But Bella remained flat on the floor.
In fact, her eyes were still closed.
“No! No!” she groaned.
She was talking in her sleep.
I let out a sigh and turned my focus back to the door.
I pushed it open just wide enough for me to slip out, and closed the door behind me.
I looked up and down the dim lantern-lit corridor I’d just stepped out onto.
I shivered.
The temperature was freezing out here compared to in my room.
I examined the walls and the ceiling.
While the floor seemed to be made of a sleek marble, the walls and ceiling were made of rough stone.
I remained beneath the shadow of my doorway for several moments before I was sure that there was nobody in this corridor.
Sticking close to the wall, I began walking forward as softly as I could.
Since I was wearing thick woolen socks I’d found in the bedroom before leaving, this wasn’t too difficult.
The most sound I was making was my harried breathing.
I clasped a palm over my mouth to stifle it.
I had no idea where I was going as I padded along that corridor, but I couldn’t just stay where I was.
Since Bella was still refusing to give me answers about this place, I had to at least attempt to figure it out myself.
I managed to reach the very end of the corridor without meeting anyone.
There was a tall window pane, reaching almost as far as the cavernous ceiling.
I peeked through it.
It was pitch black outside, so there wasn’t much I could see, except for the vague outline of the mountain peaks surrounding us.
I looked down a new stretch of corridor I’d just appeared at the beginning of.
The west wing.
This is the west wing.
I was about to begin my journey down this new corridor when deep voices echoed off the walls.
I strained my eyes to see a group of three large ogres approaching me from the other end of the corridor.
None had seen me yet, it seemed.
I had to keep it that way.
I rushed along the new corridor, out of sight.
I scanned door after door, all the walls I passed by, looking for any nook or cranny I could hide myself in until they passed.
There was nothing of the sort.
It sounded like they were seconds from turning the corner, when I would be in full view of them.
I looked around desperately, my eyes falling on the nearest door to me.
I pressed my ear against it and, gripping the handle, pushed it ajar.
I slipped through and pushed the door closed.
I breathed out in relief to see that the room was empty.
I was half expecting to walk into the bedroom of a sleeping ogre.
I waited until the ogres outside passed before I allowed myself to look around.
I left the door and walked into the center of the room.
I’d just walked into some kind of kitchen.
There was a wide sink and counters lined with massive pots and pans.
In the center of the room was a giant stove.
Shelf after shelf of books lined one of the walls.
I ran my finger along one of the spines and heaved one off the shelf.
It was too heavy for me to hold without straining myself, so I placed it down on the floor.
There was no title on the front.
I opened the hard cover and flipped to the first page.
There were no words, only pictures.
And as I continued flipping the pages, I found myself more and more horrified by what I saw.
It looked like a biology textbook specializing in the dissection of human bodies.
There were entire chapters dedicated to each body part—the facial area, muscles, organs.
I found myself feeling queasy as I flipped to the last page.
I heaved the book back onto the shelf, then picked up the next one and spread it out on the floor.
This one was no more comforting.
There were scrawlings under various depictions of ingredient substances—but it was an odd writing and I couldn’t understand it.
I only needed to get a few pages into the book to realize that this was a cookbook.
And as I turned to the very last page, my breath hitched.
I was staring down at a depiction of two human arms sticking out of a pot of broth.
These ogres are man-eaters.
I’d suspected as much, after the old man I’d met in the corridor had told me that I needed to be fattened.
But now that this was confirmed I could barely stop myself from shaking.
I replaced the book on the shelf and backed away.
My heart hammering against my chest, I hurried to the exit of the room.
I have to get out of this place.
I opened the door and, after checking that the corridor was clear, I stepped out and began to continue down the corridor.
I needed to find that gate that led back to the human realm.
I had no idea if Caleb would still be on that island, but anywhere on earth was better than where I was currently.
I reached the end of the second corridor and arrived at a wide staircase.
I peered down it, straining to hear any noise coming from the floor below.
On hearing nothing, I began descending.
I reached the foot of the stairs quickly and found myself in yet another corridor.
It looked practically identical to the last.
The same sleek floors, the same stone ceilings and walls, the same heavy wooden doors on either side of the passageway.
I took the path to my left first.
I lurched forward as a door to my right creaked open.
An arm shot out, grazing my shoulder as I dodged.
I didn’t dare look back as there was a shout and a quickening of footsteps.