Let the Maze of my Design Carry you on

Chapter Ⅳ

Frederick opened his eyes with great difficulty, forcing himself to blink a few times before looking around. He was in his room in the manor, with the brown paint paper and the white sheets. Although the curtains were closed, the sunlight was filtering through, dimly lightening the room. The pianist straightened up in his bed, grimacing in pain when he did so. He stood up and walked to his mirror, where he took off his pyjama top, only to notice very obvious red marks on his lower abdomen, his hips and his wrist, as if he had been carried with very little consideration. Come to think of it, he did not recall going back to his room the evening before. He sighed for so long he was about to pass out, when a knock on the door made him startle.

“Mr. Kreiburg? Are you awake?”

Frederick recognized Alice’s voice.

“I am, I’ll join you soon, no need to worry.”

The man walked to the window, opening the curtains in a sharp gesture, and looked up, noticing that the sun was already high in the sky. It was surprising that he overslept, considering how uneasy he was in the manor. He quickly dressed up in an all black suit, and went down to the dining room to gather with the others. Only his breakfast was still there, as the others already finished theirs. The sitting placement was still the same as the day before, plus Melody who was between Alice and Orpheus, and Norton between Frderick and Mrs. Plinius.

“Good morning.”

He addressed everyone, unwilling to greet all of them individually. Alice and Melody smiled at him in synchronisation, which made Frederick slightly giggle, because seeing them sitting next to each other, both in black and white dresses, with their golden hair made in the same hairstyle caused them to look like two sides of the same mirror. Orpheus was busy scribbling something, and Frederick paid no attention to it. It seemed Mrs. Plinius and Norton were arguing, but Frederick entering the room interrupted them, and they gave each other a death stare before looking elsewhere.

“Did you sleep soundly?” Alice asked.
“Yes I did, surprisingly. Thank you for asking. Did you?”
“We all slept like babies yesterday I believe.” Alice seemed to be looking for appropriate words to bring a subject.
“What’s wrong? Please, speak your mind.”
“Do you remember yesterday’s dinner?”

Frederick tried to ask his brain, but nothing came.

“I believe I skipped it because I have no memory of it.”
“None of us do, actually. This might be odd but what is the last thing you remember?”

Then again, Frederick tried his best to remember.

“I was talking with Norton, after you had lunch, but I also skipped it because I was feeling ill. Memory was sleeping next to us if I recall well.”

Memory nodded in agreement to Frederick's statement.

“And then?” Alice asked.
“And then…”

Frederick found nothing to say. The next thing he remembered was an absurd dream. Which means he completely forgot everything that happened during the span of at least 6 hours.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I remember anything else.”
“Did you experience a bizarre dream last night?” Mrs. Plinius asked this time.

Frederick was getting nervous. First because he felt like he was a criminal being interrogated by the police and he was testifying some sort of alibi and second because they were guessing pretty well everything.

“Yes. I dreamed we were pursued by something in an old racecourse. Does that possess any importance?”
“It does. Because we all had the same dream. Last question Mr. Kreiburg. Do you maybe suffer from injuries you can’t explain?”