Chair Rail: a strip of wood that runs along the wall's length like the ones where the wall and floor meet (go ahead and look), except they are like three to four feet from the floor. Those are called baseboards. Sometimes they have elegant carvings all along them and they vary in width (the chair rails that is).
Letters from Serenity
~*~
Chapter Two: Ghost Box
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In frightened awe, I watched the ghost woman pick up her skirts and flee down the hallway. Compelled to find out how this ended (although, for the life of me I couldn't figure out why), I ran after her. She turned a corner and went into a room with double doors that were not quite as big as the ones I had just walked through. Actually, the transparent figure reached out and made a motion as if opening the door then walked straight through it. Again, I felt a need to follow her.
Slowly and with knees shaking, I walked up to the doors, opened one of them cautiously stepping inside, leaving the door open for quick escape. In front of me lie a massive chamber aged with time and the ghost woman I had followed with another who was also dressed in white but had silver hair instead.
The first stood near her while the other was sitting in a chair that looked like it was about to fall apart holding something. She was facing away from the ghost women with pink hair and myself. Something strange caught my attention though, even in my state of mesmerized terror: the apparition I had followed seemed to be out of breath but ghosts didn't have a need for oxygen, right?
"Mother, they are breaking down the front gates. The Soldiers are having trouble keeping them at bay..." the pink-haired woman pleaded, "Mother, are you listening? You must leave now or the Universe has no chance of surviving!"
Wide-eyed, I watched the captivating scene play out before me.
The daughter quickly went to her mother and kneeled before her, "Please Mother. It is the only way. Father is waiting for you."
I almost began to coax the mother into leaving as well for the sense of urgency that rushed through my veins. I was being swept away in the situation.
"Mama--"
The second specter heaved a great sigh and the two stood together. The older woman walked over to the wall and did some sort of strange motion, and then shoved what she was holding through the wall. It looked like some sort of box.... Suddenly, the two jumped, apparently hearing a loud something, and looked at me in absolute horror or rather what had made the inaudible sound. Then the two faded. I was alone.
Shivering with anticipation and fear, I leaned against the opened door to try to catch my breath. What had I just seen? Apparently the two were of great status, and the second woman looked to be just as young as her daughter even though their features were mottled from their transparency. That was impossible, right? No wait.... The Ambassadors of this time stopped aging when they reached a certain age and then passed away either by choice to be reincarnated (which didn't happen too often for the need of their guidance) or being killed in war. So was that the apparition of Neo-Queen Serenity and Lady Serenity I had just witnessed?
Still slightly shaky, I stumbled over to the portion of the wall where the Queen had walked. What exactly did she hide and how? Feeling along the elegantly imprinted chair rail I found a suspicious looking rose carving. It seemed like the rest, but when my hand ran over it the wood piece moved ever so slightly. So small in fact, that I didn't notice it at first. I tried pushing on it with both hands, putting all of my weight into it but it didn't budge. So then I tried turning it clockwise, and it moved slowly with labor like it was a rusty part in need of oiling. When it stopped, I looked up at the wall but nothing happened yet. So I pushed on the rose and it slid in with just as much difficulty as before when I had turned it.
Finally, the fruit of my labor came as the sound of stone moving along stone was heard. I looked up and nearly jumped back when I saw a small area of the wall opening to a cubbyhole. When it stopped, I took my tiny light and flashed it inside to see a box covered in cobweb and dust. At first I thought it was gray in nature, but when I took it out and dusted it off I saw that it was a pearly peach color. However, when I tried to open it the lid would not give way.
A sudden, unnatural gust of wind kicked up reminding where I was and what I had just seen. Large amounts of fear mixed with extreme anticipation flooded my senses. I ran down the large hallways, memorizing where I had been before, and found myself in front of the entrance, panting. The grand parlor was now being quietly lit and through the crystal windows I could see the storm dying down and the sun coming over the horizon. Had I been here so long?
The sunrise told me that much, but how to get out? Soon the storm would be bearable and the workday would begin. Would I have to wait until someone found that I was missing or would the doors open like they would before? Hesitantly, I stepped forward and the doors creaked open slowly. Apparently, I had done what the castle had wanted me to and was now letting me go. Wait! What was I saying? The castle didn't have a will of it's own... did it?
