Chapter 53 : Who is she?

Angela's heart raced as she cautiously descended the creaky wooden stairs into the dark basement, an unexpected discovery in Leonardo's studio. The room exuded an eerie ambiance, and the chilling air made her regret not bringing a coat, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. However, her determination to press on overpowered the cold. The once-piercing scream of a woman had ceased, leaving an unsettling silence that hung in the air like a heavy fog.

"Where are you?" Angela called out, her voice echoing through the dimly lit space, but there was no answer. Her words quivered with fear as she took one hesitant step forward into the unknown.

"Please, say a word," she pleaded, her voice trembling with both anxiety and a genuine desire to help. "I'm here to help you."

As Angela strained to adjust her vision to the darkness, the dim light revealed vague shapes and shadows. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted a faint figure of a woman dressed in a tattered wedding gown, standing eerily still amidst the gloom. Fear tightened its grip around Angela's chest, and she was about to scream when a sudden blow struck her head, sending her spiraling into darkness.

In the void, whispers surrounded Angela, their indecipherable words reverberating through her mind. Amidst the murmurings, a familiar voice broke through—the voice of Leonardo, filled with rage and concern. His hands tightly held hers, anchoring her amid the chaotic whispers.

"Angela?" he called out anxiously, his voice a lifeline in the abyss. "What happened to her?"

Her mind swirled in confusion, lost in the unsettling whispers and Leonardo's desperate voice. Then, a blinding light enveloped her senses, pulling her back to reality. Angela found herself in her room, with Leonardo anxiously by her side, worry etched across his face.

"What happened, Angela?" he asked urgently, gripping her hands firmly. "Are you all right?"

"I'm not sure," Angela replied, her head throbbing and memories of the basement still haunting her. She glanced at the concerned faces of Mrs. Vera and Mrs. Gale, who stood nearby, their worry mirroring Leonardo's. The enigmatic experience in the basement had left an indelible mark on Angela's psyche, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something truly eerie had transpired in the depths of that dark place.

As Angela recounted her harrowing experience, Leonardo listened attentively, his expression growing more serious with each passing detail. The revelation of a hidden room in his studio surprised him, but he tried to remain composed. "Yes, there's a storage room down there for old things," he confirmed, though he couldn't shake off the feeling that there might be more to it than just that.

Angela's voice quivered as she continued, describing the terrifying encounter in the pitch-dark basement. "I heard a woman screaming down there," she explained, her voice trembling with the memory. "I went down to investigate, and I saw a woman in a wedding gown standing motionless in the corner." The memory of the eerie sight sent shivers down her spine. "And then someone struck me on the head, and I blacked out."

Mrs. Gale suggested seeking answers from Andrew, the person who had brought Angela to the studio, but Leonardo's concern for Angela's well-being took precedence. "We have to call a doctor first," he urged, knowing that her safety was of utmost importance.

Mrs. Vera took it upon herself to call for a doctor, leaving Leonardo and Angela alone for a moment. Leonardo's determination to get to the bottom of the strange events surfaced. "I want to talk to Andrew, Mrs. Gale," he demanded, knowing that Andrew might hold some key information.

As Angela confided in Leonardo about sensing someone else in the room with her, he focused on the woman's scream she had heard. "Tell me more about the woman's voice," he probed, his voice tinged with an unusual intensity. "What did it sound like?"

Angela closed her eyes, trying to recall the haunting sound, but it remained elusive. The voice was faint, muffled, and somehow sharp, leaving her feeling deeply disturbed. "It was too awful," she whispered, the memory still fresh and unsettling.

Leonardo's questions then turned to the vague figure of the woman in the wedding gown. "And the white cloth you saw, did it resemble the lady in white you often see?" he inquired, hoping to draw connections between the unsettling events.

Angela fell silent for a moment, pondering the resemblance. "Yes," she finally replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "She resembled the lady in white that I often see."

