Chapter 15

**Acacia Point of View**

Sitting up slowly, the first thing I did was rubbing my ears to assure that it was not my ears ringing but indeed a bell of sort.

Ding ~

I heard the gong again as I felt the vibration of the sound shook me a little. Getting down slowly, not hurting my belly or myself anywhere, I took careful steps towards the only window that was open.

So this island is capable of producing sounds! This is the first time I'm hearing a sound made not by nature.

If there was a huge gong here and it was ringing, then it is clear there was definitely someone here.

Holding the windowsill for support, I looked out to find where this bell was. There are five turrets visible from my window and since my window was facing the front of the castle, most of the parts of the fort can be seen clearly.

Usually a gong bell would be hung on the top of a turret and for a gong to make such sound; it must be really a huge one. I squinted my eyes at every turret as those parts of the castle are far from the wing I'm staying in.

I examined the top of each turret and found no bell whatsoever. Holding the windowsill tightly, I leaned my body out a little to see if there is a tower or a turret above the room I'm staying in.

If I was in my normal physical stature, then it wouldn't be so hard to even sit on the ledge of the window. With a pregnant belly on the way to do the feat, no matter how much I lean out, I couldn't see the top of the tower above.

With the huge belly I'm sporting, I was unable to bend my waist and if I attempt to do even a little, the whole weight of my body fell on the baby which was greatly uncomfortable. It make my balance unstable.

Turning my back towards the open window, this time I leaned back with the support of the window ledge again.

"This way I don't have to twist my waist." I nodded to myself approvingly and leaned back daringly.

I wouldn't have done it, risked it, if I don't have the mysterious man having a fetish to save me always. I don't know for what reason, but he always saves me from dangers.

But that doesn't mean I don't hate him and doesn't want to kill him. On contrary, this makes my thirst to inflict pain on him and kill him more. If it wasn't because of him, I wouldn't be here in the first place.

Anyways, let's see what is happening.

I bit hard on my lower lip as I gritted through the pain on my feet and bent back out of the window and looked up.

Thankfully, the sun is not up yet and the little light that painted on the horizons is enough for me to see. With a little more effort, I could see the long cylindrical tower raised above and on the top of it, a hit of metal can be seen.

That must be the bell.

"My God, my feet are killing me." I groaned as I slowly pushed myself inside. Once standing safely, I hissed when a sudden bolt of pain hit inside my stomach.

"Ouch" I hissed. "So this is how you feel when the baby kicks. Some strong kick that was." I mumbled to myself and rubbed my belly to ease the little pain the kick left me.

Some strong baby is growing inside me. One kick and it felt like air was choked out of my lungs. I had to sit for ten minutes to ease the pain before I walk out of the room to see what exactly was happening.

After a few more rings, the ringing stopped when the first ray of sun brightened up the sky. When I did not feel any pain in my belly or on my feet, I got up and walked out of my room.

The moment I stepped out of my room, I almost stumbled over my own leg at what I saw. My eyes widened and a gasp left my mouth at the sight of the whole hallway decorated by flowers.

Not just any flowers but a type of white flower that I did not see till that moment. Taking a side step, I picked the flower from the table beside and examined it.

The flower was so white that the petals can be said nearly transparent. It was the size of a sunflower with big petals stuffed closely all over. But what shocked me the most was not the flower itself but the stem of it.

The thin stem that held the flower on the top looked like a thin bone. No, it is a bone.

A thin long bone!

There is a nice scent coming out of the flower and if it wasn't for it, I would've thought that the flower was a mere prop made of some paper stuff. And the flower was naturally attached to the stem which means the bone was the natural part of the flower.

It was definitely a bone.

But how the hell does it make sense?

A bone? Seriously?

Putting the flower back on the counter, I went down the hallway and all along my way, I saw everything around was decorated in those white flowers and nice looking vines hanging down beside the bunch of flowers.

Stopping by the study room I have been using, I saw that the room was also decorated well. Frowning at it, I continued to walk and when I stopped in the centre of the fort near the stairs, I gaped at how beautiful the whole place looked when it was well decorated.

Is it a special day today? A festival or something?

It looked like one of those festivals from the far past. Just like a traditional event was being held, the whole place was wrapped in some kind of celebration.

Damn, this is so beautiful and just the touch of flowers gave life to the whole place.

The question now is, who did all this and why?

For a single person to beautify a castle of this size is hard and to do it in one night is nearly impossible. Surprisingly, there was no sound of such activities taking place the whole night.

This only means – One, there might be more than one person living here. Two, these supposed people know this place like the back of their hand to manage such a huge task without waking me up.

Or – Or there is something disturbingly supernatural about this which I'm trying to assure myself that isn't the case.

I thought of getting down to the living room and find out more but decided to go back to my room and get ready before doing so. With pregnant belly, I cannot walk down and up the stairs much so it's better I dress up appropriately.

Back to my room, I found it decorated in the same way as the whole castle is. A cup of hot chocolate and tray of breakfast was already waiting for me on the table.

There is no other way to reach my room other than walking through the hallway I did, then how did someone come up here, decorate my room and bring food from?

I stopped myself from dwelling on the details for now and went to have a bath before having breakfast. Once done with everything, I went down to the living room on the first story.

The handrails of the staircase were wrapped in flowers and vines. Beneath my feet, the softness I felt was flower petals spread generously on every step of the staircase.

Every floor and possibly every inch and corner were stuffed with flowers. I could see the similar pattern of adornment as I passed through each story.

It took me some time but I was able to climb down eight stories successfully without hurting myself. But then again, climbing down is easier than climbing up.

Once downstairs, I walked to the middle of the huge receiving hall with my mouth agape at the sheer beauty the fort has become.

I was stunned by it. The whole room was bright and smells so good. There were no candle lit around but light illuminated all over the place giving it a beauty that cannot be seen in candle light.

What exactly has lit the place up? I know there is no electricity here.

Just when the thought crossed my mind, a gush of wind touched me making me turn around and see where such strong breeze was coming from.

And when I turned, boy, was I astounded!

There, in front of me was the very dream I was having from the time I entered this damn haunted place. It was something that I always wished and tried for.

It was the main door. It's wide open!

The main doors are open!

**~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

Next chapter is here. Enjoy!

What do you think about the chapter? Boring?

Why the hell is the castle decorated?

Is it some kind of festival? If yes, they who decorated it where there is no other soul other than Acacia was living there?

How can there be a bone stem to a flower? What kind of flower was that?

The main doors are open? How? Why?

Will Acacia take this chance to escape?