As we're trotting along a trail lined with many trees, I look around and feel as if I'm in a movie. The scenery is very similar to those I've seen in movies. Much to my surprise, this horseback riding thing is quite easy; Amelia and I are getting along great. Nick is ahead of me, riding with his shoulders back, and his chin is up a little. He's proud. So handsome...

I follow him down a small hill where we come upon a hunchbacked gardener wearing a large, old and tattered brimmed hat. He's digging a hole and throwing the dirt into a small trailer behind a golf cart. We stop to say hello.

"Eduard...good morning." Nick says.
I wait for the gardener to turn so I can see his face. As soon as he does, I know for sure he's the one I saw before. He has an eye-patch and a piece of straw dangling from his teeth.

Squinting, he says, "Mr. Francis, good morning!" Oh, he sounds very much like...very much like Igor from Frankenstein if I do say so myself! Wow! I quickly look at Nick who smirks slightly at him. "Eduard, this is Miss Ivy Summers." He looks at me. Eduard bows while holding his hat over his large belly, "Miss Summers, it's a pleasure to meet you."
I nod once, slowly, "Yes, likewise Mr. Eduard-" "Dillinger." He finishes for me.
"Mr. Eduard Dillinger..." I smile gently, "May I ask...did you saddle the horses?"
He looks at the horses quickly and says, "Are they not right ma'am?"
Nick speaks up and says, "They are as they should be Eduard. What are you doing there?" Eduard glances from me to him, back and forth, then he looks back at the trailer while scratching his balding head, "I'm going to plant an orange tree here."
Nick raises an eyebrow, then scans the area, "There is too much shade here though...isn't there?" Eduard blinks at him, "Sir, it needs to have half shade."
Nick smiles, "Ah, spoken like an expert."

"Yes, well... Miss Ivy," Eduard laughs a tad as he then points off to a part of the castle, "I know I'm not seen in there much, but I live in that end of the castle. You know–near the greenhouse." He nods up at me. "Oh," I say with a kind smile. Nick sighs softly, "Well...time is slipping away. Let us continue our little tour. Eduard, do not forget that mound you left near the greenhouse."
"Oh! Yes sir–Of course!"
"Very Good" Nick nods back at him and snaps his reigns to head off. As we move away, I look over my shoulder at Eduard and see him smiling like a grandfather at me. I give him a last nod, "Again, nice to meet you Mr. Dillinger!" I wave at him as I follow behind Nick.
"You too Miss Summers!" This gardener guy makes me shiver a bit, but for the most part he doesn't bother me much. He seems pretty innocent-minded.

-Walter-

While walking to Leonardo's boathouse, I look at the partly cloudy sky and around at the trees. I'm enjoying this cool autumn breeze. It won't be long before it begins to snow. I do like that weather.

Upon my arrival at his door, he opens it before I can knock. I lower my hand and smile at him, "Good morning to you Leonardo; I've come to retrieve the mail." He seems surprised.
"Well now, that's a switch." He chuckles and offers for me to step inside.
"Why, thank you." I go just inside the door and wait while he begins talking as he walks to a table where he keeps the mail.

"How are things at the castle? And that girl–Ivy?"
"Nothing quite out of the ordinary... Miss Summers is a nice young lady. Mr. Francis really fancies her. They are out horseback riding at the moment."

He sets the mail aside and smiles slyly, "Maybe he will marry this one. Would you like some coffee?"
"Yes I would...please,"
He raises a finger, "I've got just the thing! Here–Let me show you." I watch him walk through a hall to his kitchen, and I follow.

It looks like he bought some new pictures to hang on the walls. They're mostly coastal scenes. That doesn't make sense to me...we being on the coast, I think to myself.

As we enter his kitchen, he opens a cupboard, saying, "Esmeralda gave me some new kind of coffee. I didn't think I would like it at first because I like to stick with what I know, but I tried it and it was like gulping down heaven. It's a Brazilian blend with vanilla extract. Would you like to try it?" I look at it and then at him, "Well...I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
He points at me and then starts making our coffee in his small coffeepot.

