Leila had opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was simply dark, there were no flickering lights.
“Am I still dreaming?” she said wiping off the cold sweat dripping from her face. She had realized that this was the castle and not Kieran’s apartment. Tears suddenly came streaming down her face. She held those tears in for so long. It was a matter of time before she exploded. Her reality in Hell got harsher every time she awoke. Those unsettling dreams of her nade that even her sleep was dark. The flickering lights in Kieran’s apartment gave her a sense of comfort. His presence also made her feel safe. In this castle, nothing made her feel out of danger.
She stood up to look around. She had been so exhausted that when she first entered, the only thing in her range of sight was the bed. Still, she could not see much. The water in her eyes made her vision blurry. She could only see the shapes of furniture. Using her long sleeves, she brushed away the tears and hoped to get it all under control. She was not able to. Leila fell down. On the floor she was, bawling her eyes out. Fear and sorrow had invaded her. Despair took a place in her heart and held on tight. In fear of having unnecessary attention, Leila cried quietly. With great difficulty. She suppressed the weeping sounds. It was pure pain. She held on to the precious cape she had received from Kieran and cried on it, soaking a part of it Leila was breaking down bit by bit. Her emotions kept changing while she was in Hell. One moment she was intrigued and joyed and the next one, she was terrified. Her curiosity might have been a barrier protecting her from this terror. The barrier had fallen down and all the angst had invaded her space. Leila felt her heart being crushed by the second. She tried to compose herself once again. Holding on to her breath, she sat still. Breathing in and out between the last couple of tears. Sitting back on the bed, Leila gently placed a hand on her heart. She took deep breaths and magically stopped her crying. There were no emotions on her face, her eyes and lips had turned stiff. Leila had realized that she shouldn’t show tears to anyone in here. It would only show that she was weak. In such a terrifying place, showing weakness would make you an easy target. No one here knew who or what she was really except for the prince and most probably his parents, the king and the queen. She had to wash her face quickly to ease suspicions. Although she could not see her face, it was obvious that her eyes were red enough to show that she’d been crying. The small residues of tears on her face had to be cleaned up. In the room, there was only an empty metal vanity and a small metal desk. Next to her bed was a night table, it was empty as well. She went towards the door and slightly opened it. Leila peeked to make sure no one stood next to it. Seeing the void, she tip-toed out of the room.
“Maybe this is the bathroom?” she said holding the knob of the door next to hers. As she twisted the knob she felt pressure, as if someone was turning it from the inside. In fear, she let go of it. The person behind pushed open the door. Leila stood in shock. Prince Frey had been the one standing on the other side. He was equally surprised at her appearance, red and puffy eyes with rosy cheeks.
“I’m sorry, I thought this was the bathroom,” she quickly said flustered.
He coughed, “There is a bathroom in your room.”
“I must have missed it,” she said looking down in hopes of hiding her face.
“I’ll show you,” he said walking ahead. Leila’s eyes and feet followed his trailing cloak.
“The door is over there,” he motioned to a bearly visible door on the left side of the room.
“It looks so similar to the wall,” she said taking a closer look. The door was contoured by fine lines slightly darker than the grey wall. “How do I open it?” she said as there was no visible doorknob or red button.
“You need to lightly kick the bottom with your feet.”
“I see…” Leila said, not surprised anymore.
“Do you need anything else? Is anything uncomfortable?” he said in his monotone voice. Leila had turned to face him only to look away from his fierce eyes.
“I- Everything is good.” The prince had caught on, he knew there was something.
“Do tell me, you won’t have the chance afterwards.”
“And here I thought you were being nice,” he smiled at her remark but quickly erased it when she had looked at it. “Alright then, I need light. The room is dark and cold, it’s discomforting and a bit scary. Do you have light bulbs?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said before turning back to leave.
“Wait!” she grabbed a piece of his cloak to hold him back.
“What is it?” he asked.
“What am I supposed to do? I really can’t go out of the room?” She let go of his cloak fearing the sharp eyes that glared at her.
“Stay in the room. Do not go out!” he shouted coldly. He went out of the room slamming the door that created a cold breeze in the room as if it wasn’t cold enough. Leila shivered and held on to her arms. She felt trapped in the cold and dark room. She could not go out or even see the outside. There were no windows in the room. It was a shame as lava could be a somewhat comforting sight for her as it emitted warm light. She lightly kicked the door as he had instructed her and the door of the bathroom slid open.
“Are people this lazy to open doors in Hell? Why do most doors open by themselves?” she wondered.
Leila entered the bathroom that was even colder and darker. “Hell is supposed to be hot.” She complained while approaching the sink made out of rocks. She opened the tap, and to her surprise, the water that came out of it was clear. She then remembered that Kieran had told her clean water could be found in the castle. She brought her mouth close to the tap to drink the clean water. It was refreshing and brought her comfort. Clean water reminded her of her home on earth, although it was just for a small moment. She also used that water to clean her face. There were no towels in the bathroom so she settled for drying her face with the air.
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