Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 49

A stream of white light was filtering into her mind, interrupting the safety of her merciful shroud of darkness. She could feel a throbbing ache on the side of her face that was evoking a blurry memory of the troubling events that she couldn't quite make sense of. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking to guard her aching head from a sudden burst of bright light. When she was finally able to keep her eyes open, she looked around the room, daring not to move any other part of her body, so as to not alert anyone that she was awake. Nothing in this room, that she could see from her current position looked familiar. She had not seen any evidence that there were other people in the room with her, so she felt like it was safe to sit up. As she did, her head began to swim, and she got a sudden wave of nausea. She had to sit very still for a moment until she could see straight, and the nausea had settled down. When she felt better, she was careful not to move too quickly so she wouldn't aggravate her condition more than it had to be. Looking around now, she noticed she was in a bare room that was completely made of stone and brick. There was one window that had no glass or covering over it and there was a large doorway with a closed wooden door. She was sitting on some sort of makeshift mattress, that looked as though it was stuffed with straw. None of this made any sense. Where was she and why was she here? She sat for a moment trying to remember. Then slowly, the visions of being violently abducted and carried over a man's shoulders flooded her mind. The memory of the large hand crashing down to her face rose to her consciousness. It didn't give her any reassurance to remember how she came to be here. But at least now remembers partially how she got here but why? She stood up, trying to steady her trembling, weak limbs as she walked to the window. She looked out, and noticed she was several stories up from the ground and the far side of the stone structure was crumbling and in ruins . There were large chunks of the building lying on the brush covered ground below and that side was being overtaken by the forest. She decided this building looked like a castle she would have seen in her history books. She needed to figure out how to get out of here and get home. She walked to the door and carefully pulled on the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. She very slowly opened it, peering out first and listening intently from a small crack, before feeling sure there was no one nearby. Opening it the rest of the way, she realized the doorway was located directly on a dark stairwell that, from where she could see, had a spiral shape. She had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and then she deliberately took each step down, moving slowly while her senses were on high alert. It seemed like the stairs would not come to an end, as she made her way down the dark, circling corridor. She finally saw a glimmer of light below her and realized she was almost at the bottom, and the closer she got, she realized the steps ended in a large, empty room. Stepping in, she peered around looking in the far corner for any sign that would allow her to figure out where she was. She turned in the opposite direction and was suddenly startled, to the point that she let out a frightened gasp. It scared her so bad that tears welled up in her eyes and it took a moment for her to catch her breath. In front of her, was standing one of the most beautiful, elegantly dressed women she had ever seen. Her dress looked as though it was from another time period from long ago. On her head was a beautiful jewel covered veil that flowed down the back of her head. The veil was placed over top a thick strand of braided hair that was wrapped along the top of her head. She didn't seem to be surprised at all by Ella's frightened reaction. Actually, there was little emotion on her face. She spoke with a thick French accent, but her English was very good.

"I see you are awake. You rested well I hope." Before Ella could answer, the woman held up her hand and gently ran it across Ella's swollen, bruised face. "He will pay for this" she spoke, but her words did not seem to be directed to Ella but were more like a thought that she had inadvertently spoken out loud.

Still, with the woman's comment, Ella thought she may be more of a friend than foe. If she cared that the man had injured her, she may be willing to help. "My name is Petronella, and I am at your service my dear."