Chapter 18: Jason
As we made our way up the spiraling stairs, I looked around in awe. As we got higher and higher, family portraits decorated the walls. Goosebumps went up and down my arms whenever I dared to look into the eyes of a painting. It felt as if the person in the paintings was watching me.
Just then, I turned to the east side of the towering walls surrounding us and gasped, tripping to the ground in surprise. That's when I looked up at the thing that was haunting stood a man with glittering black eyes, wearing a magician's cape and holding a wizard's wand. His eyes were what creeps me out. They were simply spiraling layers of black, creating an abyss. When he turned to look at me, he looked on for a long time, as if he knew the truth. I began sweating.'What if he-he finds out and stops us?'
"Don't worry. They're not real; just Master's creations."
Whew! For a second there, I thought I was dead. Finally, the staircase ended, a posh, detailed rug ran on for as long as I could see. When I looked closer, I noticed the rug was decorated with holly and angels and snowflakes. Christmas-themed.
Turns out Santa's brothers knew how to decorate. There were candles that had a gingerbread aroma lit just inches from each other and the walls were mahogany boards, polished to perfection. Very different from the deary walls of the prison below. Suddenly, JJ swiveled around to hand me a mug of hot cocoa.
"Er...thanks," I'm pretty sure she wasn't supposed to do that. Oh, well. I'm not saying no to it. If she's going easy on me, the better.
I sipped the hot cocoa and grimaced. This must be the punishment! The hot cocoa tasted so bitter, like the time I ate the cocoa powder on the kitchen counter that Mom put out for baking a cake for Olivia's birthday. I was so jealous of Olivia, so when I heard Mom mention the cocoa powder for her cake was on the counter, I raced to the kitchen, ready to gobble down the cocoa powder.
Too bad I didn't know cocoa powder WASN'T the same as chocolate.
"Like it? It's Aztec cocoa, the ORIGINAL hot chocolate." JJ grinned like , this IS punishment.
"Er, no," I said, trying my best not to spit it out,"It's okay,"
"Don't worry! We've reached the bathroom!" I turned, and that's when I saw the tiny, moldy door that stood in front of me.
"Well? Go ahead!" JJ shuffled to the side.
Oh no. How are we going to escape through that?
