Chapter 74 Chapter 74
Violet
Ironcrest manor was as scary at night as beautiful it looked in the day. There were no maids and servants running around, no soft chatter to fill the corridors with noise.
The silence was too loud.
The corridor outside my room was dim, lit by wall sconces that cast long, wavering shadows across the stone. I padded in the soft slippers, my steps soundless against the carpet, clutching my arms around myself as though I could hold myself together by force alone.
By now, I had gotten used to just a small section of the manor, just the way from my room to the dining hall. The rest of the pathways were still murky to me.
I should have asked to get my room closer to Cassie’s so that I could talk to her instead of wandering around aimlessly. She had given me a grand tour but I had been distracted, looking for Elijah half the time.
I stopped short when I saw two different corridors leading in opposite directions. On a whim, I took a right and thankfully saw a large marble staircase that spiraled and bifurcated at every alternate floor.
I held onto the railing and craned my neck to look up, counting more than ten floors before something caught my eye.
At the far end of the hall, there was a tall mirror that stood between two columns. It looked old and tall, almost two heads taller than me.
Had it always been there?
I slowly turned to face the mirror, wondering if I had imagined it.
I could make out the outer frame of the mirror, all black and having something similar to vines twisting and turning from the base on either side and merging onto the top.
The mirror itself was broader, but looked old and also had cracks in it. Faint ones.
But despite that I could see something move inside it, something dark.
I pulled the coat closer and folded my arms as something dark swirled in the mirror, rippling like water, as if it wanted to get out of the mirror by cracking it open.
The darkness thrashed against the mirror, slamming into it every now and then but the mirror stayed solid and unmoving.
The corners began to glow in a light blue color and I think I saw weird symbols appear along the border of the mirror.
But they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.
The darkness slammed into the mirror from the inside again and the symbols flickered too fast, too violently and then suddenly they disappeared as if they had been snuffed out.
When I took a step closer, all I could see was just my reflection staring back at me.
I pressed a hand to the temple and closed my eyes for a fleeting second. When I opened them, I saw that my reflection hadn’t moved. Not the way it should have.
I stopped short.
The mirror showed the corridor behind me but darker, heavier, as though smoke had seeped into the glass. The shadows were thicker there, curling unnaturally along the floor and walls, reaching upward like fingers.
My reflection stood frozen.
But something else moved.
I took a hesitant step forward, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure the entire manor could hear it. The air around the mirror felt colder, sharper, raising goosebumps along my arms.
“No,” I whispered, unsure whether I was speaking to the reflection or to myself.
The darkness shifted, pooling around the reflected version of me, climbing higher, swallowing the space where my heart should have been. For a terrifying second, I thought it would step out of the glass.
The darkness started to take shape, forming the silhoutte of a long gown starting from the base and filling in on its way up.
Hands began to form, black and smoky. Fingers that looked thin and elongated with long, pointed nails.
I staggered back, my slipper catching on the edge of the rug.
“Violet!”
I heard my name and lost my balance falling on my butt.
The sound of footsteps rushing towards me felt distant but my gaze was fixed on the mirror that had gone unnaturally blank. In fact, when I looked hard again, I noticed there was no mirror there at all but something else…
I groaned and held my head between my hands as though somebody was pounding on it with a hammer.
“Violet, what’s wrong?”
I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see a face staring back at me.
But not the one I’d have liked to find me.
Nate was crouched on the floor beside me, holding me by the shoulders.
I instinctively pulled back, and tried to get up but Nate moved closer.
“Are you okay? I saw you standing there, staring at something and then you suddenly collapsed.”
He looked at me with concern but I stepped back when he tried to come near me.
“I am fine” I gritted my teeth while keeping a hand on my head that had begun to throb. A wave of dizziness threatened to engulf me as I forced my legs to obey.
“I said I’m fine.”
My voice came out sharper than I intended, echoing faintly in the corridor. Nate didn’t seem to notice or pretended not to.
He stayed crouched in front of me, one hand hovering like he was afraid I’d shatter if he touched me wrong, his expression soft in a way that felt rehearsed. Concern sat on his face too easily, like a mask he’d worn often enough that it slipped on without effort.
“You fainted,” he said gently. “Or almost did. Let me help you up.”
“I didn’t faint.” My head still throbbed, a dull ache pulsing behind my eyes, but I pushed myself upright anyway, using the wall for support.
The moment I stood, the world tilted slightly, and Nate was immediately there, his hand closing around my elbow.
I flinched.
“Don’t,” I snapped, wrenching my arm free.
He froze, hands lifting in surrender. “Hey. I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help.”
That should have been the end of it. It would have been, if this were anyone else. But Nate had never been good at taking no for an answer, especially not from me.
Rather, he had never heard a no from me.
“You’re clearly not okay, Violet,” he said, lowering his voice as if that made it more acceptable. “You’re shaking. You hit your head. At least let me walk you back to your room.”
“I know where my room is.”
“Do you?” He smiled faintly. “This place is massive. You could get lost again.”
Had this been high school, I would have immediately slipped my hand in his. I used to practically worship the ground he walked on. Not anymore.
“I wasn’t lost,” I said through clenched teeth. “I was walking.”
“At two in the morning?” His gaze flicked over me, taking in the coat, the soft slippers, and the way I had my arms wrapped around myself. “You look like you scared yourself half to death.”
I didn’t answer that.