14 | Fear

◇ KEL ◇

My search for the basement only took seconds. I found the narrow stairs behind a door almost perfectly hidden among inconspicuous marble columns, if it weren't for the bloody hand prints on the edges. Not to mention the bright red droplets on the floor.

It's the door where Ricchar and his men went through; I was pretty sure. I took the stairs and was surprised when it led me to a wide and well-equipped basement. Tall dividers, rows of lights, and what looked like locked storage rooms filled the space. It looked three times bigger than Miles' studio-type basement.

"Charr? Ricchar?" I knocked on the rooms I passed by, ignoring the uncanny feeling of being watched.

From what the maid said, the bloody and wounded woman was actually Cloe—Ricchar's wife—and Cloe definitely needed medical attention. I weighed the odds. There couldn't be a doctor around here, especially in a place as remote as this exclusive estate.

"Mykaela!" A messy-haired, scowling Ricchar grabbed my arm from behind