Chapter 8 - Hungry Heart Part 1

POV: Lianne Dievin

It was the third day of our stay here at the Since Resort. Jen woke me up from her ever special alarm tone in my cellphone, saying that she will be with her newfound boyfriend, Roland, the whole day.

Alona and Rachel had already informed us last night that they would go horseback riding today. So now, that leaves me on my own. The advantage of it now was that I can choose whatever activities I wanted to do this day. And speaking of activities, I decided to play Sherlock Homes.

I went down to the customer information section and showed the male attendant the old rusted key I found at my doorstep. I was wondering if this was a duplicate of Madame Brenda’s key to the storage room.

He did take a careful inspection of it and then informed me that it wasn’t the key to the storage room. It was actually a key to another room. He told me that it was a long lost key for a very special quarter at the mansion. It was located in the north wing, third floor of the mansion, but nobody was allowed to enter there anymore. It was rumored to be some important royal chamber, maybe the chamber for the King or Queen.

Like the dungeon, that room was also shown to the public. A month after the dungeon was closed, it was also closed. Following that, the room’s key strangely disappeared making Madame Brenda and the cleaners unable to get inside.

The attendant asked me how I found the key. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I was confused myself, so I decided to tell him a lie. I just said that I found it in one of my room’s cabinet. He also instructed me to hand it over to Madame Brenda so she could keep it, but I was doubtful to give it though.

In exchange for the key, I wittingly made a bargain to the attendant and requested him if I could see the room he was talking about. In my mind, I believe that the mysterious man gave it to me. There might be some reason why. I just don’t know how it connects to the special chamber. This is exactly why I must go there.

Luckily, he agreed and allowed me to go with the key in hand and the mini-map of the third floor to where the special chamber was. He did offer himself to escort me there, but I declined.

I held the old rusted key in my right hand and curiously, slowly walked up to the third floor. There were five carpeted marble stairs in the four corners of the mansion, the fifth of which was located at the center and the one I chose to ascend to the third floor. There were also elevators situated in the main hallway of the mansion, but I hadn't actually thought of using it.

Instantly, as I step on the maroon, Persian-printed carpet, I felt my heart pounding hard. It was totally an unusual feeling.

I scanned the entire floor and was in awe.

It was definitely huge! The foyer was very spacious. It had three violet crystal chandeliers hung at the ceiling and in the middle of the foyer were Victorian-designed sofa sets. If the second floor had a lot of scenic paintings bolted on the walls, here it is four times more. The windows had drapes of damask royal blue color, blocking the rays of the sunlight, making the room a bit gloomy as compared to the second floor. For me, this floor really had a different aura.

I studied the mini-map the attendant had given me and twisted my lips. The thing sure was giving me a hard time.

‘Where are you? Where are you?’ my mind mumbled.

And then I found it.

‘Ah, there you are.’

My eyes rested on the name of the room. It was called the VIP room.

I headed on my way, walking the length of the foyer until I reached a hallway in the right. I walked straight in it until I found another grand staircase. Ahead of it, was a sole large door. As I looked up and stared at it, I immediately felt a strong presence pulling me.

There was a long golden rope tied in the thigh-high steel beams placed in front covering the span of the door. I assumed it was placed as a boundary separating it from much of the third floor’s hallway. From the way it was painted, I can definitely tell apart from the other rooms that this was the special chamber I had been looking for.

The seven feet tall door was painted with gold and brown, with specific carvings of the sun, dragons and chimeras, and what looked like a crest. I was standing in its front, wide-eyed and my knees, shaking.

***

Her hands were trembling as she slowly slid the key on the socket, then gently turned the doorknob and slightly pushed open the door.

There was a gush of wind that greeted Lianne’s face as soon as it was open. It was weird. For a moment there, she thought she smelled a sweet aroma of jasmine burning in the fire. She couldn’t help but notice her heart hammering with great strength. There was definitely an undeniably strong force drawing her inside the room.

She found herself standing at the center of the lounging area below a beautiful, unlit, Regency-style chandelier. The room also had antique furniture, but what caught her attention more was that it didn’t have any trace of dust in it. Knowing that this room was untouched for many years, how could it have been so neat as if someone occupied it? Much more, the fireplace!

When she looked at her left, she saw, to her astonishment, the fireplace already aflame with its low light covering half the lounge area. It seems to her that this room wasn’t empty of guests at all. She noticed an open glass door adjacent to the fireplace leading to a balcony outside just like in her room and noticed that it wasn’t sunny anymore. It looked like it was going to rain hard.

The fresh fire, the clean furniture, and the open balcony door convinced her that there’s really someone inside the room. She had thought that maybe she was in the wrong room, but the key fitted so perfectly.

Panic and fear began to creep inside her nerves. It was clear to see that she was trespassing and thinking about this, she decided to head back to her room quickly. But, just as she turned around, she found herself being observed by a shadowy figure of a man leaning back at the closed door.