Thud, thud, thud. Each time he heard this Axel turned around to look for a non-existent person in this castle. A person with a heart. However, he knew that nobody was in the room with him, the door was locked and the windows were bolted shut. Axel was awake, drenched in sweat, listening to the sound of a beating heart. He smiled a little as he remembered his childhood; he'd wake up screaming as a kid after having a nightmare, his mother and younger sister would come tearing into his room. His mother, cradling him in her arms with the scent of lavender overpowering him. His sister, Lana, climbing into his bed next to him while sucking on her thumb and begging him to stop crying. He'd been having this nightmare for a while now, and it was always about Lana. Maybe if he could only see her, he'd feel happier. ***The girl stood outside a towering white castle, hesitating before knocking on the door. No answer came, and it was raining outside too, drenching through her clothes and chilling her bones. Why she had come to this castle didn't have an explanation, she'd just felt a pull towards this place. The feeling was so strong, it was as if someone she knew was inside, waiting for her. But even as she knocked on the castle door again, she knew she was fooling herself. The girl didn't know anybody else, she had always been alone. Thud, thud, thud. The girl smiled a little, so somebody was inside! She knocked again, but for the third time no answer came.
