The Door At The End of The Hallway
The candles flickered on the side of the dark walls as a teenaged girl, a little older than 14, walked through the shadowy hallways. Each footstep she took sounded like a brick dropping from the library shelf to her ears.
The cold wind hit the back of her neck, and her bright green gaze flickered across the corridor that seemed never-ending. The feeling of being watched made her glance behind her, once again. She assured herself that no one was following her — not the other children, and especially not the adults. She couldn’t help but worry, however. If they knew what she was up to, she would be mucking out the stalls with the kids and teenagers who misbehaved.
At the end of the corridor was a door. No one was allowed to enter, not even members of the family that lived here. The young girl and the other kids and teenagers were always placing bets while going on their day. Her cousins, the employees’ kids, and even some of the childrens’ friends were always guessing what could be in there—but that didn’t matter. No one could go in. The door was locked by a key, usually kept by certain members of the family — those who could be trusted.
The young girl closed her hand around the key that she held in her grasp, a smile on her face as she finally quickened her pace.
And soon… she stood in front of the doorway, clutching the key in her hand. She put it into the lock and turned it. The lock ‘clicked’. The young girl placed the key back into her pocket. Now was her chance. She opened the door, and inside of it was—
“Erika.”
The voice shattered the world around her. Everything faded away as Eria Valeen Greyn opened her eyes, blinking in the dark brown walls of her room. Standing next to her bed was the source of the voice: Lady Elowen Jaydill, head of Jaydill Manor, otherwise known as Aunt El.
“Erika,” came Aunt El’s voice yet again. She folded her arms across her chest. Erika was silent for a moment as she touched her hand to the key resting under her duvet. She had fallen asleep. All of yesterday’s hard work had been for nothing.
With a sigh, Erika began to get up from the bed, discretely tucking the key into the white pillow case on her bed.
She looked at her aunt. At her cold green eyes and her blond hair tucked up into a elaborate plait, held together in a bun on the top of her head. Not a hair out of place, just like how Aunt El preferred it.
“What is going on today?” Erika asked, looking up at the woman. She felt out of place in her own room with her aunt staring her down.
“Your chores for the day are up on the board,” Aunt El stated, her tone dry as she turned away, “Like every day…” The last words were spoken in a low voice, but Erika could still hear what she said.
The words stung. Aunt El treated her no differently to the other children and teenagers who lived here, even though Erika was her niece.
When the door closed behind Aunt El, the teenaged girl stood up and made her way towards her wardrobe and picked out a simple outfit, consisting of a basic shirt, light purple in colour, and beige pants that went up to her knees.
She walked back to the bed and got the key out from the pillow slip. She knew that she would be taking a risk by taking the key with her, but there was an even bigger risk in leaving it behind. Not when some of those in the Society of Mischievous Children (the children who were always getting into trouble), such as Halene, frequently snooped in her room. She had caught them in her room before.
She shook her head and placed the key in her pocket as she made her decision, and made her way over to the door.
Erika wasn’t sure how early the adults in the house woke up, but the chores were always up on the chalkboard in the morning. That was the only thing that the adults would do to help them—write down what each child and teenager had to complete for the day.
They were expected to be independent—not lean on others and expect them to come to their aid. In Aunt El’s world, you couldn’t rely on others. And, after years of trying to figure out why, Erika had yet to figure out why her aunt was like this.
They could begin their chores whenever they wished. It didn’t matter to the adults when they began - as long as the chores were completed before curfew.
In this manor, leeway was only given for the first week, a month if you were one of the lucky ones with parents brave enough to stand up to Lady Elowen Jaydill.
Her gaze moved across the board. ‘Ana, Alexis…Cadin… Elias… Erika.’
She allowed herself to smile when she found her chores. They were simple enough: Help out with the beds on the lower floor, inspect the fence around the property for damage, water the garden… Exercise the horses…
‘That’s… odd…’ She had only been given one task inside, and that was one that most living in the manor completed themselves almost as soon as they woke up.
With a frown, she peered at the other names.
Ana had to clean the windows on the bottom floors with Jane and Lin. Jane had to wash the dishes with Halene… Halene, as usual, was mucking out the barn, but had a task inside…
In fact, almost everyone seemed to have at least 2 tasks inside of the house but Erika. Something about that knowledge made her feel incredibly uneasy. Why wouldn’t her aunt want her inside today?
The teenager mused over it as she began to make her way out of the foyer, and towards the grounds beyond the manor. The grass stretched on to the horizon, broken up by fences and the castle with the dark walls and turrets.
She had never gone there before, although her cousins had. They said that it was grand. Magical… It felt as if it was staring at her, as if inviting her closer.
She looked back at the castle as she became aware that she was being watched. Erika looked up to the second top floor of the manor where Aunt El was staring down at her from the edge of the balcony, arms crossed over her chest. A shiver crawled up Erika’s spine as she turned away, towards Jaydill Forest, and ran towards the fence line.
She didn’t know why her aunt was staring at her, and perhaps she didn’t want to know. All that she knew was that, if Aunt El was wanting her to work on tasks outside of the manor and was watching her, she’d better get moving.
