Hi, then it is time for a new chapter. I am trying to create a build up for this story and not rush it forwards, after all, it is not what you see that scares you, it is what you don't see...
I hope you will make more some reviews and tell me how I am doing so far, and thank you to you who already have.
Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H.
The corridor was eerily empty and shrouded in darkness when she peeked out. She tip-toed silently through the door and closed it behind her as soundless as she could, not wanting to wake up her little brother. But in her mind, the little click the door made when it was shut, sounded like thunder through the hallway, disturbing the quiet night. Will looked around, holding her breath, "Please," she thought, "Don't let there be anyone, or anything, out there."
With that unpleasant thought in mind, she started walking. The wooden floorboards creaked as she went, but like a ghostly echo, seconds after she trod on them. On the outside, a wind suddenly swept through the old forest and a dark fog seeped out from between the trees. Bringing shadows and whispers from unknown creatures out from their hidings.
After a painfully long walk, Will finally found herself in the dark living room. She came barefooted and only in her pyjamas and regretted it. The temperature was freezing, and the fact that it was almost winter didn't help, but if she wanted to know more she had to deal with it. Therefor she squat down in front of the TV and talked to Annett, as it had called itself. First, it was only sounds of statics coming out from her, but suddenly she started to talk.
"Hello Ms. Will, what brings you back? Should you not be asleep by now?"
Will wanted to be politely interested, said, "Yes I should, but I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about this man that suddenly disappeared without any obvious reason. I was wondering, not only him, but also if you knew something more about the patients and the old lady who lived her?"
"Would that knowledge help you sleep better?" Annett asked doubtfully, but then she said, "If you insist then."
The TV cleared it's nonexistent throat and continued. "I came her as a brand new television in 1984, which was just two years before this enterprise closed. There was a lot of talking, eight people had vanished the last three years, and the staff were already talking about how uncertain their job was if it continued like that. The boss however, Mr. Henderson, didn't want anyone to talk about what had happened, so he hit hard down on anyone who was talking, so the staff didn't dare to say much in fear of losing their jobs. I think the only one to support his policy was Ms. Betty."
"What sort of people were Mr. Henderson and Ms. Betty then?" asked Will. "Oh, they were both very private and secretive and didn't speak to other people if not necessary. However, I heard from the staff that Ms. Betty often went to meet Mr. Henderson and they both could be away for a long time together. There was some talk about an "unprofessional" relationship between them, but I tell you, neither of them was the sort of person who could see anyone as friends. What happened between them, if anything at all, happened in secret, and had probably little or nothing to do with friendship. It was always Mr. Henderson who went out first, then Ms. Betty followed soon after, they were very discrete, it was obvious they didn't want to alert anyone like that. But you know, people do have a brain and use it sometimes too. I heard the staff whispering among themselves that the people who disappeared usually went missing not long after Mr. Henderson came back, so they thought it might have been a connection."
"For real?" said Will, "The two of them disappeared together sometimes, out for business that probably had nothing to do with their work. And when they came back, somebody would disappear? How long did this go on and where did they go?"
"As I told", Annett said with her metallic voice;" I came to be here only the last two years, and the staff was already talking about it, so it must have been going on for some time. I am sorry to tell you I can't say for how long this was going on, but four more people vanished before it closed down."
"So I guess that will be a mystery for now," Will said, mostly for herself, and Annett continued "But about the matter of where they went, I know there was some talk about them being observed coming up from the basement, never together, but first one of them and then the other always came a little later. I heard they also had been seen visiting the forest, but that was before I came so I can't tell you more."
"Do you think" Will said, "Did those two's strange relationship and mysterious little "trips" have anything with the disappearing patients to do? And what happened to the people who vanished? People don't suddenly disappear or…" more she didn't say, because she did disappear on an unregularly basis herself she realized, and nobody beside her fellow guardians and her boyfriend Matt knew where. "Well, at least, they are usually found again sometime later, in various conditions..."
"I really don't know." Said Annett and didn't have much more to say after that. The staff had been careful not to speak too much when they were in the living room. Betty's room used to be where Dean and Susan slept now, and Henderson had slept in his own room next to his office located on the third floor right above the main entrance. That would be a place for a closer inspection tomorrow when she could have a look under the excuse of exploring the house.
Will stood up and walked out of the living room. She had just stepped out in the dark corridor when a cold wind suddenly got a hold on her naked ankles and she started to shiver. Outside she could hear the late autumn wind howl, black old trees screaked when they bended and twisted in time with the wind's eerie symphony. She could feel it getting colder; it had to be a broken window somewhere. Will started to walk back to her bedroom in a slow hurry, not wanting to be alone in this cold and creepy hallway longer than necessary.
