At first, you cannot think enough to react. When you come to your senses, you debate fleeing in any available direction, but turning your back to whatever lies waiting in the dark does not appeal to you at all, especially with your wings creating a dangerously-large blind spot. Torn by indecision, you stand rooted to the spot, as you hear what you fear is another footfall. Unblinkingly, you stare at the dark figure.
And you continue staring. Even as you hear a third echoing thud, the figure does not appear to get any nearer. By the time you hear the fifth thump, you are fairly certain that whatever is going on down the darkened hallway, the figure is not approaching you. Now you are faced with a gut-clenching decision - go forward into the darkness and investigate, or turn away. You are still more afraid of exposing your back, so you decide to go forward, as scared as you are.
Cautiously, you take a step forward, then another, holding the torch out in front of you like a weapon. However, you discover that doing so makes staring into the darkness more difficult, as your eyes cannot adjust due to the light of the torch. Reluctantly, you hold it more to the side, and walk forward hesitatingly. As you approach the shadow, the torch suddenly sparks, and a gleam of light reflects back at you from what you fear might be an eye or a tooth, perhaps a claw. Still, after pausing a moment, you decide to continue, as the figure has still made no overt movements towards you, despite the continuing thunks and strange moaning sounds.
Your eyes finally focus on the true nature of your tormentor. Standing in the middle of the passageway, taller than you, is a marble statue. While you are tempted to let out a sigh of relief, the grotesque appearance of the statue prevents you from feeling at ease. The image is that of a being with the upper torso, arms, and head of a woman, but the lower body seemed as though it were in the process of changing into parts cobbled from various different creatures. Akin to a centaur, there were four beastly legs, but with paws rather than hooves. The tail snaked about, quite literrally, seeming like a python. Upon closer look, horns appear to be growing from the woman's head as well. Nevertheless, none of this strangeness is what impacts you the most. Rather, it is the apparent forward motion of the body and the expression of sheer horror on the woman's face. It is as though she were frozen stiff in a moment of pure agony and terror, lurching away in an attempt to escape her fate.
Your breath is taken away at the sight, and you are so engrossed in the statue that for a moment, you feel like it could almost cry out. As that thought flashes across your mind, a ghostly moan rights through the corridor, apparently coming from the statue, causing you to nearly jump out of your skin, wings and all. After another dull thud, the moan stops, and you chuckle to yourself nervously at the thought of a statue groaning. How ridiculous a notion it is. However, you are standing here with a full-on pair of wings...maybe what once would have been ridiculous is no longer so.
Working up your courage, you lean in and look closer, only to confirm the statue has not moved. However, from its position, you feel as though it were trying to run away from something. The moaning begins again, but this time, you are close enough to feel a breeze, coming not from the statue, but slightly behind it. Walking around the marble, you trace the source of the air to the ground, and lift the torch just in time to see a trap door located directly behind the statue's rear feet shut with a thunk as the moaning stops. After a few moments of silence, the door lifts upward slightly, the wind that forced it open causing an eerie groaning noise. Confident that you have found the source of the strange footsteps, you grin to yourself, but quickly lose your humor as you glance again at the statue.
You still have no idea what else lies in this castle, and entering the corridor with the shadowy statue reminded you just how vulnerable you are in a confined space. You decide you need to find an open area, or a way out, so that if whatever was watching you earlier decides to come after you, you have a means of escape. While you can go down the lighted corridor, you are still wary of it for some reason. The wind from the trap door suggests that there may be a way out below, but it would mean going under the castle into god-knows-what. Of course, you could keep going down the dark corridor, but you're not sure your heart can take any more of this. Taking one last look at the statue, you decide to...