"How are the ladies?" he asks. I pull a chair out from his small kitchen dining table and gently sit down, then fold my hands on my lap, "They are curious about Miss Summers, just as you are...or maybe more."
"Ahh...I understand. What about Mr. Vladoiu?"
"What about him?"
"Does he know of her?"
"I don't know, to be honest." I say.

He crosses his arms over his chest with an eyebrow rising, "Do you ever wonder why he doesn't come here?" I ride my finger up the side of my face, resting my elbow on the table, "Yes, but it isn't my concern."
"Come on, you have worked here longer than me."
I look at him somewhat dryly, "Only two years longer."
He shrugs, "That's plenty of time to start wondering about it."
"Well, we all understand Mr. Vladoiu owns other homes. Mr. Francis has told me that this castle is the place he likes the least."
"I say this is a paradise...but what could be paradise to him?" He scoffs.
I raise a hand a little, "We may never know."
The coffeepot beeps.

He turns and prepares our cups. "Cream and sugar?"
"Hmm..." I have to think about it, since this is a different sort of coffee. "Yes please–Cream and sugar." He makes it for me and then joins me at the table with his cup.

He laughs a bit, "I tell you, it surprised me to see you at my door this morning to get the mail."
I smile, "First of all, thank you for the coffee." I lift it up, "And I decided to do something a little different today. I usually go for a walk in the mornings, you know that."
"True, true." he takes a sip of his coffee. I do the same with mine and look around the room swallowing. My eyes quickly switch back to him, "Oh my, this truly is good."
"Told you!" He grins. I let out a small hum at him, "Yes, yes you did. Tell me, why are you so chipper this morning?"
"What do you mean? I'm always like this."
"I don't know. Maybe I just finally noticed." I drink some more, then I look at my watch as an excuse and finish my coffee quickly. "Well, I must get moving. Thank you again for the coffee. Maybe Esmeralda can get me a pound or two that I can share with the other staff."
"Yes, I'll talk to her. Thanks for coming by." He walks me to the front door and shakes my hand. "Don't be a stranger." He says. I smile at him and we wave to each other as I leave.

"Hm, nice fellow." I smile to myself, walking away.

Now that I've retrieved the mail and returned to the castle, I head to the elevator. Instead of taking the stairs to my office on the second floor, I choose this for once. But I realize that after a moment, it's not working. I sigh, "Here we go again. This thing is older than I am." I see Angel walking toward me with Christine by her side. They look confused. By what–Maybe it's the elevator.

"Walter..." Angel says, "Have you seen Maria? We all have been paging her but she won't respond." I look from her to Christine and then over their heads across the room in thought. "Well no...as a matter of fact, I have not."
"She never returned to the maids' office. She's usually finished and back by 8. It's almost an hour past." Christine tells me. I calmly raise my hands, "Ladies, I'm sure everything is fine. I will see if I can find her. Don't worry. Continue your own duties." The two look at each other, then at me. They nod carefully and leave.

I suspiciously turn back and start for the stairs to the second floor. I try the elevator there, pressing the 'up' button a few times, but nothing happens. "Well...that's odd."

I walk farther down the hall and go around the left corner, up the spiral staircase. Once I am at the 3rd floor elevator, I notice the doors are open. It's dark in there. Apparently, the power is out. I move closer and immediately realize the elevator is not on the 3rd floor at all. Quickly, I go to a utility closet to collect a flashlight, then I return and shine the light down the shaft.

Squinting at it, I can barely understand what I'm seeing down there because it's so dark. Just as my eyes adjust and focus, I recognize there is a body down there with other things around it; a cart and dishware. It looks like Maria! Her body is twisted up among the cables. I clutch my chest; the breath has almost left me. I nearly drop the flashlight. As calmly as I can, I shut the doors a bit, move away from it and take the stairs down to my office. When I get there, I privately page Eduard and tell him to meet me at the stable. Just after, I take a moment to breathe. I am not sure what happened but this is unbelievable.

I page the maids to meet me in their office, then I sigh and make my way downstairs to the first floor. As soon as arrive, I inform them they must remain in their office until I give further notice. They can't know Maria is dead yet. They ask me if this concerns her and also if they are in some sort of trouble. I say "no," and "stay calm."

