His Half Blood Princess

6.

My eyes snapped open and I inhaled deeply. I reached with my hands and touched my neck, but it was only covered in sweat, so I heaved a sigh of relief.

I sat upright and looked at the door but it was in its position. I then looked around the room, hoping to see my wolf.

"It's okay Serena, it's alright, you are alright." Lord Edwin Vincent said beside me and I turned to my side to see him sitting on a chair beside my bed. I heaved another sigh of relief when I saw bright blue eyes instead.

*

The following morning at dawn when I woke up, I got out of bed, and for the first time since I arrived at the house, I looked out the window and my stomach churned when all I could see were trees, tall trees all over. Where on earth did Lord Edwin Vincent bring me?

If Helen noticed my mood while she was helping me get ready in the morning, she didn't act like she had noticed, her head was always down so that I realised I didn't even know what she looked like, and her hair was also covered with a scarf just like the rest of the maids.

"Helen?" I called out her name just as she opened the door and was about to go out.

I had finished getting ready and was sitting on my bed.

Helen turned to face me. I wanted to look at her face, to see what she looked like, but when she turned to me, her face was still down.

"Helen I..." I started to say, but the unexpected knock on the door startled both Helen and I.

"His Lord awaits you in the dining room." The other maid announced and Helen took it as her cue and quickly rushed out of the room.

*

There was a fried turkey in front of me.

I had never got to eat one before, and I should be eating it with a lot of gusto right now, or at least I should be eating at all, but instead I stared at the turkey, my mind blank. I felt hollow inside.

"You are not eating anything," Lord Edwin Vincent noted.

"I am not hungry." I whispered, my head down.

"Serena," Lord Edwin Vincent raised my face with his hand so that I was looking at him. "what would I do to get this sadness out of your eyes?" he said with concern in his eyes.

"Is it the nightmare?" he asked and I nodded. Lord Edwin Vincent retracted his hand and sighed.

Apparently, I had been screaming for help in my sleep in the middle of the night, waking up the entire household and when I woke up I was soaked in sweat and found him beside me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks.

"No," I shook my head and looked down again.

"I just need to get my mind off it," I told him.

There was no way I was going to tell him about my nightmare. After all, he thinks I am a human like him.

I am sure my wolf was trying to warn me of something, but what? He has already done enough help by providing me with a place to stay, so there is no reason to disturb him more.

"I know just the thing to make you feel better," he suggested, and I looked at him.

"What is it?"

"It is a surprise," he smiled.

"Tell me about it."

"Serena, I just said it was a surprise." he chuckled softly.

"Well I can't wait." I giggled.

"But you will have to. Until then, I have another thing for you. You love reading, right?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Well, I have a big library up there with one thousand books," he stated, and I laughed with glee.

"Really? You do? Where?" I haven't read new books in a very long time and the thought of seeing another library made me excited.

"It's the third door on the left corridor." he answered with an amused smile.

"I must definitely go there," I said as I got up from my chair and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow and it dawned on me. "I mean erhm," I cleared my throat, remembering my manners. " Do you mind if I use your library?"

"Yes you are free to use the library." he stated, and that was all I needed to hear as I hurried out of the dining room and went straight for the stairs.

I climbed the stairs to my left, the one Lord Edwin Vincent used. I walked merrily, counting the doors as I passed.

First door, second door and third...

I halted in my steps and my heart stopped beating for a moment at what I saw. My eyes widened at the black oak door and I felt my breathing constrict.

No it can't be! Last night was just a bad dream. It was only a nightmare. This isn't real. I chanted in my head.

I shut my eyes closed and opened them again, but the door was still there.

How could it be that I saw this door in my dream when I had never seen it before? Without hesitation, I quickly opened and entered the door closest to me and closed it before leaning on it. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply to catch my breath before opening my eyes and what I saw had me in awe.

I had never seen a library so big, and with so many books in it.

That had me grinning. I walked around in the library touching each shelf and admiring the new books that looked untouched and smelt like heaven.

I felt honoured to be in their presence.

I took a book that looked interesting, but whenever I looked up again, I felt like the other book would be more interesting, and after picking thirteen books, I decided it was enough when it started to feel heavy to carry around, so I sat down on a chair and placed the books on the table in front of it. It took me a while before I finally decided on what to read first.

As soon as I picked up the book and opened it to start reading, my mind kept going back to that black oak door and I couldn't concentrate any more as a barrage of questions filled my head.

Why does Edwin Vincent have that door? What is inside? And why is it different from the other doors? Was it a coincidence that I saw it in my dream? And most importantly, does it really have a gallows?

I closed the book and got up from the chair and, after gathering enough courage, I decided to go check what was inside the other room.

*

I stood in front of the black oak door and took a deep breath before raising my hand and placing it on the door knob.