Kate's eyes sparkled after hearing Esmeralda mentioning the word celebration. "How are we gonna celebrate, Granny?" she asked quizzically.

Esmeralda smiled brightly. "Leave it to me, girls! Let's go somewhere tomorrow after lunch. I'll show you something..." she said mysteriously.

Kate jumped to her feet in excitement. "Where exactly are we going, Granny?"

Esmeralda smiled. "It's a surprise! It's no longer a surprise if I will tell you, so wait for tomorrow. You might as well rest early for tomorrow's event," she said.

Kate giggled. "That better be good, Granny! I can't wait to see your surprise tomorrow!" she said breathlessly.

Esmeralda grinned. "Of course, it will be good!" she replied, her face glows radiantly.

"Alright, we will just chat here for a few hours and then retire for the night if we are sleepy already," Ivy responded.

"Okay, take your time girls, bond well!" Esmeralda said and returned to the house.

The sisters chatted non stop reminiscing about their simple life in the village.

"I miss Aunt Margie and Ella," said Ivy with a gloomy sigh. The tone of her voice filled with longing and agony.

"Me too," Kate said dejectedly. "I hope we still have another chance to see them again in this lifetime," she uttered in a voice laced with anguished and hopelessness.

Their happy memories in the village were now a distant past.

"When we're still in the village I think our life there is boring and I wish for adventures. Now that we were given an adventure. I never expected it can be this difficult, dangerous, and challenging. I wasn't preferred for this. I want an adventure that is fun and rewarding, not like this!" Kate protested.

Ivy patted her sister's shoulder in sympathy. "Sis, life is full of mystery. Now you realized that the boring life you are living in the village is much more beautiful and more satisfying than our current situation, right?"

Kate nodded her head. "Yeah. I'm so wrong for wishing for an adventure that only causes me so much pain and misery. If only we can turn back time, I won't leave our village!" she said regretfully.

"Me too! I only wanted to go to the castle to help alleviate our situation. I never expected that once I entered the castle we can never get out alive. It's kind of sad when you only wanted to do what is right for your loved ones and yet you are rewarded with a horrific result. Life is unfair!" Ivy whined.

"Indeed!" Kate agreed.

There was a moment of silence while the sisters were lost in their thoughts.

"What is Ella and Aunt Margie feeling right now that the two of us are already missing?" Kate asked out of the blue.

"They are worried to death of course. The more Aunt Margie won't allow Ella to go after us and find out what happened to us in the castle. She will be scared that the same thing will happen to Ella, which is a good thing. This way we are fully assured that our youngest sister is safe from harm," Ivy replied.

Kate eyed her sister. "Do you think so?"

"Yes, it's better that way. There are two of us here now, we don't need our youngest sibling to join us. I just hope, Ella will never attempt to come here. If in case that is going to happen soon we are all doomed to meet our end here inside the castle," said Ivy.

Kate sighed. "B-but what if Ella will find a way to come here to look for us?"

Ivy took a deep breath. "If worse come to worst and the inevitable thing happened...rest assured that I will protect Ella from harm."

Kate looked at her sister. "What's going to happen if Ella will arrive here in the castle?" she asked in a frantic voice.

"Ella will pass through the door, she will be greeted by the old man, which is the vampires' slave. Naturally, the vampires will take charge of Ella. During that time I have already achieved Maxwell's trust. I will make sure Ella is beside me all the time. She will be fine and protected as long I'm beside her," Ivy declared with a clear conviction in her voice.

Kate made a sign of the cross and looked heavenward. "I hope Ella won't come here!"

"That's why I need to go back to the vampires' lair, just in case Ella will come after us shortly, she will have someone to defend on inside the castle," Ivy elaborated further.

Kate understood fully now why her elder sister has to make sacrifices for all of them, she was always looking for the bigger picture ahead. While she... can only think of herself. How selfish of her. "Sis, I'm sorry that you have to go back alone and I have to remain here," she said apologetically.

Ivy smiled bitterly. "It's okay, sis. For now, it's the right thing to do, but if the time will come to flee from this castle and I will come to fetch you, don't hesitate to come with me, okay?"

Kate nodded her head. "Yes, I will go with you without hesitation as long we're going to escape from this castle," she blurted.

"Great!" Ivy said.

Kate started yawning. "I'm feeling sleepy, sis. Let's go now inside the house and take a rest."

"Alright, let's sleep early," Ivy agreed.

The sisters entered the house and spreads out the mattress on the floor. They lie down facing each other, preparing to sleep.

