“Okay...” I nodded and started walking towards the door.
“ANABELLE SAYS SHE HAS figured out what we have to do.” I walked into the kitchen area and beckoned for Randall and Boone.
“Can she save you?” Boone was the first to reach my side as I turned and headed back towards the main part of the castle.
“I don’t know.” I let out a sigh.
All six of us gathered in the main part of the castle and waited for Anabelle to come out of the library. Hope was a funny thing. I hadn’t really felt it until I held Anabelle in my arms for the first time, but even in that moment, I knew it would be short lived. I wasn’t sure what her revelation would be, but it seemed to come when she held my cloak. There were murmurs in the room as everyone discussed the possibility of escaping. I didn’t know if escape could actually save my life. Even if we found a way out of the castle, my rose would die. I also wasn’t sure if breaking the curse would have negative consequences for us. I had considered it a few times over the years and I wondered if breaking the curse would also break the magic that kept us alive. We didn’t get sick or diseased. We didn’t really age outside of the ghastly beasts we turned into when our savage nature forced us to give up the things that we were accustomed to as mortal men. That was merely skin deep and easily washed away when Anabelle recognized that our humanity was still buried beneath the muck. A silence came over the room when Anabelle appeared at the doorway holding my cloak in her hand.
“This castle—the curse that surrounds it—is in a preservation spell.” She walked over and handed me my cloak. “This cloak was made when you first arrived?”
“Yes.” I nodded in confirmation.
“Even with the best of care, there’s no way it would still be in this condition after two hundred years. Everything in the castle is preserved. This would also explain why seeds Randall found in the kitchen grew crops, and why stuff that should be rusted or decayed is still pristine—outside of some dust.” She looked around the room. “It’s also why you’re not aging.”
“Interesting...” Gill raised his eyebrows in surprise. “But how does this help us?”
“The only thing I’ve seen decay since I came here is Alexander’s rose.” She looked to Gill and then back to me. “It started to decay the moment it was plucked from the vine.”
“Randall, you know how to grow stuff, right? You’re growing fresh vegetables in your greenhouse.” She looked over to Randall.
“I do, yeah.” He nodded.
“I believe the roses are the source of the magic. If the witch truly wanted you all to suffer for eternity, why make it so easy for you to die?” Anabelle looked around the room. “If we can duplicate her magic, then we could all walk out of this castle together.”
“How would we do that?” Braden seemed interested, but confused.
“I believe we need to root Alexander’s rose and see if we can make it grow again.” She motioned for Randall to follow her. “I saw it happen once with a flower my grandmother put in a vase when I was younger. It literally grew roots out of the stem.”
“Yeah.” Randall nodded. “I’ve done that before. So, if we can plant Alexander’s rose and make it grow roots, you think it would save his life?”
“I do.” Anabelle nodded quickly. “If it works, then Alexander will be able to leave this place, as long as he keeps his rose with him.”
“And if it works for him...” Shane’s words trailed off.
“It would work for all of us!” Braden’s face lit up as he finished his twin brother’s sentence.
“WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN you are free?” Anabelle’s voice broke my thoughts. I had been standing in the library, thinking about the future for almost an hour.
“I don’t even know.” I looked over at her. “This castle is all I have known for so long. It might be nice to see Washington D.C. in this era—to see what become of the world I knew.”
“I don’t know how it was in your day, but it seems to be mired in controversy these days. Our last presidential election was a bit of a mess.” She laughed and sat down beside me. “You could come live with me—all of you could.”
“I’m not sure any of us should stay in one spot for long. The witch will eventually figure out we are gone. For all we know, she could be watching us right now.” I looked around the room and then back to Anabelle. “Although I think she would have probably showed her face by now if that was the case.”
“If we get out of this castle, we will find a way to defeat her. The world has changed. We have made all sorts of advancements. There i
s no way she can be all-powerful and unbeatable—maybe she was at the time when this castle was built, but not now.” Anabelle shook her head angrily. “She won’t have to find us, because I’m going to be hunting her.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea.” I reached out and put my hand on Anabelle’s leg. “I would rather stay imprisoned in this castle than for her to hurt you. What if she did the same thing to you and trapped you somewhere—we would never find you.”
“I believe you would.” She smiled. “I believe in you—all of you.”
RANDALL PLANTED THE rose and I wasn’t sure it would even make it until the potential roots could grow. Anabelle watched the rose almost all day and night. My desire for her was strong, but she seemed determined to stare at my rose until she saw some sign of hope. I sat with her some during the day, but it was maddening to watch the last of my life tick away. When the rose was on the table and I rarely saw it, I could forget the impending doom. It seemed like the flower only withered in the dirt. Randall tended to it and did his best, but when another petal fell, I thought it wasn’t going to work.
I tried to coax Anabelle to leave the thought behind and consider leaving the castle entirely, but she was undeterred. Her devotion was as beautiful as she was and when we went to bed without her in our arms, we did not sleep well. My dreams were haunted by the witch and the fear of losing Anabelle. It was more frightening than the feeling of my own life coming to an end.
Chapter 16: Anabelle