Chapter 17 - Seventeen
The doors of the library creaked open, revealing a haven of towering bookshelves crammed with leather-bound volumes. The scent of aged paper and ink hung heavy in the air, a tantalizing promise of knowledge waiting to be explored.
She scanned the neatly organized sections, her eyes darting across titles like "The History of Carleton Castle" and "Flora and Fauna of the Kingdom." None of them seemed relevant to her quest. With a frown, she pulled out a thick volume titled "Legends and Folklore of the Realm." Her fingers raced across the yellowed pages, searching for any mention of a magical well or a portal.
But page after page yielded nothing but disappointment. Frustration gnawed at her. She slammed the book shut, the sound echoing through the silent library. "Where is it?" she muttered to herself, her voice laced with growing desperation. "There has to be something in here!"
Desperation fueled her movements. Books were yanked from shelves and tossed aside with growing disregard. She scanned Chapter titles, skimmed through paragraphs, desperately searching for any clue. The once-orderly library was quickly becoming a chaotic mess, papers fluttered to the floor, scrolls lay unfurled, volumes of book littering the floor.
Hours melted away unnoticed. The golden light of afternoon gradually transforming into the soft glow of dusk, casting long shadows across the room. Suzy, oblivious to the passage of time, continued her frantic search, her initial determination morphing into a desperate need for answers.
"Why... why isn’t there anything?!" she cried out, her voice cracking with frustration. She flung a heavy book onto the table, the sound echoing through the library like a declaration of war. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. Was this all there was ? Being trapped with no way out? Will she ever meet her parents again?
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Suzy sank into a nearby armchair, her head buried in her hands. Defeat tasted bitter on her tongue.
A deep, shuddering breath escaped her lips as she forced herself to sit up. Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, a steely glint flickered in her eyes. She might be trapped, but she wouldn’t surrender to despair. If she couldn’t find a way back to her old life, she would make this one worth living, on her own terms.
"Right," she muttered to herself, her voice rough but resolute. "First things first-company."