章節 36: Who sent this?

Enrique led Ellie back to the maids' quarters, into the room she woke up that afternoon.

No words have been exchanged between the two of them since they exited the main palace. Now that they were in the room, he gave her a complicated look, one she wasn't sure what it meant.

He looked somewhat angry, somewhat confused, and somewhat tired. She couldn't guess what was going on in his head.

"Stay here. I'll get Mary to continue with the lessons." He finally spoke, then walked out without hesitation.

Ellie walked to the bed and sat down. Three seconds later, she stood up again and began to pace about the room. She could no longer relax.

She already knew that this place and the people in it were dangerous, but it seemed she needed to see with her very own eyes how dangerous it was before she fully believed it. She needed to escape, and fast.

Her eyes moved to the door and soon, her legs joined in. Reaching there, she opened the wooden barrier, and stepped outside. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew she needed to do something. So she started walking toward the direction of the bathroom. Maybe an idea would pop into her head in the process.

An idea didn't show up. Instead, a person walked out of the bathroom just when she reached the door, and she realized it was Gwen.

"Ellie," Gwen called in surprise. "You're still here?"

"I just came back with… Uhm…" Ellie tried to remember the name, but it didn't work on time, so she just settled on describing him. "... The bald man."

"Enrique?" Gwen probed.

"Yes. That's his name."

"Oh… Are you okay though? You look troubled." Gwen noted, putting on a concerned expression.

"I…" Ellie started to speak, but hesitated, not sure if she should say what she saw or not. Just then, she remembered something she wanted to ask the girl earlier, and settled for that instead. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Is there no way to know the exact identity of the child brought here last night?

"I'm afraid not." Gwen shook her head.

"Is there no way to escape from here? Has anyone tried and succeeded?" Ellie asked directly, hoping to get direct information instead of doing all the work herself.

But her question elicited a shocked response from Gwen. The latter pulled her into the bathroom and shut the door.

"You want to escape?" Gwen asked in shock.

"I need to know if my brother is alright."

Gwen shook her head. "There is no escape from this place. Once you're in here, you're here for life. You can't leave no matter how frustrated you get. The people who tried to escape…" Gwen trailed off, and her face twisted as if she would start crying the next second.

"What happened to them?" Ellie probed, curious.

"It's too painful to tell. Even to remember." Gwen began to sob, shaking her head. "My siblings were among them. To this day, it's still as painful as hell." Gwen sobbed even more.

Ellie suppressed her curiosity, seeing Gwen's reaction. She tried imagining what could have happened, but apart from the picture of Storm burying his fangs in the neck of that lady, nothing else was coming to her head.

"I'm sorry," Ellie said, not knowing how else to calm the pained, crying girl. It seemed her question brought back hurtful memories, and she was sorry for that.

"It's okay." Gwen calmed down a little. "Whenever I remember, I just wish I could avenge their deaths, but I never get the opportunity. If I had, I know a number of ways to ensure he pays for what he did. I have accepted my fate though. Please don't think of escaping. You can't. It's practically impossible." Gwen advised, then wiped the single tear that fell out of her eye with the back of her palm.

"I have to get back to work now." She said, flashed Ellie a small smile, then walked out of the bathroom.

Another hope killer for Ellie. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't stay here. Not when she didn't know Nicholas' condition.

"Argh!" She groaned in frustration, resting her back against the wall and slipping to the floor.

She couldn't think anymore because she didn't know what else to think. Maybe she should just swallow her fear and plead with that devil to let her see Nicholas one more time and hand him over to an orphanage home. He could arrest her again after that.

Once she decided on that, she pushed herself off the ground and walked back to the room, and found that Mary was already there.

"Where did you go? I was almost raising alarm." Mary probed.

"I went to the bathroom," Ellie answered tiredly, walking back to the bed and dropping down on it.

"A package came for you." Mary handed a box to her. "And a message as well."

Ellie opened the box and saw a set of leather clothes, similar to her vampire outfits, folded neatly inside it. Her brows furrowed as she lifted them out one after the other. Everything was complete, including the mask, and shoes. What was going on? Who gave her this, and why were they giving it to her?

She lifted her eyes, which were filled with questions, and fixed her gaze on Mary, who also looked like she didn't understand what was going on.

There was a deep furrow on Mary's brows as she watched Ellie lift one item after another out of the box.

"Who sent this?" Ellie probed, befuddled.

Mary frowned. Enrique had just found her in the kitchen and was just giving her instructions to leave what she was doing and go attend to Ellie instead, when a servant walked up to them with the box. He even signified who it was for and added specific instructions, which confused her.

When Mary didn't answer immediately, looking as confused as she was, Ellie tilted her head to the side.

"What's going on?" Ellie probed again, and this time, Mary responded.

"It's from Master Storm. The message says for you to dress up in those, and meet him in his room at exactly 9 PM."

Ellie's eyes stretched.

"What?! Why?"