Not wanting to explore on that thought any further, I stepped out into the howling wind and by the time I took my second step it all stopped in dead silence. Looking around, the clouds about the castle cleared away instantly to reveal a blue sky. Then to top it all off, my third step out into the new day, the doors slowly shut behind me. Strange happenings.... Nothing more 'happened' on my way back to my 'tent.'
I sat down at my cluttered desk and looked at the ancient box I had found. What was it? Was it merely just a box or something else? Again I tried to open it but nothing happened. Well, even so, I had to come to a decision about it. I could tell my crew and Dr. Conway's crew so we could all ponder it together, or I could just tinker on it for a while and keep it a secret for just a little longer. The latter sounded better than Darren peering over my shoulder, sneering. Knowing my luck, he would just reach over and it would open instantly for him. Ug. That was the last thing I needed happening.
"So be it then," I said and stood, but not before slipping the mystery box into a drawer.
Feeling strangely refreshed instead of dead tired, I stepped out into the day and gathered both crews up to hear what I had to say, "Now listen. Get all of your tool belts on and flash lights. We're going into the Palace."
Darren's crew looked at me as if I were a small bug to be crushed and Dr. Conway himself came over as my people dispersed to gather their things. Even through his sunglasses I could feel his eyes on me, "Mind telling me what this is all about?"
"Did you go over the reports I gave you?" When he gave a slight nod of the head, I continued, "Well, remember the double doors in the main tower?"
"Yes, yes. The doors that couldn't be opened. What about them?" He urged, becoming increasingly impatient.
Clipping on my own belt, I replied and then began to walk towards the front doors, "I opened them."
"What? Wait, Rena, come back here!" He chased me, not before giving his crew a look that sent them gathering their tools, "What do you mean you opened them?"
"Just what I said, Darren," I said becoming the one who was irritated, "I opened them."
That's when we reached the doors and several of my diggers and interns began to crowd around. When I told them what I had just told my rival, their jaws dropped and they immediately began to ask questions. At that point I wasn't really sure of whether or not to tell them that I had followed a ghost. That could be the end of my career or not, but I really didn't want to hear what Darren Conway had to say about it.
Four of the more muscular men stepped forward to begin opening the doors, but I got there before they. Placing a hand on each door, I gave a push. They swung open readily, which if I hadn't had strong-stomached workers, they might have all dropped to the ground in faint in seeing the unnatural simplicity of the feat. I lead the way inside with several shaky followers staggering in, gawking at the near thousand pound each doors. Then again, this response didn't compare to the one I got when I led them to the already opened impossible to open doors in the main tower.
"What's going on?!" I heard Adela whimper.
Turning to the group, I instructed them to begin their excavation, and left strict orders with them that if anyone found anything that seemed to even represent something important to report it to me immediately or face exportation. I was a kind hearted person to all those who knew me-- except Dr. Conway of course-- and my threat caught them off guard. If anyone thought for a moment I was joking, the steely glint in my eyes told them otherwise. I was dead serious.
I walked a straight beeline to where I had found the mystery box earlier. Much to my dismay, the opening in the wall was shut. Out of all the things that had decided to stay open for me, the secret cubbyhole decided to close long before I gathered my team.
"Okay Rena. I think you owe me an explanation," a voice came from behind.
I whirled around to see Darren standing in the doorway. His expression was serious, but I really didn't give a flying flip, "Oh? I don't see why...."
His stormy eyes narrowed in anger. Shutting the ancient door behind him, he walked forward and came very, very close to me. It didn't help that like a stubborn idiot I stood my ground.
The man towered over me, "You know why. We're partners in this whether you like it or not, and as such, you need to share with me any vital information you find."
Damn. Trying to escape his perfectly logical logic, I began to inspect the chair rail again. I felt him move towards me again and this time I was against the wall. If I didn't say something soon, I was going to get myself into a really sticky situation, even more so than I was-- if I didn't tell him how I opened the doors he'd have me deported for lack of corporation, however, if I told him I saw a ghost he would have me deported and then locked up in a mental star.
