Mendacium, it means “lie”. Mendacia are lies in the Latin language. If you ever bear witness to that word, know what it means. That’s what a piece of paper that I found read. I was in the playroom with Blake and he found it hidden deep in the ball pit.

“Mendacium, mendacia…” Blake was lost in thought. “It sounds so familiar, yet I can’t quite pinpoint what it reminds me of.”

“Mendivi!” I quickly remembered. “They sound similar, don’t they? Mendacium, mendivi.”

“Yeah, I see it. So, mendivi has something to do with lies, whatever it might be. That’s easy to figure out.”

“I mean, you’re right, but there’s more to it. What kind of lie is mendivi? It could be a weird form of the word, y’know how many of those Latin has? Mendacium could also only be one part of the word. Who knows…”

“Calm down girl, don’t overthink. Just keep it calm and you’ll figure it out.”

“I can’t, I have to figure it out on the spot.”

“Why would you have to do that? It might actually take you more time if you do that, think about it.”

“I mean, you might be right, but I think it’s a bad idea not to think it all through now. I can’t stand being here anymore!”

“Mood. I miss my family and friends and who knows what they’re thinking now. We were all definitely reported as missing, but God knows what the cops are doing about that. How would cops even react to Lucia?”

“Family, huh?” I sighed. ”I tried to get that thought out of my head, they must be so worried about me, but here I am, incapable of getting out of some old ass house! Also, I don’t even want to know how the confrontation between the police and Lucia would go. Though, considering how long we’ve been here, maybe she didn’t leave any trace for them to follow.”

“Petra?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve noticed something about you. When talking with someone here or planning something, you seem really composed. Kind of like Naomi, just not a douchebag. I’m wondering how big of a toll this place took on you. I mean, I’m trying my best to be my calm, easy going self, but I can’t say that it’s an easy thing to do. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you seem to be dealing with this, maybe even worse than most people here.”

“What do you mean by that? I think I’m handling myself well considering what’s going on. I’ve helped others here, I got rid of the traitor myself, I think I’ve done a lot.”

“That’s precisely what I mean! You’re the only one here with blood on their hands who’s still alive, you’ve been in the front this entire time, you helped everyone make so much progress! I want to know what’s going on inside your head. Do you want to talk about your feelings, any problems in your head that you might be going through? It’s not easy to tell with you, but I feel like you’re going through a lot more than you show to everyone. You can tell me, I’m not judgemental.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not really up for it. I want to continue with the investigation for now and I don’t want to bother you either.”

“Ok then, should we move on to one of the rooms around here or do you have another area in mind?”

“Yeah, let’s go to one of the two rooms that go from here, I’ve actually never been inside them, so I want to at least see what the rooms are for.”

“Well, I’ve never been inside you.” I barely held back my laughter from Blake’s joke.

It’s such a bad joke, why is it so funny?

“Oh God, sorry, it just caught me off guard! Anyway, do you know what’s in those rooms, anything worth checking out?”

“Well, both are pretty small. The room on the left just has some things for the playroom like toys, some cheap balls, nothing important. I searched that place in its entirety already. The room on the right is practically empty, but I think you’ll want to see it.”

“Hmm, alright.” I walked to the door on the right and opened it.

The room wasn’t anything that I expected. It was extremely dirty, the walls weren’t even painted, and the only thing inside the tight space was a giant lever stuck to one of the walls. It didn’t make sense for a place like this to be here, next to a colorful playroom.

“This is really underwhelming.” I said after noticing the emptiness of the room.

“Yeah, it looks like it, but I told you to check this room for a reason.”

“The lever?”

“Yup.”

“What does it do? Should I pull it?”

“Please don’t, that’d be a bad idea. It shuts off the electricity in the entire mansion. I was quite surprised that there isn’t anything more complicated here, although this is the most sane thing I saw that came from this place. It’s actually how I realized that this mansion had no windows because my spatial awareness obviously wasn’t enough for such a task.”

“I see… I’ll keep it in mind! Wait, the mansion has no windows?”

“Nope, I’m not sure how the air here isn’t suffocating us. Maybe Lucia got some special discount on invisible ACs when she got her invisible cameras, I dunno.”

“Well, that’s certainly unnerving.”

