Prologue Part 7
Matteo's ears rang and his vision was blurry as he opened his eyes. The first thing his mind processed was someone calling out to him. "atteo!….Matteo!… Lord Matteo!" He snapped back up after hearing Sylvia's voice. "Sylvia!... Sylvia!" His heart immediately raced again. Immediately after calling out, two arms grabbed him and pulled him into what felt like someone's chest. "Lord Matteo. Thank goodness you're alright!" Sylvia gasped.
Inside his servant's arms his heart rate decreased until it reached a stable and steady rhythm. He took deep breaths as his surroundings became clearer and clearer. He was still in his room, on the floor next to his bed. He looked up at Sylvia and saw a delighted smile in between two wet cheeks. He clung tightly against her chest and she tightened her hold on him. "What happened, my lord?"
Matteo opened his mouth, but before even the faintest sound could escape from it, another sound erupted across the entire house. "Matteo!" He got up and sprinted out of the room. "Mama!" He got to the stairway where Isabella stood, blocked from climbing up the stairs by a handful of servants. "Lady Isabella, please calm down!"
Matteo ran down the stairs as fast as he could, squeezed through the servants and jumped into his mother's arms. The two stood there panting for a few moments. "Are you all right, dear?", she asked while cupping his face. He nodded. "What on earth is going on here?!" Thomas stormed in. "I don't know, my lord. We just heard screaming coming from Lord Matteo's bedroom and when we entered, they were both unconscious on the floor."
Thomas furrowed his brows in confusion. "What? Isabella, what is the meaning of this? Please explain." Isabella shuddered at his request. Her gaze dropped down to the floor as she tried to muster up the courage to bring up what had just happened. After a few seconds, with everybody in the room waiting, she explained. "There was a ghost... or a spirit. I was reading Matteo a bedtime story when the lights went out, and wind filled the room. Then smoke appeared… out of nowhere." Her breath hitched.
"Then after a while, the smoke… it…. transformed…. Into… into a human!" Isabella fell on her knees and clutched her face with her cold fingers. "I-it… it just stood there, staring at us. Then… it began to move!" Confused faces stood all around, then she continued. "It… walked… like a human. Then it just stood right in front of us. I… I do not know what happened after that, that's when I must've passed out." She gasped for air on the ground.
"Quickly! Bring her some water!" Shouted one of the servants. Two of the remaining servants tried to help her up, but she struggled to maintain her balance. Thomas placed his palm to his face and closed his eyes. "Are you serious? I rushed all the way here from the other side of the house, and this was your problem? A ghost?" Isabella threw herself towards him. "I am not lying! I swear to you I saw it! We both did!"
Matteo stepped in, "Yes, father! Mama and I really did see a ghost! It was looking at me! It touched me!" Thomas pinched between his brows. "And where on earth would this 'ghost' have come from?" He continued, "Are you sure this is not the work of somebody else?"
"Somebody like whom, Thomas?! You and I are the only ones in this house who possess a Spirit Inheritance." Isabella shouted, "It was not you, and it certainly was not me. And I don't even think such an ability is possible!" Thomas sighed, "I do not have time for this nonsense, the king has ordered the colonization of Baroka and I have a lot of preparations to make for it." He turned towards the servants, "Make sure the lady gets some rest." "Yes, Sir!" They all said in unison. Then he turned around and left.
Isabella returned her gaze to the floor and clutched her hands to her head again. The servants who remained in the room gathered around her to try and pick her up, then they basically dragged her to her bedroom. "I think you should also go to sleep, lord Matteo." Sylvia suggested. "No, I'm scared." He said in a whisper. "Okay, do you want to sleep with your mother?" She asked this time. Matteo nodded with his eyes to the ground. Sylvia took his hand and walked him upstairs to his mother's room.
The servants tending to Isabella had quite a tough time getting her to her room, but in the end they succeeded. Isabella now sat upright in her bed, clutching her sides while staring daggers into her blanket. Two teardrops rolled down her face as she continued gasping. One of the servants returned with the water, and together, they gently made Isabella drink it. Sylvia and Matteo entered the room not long after, and Matteo climbed into the bed next to his mother.
He nestled into her arms and the two laid down against the pillow. They finally seemed to have calmed down. "Okay, goodnight, lady Isabella." The servants exited the bedroom one by one, then when the last one was about to exit, she blew out the candles leaving everything in the room dark. At that very second, Isabella let out her second loudest scream that night and immediately burst out the bed and hurried to the door. "Don't switch off the lights! Please! It's not safe in here! It's coming back! Hurry up! Please!."
"O-okay!" cried the servant girl. "I will go and get some more candles and light them for you, just please calm down!" Isabella fidgeted, "Please hurry up! It's coming back! Hurry up!!!" The servant ran out of the room as fast as she could. Isabella sank even more to the ground, "No!! Don't leave! Don't leave us! It's going to come back!!" She clutched her hair, then immediately turned towards the corner on the other side of the room.
She screamed and she screamed until her voice broke. She coughed and choked on her own saliva, then went back to screaming while clutching her head. Matteo looked on from the side of the bed, concern written in his eyes. Mama