SPELLBOUND

Shock etched on Evie's face as she stared at the secret passage. Her mouth was literally hanging open. It was mind blowing to even think that vampires would also have the need to make secret passages. She never thought she could find something like this in a boring place like the library. It took her quite a while to calm her excitement get her bearings before she could gather up enough courage to slowly and carefully approached the dark eerie door.

"Where does this passage lead to?" she asked, whispering to herself. Her heartbeat for some reason was pounding loudly in her ears and she could tell it definitely was not because she was thrilled about going for an unexpected adventure into this secret passage which might be offering her. It was pure nervousness and a healthy dose of fear. And she did not exactly know why. Was she scared?

As Evie silently peeked inside, the pitch-black darkness that welcomed her sent shivers down her spine. She knew secret passages like this would most probably lead her on to nowhere pleasant. More often than not, they were like likened to pandora's box. Something pretty and interesting to look at, but a total disaster when opened.

Moreover, this secret passage was located in a vampire castle. Why would vampires even have things like this in their castle? What kind of hidden secrets lies ahead?

Though nervousness and fear still churned in her heart violently, her insatiable cat-like curiosity won over her once again and Evie went and grabbed a lamp that was conveniently sitting on a small table nearby. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her gown to dry them somewhat before gripping the handle of the lamp securely, making sure she did not accidentally drop it and cause a fire or worse, get discovered by other vampires.

Taking another deep and calming breath, she stepped past the door in the secret passageway. Evie suddenly gasped when the floor before her suddenly made a movement. A section of the stone floor dropped down, opening to reveal a hidden stairway that circled down into the depths. What was below that, she could not tell as it was too dark.

Staring at the dark and even eerier passage, Evie hesitated and swallowed uneasily. Her mind was torn as she was fighting to make a decision. She could tell in one glance that this was no ordinary passage. The passage door looked like it was indestructible. If one would be trapped inside, there was no way out. If she decided to go down to explore, there would be a slight chance that she might be trapped in there. And since no one knew of her clandestine trip, that might be a really unwise choice if she decides to go down. However, this kind of occurrence is so rare! There might not be other chances for her to explore a secret passageway by the vampires.

After mulling about it for quite a long while, she finally made up her mind. "Alright, alright… let's get myself back to my chambers. This place just reeks of bad news." Evie spoke out loud, trying to convince herself but her feet just would not move. Her gaze stayed fixated on the stairway and the longer she stared at it the more she felt like something was pushing her…no, drawing on her heart to go ahead.

She was scared of the unknown. She knew the risks and the fact that something might happen to her while she was inside but why was her guts telling her to keep on going? Why was the fear not enough to deter her from going on or send her away?

Clenching her fists, Evie nodded resolutely as she firmed her resolve to go ahead. She walked back out of the secret passage and went towards the chairs near the library entrance. She then carefully removed her outer robe, folded it, and left it by the door. This could be a precautionary measure that she could take. She had the thought that this would inform anyone who would be looking for her that she was inside just in case the door closes behind her and she might end up being trapped inside.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Evie approached the secret pathway and stairs and began to descend that dark path. Her heartbeat thumped loudly in her heart, her blood flow whooshing deafeningly ears. The darkness was heavy and thick, and the stairway seem to be endlessly circling down. Or was it because she was just slow? Just where was this stairway leading to?

Evie did not know why she kept insisting on continuing this seemingly useless undertaking. However, she could tell that there was something weird with this passage. It was unlike the secret passages that she used to explore in their castle back home. Passages were meant to lead to other parts of the castle or to a door at the back leading for escape purposes. But this one seemed to be heading deeper and deeper.

She was sure there was no escape route or door opening to the outside when the direction is going deeper into the earth. If that was the case, then what was this secret passageway created for? Could there be something that the vampires in this fortress had that needed to be kept from others? Or was there an extraordinary treasure that was hidden away from the imperial palace that they do not want the royals finding out about? She chuckled dryly at her own imagination running wild. Whatever it was, hopefully by following the path, it would finally reveal to her what was so secretive to the point it had to be hidden away so far beneath the ground in this frozen kingdom.

She could not remember and had long since lost count on how many flights of stairs she had travelled now and yet she still had not reached the bottom of this winding and infernal stairway. She kept telling herself 'one more flight and I'll turn back' but as she reached the next flight, she kept telling herself the same line over and over again. Somehow, she did not like that she was such a stubborn person. Why can't she just give up and turn back?

Lifting her lamp, Evie spun around, looking back up the way she came down. It would be another challenge to climb this endless stairway back up to the entrance in the library! And she was yet to even find a single interesting thing about this place! Did she just come here for exercise? The thought of that made her roll her eyes. That little devil at her shoulders whispered and taunted Evie and she turned around again.

She nibbled the insides of her lower lip and the next moment, she turned back forward and continued descending the never-ending stairway.

Her knees began to wobble as she braced her free hand against the wall which seemed to be made of stone. She was already feeling tired earlier. Now, she is just plain and straight up exhausted! Her mind kept asking herself what in the heavens was she doing down here. But before she could give up, she finally caught sight of the end of this seemingly bottomless stairway.

Feeling excited from her findings and brave again at the sight of a new discovery, Evie slowed her pace. Anticipation started to grip her insides. The nervousness and fear she felt that was dissolved by her fight against herself along the way was slowly creeping back. What was waiting for her at the end of the stairway?

She gulped and wiped the sweat that was beading on her forehead. At long last, her feet landed on the ground.