and it was still

The faint sounds of a piano trailed down the hallway from the ballroom. Anthony was sure his sister had locked herself in again, drowning her crises out with music. The ballroom was her sanctuary, the echoes of open space the closest Elise could get to escaping the castle walls.

A resounding crash interrupted his musings and the music that had been playing only moments prior.

Peering into the ballroom, a thousand crystal shards lay shattered across the floor. Above them, the dull metal chain of the chandelier was still, almost eerie in its lonesome, hanging unadorned from the ceiling.

Anthony took a step forward.

"Elise?" He called. The room was silent. He sidestepped each of the crystal shards, fragments of his reflection mirrored in every one.

"Elise?" Worry etched itself into his tone. The piano in the corner lay uncovered, adorned with sheet music. Anthony watched the papers rustle in the breeze, pausing. All seven of the glass windows were open, wind pushing the curtains to and fro, sending whispers across the floor, and a shiver down his spine.

What was happening?

Elise was missing, the wind was blowing, and somehow the chain from the fallen chandelier remained still. Unmoved.