I smirked. He couldn’t know that for sure, and for all we knew, the diamond-encrusted crown might have been worth a fortune. I was no expert, but they sure looked real to me, and no one would go to so much trouble to hid cubic zirconia in a horrible old attic. I pulled out a two-tiered tiara, set with dazzling diamonds, and marveled at the way the stones sparkled and danced with brilliance in the light. This tiny thing alone could buy out the whole shopping mall back home, I thought.
“Put it on,” Pam coaxed, “just for fun.”
“No.” I shook my head slowly. “We shouldn’t be messing with this stuff.”
“It’s a waste of time anyway,” Eric said. “Playing dress-up with a bunch of costumes and fake crowns isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s keep looking.”
I regarded Pam. “Do you think this stuff is real?”
“They’ve gotta be fakes, Zoey, like Eric said. They wouldn’t be up here if they were worth anything.”
I knelt down and touched the satin dresses that were folded nicely and stacked inside a huge wooden crate. When I glanced up, Pam had disappeared. I spun around. “Guys?”
Nobody answered.
Frowning, I waved my flashlight around and saw my three companions staring at a painting on the other side of the wall.
“Zoey!” Hunter said. “C’mere! You’re not gonna believe this.”
I hurried over and glanced at the ancient painting. All four of our flashlight beams shined on it brightly, illuminating the swirling dust. When I saw what they were looking at, all I could do was gasp.
“Oh my gosh,” Pam whispered, touching my arm. “She freaking looks just like you!”
There was a life-sized portrait of a princess in a flowing V-neck gown and a diamond crown. Her long blonde hair hung in waves down to her small waist. I was shocked by her eyes, because they looked just like mine. Her royal look was accentuated with a crystal necklace exactly like the one I never took off, a family heirloom that had been in the Sanders family for generations. I was confused at the similarity, because I knew the painting had to be created decades ago. How could a royal princess from hundreds of years ago look like me? And how can I possibly own her necklace?
Hunter looked at the painting, then focused on my crystal pendant necklace. “Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, I might believe you’re wearing the same jewelry. It’s identical.”
Eric stepped closer, his mouth gaping. “I can’t even tell them apart.”
“Who is she?” I asked, slipping my cell phone out of my pocket and snapping a pic. My cell phone had a horrible camera that took bad-quality photos, especially in the dark, but I had to try.
“The nameplate says she’s Princess Isabella Montour,” Pam said. “That’s William’s sister.”
“William?” Eric said.
“Yeah, the guy in the history book…the one in Zoey’s dream. Prince William Bernard Montour.”
I had never believed in doppelgangers, but the painting had piqued my interest, and there were so many odd things going on already that I was beginning to doubt everything I’d come to hold true. “Why does she look so much like me? It’s just…eerie.”
Hunter shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“Guys, check this out.” Pam rushed over, grabbed the crown, and placed it on my head. When I tried to take it off, she scolded, “C’mon, Zoey. Humor us for a minute.” She pulled out a brush from her purse and went about combing my hair, muttering under her breath, “I just need a minute to give you the same hairstyle.” Then she adjusted the crown and took a step back, regarding me with pride. “There. My gosh! It’s uncanny!”
All three of them were staring at me like I was some kind of circus freak.
Eric took a step back and shook his head. “I can understand somebody looking like this princess, but I don’t understand the necklace. How can Zoey be wearing this exact necklace? It has to be a replica.”
“Or a hoax,” Pam blurted out. “Maybe this is some joke they’re saving for later.”
“No,” I said. “It’s only a picture. Besides, they couldn’t be playing a prank on us. This picture’s been hidden in the attic, so no one was supposed to find it.”
“You could pass for this princess,” Hunter winked, “except you’re way cuter.”
I smiled, flattered and blushing. Suddenly, flashes of light caught my eye. “Did you see that?” I slowly spun around. Goosebumps rose up on my neck as I stared at tiny, glowing orbs zigzagging around us. The entire room was blinking with thee weird, glowing balls, and high-pitched frequencies whizzed all around me, like a thousand electronic fireflies. It was the weirdest thing I’d ever encountered.
Eric’s piercing voice cut through the air. “What the heck?”
“Wh-what’s going on?” I shouted.
