Waerham Castle (1)

Rest of the evening passed seeing a few more patients and Amelia drove back to her flat. All she wanted in her life was peace and a place where she would be away from her father and stepmother. For that she had enrolled herself in a medical school far from her hometown. But little did she know that for her post graduation, she had to come back to her town Nianaq, which was located beside River Boltou because this was the only hospital that accepted. She was pursuing PG in General Surgery and had joined the hospital only two months back. 

Sasha was her roommate, a nurse in making. She was her best friend, confidante, punch bag and like a mother hen when they were in the school together. 

As soon as she opened the door of the flat, Sasha shrieked, “Ameliaaaa!” she went and hugged her tightly. “Xavier has called. He wants me to attend the costume party being held at the Waerham Castle tonight.” 

“Great!” Amelia said and walked past her to her room. 

Sasha trotted like a pony after her and shrieked again. “You are coming with me,” she said as she poked her on her shoulder. 

“No, I am not,” Amelia, replied in a decisive tone. 

“Come on, it’s Friday night!” said Sasha as she browsed through her closet. 

“I have a busy day tomorrow.” Besides Amelia had a horrible feeling in her chest when she thought about Daniel. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the breakup. Why did he have to be such a drunkard? And why did he flirt with another girl so suggestively? Everything was so complicated that she wanted some time alone to sort her mess. 

“You are also invited for the party and so that means that you have to go there with me.” 

“I am not in the mood, Sasha!” Amelia retaliated. “Stop pressing me!” 

“Don’t think about Daniel and stop moping, Lia! He was an asshole and not worthy of you.” She went and sat down with her on the bed. “It is a costume party and it is going to be so much fun. We are going to the Waerham Castle.” She was so excited that she clapped her hands. “Who knows you might find someone better there?” she said in a dramatic voice, wiggling her eyebrows. 

The rumors were that that property was finally bought by an extremely wealthy man

after staying vacant for more than fifty years because of its sky-high price. Perched atop the Aurora Cliff, it was located almost hundred feet above the river. Built in the fourteenth century, it was a difficult structure to be taken care of. It was built over the mountain beside the river and was spread over four acres. Surrounded by thick vegetation, it was intimidating and hardly ever anyone visited that area. 

“Xavier worked for its restoration team and so he is being called for the party.” Sasha jumped out of the bed and went to the closet. “I will not let you talk out of this party. Now wear this dress and I will do the rest,” she tossed a black dress at me and walked out of her room. 

Amelia sighed. Sasha became pretty insistent when she wanted to. “Okay,” Amelia rolled her eyes. 

She wanted to visit her father soon. Being in the same town, the family expected her to stay with them, but the way her stepmother had been harping the same tune of giving her away in marriage to some Xikuth ever since she turned eighteen that she had enough of the nonsense. Since her grades were nice, she entered pre-med school at the opposite end of the country and then managed to get in the medical school with good scholarship. She suspected that her father helped her monetarily but she never asked. 

“I am planning to visit my parents on Sunday,” she informed Sasha. 

Amelia wore the tight, mini-black dress and paired it with black heels. She let her black hair lose. She was applying mascara when dressed like a poison ivy, Sasha walked back into the room. Sasha held her shoulders, sized her up and then picked up black kohl from vanity. She used her golden dust over her eyelids and then gave her a red hairband that had two red horns jutting out. 

“Are you mad?” Amelia shouted. “I am a twenty-five year old woman. Don’t make me dress like a teenager!” 

“Dr. Amelia, you have to wear those boots and carry a demon tail in your hand,” she shrugged and gave her the black, synthetic, horrible tail. 

“This is disgusting,” she protested. 

Ten minutes later, they heard Xavier’s car honking in front of the flat. Sasha grabbed Amelia’s arm and pulled her out of the flat. Xavier let out a low whistle when he saw them. “You girls look amazing.” 

Amelia raised her eyebrow. She felt like an unwanted, stupid demon barging into someone’s party. This was a bad idea. 

As the car sped on the highway, the overhead clouds rumbled. “I hope it doesn’t rain tonight,” Amelia blurted. 

“I am going to punch you if you don’t stop worrying,” Sasha said in a menacing tone. 

Soon the car turned into the long winding path towards the castle. As they neared, Amelia noticed the four thick, round towers that dominated the skyline of the Waerham Castle. The massive grey walls made from stones of varying sizes and shapes appeared unique. The moonlight shone on its walls bathing its silvery grey stones. The wall rose high as if touching the clouds that occasionally threatened the earth with lightning. 

It was already 8PM by the time they reached. They stopped in front of a portico where over a two-dozen cars were parked. It was so quiet on the outside that for a moment Amelia thought that they had come to the wrong location or to the wrong venue. “Are you sure we are at the right place?” she asked holding Sasha’s hand. 

A boy ran out of nowhere and quickly opened the door for the ladies to alight. They walked up to a dimly lit main entrance, a heavy oak door exquisitely crafted in old filigree style. The boy paced ahead of them and opened the door. The trio walked inside—in a vast hall full of strange people, strange pageantry.