As the door opened, Andrew entered the room looking visibly worried, his nervous speech betraying his anxiety. "I...I didn't do...any harm to...Miss Angela, Sir," he stammered, feeling the weight of suspicion upon him.

Mrs. Gale and Mrs. Vera joined them, their expressions serious as they listened intently to Andrew's account. He explained that he had heard Angela's scream coming from the studio, which had prompted him to rush to investigate. Upon discovering the open door leading to the basement, he descended to find Angela lying on the floor, her head bleeding.

Mrs. Gale questioned Angela, seeking more details. "Is your assailant likely to have come from the top of the stairs or from within the basement itself?" she asked, trying to understand the possible source of the attack.

"I don't know," Angela replied with a frown, also directing her question to Andrew. "Have you seen a wedding gown in the basement, Andrew?"

"No," Andrew replied eagerly, his nervousness still evident. "I only saw some books scattered on the floor," he concluded his account.

Mrs. Vera chimed in, adding her observations. "When I went there with Mrs. Gale, we found nothing but books and a large divider filled with old things," she explained. "There was no sign of a wedding gown or a white cloth."

Angela's mind swirled with confusion and fear, grappling with the surreal experience she had gone through. "Do you think I'm going crazy?" she asked solemnly, her voice tinged with vulnerability. The bizarre events and the lack of concrete evidence left her questioning her sanity.

Mrs. Gale placed a reassuring hand on Angela's shoulder. "No, my dear," she said gently. "We don't think you're going crazy. There's something peculiar happening here, and we'll get to the bottom of it."

Leonardo, who had been silently listening, interjected with determination in his voice. "We need to investigate further," he said firmly. "There's more to this hidden room and what Angela experienced. We must find answers, even if it means exploring the depths of the studio ourselves."

Angela's head injury was examined, and the doctor prescribed her medicine to help with the pain. However, Leonardo couldn't shake off his suspicions and casually asked the doctor about the possibility of a book causing the injury.

"It's not possible," the doctor clarified, dispelling their speculations. "A hard object, like steel or a 2 by 2 wood was most likely used to strike her."

The room was filled with a tense silence as everyone absorbed the unsettling revelation. The doctor was excused from the room, and Angela's head continued to throb. Leonardo asked everyone else to leave, wanting some time alone with her to discuss matters further.

"From now on, you don't go to my studio," he warned her sternly before summoning his hired detective to investigate the area again. Angela was left restless, curious to hear the detective's speculations about the incident. Despite being told to stay in her room, her determination led her to sneak into the studio and head down to the basement.

Leonardo, standing at the top of the stairs, was displeased with her defiance. The detective, an older man with experience, shared his theory with Angela. He believed that someone was already inside the room when she arrived, lying in wait under the stairs to ambush her.

"But the studio was locked from the outside when I arrived," Angela confirmed, questioning the possibility of an intruder.

"Maybe your assailant has the key," the detective suggested, his deduction making the situation even more mysterious and alarming.

Angela added more information, recounting the woman's cry for help that she had heard from a distance. The detective surmised that she might have heard it from outside and mistakenly believed it was coming from the basement.

Though she wanted to agree with the detective's theory, Angela couldn't shake the conviction that the scream had indeed originated from the basement.

After the detective finished rechecking the area, the studio was declared off-limits for a while. The day had turned to night, and silence pervaded the house during dinner. Angela eventually retreated to her room, but her mind was restless. She lay on her bed with her eyes wide open, wrestling with her thoughts.

"I know that the woman I heard crying out wasn't just a product of my imagination," she mumbled to herself. "She is real and needs help at this very moment," she sighed, feeling a deep sense of responsibility. "But who is she?"

With unanswered questions haunting her, Angela couldn't rest, her mind consumed by the enigma that surrounded the hidden room, the woman in the wedding gown, and the chilling events that had transpired. The mystery only deepened, leaving her yearning for answers as the night grew darker.