After slapping Erica in such a daring manner, Rain wished she could glean some explanation about her father's connection to everything that had happened. However, Erica remained silent like an unshakable rock.
The door closed behind Erica, leaving Rain alone in Jace's room. There was only Rain's heavy breathing and the sound of her fingertips trying to tug at the door handle and banging, all to no avail.
"Damn it! Erica locked me in here. What does she really want? And my dad, why is he involved in all this? He was behaving very strangely. He's not like my dad, but someone else who is a complete stranger."
After trying various ways to escape Jace's room and failing, Rain finally smashed herself against the door again and again until she was tired. Her side ached. Rain slumped to the floor and tried not to cry.
"Somewhere, my dad is taking Jace somewhere, and I don't know what he's going to do with that young man. I should be more worried about my dad. But now, I feel disgusted and angry with him without knowing the cause and reason. My heart feels more inclined to want to save Jace no matter what."
As sadness and despair gnawed at Rain's soul, slowly, she suddenly felt something being splashed into her mind. Rain sat down. Suddenly a memory flashed through her head as if she had just been shown a fast-paced movie.
"Can I do that?" thought Rain. "I have to try it. Previously, I tried the same thing on sketch paper, and now I'm going to try it on wood media. No, I mean at this door," she thought.
The girl jumped to her feet. Her heart was pounding. She touched the door to Jace's room which was tightly locked and sealed with runes from the outside. She strengthened herself and then stretched out her fingers until she felt the air that felt dense and even at the door.
An image had formed in Rain's mind like a fish rising through cloudy water. The pattern of its scales becomes clearer as it approaches the surface. At first, slowly, then with more confidence, Rain quickly moved her finger towards the door. She made invisible lines that floated in the air in front of her.
Rain felt when the rune finished, then lowered her hand and breathed hard. For a moment, all was motionless and silent. She did the same thing using a pencil on paper before. She used a finger without any writing implement to draw runes in the empty air in front of the door.
A few seconds later, after everything was silent, the runes suddenly hung like glowing neon and burned her eyes. Then there was the loudest cracking sound Rain had ever heard, as if she were standing under a rock waterfall and listening to the rocks crashing onto the ground around her.
The door to Jace's room that was tightly shut and sealed by runes from the outside by Erica suddenly turned into black ash flakes and fell to the floor. Then, it all stopped, and Rain knew without a doubt that she was free. She was accessible and destroyed Jace's bedroom door with just a rune.
Outside, dusk was falling, and the forest was bathed in a reddish-purple glow. Rain ran towards the connecting bridge on the east tower, which was made of black stone. Between the bridge, there are many open windows.
When Rain crossed the connecting bridge with the main palace, she saw Erica leaving the gate. Erica had just passed Ralph's twin trees.
Rain ran out, leaving the east tower via a shortcut. Instead of crossing the bridge leading to the central building, she descended the spiral stone staircase directly connecting it to the outer garden.
Rain ran on the stairs. When she reached the courtyard, she already felt pain in the side of her stomach. She descended dozens of slippery and narrow steps to get there quickly.
The situation in the palace was always quiet, as quiet as usual. There are no forces of darkness standing guard there as if nothing terrible had ever happened. Only a pair of Ralph's twin trees stood guard at the gate. Rain was sure she could pass through the tree without difficulty.
The forest was already getting dark. Rain went out alone without bringing any provisions. She seemed to repeat the same stupidity when she came to the woods at night and was ready to be greeted by the wolves. Rain ignored all of that.
She continued walking along the path until she reached the crossroad where she had seen Erica. For a moment, Rain thought she had lost her. She ran through the bushes until some night birds scattered when she ran there.
Sweaty and bruised, Rain broke free from the clumps of weeds just in time. She had caught a glimpse of Erica's dress disappearing at the corner of another path.
Even though the streets of Westlake City might still be dusk, in the woods, it was as dark as early evening. An eternal mist soon shrouded the Darkwood forest. Suddenly Rain could see Erica standing at the far end of the path.
Rain recognized the road that led to an inn in the middle of the forest. Rain immediately hid behind a large pine tree when Erica turned to look at Rain.
"You're following me?" said Erica, who suddenly stood before Rain. "Shouldn't."
"I will go if you tell me where my dad is and where he is taking Jace?"
"I can't do that!" said Erica firmly. "Mark will know I told you, and Jace's safety is no guarantee. Unless you really have your memory back."
For the first time, Rain pulled Erica's arm and made her look directly into her eyes.
"So you're saying my dad wants to trade Jace's freedom for my memories? Wasn't he the one who sealed my memories?"
Erica stared at Rain sharply. "No one knows who has sealed your memories. Even Mark himself admitted that he did not do it. Why did he bother sending you here to get your memory back if he did it?"
"And what exactly is hidden about my memory that everyone wants so much, including my dad? He's even willing to pretend to be kidnapped or disappear to lure my memories back?"
"You are the witch!" she said. "If I'm not mistaken. But it's possible that Markus and I thought wrong. Therefore, find a way to return your desire. Only then can we save Jace."
Rain's face twitched for a moment as Erica stepped forward. Rain saw something shining in Erica's hand.
"Does all of this really matter to you? My memory?"
"I told you," said Erica. "Jace's fate is in your memory. If you care about him, return your memories and get the curse off, Jace!"
Rain looked up. She still couldn't believe what Erica was saying. Erica was looking at her. In both of Erica's hands appeared thorny whips gripped lightly in her hands, ready to whip Rain at any moment.
Instinctively, Rain raised her hand. She didn't run even though the whip could have sliced ​​her to pieces.
"Erica!"
Something slides in front of Rain. It was something big, black, and alive. Rain heard Erica scream in fear. Stumbling backward, Rain saw the creature more clearly as it stepped between the whistling lines of the trees. It was a two-meter-long wolf with jet-gray fur and slight streaks of gray.
Erica was gripping the whip in her hand. The hand became white as bone. "You!" she hissed.
Rain realized that Erica was talking to the wolf.