I hurry out as fast and carefully as I can, going through the corridors to the stable. It takes me a few moments because I never run anywhere.

Eduard and I meet by Amelia's gate; he has a very concerned and slightly impatient look. Quietly, I say, "There has been a tragic accident with one of the maids. I need you to find Mr. Francis and tell him to return to the castle as soon as possible. Tell him to meet me in the rear foyer." He nods quickly, "Of course–Yes sir!" He hurries out to his golf cart and drives off. I turn and rush back inside the castle. "Damn it...damn it!" I still can't believe it. How could Maria have done this? I must contact the harbor police.

-Ivy-

Nick and I ride out of the trees, into a large clearing. Automatically, my sight sets on three archery targets in the middle of the open land. Nick does archery? Sweet!
We slow to a stop.

"I come out here early in the morning sometimes." he says, then he looks at me, "When I need to clear my mind, I do target practice." That's...interesting.
"Are you any good at it?" I ask. He scoffs, "Considering I've done this for decades, I'm skilled enough to hit the center every time." Oh come on, he's only 32! How many decades–2? He sees the face I'm making and shakes his head, "You don't believe me?" Uh oh...here we go with the doubt thing. "How many decades?" I ask. He stops smiling for a second, but then he quickly does it again and looks around, "Well, it feels like many decades. I exaggerate sometimes." I stare at him a little. "Okay." I look ahead again, "Is there anything else you do out here?"

"Well yes! Watch!" I quickly lift my eyebrows. Before I know it, he yanks back on Stelian's reigns, making him suddenly neigh and stand up on two legs, then he shouts, "HA!" Stelian takes off running and Nick starts laughing and leaning in close to his neck. This startles Amelia. She does the same as Stelian and almost knocks me off when jumping up on her hind legs, neighing. I scream, "WHOA, WHOA! NICK!" Amelia rushes forward after Stelian. I take a tight hold of her reigns while trying not to belt out another louder scream.

We almost catch up when Nick maneuvers around one of the targets. Amelia hurries behind and tries to meet up with him again but just as we get close enough, he abruptly stops. Amelia suddenly jumps up like before and I try to snatch the reigns but instead fall off her back. BAM! Down I go, flat on my back. I hear Nick burst out laughing as Amelia runs away. He rides up to look down at me and finds me glowering up at him. It's kind of hard to do with the sun in my eyes.

"Are you alright?" he chuckles. I throw my hand back above my head to snatch my hat from the ground, then I sit straight up and shove it back on, "Oh YES, I'm fine!" He belts out another insane laugh. I stand up and brush myself off while looking for Amelia. Just then, I feel him tap my shoulder. I whirl around to him. He offers to help me up onto Stelian. "There is no way you will get her back after she's found a good place to graze." he gestures me to follow his eyes over to the far, far left. With an upset glare, I do. Oh great–Amelia is way out there near the trees, eating a very green patch of grass. I look back up at Nick, sighing, "Ok." I take his hand and he helps me up, which is a little difficult to do. He turns his head, showing his profile, "You will have to hold onto me." Whoa, wait. Me–holding onto him? I blush.

As I put my arms around him, I can sense he's grinning wide like he just won something. He flicks his reigns and we calmly, and slowly, ride back toward the stables–Or so, that's where I hope we're going... But just then, we both see Eduard coming out of some trees in his golf cart. He's looking right at us with urgency. I look at the curious Nick staring off at him. He starts walking us in Eduard's direction.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"I don't know."

We stop riding and he gets off Stelian, "Excuse me for one moment." He walks up to Eduard and I watch the calm but greatly unsettled behavior of the gardener who speaks very quietly. Whatever they're talking about, I see Nick suddenly grow a little tense and a bit worried. He nods at Eduard and comes back to me.

"I need you to go with Eduard back to the stables. I must return to the castle for a moment. I will be back for you soon."
"What's wrong? What happened?" I ask.
He waves a hand, "One of the maids has been injured."
"Oh my god, does she need to go to the hospital? Maybe I can help...?"
"I will know soon." He offers a hand. I take it as he helps me off the horse, then he kisses my hand and says, "See you shortly." I give him a concerned frown. He dips his head firmly and snaps his reigns, riding off to the castle.