“Yeah, it’s best to just avoid this tiny room. We need to keep constant watch over this room, if someone like Leon does something here, it’ll end badly. That’s how Eden met his end.”

“Oh God, you’re right! How did I not connect those two?”

“That’s not important right now, don’t stress about it too much, I just wanted to show you the room.”

“Thanks for that, I’ll keep an eye on it. Probably better than letting Naomi know and having her make entering the entire floor a ten step verification process.”

“True. Other than that, I’m pretty sure we completely covered this whole area, maybe even the whole second floor, although for now let’s just say we’re done with the playroom and these two tiny parts around it.”

“Agreed, I doubt that we’ll find anything else here. With that said, do you want to go somewhere else to look around or do you want to take a break?”

“Well, I have to go to the bathroom right now, so I’ll take a break, but you do what you want.”

“Okay, see ya!”

We went in opposite ways. I climbed down to the first floor without a set goal in mind. There’s still a lot of time left today, where should I go? Is there a room on the first floor that I haven’t checked in detail? Maybe the third floor?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

My train of thought was interrupted by Dante who came rushing down the stairs.

“Lady Petra!” He shouted out.

“Oh, hey!”

“I believe I may have espied our freedom, you must follow me!”

“Where?”

“The third floor, the room where Maya had been desecrated.”

Without hesitating, I took off and followed Dante. What did he find? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this excited.

We entered the previously hidden room and I looked around to see what Dante was talking about.

“Have a gander,” Dante pointed at the back of the closet.

“Hmm, I don’t see anything,” I stared at the closet, but nothing interesting was there.

“Then move to the side and allow me to present you something spectacular!” Dante approached the closet and slightly bent down to get inside. He pushed the end of the closet and it opened like a door. A hidden room inside a hidden room? This really might be a way out!

Dante moved out of the way and I looked at what was behind the closet. The area was barely large enough to fit a single person, but there was a ladder there, hinting at something being above the third floor. I went inside and looked up. That’s… That’s sunlight! This leads outside!

Without saying anything I began climbing up as fast as I could.

“Lady Petra, should we not inform our brothers and sisters in this mansion of this exit we have come upon?”

“We will, but let’s first check if we can actually leave this way!”

“I understand,” Dante started climbing up as well. “I contemplated heading up unaccompanied, yet I did not feel it was just, I require company for something of this sort.”

I noticed his tone of voice, it was a bit different than usual. I could notice some sorrow in it. Company? Oh… He means Eden.

The ladder led us to the brown rooftop of the mansion. The entire roof was flat, unusual for a mansion of this style, there was no chimney either. From it, I could see just how large the entire mansion was. I carefully took a good look around.

“It is glorious.” Dante stated. “I descried liberty in that moment when I witnessed the light of day above that ladder. At last, we shall grab it. All that remains is to uncover a method of reaching the ground from here.”

“I know!” I hastily shouted out. “Remember that fence, cage, whatever it is. The thing that surrounds the backyard! I’m pretty sure we could climb down it!”

“Brilliant thinking! Shall we examine if it is in the realm of possibility?”

I nodded and carefully walked towards the edge of the roof, excited, yet skeptical. I still had doubts that Lucia would let us escape this easily.

I got to the edge and noticed that there was no fence, the backyard was under me, yet there was nothing between it and myself. What the hell?

I knew that Lucia did something with her weird powers, so I turned around with fear that she was on the roof.

“Surprised?” Lucia was there, watching me with a smug expression on her face.

“What do you want now? I thought you were going to leave us alone since we got rid of the traitor!"

“I mean, you are somewhat correct. I will have less reason to talk to you or anyone here now that the traitor is gone. I don’t have much to talk about and you aren’t good company either. When I watch you, you’re full of determination and energy, yet the second I arrive, you act like you’re going to defecate yourself.”

“That is sufficient from you. Now inform us on imperative matters or depart, my eyes do not wish to have you in front of them.”

“You pretentious fool. If I could bring someone to replace you, you’d be dead where you stand.” Lucia angrily said. “I merely wish to let you know that you cannot escape from here in this manner. The fence surrounding the backyard isn’t visible from up here and any other attempt of escape will be stopped by me. I could cut access to the roof completely, but if you wish to watch the stars when night falls or maybe the town down the hill while you get some fresh air, you may.”

