My head was spinning. 'Where was I' I mumbled to myself. The eyes glowed deep sea blue and the strange symbol in it was terrifyingly red.
Terrified by the sight, I tried runing stumbling and knocking things over. Finally I found the door, I pulled it and sprinted out finding myself back in the hallway. As I gasped for air the door suddenly closed by itself. I stared at it still traumatised but then something weird happened.
The symbol on the door started fading like it had marked my presence in it.
I froze for a while then headed to the room. I clicked it opened but suddenly found myself in a paint room.
'This isn't the room' I whispered. As I was about to leave something caught my eye.
Portraits. Portrait that looked like those from the lineage of a rich family. I looked at the portraits one by one, they were all portrait of families and in front of the a man wearing a crown and holding a staff in each.
But there was also something strange.
The eyes of all in the portrait were glowing.
The portrait were 20 in number ranging from 14s to the 20s. The portraits spelled royalty their clothes, the frame.
Then my eyes finally landed on the portrait from the 20s. The woman next to the king looked . . no way, she looks exactly like me but richer. Unlike me her hair was dark brown and her eyes were glowing but she looked exactly like me.
'Who is this' I whispered in shock. I kept staring at the portrait telling myself I was in a dream.
I ran out of the room gasping for air and like the other, the door shut itself and the symbol on it faded away.
My chest was heavy, my heart aching. I sprinted against trying to find the only normal room I had encountered in this house but when I got to a door my hands froze in the handle. 'What if there something in here too, 'what if this times gonna be worse' I clutched my hands to my mouth crying profusely.
I ran and ran, down the hallway, into the main room and back into another hallway then I froze. There was a door, a door wide open but not a room. It had stairs and at the end shone a little light, something I hadn't seen in days.
I hesitated a bit 'what if it leads to another hunted mansion' I thought.
Then I heard something. The old man coming from behind me. His look wasn't friendly, like he didn't want me to go.
"You think you can leave so easily" he roared quickening his steps. I swallowed hard and without thinking, rushed down the stair. I turned back fervently as I ran but the old man just stood there watching me.
"Hmm. . you'll find him" he said before disappearing from sight. The staircase was dark and dusty but I kept running. The thought of going back to that mansion was terrifying.
I finally stopped when I reached the door at the end of the stair case. Half of the door was somewhat transparent, allowing me see what was happening at the other side.
I went closer to the door catching my breath.
Inside a middle age woman who was breaking something into bids caught my eye. She along with the others there were breaking what looked like precious stones.
She was sweating profusely as she worked along side the other women. She looked pregnant, heavily pregnant.
"Hey work faster" a masked huge man walked into the room and whipped her and another woman hard in the back with horse whip.
They moaned lowly into their veil and continued working harder. Then the man dropped the whip and pulled the pregnant woman towards the room where I was.
I panicked wanting to run but when I turned back the stair had magically disappeared.
I wasn't surprised since it was small compared to the thing I've seen in the past week.
I hid behind a cargo as the door open.
The woman's face was veiled so I couldn't tell her reaction to what the man was doing to her but something in me felt that she was in deep agony. The man was clearly abusing a heavily pregnant woman but why. Why not all the other women who were out there not pregnant.
After about fifteen minutes of caressing the woman body the man left.
The woman fell to the ground sobbing. She started hitting her tommy hard like she hated the baby already.
"Why are you doing that?" I whispered before I could think.
The woman looked up searching for the person who spoke as I walked closer.
She removed her veil and looked at me from head to toe. Her face was masked with scars and bruises.
"What are you doing her without a uniform" she asked pulling me by the hand.
"Hmm you're bleeding" I said my hand shaking. She looked at the blood beneath her and smiled.
"This life isn't worth living anyway" she said pulling me closer. "If you don't get out of her then you'll be dead by this time tomorrow so go" she urged resting her trembling body fully on the ground.
My eye were welled up in tear, I wondered how much she had gone through to be so miserably.
"Did you take abortion pill?l" I asked.
"No dear. I took poison" she smiled.
I shut my eyes closed felling extremely hurt for her.
"Your eye, your eyes are glowing" she said looking shocked.
I furrowed my brows slightly "glowing?".
She smiled proudly " take, take my uniform, the men will take you to the palace. That's where your meant to be" she said breathing heavily.
I knew she was dying. "What. .what do you mean" but there was no response just the last breath of a dying pregnant woman whose life was made miserably.
I felt cold as I closed her eyes.
And taking of her uniform, I braced my self and went out after hiding her body in one of the empty cargos.
The palace, wherever it was, whatever it held for me, I had no idea but I knew I had to go. After seeing those portrait and what the woman said, I knew more answers lied in the palace.
I went in to the shredding room, my face veiled, my steps shaking as I took the position of the woman.
I had tied the cloth I was wearing to my belle to a voice suspicion from the other.
The work was surprisingly harder than it looked. I picked up the sharp pin hitting it into the stone with an hammer till it broke into smaller bids.
The work took all day then finally. .
"Wrap up, are heading out" a huge masked man said and stepped out.
The women poured all the broken stones into a big bag and I followed suit.
Then we all headed out.
The roads were steep and dirty. Children begging, women trecking.
It was the perfect description of a misruled nation.
The road to the palace was cramped and dusty.
We were about 15 women who were packed together on the back of a small carriage.
"I know your not her" a woman sitting next to me whispered.
I doubted she was talking to me.
"I know she should be dead by now so where is she?" the woman said bringing herself closer to me.
"Why didn't you stop her" I asked back.
"She's suffered enough, how long do you think this disguise will fool them?, they'll find her body anyway" the woman said.
My heart skipped just thinking about getting into trouble in the palace and from the way it seemed, the king must be ruthless.
"Why'd they treat her like that?" I asked.
"Her mother owned a brothel so she's treated like a slut, suffering for her mothers sins" the woman beside me said.
I had made up my mind, why that woman looked like me,what those eyes were, and what that symbol meant, I was going to find answers to all of them.