Soul Alliance

The next time I opened my eyes, I found myself in the guest bedroom, with Jaques pacing nervously up and down just across the room. I tried to sit up.
"Uurgh!"

My hand slipped and I fell harshly to the floor as a searing pain rushed up my spine. I struggled to remain conscious as I listened to Jaques's pounding footsteps as he rushed to my side. Lifting me carefully back onto the bed, he whispered soothingly,
"Lie still. You have been in a lot of pain since what happened downstairs, now is the time to rest. Don't worry yourself, by noon we can start scoping the place."

Still in a bit of shock, I laid rigid with a tingling feeling in my spine...it felt as if somebody was running blade up and down my back, ever so lightly. Just as I began to nod off, with Jaques snuggled up beside me, there was a timid knock at the door. Slowly, the door opened and a thin maid slid into the room.
"Shh," Jaques whispered, "wait there, we'll talk outside."
Carefully sliding my head onto the pillow, where I sunk into a semi-conscious sleep, Jaques silently rose from the bed and crept over to where the worried woman stood. Even though I was asleep, I heard every word, as if it were part of a dream.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. It's just...you see Mr...?"
"Mr Jaques Juniver, but Jaques will suffice."
It shocked me slightly, to a point where I was almost awake, that he was able to say that name with such certainty, almost as if it really was his name.

"Jaques. You see, it's a difficult time for all of us, and your arrival seems to be, if you don't mind me saying, at a sort of an inappropriate time."
By this time, I knew that the woman Jaques was talking to was Mable, the head-maid who, at first glance, appears timid and shy, but can be the most feared person in the household. I listened carefully, worried that the investigation was already going to fall into chaos.

"I understand entirely and I am sorry for your loss, but that is why I am here. You see, late last night, about 2 hours before I arrived, Ingrid sent me an urgent message informing me of what had happened. Her words made me feel worried for her so I agreed to visit for a period of time to support her through this ordeal. Ingrid and I are old friends from a long time ago and I am the only one who can understand everything about her. She needs me."

I was touched by his words, even a little guilty, and I dropped my head back onto the pillow, where I drifted off into a calm and relaxing sleep. At least...it started off calm. Soon, I began to dream...

Everything was black and words were crawling across my mind in white : blood; deceit; murder; poison; suicide; blood; kill; danger; blood. Every time the word blood appeared, the words would flash red and a scream would echo in my mind. This felt just like earlier in the hallway...then I could see a hallway. I was looking at Master Andrew's door...and it creaked open. I was there aswell, shouting inaudiably at myself from the mirror on the back wall, but...how? I wasn't doing anything, yet my reflection was. It's face was pale and the eyes were glowing crimson - I knew I had to get away.

I started to panic. I ran into the room and past Andrew ,who stopped me to say,
"Go on, you know what to do".
I continued running and threw open the window. Pausing to take in the fresh air, I heard a distant noise which echoed over and over again,

"Ingrid..." - "Ingrid, please" ... "please!"

As if in a trance, I looked over the balcony towards the fountain below and, without a second thought, jumped. I was falling to certain death, faster and faster towards the spear jutting up from the ornament on the fountain...

"Ingrid...come on!" - "Don't do this!" ... "I need you, Ingrid"

I found myself merely metres from the spear when suddenly, I felt the sting of freezing water burning my skin ... I was in the ocean.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do"

As if I was in some kind of horror movie, I watched helplessly as strangers floating around me were dragged underwater by a cage of teeth, and I had a feeling that I was next. Below me, I could see a large dark shadow rising quickly towards me and just as I felt the teeth gripping my leg like a vice...

"She's gone..." - "NO!!!"

Nothing! Just the same words crawling across my mind, over and over again: danger; deceit; death; blood; murder; attack; blood. I couldn't stand it anymore! The words, the incessant screaming echoing in my mind, and that strangely familiar voice repeating the same things,

"Ingrid...please"- "I need you"... "Come on!"

Suddenly, everything stopped. The only thing I could hear was the voice...getting louder and louder, sounding more desperate by the second. Soon, it was almost unbearable, until I heard loud and clearly...

"INGRID, COME ON, PLEASE! ... WAKE UP NOW!"