"Well, I got stuck in the storm last night, and when I leaned up against the doors, they opened," I said truthfully. Half the truth was better than none, right?
"Just like that huh?" Darren wasn't buying it.
Where in the world was that rose?! "Yes, just like that."
He fell into silence. My curiosity got the best of me and I turned to see if he had decided to believe me or not. I didn't necessarily like what I saw. Just as I had suspected before, he was hovering mere inches away from me. Looking into his eyes I knew that he knew I was hiding something. Despite it all, what was going through my mind at the time was 'why does he have to be so damn handsome?' My poor father, if he ever heard me talking this way he'd have me over his knee in a flash.
Much to my surprise, his hand came up to either brush a rouge strand of hair out of my face or rub a smudge of dirt off my cheek, but when his skin came in contact to mine, something surged through my veins. "Rena-" Darren started but was interrupted by someone bursting through the double doors to the room.
"Doctors-" It was David, one of my diggers. The new comer looked at Darren then at me, and then back at Darren. What the hell was he staring at?! Again with the mouth.... But he was looking at us as if we were-wait. I looked at my rival and found why David was looking at us the way he was; his hand was still caressing my skin (or brushing the hair out of my eyes; didn't know, didn't care) and our bodies were hairs away from touching. Of course it was just my luck for one of my employees to walk in right that moment.
Apparently seeing the situation the same way I did, Darren stepped back, giving plenty of room between us. Whew!
"Yes David?" I said coolly. What else could I do?
"Err-I, oh! Well, I think you should come see for yourselves," the digger said, turning slightly red.
Nodding, I somewhat stormed out of the room, leaving Darren staring after me in what way I didn't know.
~*~
Frustration and confusion in the highest! We found what we were led to believe the main garden of the palace and another pair of massive doors. However, this time when I touched them, nothing gave way. It was the same situation as before last night-- impossible to open.
I was now currently in my quarters looking over the box I had found. The winds outside began to pick up, reassuring me that my secret was safe to inspect in privacy. That's what I thought at least. Without permission, the door slid open and a hooded figure walked in. I didn't even attempt to cover the box for hope of being able to play it off as nothing at all.
The intruder brushed off sand and pulled back his jacket hood to reveal a head of raven black hair. The door slid shut behind him. I turned to look at him, "Yes?"
My rival looked at his watch and sat down on my bed, much to my dismay, watching me, "You have fifteen minutes to tell me what's up before I have to spend the night here."
I nearly fell out of my chair, "What?! Spend the night?! Dr. Conway, I think you-"
"The storm Rena, I mean the storm," he clarified with amusement dancing in his blue eyes.
Oh. Yes, of course. The storm would go from excruciatingly unbearable to deadly in a matter of minutes. Great.
"I told you everything," I said with poison in my tone; maybe I could drive him away.
But he wasn't paying attention. I followed his gaze to the box. Double great.
"No, you haven't," the man stood, grabbed my empty equipment bag off of my bed, threw it at me, and headed toward the door again, "Come with me, and bring the box."
His tone was enough to make me shove the object, along with a few other choice objects, into my bag and follow him out while pulling on my jacket and hood. We somewhat struggled through the intense winds and came to the palace doors. He reached out and pressed. They swung open as readily for him as they had me.
Again I followed as he walked inside and began to close the doors onto the storm, "You're going to tell me everything."
"I can't," I replied in what I wished would had been a stronger voice.
He turned and even through the hood's protection, I could see that I was going to tell him everything even if I didn't want to, "Why?"
Why indeed.... What was it about Darren Conway that could make me jump through hoops? I didn't like him. He was a condescending know-it-all who got on my nerves. When he tried to order me around before, I replied with a few choice words establishing what I thought about him and that I wasn't going to do anything he wanted me to do. So then why the change? Was it the fierce seriousness in his eyes or the fact that he wanted to solve this mystery almost as fast as I did?
