Chapter four:
Admittance is important
The nearest room is the one at the end of the hall. The door faces toward the stairwell, it's knob a rusted brass globe set in the unadorned oak wood. Davis goes first, determined to find his best friend and 'boyfriend'. Tai follows him, moving with the same enthusiasm. He's sure that we'll find the young genius someplace, hiding under a bed, or behind a door. They don't seem to want to accept what's happening.
This room is furnished, unlike the one Ken and I visited. A large canopy bed fits squarely against the outside wall, a window on each side. A desk is set up opposite of it, and I search its surface for another poem. It's bare, the top hidden beneath years of dust.
I turn away, and something crumples under my foot. I step back, and lean down. On the floor is a small square of paper, and I pick it up. In bold letters, another poem stares up at me, this one different than the one I already found.
"Love is strong,
Love is weak,
Love its other half will seek."
A sound like ripping fabric fills the room, and the door slams shut. Davis and Tai jump and look at it, then at me guiltily holding the paper in my hand. Davis opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by another voice.
"Love will smile/love will frown/love will tear the barrier down." Out of the wall to my right steps a tall, lithe figure, dressed in antique clothing, his hair covered by an old-fashioned wig. "I see you found my poem. It's lovely, isn't it?" He smiles at me warmly, as if he appeared before the living all the time, and received intelligent replies.
Tai and Davis are eyeing him warily, but neither come to face him with me. I swallow, then smile slightly. "It's neat?" Yes, I am a coward. Forget what happened in the Digital World. The thought of facing the unliving scares me.
The ghost only smiles broader. "Thank you! It's been so long since anyone has read my work. It's horribly unappreciated, you understand." He looks down at it, still held in my hands. "Of course, I'm having trouble with the third verse. Love is happy/love is mad...And that's all the farther I got. I can't think of anything fitting to follow mad."
He sighs in frustration, the turns to my friends. He waves, and they both wave back numbly. I roll my eyes, realizing that, despite their excitement in the unknown, neither knew how to act when facing a real ghost. It's comical, but annoying at the same time.
"Excuse me?" He turns back to me, tilting his head to one side. "Do you know what happened to our friend?" His smile fades, replaced by a hollow frown. "We really need to find him."
"Really?" I nod, and he sighs again, this time sadly. "And you were so nice, too. The demon has him. It's part of the agreement. If you want him back, you'll have to find him."
"How do we do that?" I look at him eagerly, feeling hope blossoming in my chest. Even if it is Takeru's crest, I have a right to the emotion.
"I'm not certain, really. I think the Comtesse knows, but I'm not certain where, or how, to find her. I can't leave this room, you see. There's another poet, but he's gloomy, and hard to get along with. He visits the east tower a lot."
"Thank you." I gesture to Tai and Davis, and they both go to the door. It opens easily, and I start to follow, but stop on the threshold. "Love is happy/love is mad/love cries when love is sad."
The ghost smiles at me, tears forming in his eyes. "Good luck! Thank you!" The door swings shut as I step back into the hallway. It put the poem in my back pocket, separate from the first.
"Let's go." Davis heads to the stairs, and starts down, stopping halfway to the bottom. "Which way's east?"
Tai looks at me, and smiles slightly. I nod at him in understanding, and he passes Davis on the stairs. "I'll lead." We move down the stairs and along one hall in single file order, Tai in the lead, with Davis between us, coldly ignoring my presence. If I were to disappear right now, he wouldn't care.
It takes us several minutes to get into what Tai says is the east tower. The metal stairs wind up in a spiral fashion, reaching a dizzying height. Another weakness. I'm scared of ghosts, and heights. My best friend, of course, begins to climb, oblivious of the fact that I'm seriously fighting not to hyperventilate.
I'd really like to know when I became such a coward. When I realized that I wanted to live? I used to be suicidal, but I've discovered that being alive, having friends, and being in love are great depression killers. Instead of quivering at the bottom, as I'd like to, I follow both holders of courage up the tower stairs, my chin held high to avoid looking down.
At the top, Tai tries vainly to open the door. It doesn't budge, or even rattle a little, holding firm even when Davis adds his strength. They give up, and look around for something to pry it open with, or maybe a key. I look around, my eyes inadvertently peering over the edge.
I close my eyes quickly, hoping that my stomach will return before I throw up. Tai taps my arm, and I turn to face him, my breathing ragged. "Are you okay, Matt?" I nod, and look over the abyss at the wall across from us. In a little niche, I can see a piece of paper sticking out of it, as if stuck there on purpose.
"Look at that." I point to it, and they both join me at the railing. "I wonder if it's another poem?" In answer, Tai leans over, trying to grasp it. The tower's only six feet in diameter, but he can't quite get to it.
Davis looks at me seriously, animosity shoved back. "You're the tallest. If anyone can reach it, it would be you. It could be another key. Maybe this ghost won't come out unless his poem is read, too." Tai nods, and I can see that he agrees with Davis' reasoning.
"Okay." I take a deep breath, and sit on the railing, using my feet around the poles to keep my balance. With a silent prayer, I lean back, reaching my hand above my head. Something groans, like a bolt or nail being strained, causing me to slip a little.
Tai grabs my shirt, and pulls me back onto the stairs, his face as pale as mine must look. With a triumphant look, I hold the paper up in two fingers. They both smile, glad that I managed to get it. They both wait, until I unfold the square, and read the passage silently.
"To correct a mistake
I shouldn't have made
And solve a puzzle
Time cannot fade.
Seeking a solution
To a problem unsolved,
And finding an answer
To a challenge called."
"Damn people. Can't stop bothering the dead." Black eyes seemed to float in front of me, and we all gasp in shock. A second later, a man in black clothing stands before us, his eyes glaring at us. "What do you want?"
"We want Ken." Davis answers, less impressed by this rude specter than the first one.
"And Ken would be?" He smirks, his eyes swinging to the redhead momentarily before meeting my eyes.
"He's our friend, the one that was taken by the demon." He blinks at that, and walks through me. In the air that I had hung over, he walked as if on a solid floor, his hand scratching his chin thoughtfully. "We came to ask you if you knew where the Comtesse is."
He looks at me, then at Tai and Davis. "She's in the northern tower. If you go through the door, and down the hall, you should find her easily. You'll need this." He holds out is hand, a piece of paper and a flat, metal disk in the palm.
I take both of them gratefully. "Thank you." He shrugs, and rolls his eyes. A squeak behind us sounds the opening of the tower door, and he waves his hand at us to leave.
"Anything to get you out of my tower." I smile, chuckling slightly. Tai and Davis are waiting for me in the hall, the ghost glaring at me coldly. He looks at my friends, then at me, and winks. "Be careful."
"We will. Thank you." The door slams shut this time, leaving us standing in the hall. "Well, he was pleasant." Two pairs of brown eyes give me a disbelieving look. "Let's go."
I lead the way this time, deciding that I've earned it. Leaning out over six flights of stairs, talking to two ghosts. Losing Ken.
I told Tai that I thought I was falling in love with him. Ken, that is, not Tai. I told him that because I wanted him to know that I felt something for him, but I didn't want him knowing that I thought that I was in love with him. Ken's had my heart for a very long time, something that I don't want to think about, since I can't guarantee that I'll ever see him again.