After what felt like an eternity, she came to the door leading into her room. She took hold of the doorknob, but didn't open it as a strange feeling held her back. Will suddenly felt herself being watched. Frightful, she turned her head slowly to the left to look back at the direction from where she came, nothing there. Then she turned her head again to the right and stared into the dark, which led further inn to the building, nothing there. Nothing there.
The frightened teenager stood completely frozen in front of her door, pondering on her choices on what to do. On one side, behind the door was the safety of her bed. She could put up a tiny magical shield in her room that would alert her if somebody tried to sneak in while she and William slept. She could probably do that to her parents' room too without them noticing it. On the other hand, she could follow the hallway into the unknown and look for the source of her uneasiness. Will weighted her options before she finally thought, "I can't believe I am really going to do this."
She looked back into the dark that led away from the bedrooms and further into the building where she knew the bathroom was, and the stairs, leading her to whatever lay beyond. With every fiber in her body warning her not to go, the girl in pyjamas started to walk slowly further into the night. Each time she passed a door, she kept a close eye on it in case it suddenly should open. And when it didn't, she wondered what it could be that could be spying on her through the keyholes, or was it something that followed her through the windows on the outside? Will stopped for a moment to look outside, but not being in her enchanted guardian form, there wasn't much she could see, and since she couldn't see, she tried to listen. The stillness of the house was oppressive, as if a dark cloud had descended over the building, suffocating every sound you might have expected to hear, even the wind she had heard earlier was gone. She walked to the end of the corridor witch made up the front of the building, then it turned with a ninety-degree angle to the left. So far, she hadn't dared to create any sort of magical light in case Susan or Dean for some reason should happened to open their door, however, as fast as she rounded the corner she stretched out her right arm and opened her palm where an electrical blue light appeared. Of course, had it been Taranee, a warm yellowish bright flame would have appeared, but her element being energy, aka electricity, the flame was a cold blue-white one that made the illuminated part of the corridor appear in an unnatural pale light. The presence of light made Will feel a little braver, but for some reason, she couldn't make the light bright enough to light up more than her immediate surroundings. The lone witch carried on anyway.
The corridor felt endless, and every time the old floor moaned under her feet, it sounded like thunder to her ears, she was afraid of what could lie behind each of the doors she passed. Could she have woken anything that slept? After what must been an eternity she stood in front of the door at the end of the hallway.
"Stairway" a sign said next to it. The door was quite different to the others she had passed. It was probably an original door from the time this was a monastery. The door was of solid oak, broader than the other doors, probably to allow bigger objects to be moved up and down. As she stood in front of the door, Will felt completely numb, as if the time itself had stopped and all that existed in the world was her and this door leading to the dark unknown. Almost by itself, her free arm rose and clenched around the doorknob, and there she stood, terrified with tears in her eyes, imagining what could lurk behind the door. She embraced herself and let her magic flow through her body, ready to attack whatever might come, clenched hard around the doorknob and turned it around….
Dean was a light sleeper; long after Susan had fallen asleep, he was still awake and listened to the sounds of the house. The sudden wind outside made it creak in every loose part, the trees in the garden right behind them didn't help it either. For a while, he thought he also heard silent voices, more like whispers, and he couldn't stop himself thinking of what the old man at the Inn had said about voices being heard up here. It was a soft voice, perhaps a feminine one, and it was a harsher metallic one. Mad people who just had vanished and never been found, sure it must had been an urban tale, in the middle of the forest… How he wished he could be so calm as his wife, nothing ever seemed to scare her. He felt cold, so very cold in his bed, and started to regret coming here in the first place. His wife had found this trip to be a perfect opportunity for them all to be together for a little while, especially for Will whose friends always seemed to come first. He would had preferred a lunch in the park and a trip to the cinema, if it existed a movie that all of them could enjoy together. Dean found himself holding his breath, he didn't hear voices anymore, sure it must had been his imagination. Then suddenly he thought he heard footsteps! They were very soft, and he wouldn't be attentive to them if it hadn't been for the occasional creaks from the floor. They came closer and closer, and suddenly they stopped. Dean didn't dare to breathe, then he heard the footsteps again, now they passed the door and continued further away along the corridor outside. Will's stepdad didn't sleep well that night.
…The door wouldn't move, it was locked. Will felt a rush of relief through her body, whatever might be behind the door was shut away. At least for now. Better coming back in the morning when it was light outside. She looked at the door for a moment before she turned away and went back the way she came. Will opened the door to her room silently and saw her little brother sleeping peacefully on their bed were she hurried to join him.
Sleep didn't come easy. She tossed and turned for a long time. When she finally fell asleep she didn't know, but in the realm of dreams she soon found herself walking through a dark house, followed by shadows of unseen creatures that always would disappear when she turned around to look. However, the next morning she would not recall this.
Unknown to the sleeping Will, at the end of the corridor, the doorknob she had found locked started to turn around by itself, followed by a soft sound, "Click", and the door was not locked anymore.