Captive of the Light - Lily Ramsay (ereader iphone txt) 📗

to flatten my bed head hair without it looking obvious. I must have failed because when she glanced over she let out a nonchalant snort. I scowled and after a few more moments she held out the notebook.
“Sorry about the other night, there’s a lot of history in that attic that I have been involved it, it just took me by surprise”.
I nodded reluctantly and handed back the notebook. I busied myself with making my bed and Caro stood there hugging her sleeves. Sometimes I just wished she would talk. “Is there anything else?” I asked, more sharply than I intended. When I saw her face, a look of surprise and hurt I felt bad. “Sorry” I apologised, “I didn’t mean it like that”. Again she nodded but her hand became busy. I waited, studying her. What an unusual creature she was. When she was done she held out the book almost shyly.
“You’re my only friend; please don’t go to the attic”
Smiling at her, I nodded, hoping that it hid my confusion. But still, the fact that she had called me her friend was something big. I couldn’t help it I went over and put my arms around her. She felt stiff and thin when I held her but slowly I could feel her relaxing into me. We clung to each other for a while but then she pulled away breaking the connection we had just made. She packed up her thing and headed towards the window. Suddenly, I couldn’t help it. I called out to her “Caro, haven’t you ever had any other friends” she nodded and smiled sadly remembering. Then she held out her papers. It had already been written;
“Yes but that was before...”

7.

For the next couple of days I saw nothing of Caro and I missed her. I was restless, I kept expecting her to come through m window or my mother to call frantically that she was here. In the end my mum got sick of my endless pacing and sent me into the village for some bread, personally I think that she sent me just to get me out of the house.
On my way I thought about everything that had happened since I left Australia three weeks ago. Things that I would never had imagined in my wildest dreams. Firstly Caro, I think, although it’s sad to say, is my best friend. But I want her to tell me more about the attic. Whats so bad about it and why won’t mum or Caro tell me what’s happened, they just tell that I can’t go there. It’s not fair!
I had become so entwined in my own thoughts that I didn’t even realise when I reached town and walked straight through it, heading directly for Caro’s house. I stared up wondering whether she was home and reminded myself that all mum wanted me to do was get bread. I was about to turn back when I glimpsed two figures by the window. Who could that be I wondered? She said that her father never came home anymore, hadn’t for years and years. When I glanced up again to the upstairs window I saw Caro watching me curiously. I looked away quickly, embarrassed that it seemed like I was spying on her. Maybe I’m going crazy, there was probably no-one there at all. All of a sudden the door flung open and there stood Caro. Hair blowing in the wind, dressed in black she looked like some kind of goddess. She beckoned me inside and as I followed her through the doorway, the smell of cookies wafted around me “mmm, smells good” I commented, “I would never have thought of you as the cookie type” she shrugged and told me through words that her aunts and grandmother used to bake so on her good days she did too. When I had finished she proudly showed me her healing scars and wrote that she hadn’t cut in two days. Apparently this was a huge achievement so I congratulated her, countering if we could make it three. Although her smile wavered, she shrugged and cleaned up my mess. “Well”, I announced as I pushed back my chair, “I’d better get going, I promise mum I’d get some bread for her”
“Could I come too? I’d like that I think...”
She wrote. “Sure I answered, genuinely surprised but glad for her company. The silence was comfortable as we set off. I asked her a few questions but only got a nod and shake of the head as a reply. Nothing more was expected. The question I really wanted to ask was about the attic, hoping that our declared friendship would allow her shed some light on the subject. I didn’t want it to seem out of the blue but the subject of Pembrooke never came up.
Once inside the bakery, she started scribbling on the notebook while I bought the bread and when we stepped outside she showed me.
“Could I come over now, to your place?”
I was taken aback I have to say but I nodded and told her that mum would be happy for her to stay for dinner if she wanted to. Caro shrugged and tucked her notebook away, demonstrating that our conversation was over.
Although Caro wasn’t the person mum was hoping to see she hid her surprise well when I turned up with her.
After all the polite greetings (which nobody meant) were over Caro charged up to my room knocking over everything thing in her way including our new dog, the latest addition to the menagerie that Tom had created.
When she reached my room she wasted no time finding what she wanted. From under my mattress she pulled Pembrooke a History. How she knew it was there I’ll never know. She flopped down on my chair and opened straight to the page of the floor plans. I held my breath; secretly that was what I had been hoping for, some excuse to bring up the attic. Shaking her head slightly she scribbled something on her notebook and grabbed my hand pulling me through the doorway and up into the unknown.
Through spiral stairways she pulled me and round bends, she never stopped, she didn’t even puff. Many times I tried to ask her where she was taking me but all she offered was a shake of her head. Her grip on my wrist was like iron, she was not going to let go no matter what happened. Round more bends she pulled me through cracks in walls until finally before us stood an old oak door, a streak of light seeping from underneath it.
Clutching my chest and panting I leaned over. Caro waited impatiently with only the slightest touch of red on her cheeks. When I finally regained my posture I stood up and looked her right in the eyes. “Right Caro”, I said “where the hell are we?” without any slight indifference she pulled out her notepad and showed me what she had written earlier;
“The attic, don’t ever go in there”