Pam’s eyes widened as she glanced around. “This place is flipping haunted, that’s what!”
Hunter and I locked gazes. “I dunno, but let’s get outta here,” he said.
Eric tugged at the large gold latch in the floor. “It’s stuck!”
“Pull harder, man!” Hunter demanded.
Groaning, Eric gave it another tug, then anther, until his knuckles turned white. “Not working, dude.”
“Quit being such a wimp, Eric!” Hunter yelled in frustration.
“You think you’re some big jock or something, why don’t you give it a try?”
Hunter walk over and yanked on it, but that didn’t work either.
Suddenly, something dawned on me: I knew we’d left the trapdoor open, so someone else had to have shut and locked it. I had no idea what was going on or who was messing with it, but I didn’t like it one bit.
“Oh my gosh!” Pam squealed.
I rushed over and pulled with every ounce of strength I possessed, but the door wouldn’t budge. I let go so Hunter could give it another attempt, since he was so much stronger than any of us. While he was pulling, I scanned the attic space for another exit, but I saw none. “Maybe if all four of us try to kick it open.” I didn’t want to destroy property, but we were alone in a dusty, dark attic with weird little orbs frolicking around us, and we’d do anything to get out.
“On three!” Hunter said. “One…two…three!”
We all kicked the trapdoor, to no avail. At that point, I was sure we’d pissed off some supernatural force by trespassing in the attic, and we didn’t have the strength to fight it or to break its hold on the door.
“What did we do to trigger those orbs?” Pam asked in a panic.
“Trespassing!” Eric said, echoing my thoughts.
“My thoughts exactly, and we opened the chest too,” I added. “It didn’t start till I put the crown on though.”
“That’s gotta be it,” Pam said, covering her head as yellow balls of light darted in every direction. “Take the darn thing off, Zoey, before I come and yank it off your head!” Pam was terrified, but unlike the rest of us, she made no effort to hide it.
I had forgotten I was still wearing the crown, so I jerked it off my head and put it back in its rightful place, then slammed the chest lid shut. “There!” I screamed. “You happy now?” I truly hoped that would appease the spirits. I didn’t believe in the supernatural world, but everything that was going on around us was blowing my naïve mind right out of the water. I truly hoped we hadn’t unleashed some kind of big-time curse.
Gazing around, I noticed that the orbs had disappeared—every single one of them. I let out a sigh of relief and quickly covered up the portrait by throwing the big white sheet over it, hoping to remove any trace of our meddling.
“There!” Pam yelled, her eyes darting around as if she talked to some invisible entity. “We put everything back. We’re sorry! Excuse us for being curious!”
Eric motioned us forward, his voice wavering. “C’mon! The door’s open. Let’s get out of here before this thing decides it’s not done with us yet.”
Not one of us wasted a moment in rushing down the ladder, almost tripping over one anot
her. A loud bang shook the walls, and the floor vibrated. My heart pounded, and I took a few deep breaths. Pam was screaming, and the thought occurred to me that in the movies, the screaming girl always gets slapped till she comes to her senses. It was tempting, but in the end, I decided against smacking my classmate and newfound friend. After all, one of us had to remain calm, and it was no time to lose my composure.
The glass chandelier swung back and forth menacingly, as if it might come crashing down on my head any second. My heart raced, and I didn’t stick around to see anymore. I ran through the corridor, cutting left, then right, until I found myself back in familiar territory.
In a desperate attempt to put distance between myself and the castle, I ran right out the doors, down the long path, and through the courtyard, with the others in tow. I just needed some fresh air and a minute to think. My heart was pounding so hard that I couldn’t focus. I wanted to comfort Pam, but my own hands were shaking as I tried to make sense of what just happened.
Pam clutched her heart, and Eric touched her back, as if to console her.
Everything we’d seen defied all rhyme and reason, and none of us could explain it away. That was what bothered me most of all—that there was no logical explanation.
I bent over to catch my breath, then looked up at Hunter. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Hunter gazed into my eyes. “I didn’t…until now.”
End of Installment #1.
To be continued…
My Haunted Fairytale (Book 2 in The Enchanted Castle Series) – Now Available – see picture below
Enchanted Castle - A Novelette (The Enchanted Castle Series) Page 4