Leaving her rooms had been a trial but she had accomplished it rather well, Wilhelmina thought, all things considered. She had waited until the hand maidens had left for the night to go to their own beds and no one had seen her go. She had used back entrances as well as hidden passages that her and her siblings and cousins had known of since she was a child.<br/><br/>In the olden days, it was said, they were used for escaping the castle during coos and such. Now they were only great hiding places for children and a few servants brave enough to use them. If they were caught they would loose their heads for sure since they were privileged places for the royalty to use only. So far she hadn't heard of anyone doing so or getting caught at it but it still could happen.<br/><br/>Wilhelmina was on her way out of the family quarters when the alarms went off. People were beginning to run about like, well like little ants on a plate that had been poked at, she had done that once. Now she was stuck in an alcove of darkness between the exit she wanted and the guards and dredges running about looking for... she wasn't sure but she was beginning to think they weren't looking for her! She didn't know if she should be angry and humiliated or pleased and relieved.<br/><br/>Mina peaked around the corner again to see if the way was clear and didn't see anyone coming. She gathered her fur-lined dark velvet cloak around her to cover her as much as she could then braved the steps to the door to the Gallery. Lifting the latch and slipping out into the comfort of the lowly lit hall, she swiftly made her way into the Gallery, a long hallway lined with large fancy paintings on ether side of her families dead relatives. She knew most of the faces from the lessons she had had to endure as a child. That one was of the Prince Oliver, he had fallen off his horse and smashed his head in during a battle. There was Queen Wilhelmina, a great, great, great aunt she had been named after. And over there was someone she didn't remember but she knew he had been important. So on and so on down the line it went, there was thousands of years invested in these portraits as well as money. Only the finest artists painted the royal family.<br/><br/>To her this place seemed full of ghosts and rather creepy. Mina would never have come this way except it was out of the way and mostly unguarded, probably because of those ghosts. Breaking into a run she looked back the way she had come to make sure no one was coming into the Gallery. In doing so she tripped over something on the floor and it skittered off into the darkness as she fell face-first into something wet and sticky smeared on the floor.<br/><br/>A puzzled frown covered her face as she lifted her arms to see what the sticky mess could be that now covered her sleeves. She sniffed it and turned her hands fore and back while rubbing her fingers together. The darkness, while covering her 'escape', did nothing for her understanding what she had fallen into.<br/><br/>A moan came from under uncle Vernon's portrait and startled a gasp out of her lips and then she squeaked a query, "W-wh-who is there?"<br/><br/>It dawned on her then that her Uncle could have come back from the grave to punish her for trying to run away and was in the hall now about to gobble up her immortal soul! She crawled back as far as her dress, cloak and the wall would let her and asked again, a little braver this time..."Who are you? U-un-uncle is t-th-that you?"<br/><br/>Tears welled up into her eyes and she bit her lip as she awaited a response.