Chapter 14

**Acacia Point of View**

My heart drummed in my ears. My eyes widened and breath hitched when the whisper of my name was heard.

My hand flew to my mouth when a screech was threatening to come out. Gasping at the voice, I turned around to see where it was coming from.

The voice sounded near yet distant and to think there is no intercom or speakers here is making it terribly disturbing.

"W-who? Who is it?" I stuttered. My heart raced like a horse on steroids. "It's you, the one who locked me up here; aren't you?"

Circling around the room in cautious steps, I tried to find out the source of the voice but there was none here.

"Show yourself. Who the hell are you and why are you torturing me like this?" I asked jogging through the room in hurry steps. I stumbled, my leg got stubbed by the table and felt faint but I did not stop looking for the man who is hell bent on giving me heart attack and kill me.

I will have to find him. I should find him and ask him why - why he is doing all these inhumane things to me.

But of course, I could not find him no matter how much I searched for him. I spent more than half an hour but still couldn't find the source of the voice that was calling my name.

Like they say, you cannot wake up a person who is pretending to sleep. If he is hell bent of hiding himself and scaring me to death, then naturally, I cannot find him given this is his terrain.

My hand touched my stomach and rubbed it instinctively when I started to feel helpless yet again. Sighing heavily, I returned back to my room after finding myself pretty exhausted.

I thought if I could go into that secret room, I would find the man in question or at least hints about him but I saw weird 3D portraits that scared the hell out of me.

Cherry on the top, I was even haunted by the eerie whispers of name. I should have sinned a great deal in my past life to go through something like this.

I need to make a solid tablet and offer prayers to my ancestors to wash away all the bad luck.

Sitting down on my bed, I hissed when my feet started to hurt. Looking down, they are a little swollen bore a couple of bruises from all the stumbling and stubbing into the furniture.

Oh how I wish I could eat some sweet and sour fish. I've been craving for it from last night. Some fried food would be great too with some hot sauce.

That very night, the dinner was just what I wanted to eat; what I was craving for. It was as if someone heard me when I was thinking about food.

On serious note, I wasn't even that surprised though. With everything that has happened and happening to me, this isn't even that shocking.

As days passed by, my opinion of this fort being heavily haunted was started to feel real. Why do I think that?

Because I understood why the doors to the secret room opened and how.

Right the next day when I visited the room again, I pushed the closed doors again and again but as usual failed. In anger and annoyance I complained to the door to open and it was then it opened.

That was when I understood that these doors to the secret room have some kind of sensory measures that opens only when I command them to.

Right from that day, I've been visiting the room every chance I get only, I found nothing useful yet. The room was still cold and eerie with air of heaviness in it.

With passing days, my pregnant stomach started to show more. I roamed around the castle less and did not work on my wooden models too much.

I started to get tired easily and as to be careful with the child that's growing inside my womb; I climbed the stairs less now.

But today was different. This morning, when I woke up, a sudden thought struck my mind. If the doors to the secret room can be opened under the command of my voice, then the main door to this fort may also.

So here I am, standing in front of closed doors of the main entrance. I don't know if it will work or not but at least I could try.

If I was successful in opening them, then I can get out of here at my will.

"Open please." I said in an authoritative tone and waiting. I waited for few minutes to hear the heavenly creaking sound of doors opening.

Of course, they didn't.

"Open." This time, I used more command in it. This would open secret room doors usually. This is my usual commanding tone I use in opening those doors.

Staring at the heavy closed doors from top to bottom, there was a little hope in my heart that they would now open.

When they didn't, I stood there frozen for few minutes to see what else can be done.

If the sensors are all same here, then why is the main door not opening?

"Open Dammit." I shouted the same way I did the first time with the secret room and still no positive result.

I sighed in disappointment and strolled towards the windows to see if my command works on windows. However, the result was the same. I kind of knew that windows revolt back to my command.

Turning back to the stairs, I looked up to the eighth story that was sitting on the top, to which I have to climb several stairs.

Glancing at the long lines of steps I have to climb now, I whined. I never whine as I was not brought up like a princess. Although I'm an only daughter, loved and cared for, I wasn't a fragile and hardheaded girl.

Now, all thanks to this strange pregnancy, I'm even whining at a little exercise.

"Oh how I wish my room comes down to fetch me. Do I have to climb all the stairs now?" I moaned standing on the first step.

With a loud groan, I started to climb slowly. If I start one step at a time, I will reach there at some point of time.

Although I was still skeptical and not completely in terms with my pregnancy and the baby, I'm starting to feel connected and attached to the life growing inside me.

It must be the maternal feeling that every mother feels. I started to think more about the baby; get worried for him and care for him more.

It does not mean I'm not reluctant with the whole pregnancy issue; I am. It's only that the baby is starting to become a little more of my priority.

Will The sperm donor of the baby come when he or she was born?

Will he take the baby away from me?

Or will he keep me here forever?

Or worse, will everything stay the same even after the baby is born?

It will be unbearable if I and the baby are taken care of from shadows and the person responsible for all this never shows his face.

Not only will it be hard to run away from here, with the baby it will be harder to even escape this damn castle. The thought of leaving the baby behind and run away did not sit well with me.

God knows what he planned for me for future.

By the time my thoughts about the baby came to a stop, I reached eighth floor finally. I thought it would be hard and painful to climb so many steps but with thoughts running in my mind, it felt like I only climbed ten to twelve steps.

It did not even feel like I climbed up eight floors. It doesn't feel sore nor do I feel breathless from all the climbing.

How weird!

Although I was always a healthy girl, I was never this invincibly healthy.

"Did my room really picked me up? If someone hear me, they would definitely send me to a psychiatrist for a checkup."

Shaking my head, I went to the study room to finish the sketch I started a week ago. If nothing, I could at least complete the sketch.

By the end of the day, I was too tired to keep my eyes open so I slept earlier than usual. A dreamless sleep is always welcome.

Ding ~

Ding ~ ~ ~

"Hmmm" I moaned when my sleep slowly starting to break.

Ding ~

I woke up with a jerk when I recognized what woke me up in the first place. It was ringing of a bell.

It sounded more like one of those huge bells from the church.

A bell?

Now, where is this gong sound of the bell coming from?

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

Hello Sweeties,

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