8.

It was around midnight but I couldn’t sleep. My mind had been going a million miles an hour, rethinking Caro’s visit and wondering why everyone was so intent on keeping me away from the attic. I wondered whether the whole purpose of asking to come over was to take me to the attic just to prove that it was not somewhere I wanted to go. Well if that was it, it did the contrary. I was only more curious now that I had seen the attic and had a vague idea of how to get there.
In the end I got up and slipped on my slippers. I rifled through my draws looking for a torch and sighed discontentedly when I found that there wasn’t one. So, I tiptoed down to my fathers den and dug through his draws until I found one. Sneaking back up to the tower I pushed open my window and laid the flashlight down. Sticking my head outside, I turned to face the direction of Caro’s house. “I’m sorry” I whispered into the breeze, letting it carry my words right to her...
****
My bare feet dragged reluctantly up the dusty wooden stairs. I stifled in a sneeze, not daring to wake my oblivious family, all probably fast asleep. I squinted blindly into the endless darkness. “One leg at a time” I said, reminding myself to walk steadily. “There... at last” I thought, happily pleased with myself.
I was standing at the top of the narrow staircase with Caro’s words ringing in my head, well so far there was nothing bad about it, I hadn’t died or anything...
I had managed to make it this far. Blurringly, I made out the shape of the old oak attic door. Just like it was when Caro had brought me here, big and threatening. The only difference was the light. When I had come here before there was a beam of light seeping from under the doorway. ‘Oh well’ I thought to myself, I had probably just imagined it, I said out loud, trying to shake off the jittery feeling which was engulfing me.
I took a deep breath and lifted my trembling hand to the door, and, with a huge surge of energy I turned the handle, letting the unknown wash over me like a thick mist.
I stepped inside and stared incredulously at my surroundings. Where was I? According to Caro and I guess my mothers rule the attic was something like a life threatening journey in which nobody embarked on.
I slowly tiptoed cautiously; dodging as many spider webs as possible and attempting (somewhat unsuccessfully) to determine which direction would shed the most light and allow me to explore this intriguing space.
Moving slowly, I was aware of the blackness that enclosed me. I glanced around, a little disorientated, and then my eyes rested on what appeared to be an old dusty chest which was visible only by a small ray of golden light seeping through a small gap in the roof.
The more I stared at this peculiar chest, the more I felt captivated by it. While I clumsily stumbled towards it, I felt entranced by its aura. I moved closer. A sharp pain began to travel through my body with each step. It lingered in my legs as a stood before the chest.
Despite the pain I was feeling, I astoundingly noticed that the chest itself had begun moving closer to me. “How can this be possible?” I thought, my heart pounding hard in my chest.
I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths and reassured myself that this was probably not happening at all – it was all just a figment of my imagination. But the pain felt very real. Damn Caro for making me curious! When I opened my eyes the pain had intensified, and the chest now sat before me! My head started to spin. What was going on?!!
Fear engulfed me. Despite my distress, I turned and ran, trying to find a way out, but instead of reaching the oak door, I ran directly into a wall, bounced back from the impact, and landed on the floor. Frustrated, I collected myself and ran in the opposite direction, desperately hoping to find something safe – anything! All I found was the continually looming darkness which as though it was immersing me. I was overwhelmed.
****
The next thing I knew, I was wakened by unfamiliar sounds. I lifted my head. My body was stiff and sore, although the pain in my legs had subsided. Trying to identify my surroundings, I caught sight of a filtered