"Miss Summers?" I hear Eduard say.
"Yes, I'm coming." I go to him and get in his golf cart, tucking some of my hair behind my ear, "I hope everything's okay."
"Me too." He drives us away.

-Nicolai-

I get to the rear of the castle and tie Stelian to a tree, then walk across the stone laden decking towards the rear entrance with authority. On my way, Corneliu follows behind me, pestering Rozalia about how stupid it was to murder Maria. She doesn't pay him any mind. Every time I try to look at him, she forces me to focus ahead of us. He's not the only one in my ears; there are others shouting at me–calling me names. I hear giggling everywhere. I flick my eyes to the right and see Jennifer in a black, snakelike mass slithering among the bushes, moving at my pace. I glower, looking ahead again. The hatred Rozalia has toward her has increased. But, she begins to laugh quietly, then her volume rises and rises until it's a loud maniacal cackle. "She must be PISSED! Hahahaha! Yes! AHAHAHA!" I slap both sides of my head, "Taci dracului din gura! Ea aduce iadul în castelul asta!" I get through the glass doors to the foyer and see Walter looking out a window, anxiously waiting for me, and Rozalia is still laughing.

He turns, "Sir, I have something to show you. On the third floor." He points up with a stare of warning. "What happened? Tell me first." I demand–Calmly. Rozalia has all of a sudden stopped her insane cackle and now she's listening to Walter intently–It's as if she was never amused. "Sir, I highly recommend I show you." He almost whispers. I give him wary eyes and then look toward the doors that lead to the grand room. "Very well." I follow him out.

"We have to take the stairs." He says.
"Why is that?"
"When you see it, you will know."
"God damn it Walter, what is this already?! Tell me!" He stops and looks at me, "A tragic accident has happened to Maria." I fall silent, staring at him grimly.

*Taci dracului din gura! Ea aduce iadul în castelul asta!
Shut the fuck up! She brings hell in this castle!

We continue moving upstairs, faster this time. Still, the spirits have not left me. At least Rozalia is a little quieter. She is rambling to herself about Maria's jealousy of Ivy. We both know Jennifer magnified it. But why? We will find out soon enough what her plans are. Rozalia and I are becoming a little unsettled that we can't see what might happen next. Jennifer definitely has plans for Ivy.

"I am not a fool; I will solve this before the first event can take place."
'And you will use me to do it?'

"What choice do we have?"
"La naiba..." I grumble aloud as we reach the third floor.
"Excuse me sir?" Walter quickly says.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I just need to calm my nerves." I cough lightly.

He leads me to the elevator and stops to take a breath before he opens the doors. Shakily, he takes his flashlight out of his pocket. I put my right hand on his wrist, "Walter, calm yourself. You are too rattled." His eyes light up and switch back to the dark shaft, "You will understand why!" I hum a little, gently take his flashlight and shine it down the shaft. And there she is...her body mangled and a lot of blood. I see her perfectly; my sight is 10 times better than a normal person's would be. She has plates and other dishware around her. Her head is lying on the roof of the elevator separated from her body. Her legs and arms are contorted too.

Rozalia gasps, "Oh my goodness! ...What a KNOCKOUT job!" I bite on my bottom lip, "Fuck..." Quickly, I look at Walter, "How did this happen? When did it happen? Do you know?"

"No sir. The maids told me she was missing and that they had tried to page her many times. She was overdue for her shift change by over an hour when they informed me. I was going to my office and tried to use the elevators but discovered they didn't work. I started investigating the elevator problem, and that is how I discovered her."

I lift my chin slowly, "Have you called anyone yet?"
"Yes I have. I called the harbor police. Leonardo is preparing for them to arrive."
I sigh and rub my forehead, "Very good... The maids–Where are they?"
"In their office waiting to hear from me, sir."
"Inform the staff the police are coming and explain why, but be brief about it." I move my hand away and begin to walk back down the hall.

"But sir, are you going to meet the police?"
I stop and turn just a little, "I have every confidence you can handle them. I have to return to Ivy." He makes an understanding face at me as I promptly proceed down the hall.