This chapter would have been up sooner, but my parents took me to Vegas for the day (queue Elvis music) and I only got all those previews out because I was at the airport either waiting for my ride, or my plane... Hehe
R. I. P.
R. L. C.
Cullen Manor: Chapter 11; Your Worst Nightmare
It was a while before I was able to regain my breath, and try to find out what it was. I knew what R. I. P. stood for, but it was the R. L. C. that was tricking me.
Very faintly, but you could definitely tell it was there, the gazebo music was playing from inside the wall, right behind the… whatever it was.
I brought my hand up to it, and began to feel around it, trying to find an opening. I was granted an entrance.
As I was feeling my hand up against it, my finger entered a dip in the pattern, and it popped open. The music was louder now as Jacob put his hand in, and he pulled out a book. And a music box.
Both of which had initials engraved (in Edwardian Script, I later learned) in them.
R. L. S.
R. must be the first name, I thought. Alice HAD talked about a girl named Rose… could that be what R. stood for? And it was obvious that the C. stood for Cullen. But L. and S. …
"S. could be Swan!" Jacob suggested. I looked down at him, and looked at him as though he had grown a second head. "What? It could be possible!" I rolled my eyes at my little brother, and opened the book. It was a diary! Out of respect for this R. L. C., I put it away, and didn't read any of it, and instead, went for the box.
As soon as it was out, the music stopped altogether. Hesitantly, I flipped the lock open, and peeked inside. A dancing couple holding hands were in the box, and I spun the key, and the couple began dancing to the gazebo music. It had been a music box all along! And it had belonged to this R. L. C. person!
I wasted no time; I needed to talk to Alice. I grabbed the book, put it under my arm, and handed him the music box. "Don't drop this," I ordered, grabbing his hand and sprinting to the end of the tunnel.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever before I finally hit a wall, and Jake crashed into me. I looked around for the ladder. It was nowhere to be found.
"Uh, I think I found it," he whispered, picking the ladder up off the floor. I glanced at him with frightened eyes, and he returned the gaze, before looking up. It was probably about ten feet up. Too high to climb without a ladder. And the walls were perfect; there would have been nothing to grab onto anyways.
Something began to cackle above us. "Looks like you're stuck down there," a woman with red eyes and just- as red hair said from off the ledge.
I glared up at her. "Who are you?" Jacob asked. She just cackled again.
"Hopefully," she replied in a sickly sweet voice. "You're worst nightmare." And then she was gone.
Jacob started freaking out. "What if she comes down here??" he continued to ask me in a frightened voice. I never answered him, instead I just continued to run down the tunnel.
I was walking rather quickly, and it was a surprise I hadn't tripped or fallen flat on my face yet. Jacob walked just as quickly, matching my pace.
"Where are we doing?" he asked.
I didn't turn to him to answer. "We're getting out of here," I said in a very determined voice. I didn't stop, or even slow down, though.
He was starting to slow down, so I grabbed his hand, and continued my pace.
* * * * *
Jake and I had reached a dead end.
We had been walking as fast as we could for forty- five minutes (according to my iPod,) before we stopped.
This end of the tunnel was just like the last one; nothing to grab on to, and at least ten feet above. I glared at the ceiling, but then I saw something… it was a circular hole in the roof! It was an exit!
"Jake, get on my shoulders," I ordered, getting down and pointing to my back. He looked at me like I was a crazy lady.
"But you'll drop me," he accused.
I rolled my eyes. "Why do you think so little of me?" I joked, and motioned to my back again. Hesitantly, he agreed.
It must have been a very funny sight, my brother on my wobbly shoulders, trying to reach the ceiling.
"A little to the left!" he ordered, and I was tempted to drop him, like he had accused me of doing before.
"Too much! Now, to the right!"
This continued for a long while, before, finally, he was able to push open the hole. "Got it!" he cried, as if I were mentally retarded and needed to be reminded of everything.
"Great," I said sarcastically, handing him the ladder I had been sure to grab before. "Now, get up there, and hook this on so I can get up!"
He had to get on my head, but eventually was able to open the hole. Get out, and hook the ladder onto something so I could get up as well.
I climbed up, and met up with him.
"Man, that was so cool!" he cried, and engulfed me in a hug. "I'm so glad you let me help you with your investigating," he mumbled. I smiled, for this brother sister love was very rare, as it is in most homes, so it was best to embrace it while it was still here.
I hugged him back. "I'm glad too."
I pulled him off. "But no one speaks of this moment ever, agreed?"
"Agreed," he said without hesitation, brushing off my 'sister germs.'
I laughed, and messed up his hair. He shook me off, and glared at me. This made me laugh even more. And then I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, up in the window of one of the second floor rooms…
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HEY!!!! YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY ROCK! 11 REVIEWS!!!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW…
My Common Sense: yeah, that's why you gave them another cliffy, huh?
Oh, shut up. You guys still love me, right? LOL
Can we reach that many again? I promise, I'll try to avoid evil cliffies if I get lots of reviews for every chapter! I'll seriously try! Ok, now REVIEW!!!
