‘Where did you find those?’ she said, a look of horror spreading across her face. ‘You’ve been in that room! The locked room. The one I forbade you to enter – ever.’
‘I…..’
‘What have you brought? And why?
‘I… I rescued them... books should be read.’ I held out the books that had drawn me to them. I'd blown off the dust, wanting to feel the leather bindings.
'Rescued them? That was a really really stupid thing to do.' Then ‘No, no. I don’t want to look… You didn’t open any of them, did you?’
I nodded.
‘Oh my God. Really? It will end badly for us both now. Why did you have to go in there? Why?’
The candles gutted and the temperature dropped – enough to freeze your blood. It felt like a malign mist had entered the room. My heart was hammering away. Sweat was forming on my sister’s brow too. She was gasping.
My legs gave way. I was on the floor. There was a terrific weight on my chest. Like an elephant. Such pain. I couldn’t breathe. Blackness enveloped me.
