Amanda stare at the slip of paper in her hand. Her face in disbelief, her brow furrowing at the single word written on the paper 'why'.The letter seems to bleed urgency, almost like the paper itself was seeking for answers. Who had written it? And more importantly why now ?
A creak echoed down the hall.
She took her head up.
The notes in her hand trembled as the sound came again ,it whispers softly as the winds from the woods. It was coming from the East wing a part of the mansion Mr Andrain have warned her never to wander into.
She turned her head slowly,eye locked into the dark hallway beyond the open sitting room. The lights flickered above, casting shadows that danced like ghost, she was afraid,but her curiosity took the best part of her.
Then came the sound again.
Thumb.
Not loud, not violent,but close.Behind a door halfway down the east corridor - a black door she has noticed earlier one that didn't fit with the rest of the decor. Older, forgotten. Almost like it has been sealed off for a long period of time.
Amanda stepped closer. The heels of her shoes pressed softly into the Persian rug, muffling her movement.She waa halfway down the corridor when she paused, listening.
Silence.
Then
Scratch… thumb …. Scratch …. Thumb
Her breath caught in her throat, that wasn't the wind, that wasn't the pipes.
That was something .
She pressed her hand against the cold door knob but it didn't turn.
She stepped back. Eyes still on the door, then she saw something just beneath the wooden frame…. a faint glow, blue, soft and pulsing like a heartbeat.
Amanda held the note in her hand tighter. Maybe it wasn't asking her "why."
Maybe it was asking whatever or whoever was at the other side of the door.
And for the first time since entering the mansion,she wasn't sure if she was here to uncover secrets,or become one of them.