Disclaimer: See chapter 1
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello everyone! First of, I would like to apologize for not updating sooner. As we all know, school is upon us and I am up to my head in work. (Damn physics! Its like the saying goes: "Gun's don't kill people, Physics kills people." Which is technically true, once you think about it. The force on which the bullet emerges from the barrel and the speed that it spins… never mind. My socials and law teacher calls me a physics chick. A physics chick! But that's ok. It's a lot of work, but I like it.)
Anyways, secondly, I would like to apologize again. It seems that I have been suffering from a writer's block. (This chapter took me forever to write. I had more drafts for this chapter than all the other chapters combined.) So, if this chapter sucks… you know why.
Anyways, enough of the authors babble and on with the show.
Turah!
~Ayesha
Chapter Four
The silence is disturbed.
Again I hear footsteps, descending lower and lower. Those footsteps are coming to me, the owners either not caring or not realizing this fact. If not caring, the humans are fools. If not realizing, they will… soon enough.
With a sigh, I stand. One of the main reasons I have made my home in a cellar is to be left in peace. To be away from the cold - hearted world that is above. I thought it would also be convenient, seeing as I would have a shorter distance to travel when I would finally meet my fellow monsters in the fiery pits of hell.
But I never got there.
Pity.
I left my home to seek out my visitors. Like a predator who awaits its prey, I sulked into the shadows, listening. There were two of them. The blundering idiot was back with another one of his "experts." Not a word was exchanged between them, but soft curses, which were being mumbled under the new commer's breath. Something about lost baggage…
They have almost reached my lake. My mind begins to plot various means of frightening them away. In just a few moments, I will be able to lay my eyes on my next victim. Perhaps I shall use my lasso on -
It was a woman.
~***~
"We have arrived at the gates of the Dark Angel's Domain."
"I turned my head slowly and looked at Francois, right eyebrow raised. Sure, the lake was a bit creepy, but for all I knew all underground lakes could be like this. Dark Angel's Domain. Puh - lease.
"We have arrived at the gates of the Dark Angel's Domain?" I echoed, my voice taking on a mocking tone. "Somebody's been reading to many horror stories. Who talks like that anymore anyway?" And with newly gained confidence, I started to march over to the lake's shore, the gravel crunching under my shoes.
When I reached the shore, I realized that Francois did not follow. I turned around to see him still standing in the same spot, his eyes still looking out over the waters. There was something about his look I did not like one bit. It was almost as if he were hiding something…
His eyes may have been speaking wonders, but the rest of him certainly didn't. He didn't look too good. In fact, he looked terrible. His face drained its color, leaving him looking very pale. It also looked like he wasn't feeling very good and was ready to be sick at any minute. Both hands were trembling slightly, nervous fingers fiddling with each other.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" I ask. As soon as I spoke, he snapped out of his trance, his eyes focusing on me. He seemed to be hesitating about something, then finally he spoke.
"Nothing."
~***~
It took us a good thirty minutes to cross that lake. After Francois finally pulled himself together, he pointed to a little wooden boat docked further down the lake on our left - hand side. That boat looked like it would sink at any moment, let alone bare the weight of two adults. It's a good thing Francois did all the rowing. Boat travel never agreed with me and while Francois rowed, I was busy hanging my head over the side, struggling to keep the disgusting airplane food from making an encore appearance.
When we reached the shore, Francois, ever the gentleman, got out first and offered me his hand. However, my battle failed miserably and I was soon hunched over, saying hello to my food. Francois held my hair, preventing it from getting in the way. When I was finished, he handed me a handkerchief.
"Sensitive stomach?" he asked.
I nodded, "Only when it comes to boats." I gave him a weak smile. "You didn't see that."
"See what?" he asked, winking.
A wave of gratitude washed over me. Let's face it, I'm not some Angel who like everyone that crosses my path. In fact, I dislike almost everyone I meet. That's one of the reasons I work with bones: they can't piss me off. And yet, here I am with a policeman that I have known for barely two hours, and I am already slowly considering him my friend. That's saying something.
We started to walk towards the location of where the skeleton was found. Leaving the lake, we passed through a stone archway, which led us into a dark tunnel. Francois handed me his flashlight and took out another one. One beam of light wasn't enough anymore.
The sound of little running feet followed us the entire time. More than once I had caught a rat scurrying in the shadows, trying to escape my path of light. My mind drifted to Leroux's book. Didn't we write something about rats also?
After fifteen minutes of winding through the corridors, we came to the end of the tunnel. Our quick strides slowed a bit as we crawled through a hole that had been made in the seemingly stone wall. This was where the renovations must have been taking place. I looked at the stone wall hosting the hole. If this was supposed to appear as a dead end, it was very well done. If not for the hole, I would think this was a solid stone wall.
I barley managed to hide my gasp of surprise of what my eyes beheld before me on the other side. It was a massive wooden door. It stood at least eight feet tall; the designs carved into it made with an expert's hand. The wood itself was very dark, almost black. The door towered before you like some kind of make shift security guard, daring you to step closer and knock.
Getting the door open proved to be a difficult task. The iron hinges haven't been used in a while, and the both of us didn't have anything oily on us. (I usually carried around lip balm, but I tossed it into the suitcase before I left for the airport. Curses.) We ended up pushing the door with all our strength, and by the time we opened enough to have a body fit through, we were both leaning against the stone wall, breathing heavily.
We then entered in single file, our flashlights out in front of us. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't this. On the other side of the wooden door was a home. Or, rather, what was left of it. I'm not one to be an expert on home décor, but even I could tell that this was once a beautiful house. Tapestries hung on the walls, their once vibrant colors all faded and gray looking. Leather couches that once must have been very comfortable looked stiff and moldy. Persian carpets covered the floors, their fine softness gone. Two armchairs were positioned in front of a cold fireplace, both looking ready to collapse.
My eyes traveled the room, taking in the various odds and ends. They finally settled on a magnificent pipe organ which covered half a wall. Sheets upon sheets of difficult music were scattered around it, the fine paper looking like it would turn to dust at any moment.
"Penelope?"
I jumped as I heard Francois call my name from some other part of the house. I made my way across the room, carefully making sure I didn't step on anything. I absentmindedly noted that he called me by my first name.
I found him in another room which could have served as a bedroom. He pointed to a large coffin, which was positioned in the center of the room.
"Skeleton's in the coffin?" I ask
He nodded.
"Okay…" I said slowly. I made my way over to the front of the coffin. It was already open.
This time, I didn't even bother hiding my gasp. Staring right back at me were the bones of a man, judging by the clothes it was wearing. But that is not what caused me to start. The skull that I was staring at was not what I expected.
The left side was normal, but the right side was… deformed.
