The Murdered Girl in the Castle

Chapter 1: Falling through time

Nick glanced up into the full moon above and wondered if he should really be breaking in to a centuries old castle in Paris. He shivered as the wind slightly prickled his skin and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He shrugged it off and climbed the fence surrounding the vast property that looked eerie in the light of the night. Bedraggled bushes and crumbling statues stood sentinel before a massive estate that no one had lived in for many years. Nick took out a piece of paper and read it again:

The Jewel of Kastak is purported to be missing during the 17th century and most historians believe it is still hidden in the Bordeaux mansion. Others feel it may have been lost due to the French Revolution that carried off the nobles of the land, but many suspect it is hidden in the bedroom of a young countess, Charlotte Bordeaux, who was murdered before her betrothal to the Duke of Dourdan.

A black crow perched on a low limb of a tree cawed and startled Nick. His heart raced and he knew it was now or never. He didn't take the three hour bus from London just to chicken out now. Nick jogged the distance to the main house and threw a rock into the window. The sound of breaking glass made him cower as Nick despised loud sounds, but what was a thief to do? Nick cleared away the shards of glass and entered the oppressively silent house.

He clicked on his flashlight and a large ballroom with fading wallpaper awaited him in the dark. He could smell the years of dirt caked into the walls and felt uneasy in the cavernous mansion. There's no one else here, he said to himself. To prove it to himself, he shouted "Hello!" His hello echoed through the halls and answered him back. Nick took out a crude map of the house and walked through the decrepit building, avoiding scurrying mice and gaping holes where he could fall to his death.

Finally, he reached the room of the countess and was disappointed it was yet another ugly, deteriorating room. As he shined the flashlight around the room, he saw a bookcase nestled in the back, which was odd because there was little furniture in the whole of the place. Nick approached it and felt that it was loose. He realized then it was a façade for a secret entryway and pushed the shelf back to reveal stone steps that led down. He stepped on the steps and fell through to the basement.

When he regained consciousness after the fall, he looked about and knew he wasn't in the same place anymore. He was in a small room with brooms and rakes, and didn't know how he got there. Nick shook his head and stood up. He opened the adjoining door and daylight flooded his eyes. He immediately covered them and then saw the old castle of before had been transformed into a bustling mansion with servants in the distance and the building restored to its former glory.

Nick panicked. Had he just traveled through time? Was he hallucinating? Was any of this real? He slapped himself and it stung. Not doing that again, he thought. At that moment, a small blonde boy walked by him and screamed in terror of him. Nick put his finger to his lips and tried to shush the boy, but he ran away screaming. Nick pressed himself against the wall and his heart pounded out of his chest. He heard voices and footsteps coming closer, and he ran back into the closet.

Nick pushed back a cloth and ran up the stone steps into the room he was in before. He stepped out and shoved the bookcase back in and sighed in relief. He looked to the right of him and saw a young girl combing her hair at a table. The girl stared back at him in the mirror and her mouth dropped. Nick put his hands up. "Please don't scream!"

The girl turned around. "Who are you?"

Nick wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My name is Nick. I think something happened to me and I'm not supposed to be here. Who are you?

The girl put down her golden brush. "My name is Charlotte."