Crimson Night

Skyla aroused from her sleep before sitting up in a daze. She rubbed her eyes as she thought drowsily, 'Did I fall asleep?'

Rubbing her hair, her eyes roamed her room when it finally fell on the floor dappled with reddish glow. Squinting her eyes, she stood up from her bed and walked closer to the open window. When she raised her eyes, she had a moment of enlightenment.

'Ah! I was right'

Into the clear night, the red moon shone in its full glory, bathing its surroundings in a crimson shade. The crimson sky spread across the night as if the sky was giving its consent to commence the hunt.

Skyla inhaled deeply as she played with her hands under the reddish glow as she remembered the night she arrived. She remembered seeing the moon vaguely.

'It was just as I thought,' Skyla marvelled at her discovery. The daytime here refers to a sky without its moon while the nighttime is when the moon appears from behind the curtains of black sky.

Smiling slightly, she retracted her gaze from the sky and walked towards the door. She was feeling a little thirsty. Skyla opened the door to an empty hallway much to her surprise. She thought there would be people around, well because vampires don't sleep, right?

Skyla walked in silence, not wanting to disturb anyone. But soon, her thoughts were proved wrong when she heard faint voices coming from downstairs. She could faintly identify the voices of Aurelia and Alec and it seemed like they were quarreling.

Pursing her lips, she descended the stairs ever so quietly. She saw a light coming from one of the rooms to her right accompanied by the faint voices. Skyla quickly walked away from the stairs as she didn't want to embarrass them by letting them know that she witnessed their quarrel.

Before she knew it, she was approaching the dining hall but soon her feet halted in her tracks when she heard footsteps behind and in front of her. Her eyes widened as she whipped her head back and forth panickingly.

'What should I do?'

Her heart pounded loudly inside her chest, making her palms turn sweaty. She gulped nervously when her eyes fell upon the black door. Her eyes stayed on the door for some seconds as the sound of footsteps grew louder.

'Damn it' she cursed in her mind as she rushed to the black door and pushed it open and closed it silently.

Skyla closed her eyes as she leaned against the door and breathed in heavily. Soon she picked up Aurelia's voice behind the door, inquiring, "Did you get her?"

Skyla frowned as she opened her eyes and listened carefully but to her dismay, she couldn't hear the response and soon the shuffle of footsteps was heard..

'Get who?' Skyla mused as she listened to footsteps fading away.

Turning back towards the room, she frowned as she rubbed her arms from the cold. She squinted her eyes as she couldn't see much in the darkness. It was as if the moon listened to wishes, instantly the red moonlight seeped into the room through the only arched window near the ceiling.

As the room slowly brightened up under the pale moonlight, her eyes widened each second.

She gasped in horror, "What the hell?"

There were cages on each side of the room while countless hanging ropes were tied in the middle of the room. Many bodies laid on the floor, some with no skin and some missing some parts of their body but all displaying the horrors they have witnessed before their death.

Skyla staggered as her back hit the door with a soft thud. Her lips trembled as her dormant uneasiness flared up like fire. She jumped when her ears picked up soft suppressed weeping coming from the room. Skyla immediately bolted towards the cries and to her absolute shock, she saw the maid who had collided with her earlier in the day, inside the cage with her clothes in disarray.

"W-What the hell is this?," Skyla stammered as her eyes trained on the weeping maid. The maid froze as she slowly lifted her eyes to look at the person standing before the cage, petrified by the events.

The maid hurriedly stood up in alarm and said anxiously, "You shouldn't be here"

Skyla blinked as her heart thundered inside her chest. She hurriedly tried to free her from the cage but found it locked.

Biting her lips, she shook the door exasperatedly as she cried, "Damn it"

Turning around, she tried to look around for something to break open the door when she felt a harsh tug on her clothes.

"Get out from here," the maid howled, scaring Skyla.

"B-but I have to get you -" Her words halted when she found her hand being grasped tightly by the maid.

"Listen to me" The maid looked at her impatiently, "Get out of this place.. Don't trust them. Leave here immediately"

Skyla pressed her lips as she observed the maid who looked alarmed and anxious for her.

The maid pushed her back and said briskly, "Forget about me…"

Tears streamed down the maid's cheeks as she slumped down, holding the rails. Her lifeless eyes stared at the floor as she whispered dejectedly, "Please escape from this hell… there is no hope for someone like me"

Skyla felt shock travel from her head to her toes at the gravity of this danger. Looking at the downhearted person before her, Skyla made a rash decision on the spot which could eventually be the reason for her fall.

When the maid listened to the fading footsteps, she exhaled in relief even though her heart was throbbing in pain. It was the same as before… Everyone treated the servants as dogs as if their life and death had no value. She had already given up on escaping from this hell and she didn't want this good human to die by their hands.

The maid let out a breath as she comforted herself by doing something good before she died. For weeks, she had seen how the evil couple had brought humans here, given them hope and turned them into their guinea pigs. At least she could save one person from their ire before she died.

But…

Her thoughts stopped when she heard a rattle in front of her. She lifted her eyes and her jaw fell open in disbelief. The human whom she advised to leave was trying to break open the cage.

"W-what are you doing?" the maid wheezed.

Skyla looked at the sprawled maid exasperatedly as she said, "What else… trying to get you out of this hell"

The maid looked at the heavy boulder in Skyla's hands as she hit the cage repeatedly.

"Damn it.. Why is this so darn difficult?," Skyla panted as she lifted the heavy boulder to hit the lock again.

"W-Why?"

"Huh?" Skyla whipped her head and gazed at the maid ridiculously.

"Why? Well, of course to save you," Skyla scoffed, making the maid scamper to her feet in a hurry.

"No.. why do you have to do this? You could just leave me here and save your life," Tears welled in her eyes, as the maid looked at Skyla and blundered, "I'm just a lowly dog whose life means nothing."

Skyla paused in her movements as her eyes drifted to the trembling maid. She narrowed her eyes as she spatted, "Who said your life means nothing? Even a dog's life is important, much less yours. Don't belittle yourself. The person who should die isn't you… it's those vile creatures"

On saying that, she threw the boulder against the lock, and it fell open. Skyla's eyes brightened as she quickly threw the boulder away and hurried inside. Grasping the maid's arms across her shoulder, she grabbed her waist and said, "Now, let's get out of here"

The stunned maid looked at her in shock before she slowly surrendered to her tears. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her sniffles filled the room, she leaned her body against Skyla and limped out of the cage.

But as the saying goes, even a flicker of flame would eventually die... just like how the opening of the door killed the hopes of Skyla and the maid.