What does she mean?

A shiver ran down my back as soon as I heard the little girl’s words.

“Maple? Are you alright?”

I took a step forward towards her but she took a tentative step back, her eyes wide.

Was she scared? Of me?

I looked down the corridor, towards the direction of the screaming.

Can she not hear it? Really? But it’s so loud.

I couldn’t help but further wonder if it was some kind of trap.

Maybe I should just leave and return to my quarters. I don’t have to be here. I don’t have to do anything! I can simply leave. But if it really is a person, and they are trapped within the Rose Palace somehow… can I really just walk away? With all I know that can happen? With everything Mother has told me? But.. this isn’t my responsibility. Maybe I should call a guard instead. I will definitely get lost in this massive place. Why should I help? And potentially reveal secrets about myself I’d rather keep hidden.

“Ahh!! Please. Oh please help… please someone! Please help. Mistress! Mistress! Don’t! Don’t do it mistress! Please! Calm down! Please, someone! Anyone, please! Please! I can’t… I can’t lose you! Don’t… please…”

That voice. It sounded too human. In too much pain. It sounded like it was crying. I felt a tug in my heart.

I know Martha would worry. But my conscious is getting the better of me. But if it is human. And I’m the only one who can hear it at the moment… I can’t just let that poor voice be. Someone is in trouble. I have to help. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.

“Sorry Maple,” I said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. But, I… I… have to go. If you’ll excuse me.” I gave her a quick curtsy before running down the hallway towards the sounds of the screams.

I ran down the hall and turned towards another corridor, trying to hurry before I lost the voice once again. I ended up opening several different doors, finding dead ends, and yet more hallways hidden behind other doors. I ran, the sobs and screams becoming louder as I did.

Please don’t stop screaming. I’m coming. I’m nearly there!

Unfortunately the screaming began to die down,  but luckily I was close enough. I turned a corner and finally ran to into a corridor that made my skin crawl.

Oh. This is it. The source of the screaming. I’ve finally found it.

I stopped and caught my breath. The hallway was a long one. It had dark red carpet, and dark wood panelled walls and ceilings from which large brass chandeliers hung. Portraits of many different people lined the walls. Young men, old men with large moustaches, little girls and older women. Though oddly, all the pictures were off centre from each other. There were pictures that were clumped together and others that were far away. Their picture frames were also of different sizes, shapes and colours. But all the pictures of the people within looked as though they were painted by the same person.

And all of them seem to be looking down the corridor. At something down the corridor. What… is that?

All I could see was an inky black darkness, as though all the light had been sucked out from it.

“Never run down a corridor whose end you cannot see.”

At that point I noticed a browned haired lady on the floor. She was trying to lift herself upward, steadying herself with her hands. She was wearing the clothing of an attendant, though it was torn and in disarray. She turned and saw me. Her eyes, wet with tears, widened as though she could not believe them. She would have run to me if she could, but she was trapped within a sea of black inky objects that were all over the ceilings, floor and the walls.

“Never run down a corridor whose end you cannot see.”

“My mistress!” She said calling out to me. “Please save my mistress! Please, my lady! I beg of you! Please, you have to help her. Please! You have to save her!”

I could see her mouth open although she didn’t seem to actually speak. But for some reason I could hear her clearly. As though her mouth and the sound of her voice were somehow moving independently from each other.

“Where is she?” I called out. “Where’s your mistress?”

She looked confused, as though she couldn’t hear my voice, but she seemed to still hear my words. As though my words travelled to her independent of my voice as well.

She pointed into the blackness. “My lady is over there! Down the corridor! There was a swarm of this black ink, and I knew we were not supposed to go down corridors we didn’t know, but my lady was too curious, she didn’t believe all the rumours, she wanted to see things for herself. She’s never been to the capital before. She’s always been so curious! And then these things! They came! From the portraits!”

I noticed then that though the inky black blobs were on the walls, none of them were actually on the paintings themselves. In fact, it seemed as though it was leaking out from behind them, slowly accumulating into puddles on the floor.

Puddles that wiggled and moved.

“Please, please! You have to help!” The attendant screamed again. “It took her! That black thing it took her! You have to save her!”

“Alright, alright, calm down. I’ll save your lady. Please calm down.”

I could tell that her panicking was agitating the inky mass somehow. They were inching closer towards her.  

But what can I do?

I looked around trying to see if I could find a solution, and then my hair stood on its ends. All the portraits now seemed to be looking at me.

What? What’s going on? Let’s just ignore that for now. If the ink is coming from the paintings… then… would something happen if I damage the painting?

”Lady, close your eyes!” I yelled out.  

“Pardon?”

“If you want me to save your mistress then close your eyes and promise me you won’t open them!”

“Ohh—al-alright,” she stammered and shut her eyes tight. She put her hands in front of her eyes as well.

I’ll have to trust that she doesn’t take a peek.

I lifted up my left hand and commanded my vine to go forth from my wrist. It grew in length. Then it formed a whip, and I lashed it out against the closest painting, of a young woman in a red dress. A large tear formed upon it right down the middle. And from the tear, more black ooze descended, falling in large globs unto the floor.

And following the tear was an ear piercing scream.

Ouch! Is that painting… screaming?

I plugged my ears with my fingers until the scream stopped. “That… might not have been the right thing to do,” I muttered to myself. I pulled back my vine whip and looked around me. The black ooze had further grown. It was starting to lick at the heels of the fallen lady, who still had her eyes closed. She didn’t seem to be able to hear the screaming of the painting.

Lucky her. I wonder if I’ll go deaf with the screams. Well, I can’t just cut every single one of these. They will just ooze out more of this ink. I need to think of something else.

I looked around the room. I thought about running out of the hallway to find something or someone, but I wouldn’t know if the attendant would survive as soon as I ran. And then I looked up.

The chandelier! Fire!  

I reached up my vine and wrapped it around one of the candles. I pulled it down, taking care to not let the fire die out. As soon as it was down, I put it against the painting.

Once again the painting screamed as it went up in flames. But this time, no inky black ooze leaked out.

“Good. Then I can use this. I’ll just have to bear the screams. But how about the inky bits already out? What of the ones on floor?” I set my flame down on a puddle of inky blackness and it burnt away. I grinned and then set about lighting the rest of the inky puddles and paintings on fire.

I shouldn’t think of this as fun. I shouldn’t think of this as fun. I shouldn’t-

I made my way down the hall until I was finally next to the attendant. I burnt the rest of the puddles, and ignored the screaming of the paintings around me.

“I’m here, but please don’t open your eyes still,” I said. I still had my vine out. I didn’t want to have to take it back in to have this conversation. “I need you to be patient. Can you tell me again, what happened to your mistress?”

“She… was walking down the hall and then the inky blackness came from the paintings, and it engulfed her and dragged her down the hall.”

“Alright. So down the hall?” I said looking into the darkness. I took a deep breath. “I’ll go save her.”