"Come here, child. I'm going to show you something," Esmeralda beckoned to her.

"What is it, Granny?" Kate asked.

They walked towards the closed door, the only room in the house.

"This room here is off-limits to you. Do not enter this room and just ignore it. Do you understand me?"

Kate nodded her head. "Yes, I understand you, Granny. Don't worry I won't enter this room," she replied.

"Good. If you want to lie down and go to sleep, you can do it anytime on the floor. You see that carpet roll in the corner just used it as your bedding. There are a blanket and pillow inside that small cabinet in there." Esmeralda pointed at the cabinet in the corner beside the carpet roll.

"Thank you, Granny," Kate said thanking the old woman for her hospitality.

"Child, I may not be able to help you leave this place but at least I can assure you that I will protect you and keep you safe. As long you're under my protection no one can harm you. That is the only thing I can guarantee you," Esmeralda said seriously.

"Thank you, Granny. I'll be forever grateful for your help in saving me," Kate said her heart was bursting with emotion. She already misses her sisters, her Aunt Margie and Ramza badly.

"Why is that sad look in your eyes, child?" Esmeralda inquired.

"Granny, do you have a magic crystal ball? I want to see what happened to my sister after she entered this castle! Please..." she begged.

Esmeralda released a deep sigh. "Such a stubborn child! Now I have to tell you, what does the net meant... as you can see... when you fall into the void of nothingness...the magical net will decide your fate. If you fall into the ground where the hungry creatures are located that means the net doesn't like you and you are meant to be the food for those hungry creatures."

"Which means—?" asked Kate in bewilderment.

"The magical net catches you because you are not meant to be food for those scary creatures. That net detected that you have other uses, which means, the net wants me to keep you as my companion," Esmeralda explained.

Kate brows furrowed. She can't understand a thing that granny said to her. How can a net decide the destiny of a person?

"Then... is there a chance that your magical net captured my sister when she falls into the void just like me?" Kate pressed on, feeling hopeful. She got a feeling that Esmeralda knows a lot of things and still refuse to tell her anything.

Esmeralda was silent for a moment.

She recalled one particular situation a few months ago when her magical net catches about twenty men and women.

"Hmm, I remembered that at some point, my net catches 20 people, assorted of men and women. Then they were taken away before I arrive to check on them..."

Kate's eyes sparkled in excitement. "My sister could be one of them!"

"Maybe yes and maybe not. As you can see, if the higher class doesn't like certain captives they will throw the rest into the lower ground to be eaten by those hungry creatures. Then my magical net will decide who to save... and some inhabitants of the castle would pick up the other captives and bring them to their place to be used according to their wishes," Esmeralda elaborated.

"Oh my!" Kate covered her mouth.

A horrifying thought comes to her mind, what if her sister Ivy was taken somewhere by a barbaric and sadistic creature?

Esmeralda saw the horror in the younger woman's face. "What's that scary look in your face?"

Kate's eyes watered. "I'm afraid of what could happen to my sister," she said in a horrified voice.

Esmeralda sighed. From the look of things, the girl won't stop pestering her unless she will do something to find that sister of her. "Alright, I'll see what can I do. But don't raise your hopes high. I may come up with bad news. You have to understand that the inhabitants of the castle are too many and they have their places. Too huge to find someone, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. I'm afraid that your sister may already be eaten by other creatures," she said with a sad grimace on her face.

Just the thought's of her sister Ivy eaten by those hungry ferocious creatures filled Kate's mind with gruesome details. The gory images terrify her and saddened her deeply. She was not able to contain her grief and she crumbled into the floor sobbing in despair.

Esmeralda breathed in exasperation. She doesn't know how to comport the hysterical girl. "You're such a cry baby!" she scolded her.

"I'm sorry, Granny," she apologized and forced herself to stop crying and wiped the tears with the back of her hand.

"Why are you crying?" asked Esmeralda.

"B-because I'm afraid that my sister was being held prisoner somewhere and tortured. I want to help her but I don't even know where to find her," Kate answered.

Esmeralda shrugged. "Would have been it better if you just accept... that she's already dead, rather than keep torturing yourself endlessly?"

Kate looked at the older woman with horror in her eyes. "Granny, how can you say such a thing? It's my sister we are talking about here! You have no idea how much I love my sisters and my Aunt Margie. They are the only family I have in this world. I refused to accept that my sister Ivy is already dead... unless I will see her dead body with my own two eyes," she reasoned with a firm conviction in her voice.

'Argh! This situation is getting annoying,' Esmeralda thought to herself.

If this nosy girl keeps nagging her about her sister, she won't be able to have a peace of mind in her own home. Although the girl's voice becomes an irritation to her ears... but... she was deeply moved by Kate's genuine love and concern for her lost sister.

If she can't bring herself to snap at Kate. She might as well tolerate her noisiness and play deaf ears... and hoping one day she will be able to accept the fact that all her whining is useless.

"Kate, I'm going to rest inside my room, please do not disturb me, okay?" Esmeralda said.

Kate nodded her head. "I'm sorry, Granny. C-can I go outside? I just want to breathe fresh air?" she asked permission.

"Alright, just remember, don't go over the edge, or else you might fall below and you will die."

"Yes, I won't..." Kate answered softly and walked towards the door.

Esmeralda entered the closed door and disappeared inside.

Outside the house.

Kate stared at the golden yellow leaves of the tree, it's so bright yellow. Somehow it cheered her up. She finds a yellow color symbolizes happiness and freedom.

Now she's trapped in the castle of horrors, no way out!

And the worse thing, she failed to find her sister!

She looked upon the horizon above.

She saw big birds flying in the sky... a thousand miles from her location.

What kind of birds are those?

Then all of a sudden... a hundred miles away... she saw darkness zooming into her location...the sky around the floating piece of land was darkening...what's going on?

Inside the house.

Esmeralda was lying in her bed thinking about Kate.

"Helpppppp!"

Suddenly...she heard Kate's voice screaming... asking for help.

"Granny...help meeeeee!"

Esmeralda was out of the house just blinking her eyes.

Kate was trembling and shaking in fright in front of the door.

"What happened to you?" asked Esmeralda even if she already knows what's going on.

Kate pointed her shaking hands everywhere... "T-the m-monsters a-are b-ack! They want to take me away, Granny! Look at them... there's too many of them. I'm scared!"

"I see... we've got company!" Esmeralda commented casually without even batting an eyelash.

Fear doesn't even register in her eyes.

Esmeralda roamed her eyes around her property... the sky around her house darkens considerably due to the multitudes of dark floating creatures hovering in the air. They are the ghost of the castle... they are probably after her human ward... she last saw them hovering above on Kate while the terrified girl was trapped in the net.

"All of you...get out of my property! Get lost!" Esmeralda shouted at the floating creatures.

But the creatures remained where they are.

Suddenly...

A black figure wearing a black flowing cape and black hood covering his head materialized near the edge of the floating land.

"We want the girl! Our leader wants her! Give her to me, and we will leave immediately!" the guy demanded fiercely.