Rachel took one look at the small opening, and thought to herself it would be almost impossible for her to get her non model like body through. If only she hadn’t eaten that pack of Oreo cookies yesterday, she thought to herself humorously. She thought it would be best to go feet first and then slide her top half through after. She put her right foot in the window trying to feel for a ledge or something to rest her feet on but there was nothing. It was high off the floor so she knew this was going to be tricky. She put her left foot in after and then slithered like a snake through the opening. Her hips just barely fit through the window and luckily that was her biggest asset of her body, and knew if they fit, the rest of her would slip right through. She knew she wouldn’t have any trouble as her chest went through because she wasn’t well endowed. Finally, her head, the last thing to get through the window and then she hung there clutching the window sill by her hands and looking down with her eyes at the floor below her. It was quite a drop, and she’d wished Hunter had warned her that she would have to plunge fifteen feet to reach the floor. As her feet touched the wooden floor boards, they creaked beneath her feet. She stood there, in silence, trying to keep the floors from making noise. She stood there on her tippy toes, creeping across the room to make space for Penelope to land as she watched her body slide through the small window.
After Hunter made his way through the window, having almost gotten himself stuck twice, the three of them stood there in this small room together. The room was the side of Rachel’s bedroom in Bedford, except the ceilings of this room were soaring, they must have been 25 feet high. The room smelled of cedar and as she looked around, she saw storage bags and boxes of clothes. She realized they were in a storage closet, which was surprisingly big for a closet now that she thought about it. Never had she ever seen a closet this large before or a closet with a window. Where was she? She thought to herself. And all the clothes and storage boxes that filled the room were more than the contents of her entire house. She couldn’t believe it.
“We have to search for them,” Hunter said quietly.
“Them who?” Penelope asked.
“My parents, silly! Isn’t that why we came?” Hunter said.
“Why are we whispering?” Rachel asked curiously.
“In case there are guards here. We don’t want them to find us. We don’t want to risk being kicked out for good,” Hunter said.
“But wouldn’t they recognize you?” Rachel said. “Didn’t they used to work for you, too?”
“These guys turn over quickly here. Nobody stays working for my parents for long. They’re hard to be around and certainly hard to work for. So, no, they wouldn’t recognize me and even so, they wouldn’t let anyone in who is unannounced. My parents do not take kindly to people showing up unannounced. Especially strangers,” Hunter said.
A pang of nervousness ran through Rachel’s body. She began to panic at the thought of his parents not being welcoming or accepting of strangers. She hoped they would like her. Actually, what she really hoped was that they would be home. That they would still live in this old castle.
The three of them quietly exited the closet and headed down a narrow hallway, also built of stone. It was like this entire house was erected with stones both inside and out. It was the coldest and most unwelcoming place on the planet, Rachel thought to herself. Who would ever want to live in a place like this?
The hall was lit up with candelabras, that hung from fixtures in the wall, which let off a soft, warm light. Their glow helped Rachel find her way in what would have been an otherwise pitch black hallway. The floors creaked beneath them as they walked which made them jump. They didn’t stop moving though, they were on a mission and weren’t going to let anything get in their way.
At the end of the hall they came to the top of a double staircase that arched it way up from the main foyer below. The staircase was grand, perhaps the most grand entrance she’d ever seen in her life. It reminded her of the houses she used to see on MTV’s Cribs show. The stairs wound down onto a large black and white marble foyer, standing there at the door were four guards, holding up their rifles and ready to attack. Rachel’s heart stopped for a moment as she looked at Hunter to see what he was going to do about this. She knew he was a smart guy and would be able to figure this out.
Hunter then started walking backwards, back down the hall they’d just came from and then turned to them and motioned for them to follow him. They walked down another adjacent hallway, similar to the first and then over to a wooden door with a large brass handle. He opened it slowly as it creaked open. Then he poked his head in and had the girls wait in the hallway until he came to get them. Rachel stood there with Penelope in silence as they waited for Hunter to return. After a few minutes, he came back and motioned them on. They crept through the door and down a narrow spiral staircase that smelled like chlorine. It was an odd smell for a castle Rachel thought but didn’t dwell on it. To her it smelled like she was at a hotel going down the hall towards the indoor pool. Then she wondered if maybe there was a pool inside. It was a pretty big castle and although parts of it were run down, others were quite lavish. It was a weird dichotomy.
Hunter turned and said, “I think I know where they might be if they are here.”
“Where?” Rachel asked.
“The wine cellar,” Hunter said. “It’s underground but we can get to it from inside.”
“Wine cellar?” Penelope questioned. “That’s a strange place to hang out.”
“It’s not just any old wine cellar, it’s more like a wine tasting room. It’s quite big actually and has chairs and everything. It’s like a family room, but for drinking wine. My parents love wine, especially when they mix it with blood from their most recent feed. It really gives them a high,” Hunter said.
“Interesting,” Rachel said.
“I’ve never tried it,” Penelope added.
“It’s actually pretty good,” Hunter said.
As the continued to spiral down the stairs, Rachel heard a noise coming from below them. It was a man’s voice, speaking softly and slowly. She couldn’t make out the words he was saying, but she knew they were not alone in that castle. There were many people around, and she wasn’t sure if this voice was the voice of Hunter’s father or the voice of a guard. She hoped it was his father speaking, but didn’t know what his voice sounded like so wasn’t sure.