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes, I do not have anything else to say. I bid you farewell.” The next time I blinked, Lucia wasn’t in front of me. Instead, there was a crow flying away from the mansion. Wait, did she turn into that thing? Ah, I don’t even care anymore, I’m probably just high on some drug by now!

“Lady Petra!” Dante called me over from the center of the center of the roof.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“I desire to converse with you whilst we are here. The town under is visible, this would be the most grandeur view to gaze at in the time that we chat.”

“Alright then,” I walked up to where Dante was.

I looked in front of me. The mansion was indeed on a giant hill, watching over a town.

Home. It’s so close, yet I can’t go there, I’m still stuck. At least I’m not in the middle of nowhere. I’m pretty sure that’s my town, the only reason I’m even thinking whether it is or isn’t is because I don’t trust my senses anymore. Even if I haven’t been killed yet, I still feel somewhat dead.

“The town is ravishing, is it not? Do you by any chance inhabit it?”

“Yes, I’ve lived there my whole life. What about you?”

“It is a long tale, but the Divinitas family does not reside in a single local. We travel across the seas and lands to spread the knowledge we hold of our Gods. Your home, the town of Nidengate, was our upcoming destination. We arrived at a hotel and aimed to reside for a week, yet when I went to rest on the first night, I woke up inside of this mansion with my dear brother.”

“I see… I’m sorry that the trip ended so badly. I hope that you and your family will reunite soon.”

“We shall, I’m sure of it. Those with the Divinitas surname do not leave their closest, not at any time. They have lengthened their stay to search for us and Sentin will guide them, therefore I am sure that I shall see them the moment I leave this demon’s trap. Eden was supposed to become head of the family soon, but that fate relies on me, so I must withstand this, there is no other servant in the Divinitas family that could take that role.”

“I'm sorry that you're forced to carry such a burden. I’m not a religious person at all, but seeing what Lucia is capable of, I completely trust what you’re saying about your beliefs. There isn’t a single logical explanation for what Lucia is capable of. Are there any scriptures in your religion that describe demons and such?”

“There is a chapter devoted to it. It is not what you might assume though, the chapter mentions not one thing about demons using powers that resemble Lucia’s.”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Demons do not combat people in the same ways that people combat each other. They are way beyond it. They arrive on this earth as humans, yet their personalities are much distinct. Their actions hold no purpose, yet their actions affect others greatly. Human actions come with a purpose. We cling to reasoning and base our lives around it. For example, I dedicate myself to the worship of the God that created me and the God that protects me. I do not do it without reason, I do it because I deem it's what the Gods would want from me. I sense it. You most probably sense your own purpose, only not as strongly due to your soul not being in contact with the Gods in the same way as mine. But I trust you, I trust that you will come to it and do what you were asked to do, you are a strong lady. You will commit to your duty because you are human, Volaret’s creation, that is the only thing that separates us from demons, those without reason and a duty."

"I get what you mean, although I wouldn't call people like that demons. Maybe they're just trying to find their purpose."

"You misunderstood. I do not mean those who think they have no purpose or do things for mere fun. I am referring to those who are genuinely not human, those who actively and purposely stand in the paths of others without any reason than to be a burden, an obstacle."

"It's a bit confusing, but I'll think about what you said more once we go back inside." I slowly began walking towards the ladder. "Well, I'll actually go down right now. It's kind of cold here and I just need time to think things through."

"I shall accompany you then."

I climbed back down into the mansion with Dante following me. There's way more to Dante than I thought. I can see his logic, although he might be pushing it a bit. Maybe I should try to have conversations like that with him in the future. He seems like he has good intentions no matter how extreme some of his views are.

"I was right, the mansion is way warmer than the outside!" I said.

"I must agree with you there, lady Petra. I sense some pressure pushing down my chest, perhaps I require rest."

"Are you ok? Maybe you’re getting sick.”

"I do not know, it is quite an unusual sensation. I apologize."

"No problem, don't worry about it!”

We shook hands and turned around to get out of the third floor, but when I turned my head, I saw someone. What? How? Is my head messing with me? Is this Lucia? What is going on?

I looked at the person in front of me. I was shaking, unable to think straight or control the volume of my voice.

"Amy?"