After the wave of laughter died down, Angel grabbed her sister and started walking down the hallway.
This time, Angela did not question her sister and just followed silently.
The hallway felt endless. The ceiling was high, the walls wide, and their footsteps echoed softly as they walked. Every so often, there were framed pictures on both sides of the wall, but the pictures all looked the same—formal portraits, landscapes, old architectural drawings—repeating every few sections like a pattern rather than decoration.
Between the frames were wall candle sconces—two metal holders fixed to the wall, each holding what looked like real candles. The candles flickered like real flames, but there was no heat, no wax, no smoke. Artificial candles designed to look old-fashioned, like something from another century.
As they walked forward, the candle sconces ahead of them lit up one by one, while the ones behind them slowly dimmed and went dark. The light followed them, moving with them, making the hallway ahead visible while the path behind them disappeared into darkness.
Angela glanced back at one point and saw nothing but pitch black behind them. She looked forward again and then back once more, frowning.
"Okay… that's actually kind of scary," she said. "Why does it do that?"
"To guide people forward and prevent them from wandering where they're not supposed to," Angel replied calmly.
Angela then looked more closely at one of the candle sconces as they passed. The metal base looked old and decorative, and the candle holder looked like it could be twisted by hand.
"Those look so turnable," Angela said. "They look like if you twist one, a secret door would open."
Angel glanced at the sconce as they walked past it.
"They do turn."
Angela immediately looked at her. "You're lying."
"I'm not," Angel said. "Some of them open passages. Some of them drop you into water. And all of them eventually lead to the prison area."
Angela stared at her. "You tried it, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Angel replied. "What do you think I was doing all the time when I said I was exploring? I'm basically best friends with the people in the prison area now."
Angela blinked. "You are unbelievable."
They kept walking, the lights continuing to turn on ahead of them and off behind them, making the hallway feel even longer than it really was.
After a while, Angel stopped at a frame that was no different from the others, except for a very slight tint of blue.
She placed her palm over the glass.
It scanned her hand.
The wall opened.
Inside was a walk-in closet filled to the brim with clothes. Layers of outfits, shoes, accessories, and more.
"Wow," Angela said. "I didn't know there was a place like this here."
"That's because you don't come outside," Angel replied. "You're always stuck in your room. How would you know about this place?"
Angela crossed her arms.
"Hey, I was in my room doing stuff and improving the technology you guys are using now."
Angel nodded. "Yeah, I know what you do is amazing, but you still shouldn't stay cooped up in your room..."
Angel spoke seriously for a moment before changing the subject.
"We should actually get dressed first."
They walked inside. Angela looked around, scanning everything.
After a moment, she frowned slightly.
"Hey… why are these clothes so… how do I say this… pink, fluffy, and… interesting?"
Angel looked around.
"Yeah…"
Angela picked up a sleeve and examined it.
"Who wears this style?"
"So, you see, Mother had this place set up for us," Angel said.
"She said that if we ever needed clothes for emergencies, we were supposed to use these. This room was made for all of us."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And she put it right after the hidden door because she knew there was a high chance we wouldn't follow instructions the first time we came through there. Meaning we were definitely going to get dirty one way or another, so she prepared this place for that."