Who's Afraid of the Dark?

Sophie’s hair fell in front of her face, landing just above her eyes. She pushed it back quickly, so she could get a better view of the castle. It was already hard enough to see without her hair being in the way. The sky was black and the walls of the castle blocked the moon from hitting that side of the garden.

With her arms folded across her chest, Sophie followed behind Harry, putting the perfect amount of distance between them. She was just close enough that she could see him in the dark, but still far enough away that nothing could be read into it.

When Anise had split them into a group together, she knew immediately that it was going to be another one of her attempts at getting her and Harry together. It wouldn’t work, though. It never did. Sophie was determined to keep things platonic with Harry, and it appeared as though he felt the same.

After they turned a corner and stepped through another muddy puddle, Sophie’s eyes fell upon a small window, half the size of a normal one, just an inch of the ground. It would lead to one of the lower floors, probably the basement, but if they used it, Sophie wouldn’t have to worry about Harry hoisting her up. The less physical contact they made the better.

“What about there?” Sophie whispered, pointing to the small glass.

Harry’s gaze followed her finger to the window, before quickly turning back to her with a smile on his face. “That’s perfect.”

Before Sophie had a chance to stop him, he’d picked up a jagged rock from its place within the grass and banged in against the glass in one quick motion. She shuddered at the sound of the loud cracking and quickly turned her head away.

His sleeve wrapped around his hand, as he used the fabric to brush away the stray bits of broken glass.

“I’ll head down first, so I can help you when I get in.” Harry was already crouching down, with his face just inches away from the broken opening. “Can you shine the flashlight towards me?”

Sophie leaned over and picked up the flashlight from the place he’d set it. The light shined directly on him, catching his perfect green eyes, as he gave Sophie a reassuring nod.

He was down the hole and into the cellar just as quickly as he’d broken the window. It seemed as if he’d done it a thousand times before, and Sophie made a mental note to ask Anise if Harry was a hardened criminal.

“You coming?” Harry’s voice called up to her, as it echoed throughout the small room.

Sophie paused for a moment, as she took a few seconds to get the last breaths of fresh air she would get for the night. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that the air inside the castle was going to be a thousand times thicker than outside, and she wanted to get as much of the thin air in her lungs as she could.

Her teeth nibbled against her bottom lip, as she attempted to gather up the courage to crawl into the hole. Anise had always told her that she needed to live a little, and she supposed this was exactly what she was talking about. Even this one small thing sent her body racing with nerves. She was always far too afraid of things she had no reason to be afraid of.

Instead of fearing going to prison for breaking and entering, at that moment, all of Sophie’s thoughts raced to the horror stories they’d been told on their tour. She knew they were irrational, but the irrational part of her was terrified by them.

With one last deep breath, Sophie pushed all of her worrying thoughts out of her head and focused instead on finding Anise and making sure she hadn’t gotten into too much trouble yet.

Holding her hands in front of her, Sophie approached the small hole. The inside of the castle was so dark that she couldn’t see anything in the room. She couldn’t see the wine bottles that lined the walls or the table just beneath the window ledge, but it was better that way. She couldn’t be afraid of what she couldn’t see.

In her mind, she began singing Amazing Grace. She had no idea why, but it was the first song that popped into her head, and it was easier to focus on the lyrics than the dark room she was entering.

“Pass me the flashlight,” Harry said, his voice much louder than it needed to be.

She popped the light in, seeing for the first time the items littering the cellar floor. Everything in front of Harry, where the light was shining, was a mess. Everything behind him was simply unknown.
One of Harry’s hands held tightly onto the flashlight, which he pointed directly at her, while he held the other out to help her in. Her first leg fit through the window easily, and Harry guided it straight to the table she was supposed to use as a stepping stool.

When she moved her other leg through the opening, her skin scraped against a shard of glass that was left behind. A small cut formed on her leg, starting from the middle of her thigh and ending at the hem of her shorts. She let out a hiss, but refrained from shouting out in pain. She had always been a baby when it came to getting hurt, but she was determined not to let Harry know.

His other hand gripped around her ankle, as she placed it next to her other foot. The rest of the process was easy, and she even managed to stop herself from getting cut on the glass again.
The second she’d made it all the way into the cellar, the flashlight fell to the spot on her leg, which now had blood dripping from it.

“Oh Sophie, are you alright?” Harry’s tone was far more worried than it needed to be, but it comforted her to know that he thought it was just as big of a problem as she did. At least there would be someone else with her fear of pain and blood.

His hand, which was covered by his sleeve, moved to her cut, as he used the fabric to pat the blood away. Even though he was trying to be gentle, she still cringed in pain.

“I bet there’s a first aid kit in a bathroom somewhere,” Harry said, as he pulled his hand away. “We’ll find a bandage to cover it up.”

Sophie nodded, as her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. Blood was dripping from the cut faster than Harry could pat it away, and even though she had no risk of bleeding out, it still worried her.
The cellar was still nearly black and the flashlight did little to light up the corners of the room. The only parts of the cellar that could be seen were the places where the soft stream of steady light was shining.

Sophie focused her gaze on the end of the light, where Harry’s hand was wrapped around it, because it was the only thing that didn’t give her chills. Even though she had no reason to be, every part of her was terrified, and she knew that Anise had counted on that. What better way to get her and Harry together than to put her in a situation where she had no choice but to cling onto him for dear life?

Biting her lip, Sophie made several attempts at refraining from doing just that before her hand moved to Harry’s sleeve, wrapping around the soft fabric. She figured as long as there was no skin on skin contact, she could deny it later. It was just a simple touch, and she only did it to stop herself from crying out in terror.

The moment she touched Harry, he spun around far more quickly than he should have. His face was twisted in a look she’d never seen before.

“Is something wrong?” Sophie asked, referring to the strange look on his face.

He shook his head quickly. “No, nothing. Just startled me a bit.”

Taking his words as a subtle clue, Sophie removed her hand from his sleeve, putting it back in its place at her side. She should have known better than to touch him like that, and she couldn’t help but blame Anise for putting them together.

Harry’s eyes were still on her, even though hers were focused on the ground. His lips turned up in a smile, as he watched her shuffle her feet back and forth.

Without question, he reached his hand back, wrapping it gently around her wrist, in the most appropriate manner he thought possible.

“Let’s find a way out of this place, yeah?” Harry said, smiling at her. “It’s starting to give me the creeps.”

Sophie nodded in agreement, following behind Harry as he headed towards a small door. A quick breeze blew behind her, much too large to have been caused by the wind, and it made every hair on her body stand straight up.

With Harry’s hand still wrapped around her wrist, the two walked through the door, and as it shut quickly behind them, she realized keeping things platonic with Harry was going to be the least of her worries.