me for a moment while I tried to calm down. "It's going to be fine." He murmured. "It's going to be alright. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." I nodded as I tried to stop crying. I felt so stupid for crying in the first place. He smiled then released me. "Good, then let's figure out where we are."
I wiped my eyes. "Okay."
Howl surveyed the area. We were in some random corridor within the castle. There was a layer of undisturbed dust on everything that suggested that no one had been here for a very long time. Beyond that there was nothing remarkable about the area. It did not help me figure out where we were. Howl placed his hand on the wall then closed his eyes. He reopened them a moment later. Then said, "We're not far from where we were. About two floors down and on the right side of the building. Fortunately, it seems that this part of the building is unused. It will take them some time to find us without magic." He faced me. "So we have enough time to make a decision. Do you want to see this idea to the end? Or do you want to go home?"
I did not expect him to ask me what I wanted to do! He was against the idea at the beginning. Now that it failed I expected him to want to get me out of here. Howl did ten to jealously guard me. Why was he offering to stay? I just didn't understand. "You want to stay?" I asked tentatively.
He shook his head. "No, I want to get you away from here! That's not the point. You wanted to stir up the hornet's nest. You've done that. Against my wishes. May I add. Now that's happened you have choice: Either see this through or abandon everything and go home. It's your choice. I will support you either way. I just need to know what you want to do."
"I don't know how to see it through." I said in a tiny voice.
He smiled. "Neither do I. That doesn't matter. We'll figure it out. We always do."
"Yeah, we do." I couldn't help but laugh. He was right. We always got through somehow.
"So, you want to continue?" I nodded. He looked around. "Alright. We need to find a place to hold up. That way we can control the area a bit. We need a room where there is only one way in and one way out. Ahh! That's it! I know where we can wait!"
I did not trust the look in his eyes. He was up to no good. "Where's that?" I asked cautiously.
"Why the dungeon, of course!"
Yup, it was official. My husband was insane! Why the hell would we go back there? We just got away from there! Plus, that's was where they were waiting for us. It made little sense to go back there. We would be sitting ducks there!
"Howl, have you lost your mind?"
He laughed. "Of course not! We're not going to be hiding. We're going to be waiting. I'll put up wards and barriers to keep people out. It won't be as good as our castle, but it will do. I don't really plan to stay there all that long anyway. Just long enough to get the attention of the master mind. Then things will get interesting. We will ring answers out of him!"
His plan was insane. Yet, it was ingenious. Just like my husband. How he came up with things I do not know. I do know that I would have never thought of such a thing. My plan would be far more straightforward than this. It provably would have failed too.
I shook my head. "Fine. Let's get out of here."
He nodded then turned us into rats. Before I could yell at him he explained. This will get us there without being noticed. Just stick with me and don't get lost.
That was easier said than done. He knew how bad I was at directions.
Next Chapter coming up!