Page 71 of Midnight Wedding

Chapter 25

Lena

Honestly, I tried really hard.

I spent three hours in that library. Three intense, paper-cut riddled hours. I pulled down volumes that clearly hadn’t been touched in generations and lovingly wiped them down before entering them into my catalogue. I got an entire shelving unit finished and organized before I found myself here.

Standing in front of the forbidden door.

I don’t even know how it happened. One second, I was elbow-deep in leather dust, and the next I’m exactly where I swore I wouldn’t be. With my lock pick tools in hand.

It’s just not fair. Honestly, it’s really not. Dangling this door in front of me is like shoving a bloody fish carcass in a shark’s mouth and telling it not to feed.

This is my nature.

I can’t help myself. I’m a deeply curious person. If it weren’t for my mom’s sickness, I never would’ve been able to stop urban exploring, despite my little run-in with the police.

Now that I know she’s safe and being taken care of, it’s like the part of me that’s been smothered and silenced is finally waking up again.

“Don’t do it, Lena,” I mutter as my hands move on their own. I take out the picks and shove them into the lock. “You’re better than this, Lena. Remember how much fun you had with him yesterday?”

I jiggle the picks and force the tumblers into position.

“Damn it,” I groan as the door makes a click and opens. “It’s not too late. Close it, lock it, and walk away.”

I put the picks into my pocket and step forward.

The carpet on the other side of the door is different. It’s older, more like something from the ‘70s. There’s wallpaper in an odd outdated style. Everything smells musty and unused, like this part of the house hasn’t been touched in years.

It’s fucking creepy.

A hallway stretches ahead of me. Doors jut away from it. The hall ends in a junction and I can’t see beyond that.

“Great, this is it, just a normal hall. No need to explore.”

My feet move forward all on their own.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I moan, trailing my fingers along the wall.

Most of the doors lead to empty guest rooms. The windows are covered with paper and they’re filthy from not being touched for a while, but they’re basically unremarkable. I feel like someone’s watching me though as I explore a part of this house that clearly hasn’t been touched in a very long time.

At the dead end, I come to an abrupt stop. To the left is a bathroom. It’s covered in pink tiles with a huge, chunky vanity.

To the right is more hall ending in a door on the right and a door straight ahead.

The floor here is stained. Something dark was splattered across the wall. I step forward and my stomach twists. It smells bad here—like an old, ancient rot.

It takes a minute to realize there’s blood everywhere.

It’s old blood. It’s more brownish-black than red. But it’s definitely blood, and it’s splashed all over the carpet and the wall like someone went insane with a chainsaw. Terror fills me and now I realize why Arsen didn’t want me to come in here.

He didn’t want me to see this.

“Just turn back,” I whisper to myself.

But I can’t help it. I move forward, legs stiff and heart racing. I’m scared and shaking, but this is what I am. Curiosity always wins, even when it definitely shouldn’t.

The first door opens into a bedroom. This one’s been trashed. There’s more blood inside, splattered on the walls. And god, this whole place stinks like something fetid and fungal.

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