---- They drove it inside and I made sure to hide among the shadows on the walls.


    Inside, the air was heavier, thicker with a stifling sense of dread.


    Shadows clung to every surface, writhing like living things.


    My footsteps were light, careful, but my heart thundered in my chest as I moved deeper into the structure, my eyes darting to everyer for signs of danger.


    The deeper I ventured, the more the castle revealed its darkness.


    There were no torches here, and I was surrounded by pitch dark.


    When suddenly my foot slipped and my hands frailed for any support.


    I grabbed what felt like a railing and my dying heart learned to breathe again.


    Fine.


    Iam fine.


    Breathe: Furrowing my brows, I tried to feel what was under my feet and the realisation was quick.


    Stairs.


    And they were descending down to the ---- eee basement.


    I walked further down and I found myself in a cavernous dungeon that smelled of decay and despair.


    Cells lined the walls, their bars dark with rust and something that might have been blood.


    One would have thought they were empty cells from historical wars where once prisoners were kept.


    Wrong.


    There were people here.


    T could hear heavy breaths.


    I peeked in and my hand ms on my mouth as I realised who they were.


    Inside them were women, their figures barely recognizable as human.


    Their skin was pale and sickly, stretched over fragile bones.


    Some huddled in corners, their eyes hollow, while others stood, staring nkly as though their spirits had long since fled.


    My heart clenched.


    So this was the ce where those missing woman ---- were being taken to.


    But for what? What is even going on here? l approached the nearest cell with a bated breath and I saw a young woman sitting against the wall, her hair matted and her breathingboured.


    Hey! I whisper, trying to grab her attention but she continues to nkly stare at the wall ahead of her.


    Tcan help you! I try again, gripping the bars, and moving closer, desperation wing at me.


    T''ll get you out of here.


    Her head snapped up, and for a moment, I think I saw hope flickered in her dull eyes.


    But then she screameda raw, animalistic sound that echoed through the dungeon making me literally flinch in fear.


    ---- eee = Leave! she shrieked, her voice cracking with panic.


    You don''t belong here! Go before they find you!