𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 03. 𝕴𝖓 𝖂𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖍 𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝕬𝖓 𝕬𝖈𝖖𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊

"Lo... The church lady told me to shift you two from this room. So, get up! We're leaving." The girl who trapped Rhys commanded them.

Rhys was still feeling asphyxiation from their last encounter. Also, his body was feeling numb because of those constraints from before. He couldn't get up. Blaze was the first one to be back on feet. He helped his best friend get up. Both of them started following that young girl. At this point, restraining was futile. They have understood it in a hard way...

The young girl opened the dark chamber and now, they could see the light. For the first time after they came to 'The Sanctuary', they could see light.  Without light they were blinded. Light has an energy that can make a human eye see. But, it's not just about sight...

Whether it's daylight or artificial light, light draws attention to textures, colors, and forms of a space, helping architecture of human mind achieve its true purpose. Vision is the single most important sense through which we enjoy whatever the world has to offer. Light is the stimulus that influences most of the human perception, and the psychophysical well-being of an individual in everyday life. Light thus, becomes not only the "Cognitive Map" and "Emotional Driver",but also a "Gestalting Device" for the perceiver, in order to understand and interpret the external reality. The amount and type of light around us, directly affect our concentration, appetite, mood, and many other aspects of daily life. Much like it can make us feel emotions more strongly and even impact our decision-making.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵... 𝓦𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽...

And so were our main protagonists. Rhys was in a bad condition. He couldn't even open his eyes properly but, Blaze could realize how dark the surroundings were becoming with each passing step. It was like the 'light' of 'The Sanctuary' was itself 'dark'. Further surroundings shocked Blaze and he forgot he had to walk.

There were shattered walls, broken columns, trees thrusting through crumbling floors... It was as if that place has lost itself a long, long time ago. But, Blaze clearly remembered when he came here for the first time, it was like any other church. Perfectly normal... But judging from the surroundings he was seeing now, he could understand that 'The Sanctuary' was already crippling from inside. He could see that the church, though looked okay from outside, was truly a ruin from inside.

That young girl took them in front of a room. The door was made of wood and was painted in a fading Cobalt blue. A lock-like structure was adorning the door. It looked as if an antelope was facing the ground. It was probably a bighorn male, called rams, which are famous for their large, curled horns. These impressive growths are a symbol of status and a weapon used in epic battles. Blaze instantly recognized the animal.

Reason?

Mavis, his fiance, was Wildlife Biologist: A scientist who studies wildlife, including what they eat, how they reproduce, and how they use their habitat. They study specific ecosystems or animal populations, and currently, she was working on buffaloes and antelopes. Thinking about how, Mavis always talked about the wild buffalo supremacy, made Blaze smile a little. However bad the situation was, he knew he can't give up. His giving up would, most possibly end five lives. And that was a huge burden to carry for a simple man like himself.

That young girl took out a strange looking key. He couldn't really see how the key looked but, the end resembled a snake in zig-zag position, as if crawling on a slippery floor. The door opened without making any creepy sound. Blaze was amazed at how silent it was here. Logically, everything should make a sound. After all, everything here was old, dead or rotten.

𝓐𝓷𝓭 '𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓭' 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓲𝓼𝓮...

"Get inside." She commanded.

"What got you so cranky Jez... Looks like poor Jez got scolded by her guardian." Blaze's head snapped towards the noise coming from the room. Even Rhys has opened his eyes to see and hear the noise 'The Sanctuary' had to offer. It was the voice of a female.

Blaze looked sideways to notice that the girl had a twisted look on her face. She was clearly in no mood to see or face whoever resided inside.

"Stop making conclusions on your own... You Stu..."

"If I were you, I would be more careful about what to say when I am facing myself." The young girl pressed her lips firmly as if trying not to speak. Whoever resided here, clearly knew the weak spot for that young girl.

