Stumbling
(Modern AU)
Cat's palm felt along the damp, stone walls, feeling every bump and crack as she did. Her cell had died just minutes prior, and the enveloping darkness immediately after was practically claustrophobic, despite the castle's spaciousness. She wasn't one to panic, but she had snuck into the castle in the middle of the night, and nobody knew where she'd gone off to, nor even that she had gone. For all the Allens knew, Catherine was still in her bed at the fancy hotel they had taken her to.
Her parents' friends had been generous enough to take her on this trip to Austria, and here she was, alone in an abandoned castle. Or so she thought. After reading about witch trials and werewolf lore, as well as possible hauntings, there had been no way she would pass up a chance at exploring it. What she hadn't counted on, was that someone else was already inside. Multiple someones.
The ruins were in disrepair, and therefore unfit for public exhibition. Cat had willfully ignored any sign she came across, believing herself to be a competent enough adventurer to take care of herself. Being in one's early-twenties gave that level of undeserved confidence in one's capabilities. However, when she had stumbled upon a group of people in the depths of the ruins, her big head shrank right quick.
With no knowledge of whom it was she had found, all she knew was that she had almost been caught. Could these people be the real reason rumors still spread about strange happenings within the castle? Cat didn't stick around to find out. Instead, she had fled down a hallway, away from the room where their voices echoed, and ran pell-mell up a flight of stairs on the opposite side.
She only realized the stairs led to a lookout tower, after her phone had died, stealing away what little light the screen had offered. She hadn't dared use her phone's flashlight, so as not to risk the others finding her location. Who knew if those people were friendly explorers, like herself, a freaky cult, or some form of organized crime? As it was, her frantic footfalls thundered through the inky blackness.
Her lungs and calves were on fire, but she couldn't stop until she found the hatch that opened to the top of the tower. Unfortunately, this meant she was trapped. Who's voice had she heard faintly following behind her? Could it have been a ghost, or perhaps one of the people she was fairly sure were having a secret meeting of some kind? Her mind reeled with the possibilities of what fate might befall her if she couldn't escape. How could she add this story to her podcast, if she wound up d.ead???
@honorhearted