Without a word I clicked on my small light, walked up a grand stairway, down vast hallways, through the double doors in the main hallway, and into the room I had found the box in. I went to the chair rail and felt along the carvings, feeling Darren's eyes on me. With a turn and a push the wall opened again. Sorrowfully I looked at him.
"What-what is that?" He asked, stunned.
"I followed a beacon last night," I explained as he walked towards me to inspect the opening, "When I found the source, I found a woman."
"A woman? One of the workers was in the palace at night?"
I shook my head miserably, "No. It was a ghost woman."
Darren straightened up looking at me unlike I had expected him to-with calm intent instead of judging, cold eyes.
Taking a deep breath, I explained every last detail to him. He didn't interrupt once. I told him about doors opening, the ghostly sigh, how I came upon the room, what was said between the two apparitions, and how I found the box. Once done, he sat down upon the aged bed assessing everything that was said.
"I didn't tell you because I thought you would have had me deported for insanity," I explained.
Nodding his head slightly he said, "I can see that...."
"Dr. Conway, you can't! This is too important to me, you know that, don't you?" I pleaded.
Finally his gaze met mine, "It's hard to grasp, but I believe you. I've gone over all the reports you gave to me and sightings of shapeless wisps dappled them. Knowing the history of the Soldiers and the Royal Family also prove that nothing is impossible. I'm not going to have you deported."
The aching in my lungs was pacified as I began to breathe again.
"Well, let's take a look at this box of yours."
Pulling it out, I handed it to him, "I can't seem to open it. There's no seam indicating a lid, nor are there hinges; just a small indention."
He peered closely at it, "I see it.... It looks like a heart with wings...."
"Really?" Darren pointed it out to me and I had to agree. It really did look like a heart-shaped silhouette with little wings coming out of the sides.
"I wonder.... It also looks like something needs to be slid inside of it, like a key."
As if by angered by something Dr. Conway said, an unnatural wind swept into the room, slamming the door shut. We both jumped and the box clattered to the floor. A few moments of shocked silence passed and Darren picked up the box again. Feeling uneasy about the door being closed, I walked to it and pulled on it. It wouldn't budge, "What! No way!"
"What is it?"
"The door...! It's stuck!" I exclaimed, yanking on both doors now but jumped back at a fierce pain that hit me in the chest as quickly as the wind had come, "Ouch!"
Without thinking, I grabbed what was inflicting the painful sensation and yanked. A small melodic bell seemed to play and the pain left me.
"You okay Rena?" Darren asked, stepping forward to inspect my neckline.
Wincing I nodded, rubbing my collarbone, "Yeah.... Something was burning me."
"Burning you?" He began to look around for the object I threw down on the marble floor.
"Yeah, but not a hot burning but a freezing temperature," I explained, then gasped, "My necklace! It's gone!"
The day my father died, he gave me a somewhat valuable ring that belonged to one of the servants of the Crystal Palace during the Neo-Queen's Dynasty. Too valuable to wear when my fingers were actually big enough, I kept it on a piece of twine that hung around my neck and never, ever took it off but now it was gone! It must have been the item that was burning my skin, but how?!
As if to call out 'here I am,' a silver glint caught my eye and I immediately moved towards it. I breathed a sigh of relief, "Found it."
"Good, now how do we get out?"
Blowing the dust off of it, I admired it for it's ever-lasting beauty, something I always did when I was nervous and rung it around the string. In the middle was a crystal heart with small diamonds trailing out from it and into the silver band...! "A heart with wings!"
"What?" Darren turned from inspecting the doors to look at me.
"Let me see the box!" I commanded.
He complied and I shoved the ring into the 'key hole,' and just like one does with a key, I turned it and there was a soft clicking sound. As if by magic, the top of the box cracked open ever so slightly. Anticipation in my eyes, I looked at Darren who nodded slightly, then pushed the box all the way open....
"What's inside?" He asked with a slight hint of excitement, which, trust me, meant that he was just as thrilled as I was.
Reaching inside I grabbed a few items off of the top and showed him, "Letters...."
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TR- I dunno. This chapter seemed to be kinda rushed, what do you think? But you guys responded so warmly, that I had to get the next chapter out soon.
1-10-03
First Edit 9-19-03