"If you were me, you would have been free. You realize that, don't you?" The young girl tried talking boldly but, she was clearly afraid of saying something triggering in front of the room. Her trembling body was already a good enough proof of her fear.

"Free, you say. That, I will be. Come closer and see who's free after you open my bindings." The voice said with unwavering confidence. The thought of going inside and undoing her bindings clearly terrified girl. She took few steps back.

"Just you wait. There'll be a day when you'll regret whatever you say." The young girl gritted her teeth saying this.

"Of course there will be a day when I'll regret my words..." This sentence seemed to give some confidence to that young girl and she lifted her feet to walk forward, towards the room.

"But, I am not sure you'll be alive to witness it." All colours drained from the girl's face and sweat started forming over her forehead. She took few steps back. Her trembling had turned into shaking. Fear was evident in her eyes.

"Get inside. You two. You'll regret it. And I'll witness it with my very own eyes. Just you wait." The girl fisted her hands. A faint red light started forming the outlines for her fingers. She lifted her left hands in the air and sliced the air, as if trying to cut atmosphere. Silver chains started emerging from ground and they captured Rhys and Blaze. With a thud, the chains took them down and started taking them inside the room. Once inside, they went inside the ground.

"I see. Your favorite game still remains 'Chains and Chains' huh? Honestly, I took it for granted that even fools grow mature. My bad...  When will you grow up though. Can you give me a date? I would like to see you become a little mature before you 𝓓𝓲𝓮... "

The young girl clearly didn't like the idea of her words becoming reality and thus, closed the door with a 'thud'.

This room, unlike other rooms, had a large glass ceiling as roof. The moon was shining above them with it's full glory.

"Who are you?" Blaze looked above and was shocked to see a girl, no, lady bound in chains talking to him. This voice was able to shake that girl easily but, now, her voice had softened and she was asking with curious intentions.

She was tied in a very strange manner. Both her feet were bound in short chains buckled on the floor. Her one hand was tied with a single large rusty chain, buckled from the wall. A pack of cigarettes was lying beside her. And she could use her one hand, which wasn't tied.

The lady had very unique facial features. Her waist length platinum blonde hair was almost white and blue lines were visible throughout her her. She had bangs which were also having pretty blue lines. This hair was completely unnatural. It was impossible to achieve it both, by birth and by, human means. Her eyes were equally blue and she was wearing a necklace with a hairpin as a pendant across her neck. This hairpin shaped as a butterfly and was adorned by blue glowing crystals. Everything about her spoke of serenity.

"What's it?" She asked while looking down towards Blaze who was just looking at her for a long time. Then, he remembered his best friend and turned to help him sit properly.

After some help, Rhys managed to sit across her with Blaze beside him. Blaze was still weighting his options about what to say to her. She could probably, help them. And he knew that.

"Rhys. My name's Rhys. This is Blaze, my best friend. Who are you?" Blaze found his friend asking that lady in a small hoarse voice.

"Me? Name's Sylvie and consider me your acquaintance." She smiled while looking towards the ceiling of 'The Sanctuary'.

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Number of words (Excluding Author's Note) :- 1456

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Author's Note :-

Finally, I didn't really think that I would ever be able to finish this chapter. I mean, I was so unenthusiastic about it but, today I got to know about this book qualifying round one of Open Novella Contest 2021. And, obviously I had to work so that I could complete the word limit till the next round. Honestly, that's so tough. After all, my inspiration is so gone at this moment. But, I still managed to do this much for now. Of course I couldn't do it without chocoSK ... (We promised each other that this time we're going to complete our book in the time limit only and you know I am putting so much extra effort into fulfilling my side of promise so, don't leave your side unfinished. We'll get through this together. I believe in you and us. It's only the prompt I don't believe in...)

Anyways, in today's update we got to know that the church's young girl is afraid of something too. Better to say 'someone' than 'something'. Let me know what you think of this chapter and Sylvie... And what could the next chapter be about?

Till then. Take care of yourself and those around you and thank you so much for reading this book.