Chapter 10: Puzzles

Isabelle and I were awestruck by the massive stone column that rose from the center of the room. The new room was enormous. Moss and slime was growing on the walls, the floor damp. There was a ladder strung above our heads, attached to the pillar. It was blocked by a pipe, but I saw a lever to my right. Light was pouring in from a hole in the ceiling, adding a safe feeling to the atmosphere. Silently, I strode over to the lever and gave it a pull. It was jammed.

"We need to get this working," I said to Isabelle. Her aqua eyes were bleak and lifeless, gazing at the wall with no expression. Ignoring her, I glanced around the room, searching for anything that would get the lever functional. That's when I saw oil leaking out of another broken pipe. Curious, I pulled out the empty glass jar and placed it beneath the stream of oil. When the jar was about half full, I picked it up and returned to the lever. Isabelle watched through tired eyes as I poured the oil on the lever. With a sigh, I gave it another pull, but this time, the lever budged.

Glancing upwards, I saw that the ladder had moved. But the pipe was blocking it from descending any further. Frustrated, I turned away from the column and faced Isabelle. She walked past me and gave the lever one more pull. Surprisingly, the ladder broke through the pipe and touched the ground.

"I guess we're going up," I said to her, but I knew the woman wasn't listening. She was already half way up the ladder by the time I noticed. What's her problem? I know we discovered something horrible in our past, but we need to move on. I followed her up the ladder until we were standing on top of the stone column. There was a door to our front, left, and right. But we could only walk to the one to the front, seeing how there was no walkway leading to the others. When we neared the door, I saw a metal plaque that said Control Room.

"Let's hurry before Daniel shows up…" Isabelle hissed with disgust, throwing the metal door open with astonishing strength. I was about to reply but caught myself. Just ignore her temper, Felix. Don't even talk unless it's necessary. She needs to calm down first.

My thoughts were interrupted when the silence erupted into a collage of working machinery. More rusty pipes were attached to the walls, boxes and barrels were neatly piled in a corner, and there was a desk to my left. The door in front of us, I realized, had a wheel attached near it. To my right and left, of course, were two more doors.

"What exactly are we doing in here?" Isabelle's voice was almost impossible to hear.

"Do you think I know?" I said, harsher than I had intended. She narrowed her eyes at me, anger sparking in those pools of blue. Turning away from her fuming gaze, I entered the nearest door. There were three large metal devices hanging from the ceiling, attached by a chain. They looked somewhat like bells. Closer to the right wall was another device with three wheels on it. Questioning, I paced over to the machine and began to examine it. Soon enough, Isabelle joined me in the room.

I threw a glance over my shoulder before returning my attention to the wheels. I tried to turn one, but it seemed rusted in place. There might be something to fix this… I should explore a little first. I thought briskly before shoving past Isabelle. I could almost feel the frustration that was building up inside the woman as I entered the room on the left.

There were more "bells" in here, but this time, the wheels could be moved. I took a moment, gazing around the strange room for any clues. What are we doing in here? I wish I could find out… Well, the plaque said Control Room, so maybe it's a machine. But a machine that does what? I bet we have to get it working.

While lost in thought, I began to turn the wheels, watching half-heartedly as the "bells" began to move up and down. I stopped when I heard a faint click. That's when an idea blossomed. I bet I have to turn all three of these wheels until I hear the click. Yeah, that's probably right. And it was.

When all three "bells" had been moved to their proper positions, the Control Room shook violently. The faint sound of working machinery grew suddenly louder; signaling that one piece of the puzzle had been completed.

"What was that?" Isabelle's voice made me flinch.

"I'm making progress, without any help from you." I said, voice thick with malice and irritation.

"What is your problem?" Isabelle asked.

"My problem right now is you." I stated clearly, "You need to get over what happened and focus on the present. I know what Daniel did was horrible, but you need to put it behind you. What's done is done, and we need to keep moving."

"F-fine, what do we have to do?" She sounded hurt, obviously caught off guard from my statement. I glared at her before leaving the room without answering. She let out a hiss of exasperation before following.

We now went to the door with the wheel. Isabelle spun it frantically, and I watched at the door slowly slid open. When she released the wheel, the door began to close. Swiftly, we both ducked under and made it to the other side.

The new room was well lit, making the air seem thick with dust. Broken pipes and pieces of metal were scattered across the room. The wooden floor was broken in some places, along with the ceiling. This castle is really old, I bet.

"Let's go in there first," Isabelle said, pointing forward. I didn't protest, but when we entered the room, I was completely dumbfounded.

On the wall to my right, there were many pipes attached to the walls. To my left, there was nothing except a few holes.

"Maybe we have to find the pipes that fit?" Isabelle suggested.

"Probably." I replied, "Let's go find some." After a few minutes of searching, we had found some pipes that looked like they'd fit. We returned to the room and set them on the ground.

"In the previous room, I had to mimic the bells. Maybe we have to do the same here?" I wondered aloud.

"Why don't you work on this?" The woman stated, "I'll go into the last two rooms and figure out what to do in there." I was about to protest but she was gone. Letting out a sigh of displeasure, I returned my attention to the new puzzle. Picking up one of the rusty pipes, I placed it on the wall. It attached easily, but I wondered if it was in the right spot. Turning around, I examined the other wall before arranging all of the pipes. They were in the right spots, so why wasn't the machine activating?

Bewildered, I sunk to the ground and stared at the wall. I was sure that it'd work. Maybe it isn't put together exactly right… Or maybe, I don't have to mimic the other wall? No, that can't be right. But, I guess it's worth a shot. I began to take the pipes off the wall before carefully rearranging them. After a few moments of dreadful silence, I was done.

"This has to work," I said breathlessly. Surprisingly, it did. The distant sound of machinery now grew deafeningly loud. Isabelle bolted into the room, triumph sparkling in her eyes.

"The machine is working now!" She said, all anger from earlier evaporated. I turned toward the woman, briefly smiling.

"Let's go see what it did." I said before we bolted out of the Control Room. I was thankful to leave the noisy area behind, but there was still a faint ringing in my ears. When we were standing in front of the door, I realized that there were two levers. How did I miss that? That's probably what the machine activated. I was right, for when I pulled one of the levers, something came down from the ceiling. It looked like a walkway, for it attached itself to the column. We could now reach one of the doors.

I was about to head over when Isabelle grasped my wrist.

"Wait!" She hissed, "Look over there!" I followed her gaze to the floor, only to be taken aback. It was Daniel, and he was heading our way.