Sue has such a wonderful knack for choosing images that inspire stories. Her photo prompt this week does not disappoint and, once again, it seems to tie in with part of my own WIP. Not Ambeth – this time I’m heading back to the world of vampires, Silver and Black. And so here is my excerpt:

At daybreak, the shutters fall. All over the house, metal doors obscuring even the slightest hint of light. I often sleep during the day – after all, there’s not much else to do. But sometimes, when the guards are changing over, there’s a place I go that is mine alone.

And this morning I need to be alone, just for a moment. No-one to hear me or wonder what I’m doing. How can I sleep after last night, anyway?

I push open my door, looking up and down the hallway. Good. No one there. The shutters are sliding down, early golden light from outside being snuffed out – it’s a dangerous time for vampires. But for me, it’s a chance to be free.

I step out of my room and turn right, following the corridor a short way to a door. It’s different than the others lining the hallway, smaller, and made of thick wood studded with nails. I open it. Stairs curve up and away from me, the small window cut deep into the stone already almost closed off. I flick on my small torch then start to climb the tower, my hand trailing along the wall for balance, stone rough under my fingers. The air smells of cool and damp.

This stairway isn’t really used, because it doesn’t really go anywhere. Except outside. I come to another door, and feel in my pocket for the key. Iron cold, heavy in my hand, I put it in the lock and turn it. Then I step through.

Light falls all around me.

It is glorious. Gold and red and orange and turquoise, the sun a ball of fire just above the horizon. Mist is on the trees below, the landscape spread out below me like a half-remembered dream, green and beckoning. I can see the dark mass of forest on our boundary, stretching beyond for miles towards the faint shimmer of the Safe Zone. Sometimes, on the clearest days, I can see the sea.

The air is like velvet, cool and soft on my skin, and I can hear birds chirping. I have no idea what kind – I only know from old films and books that they live in the trees, nesting and flying during the day, then resting at night.

As I stand at the crenelated edge, looking out at the world, my eyes fill with tears. It never fails to move me, whether sunrise or sunset, the turning of the world an endless wonder. And a power only I, among everyone in the house, possess. The power to meet the sun.

I stand there, my vision blurred with tears, as light fills the world and I am free.

You have until June 8th to add your own entry for this photo, and there have already been some great responses. So head on over to Sue’s to check them out, or add one of your own.