Kate looked at her sister's face. "Will you visit me again here, sis?" she asked.

Ivy smiled. "Of course, I will. Let's just hope that Maxwell will allow me. But just in case he will no longer permit me to come here, then our next meeting will be on the day that we will leave this place," she said.

Kate sighed. "Okay then. I'll just wait for your next visit. I'm sleeping now, sis. Sweet dreams," she murmured and closed her eyes.

"Night night," Ivy whispered and closed her eyes as well, hoping to dream of Ella and Aunt Margie in her sleep.

A few hours later.

The sisters were already in a deep slumber.

Esmeralda exited her room and paused in the doorway, watching the two women in sleep mode. She looked particularly at Ivy.

She was curious when Ivy told her that the vampires' brothers promise her of granting her freedom from the castle one day.

Well...they are not the only ones planning on escaping the castle. She was planning on her own too with the help of her friend the tree. Not only her but all the creatures trapped inside the castle were also planning and thinking on how to bypass the deadly barrier without being reduced to ashes.

Unfortunately, no one has succeeded yet.

Maybe, just like her, the vampires also have their agenda. She believed that if they are really capable they already escape successfully a long time ago. But the fact they're still inside the castle, that means one thing only, they have difficulty bringing their plan to completion.

She was wondering if the sisters are part of their scheme? Why are they so determined to get Kate as well? Maybe because Ivy is not enough for them? Well, two sisters are always better than one, to put it simply, the more blood supply they have the better for the vampires well being since they have to depend on human blood all the time to stay alive, active, and feel energetic.

After staring at the two women for a long time, she decided to retire for the night. She will wake up early to prepare her surprise for the sisters.

She went back inside her room and gently closes the door behind her.

Hours went by.

Darkness was diminishing as hours pass by.

The night fades away and the daylight has just stared its majestic return on the horizon.

Esmeralda was wide awake already while the sisters were still sleeping soundly in the mattress. She exited the house and walked towards the tree.

"My friend, I'm going somewhere to prepare my surprise for the girls. If they come looking for me, just tell them that I will come back after lunch. Tell them to get ready," she gave her instruction.

"Okay, I will tell them. Can I come too?" the tree joked.

"No. You stay here and take care of the house," she said.

"You're no fun!" the tree grumbled.

"You can't join us. It's girls' day out! Men are not allowed," she stated.

"Eh, I'm not a man, I'm just a tree! I'm genderless," the tree protested.

"You transformed into a human guy many times already, that makes you a man!" Esmeralda scolded the tree.

"B-but I can also transform into a woman if I wanted to," the tree insisted.

"Tell me, of you will become a human being one day, what gender you want to be? Male or female?" Esmeralda asked.

"Hmm...I always wanted to be a guy!" the tree responded.

Esmeralda laughed. "There you go! Your answer says it all. Adios!" she said beaming and disappeared in a flash.

A disgruntled sound can be heard emanating from the tree.

~

Back in the house.

Ivy woke up to a beautiful morning, she stared at the window and saw the golden leaves of the tree swaying merrily serenaded by the gentle breeze of the wind.

She glances at her sister who is blinking her eyes at that particular moment. "Rise and shine, sis!" she greeted her.

"Good morning, sis!" Kate smiled and looked at Esmeralda's room. "I can't wait to see, Granny's surprised for us!" she spoke excitedly.

"Me too! What could it be?" Ivy muses wondering what the surprise will be.

"Alright, let's get up now!" uttered Kate.

The sisters rose to their feet and folded the blanket and the mattress.

They exited the house and went to sit in the wooden bench under the shade of the golden tree.

Kate looked at the tree. "Good morning, tree! How's your sleep?" she asked.

"My sleep is good, how about you girls?" the tree responded cheerfully.

Kate smiled. "We sleep like a log," she answered. "Have you seen Granny?" she inquired.

"She left a message to me. She wakes up early to prepare her surprise for you girls. She will return after lunch, so get ready. That's all," the tree said.

"Thank you, tree!" Ivy remarked.

"Don't mention it," the tree replied.

The sisters were relaxing on the wooden bench with nothing else to do but stare at the beautiful horizon, as the sun was slowly rising to the east.

Two hours later.

The sisters saw the big bird clutching a bundle on its feet, it was approaching the floating piece of land. It landed on the ground depositing the parcel, then it flew away after delivering its cargo.

Ivy and Kate looked at each other. "Breakfast time!" they said in unison.

Kate sprinted towards the location of the bundle and picked it up excitedly. The sisters went inside the house to eat their breakfast.