Page 57 of The House of Whispers

Quickly, I ripped the tarp down only to find a small office. The tiny room was filled with scientific equipment. There was a desk on one side and a table covered in jars, flasks, and other glass containers on the other. Peering closer, I picked up a small vial, looking closely to see a silver powder inside—fairy dust. My gaze fell upon the table, noting remnants of deep orange glitter. Each of the vials contained a new colored powder as if someone had been experimenting with the dusts.

Is this where you created your concoction, Jakkal?

A sound across the room startled me as I dropped the vial, only for it to shatter on the ground, causing the fairy dust to fill the air. My lungs instantly dried out as I coughed and gagged, choking on the sparkling powder floating in the air.

My eyes strained to see the source of the noise. On the floor across the small room was a book laying open. It had appeared to have fallen from the desk. I bent down, still coughing as I picked up the book and examined it. The pages were old and faded, hard to see with the light of the flickering candle atop the desk.

“Strange.” I removed my glove with my teeth and ignited my fingertip to examine the dull pages closer, reading the familiar handwritten script aloud to myself.

“Upon much research, I have discovered the true balance of the solution to serve my purposes.”I stopped, struggling to read the smeared ink. “This isn’t a book. This is a journal—Dr. Reynard’s journal.” I flipped the page attempting to make out the rushed writing as I continued to read his writing out loud.“I can sell this new mixture as a drug, much like White Rabbit, and profit from the magik wielding persons in Bedeville. Those cursed with magik seem to react most to the drug as it—”I froze as the next few words burned into my brain,“as it itself is mixed with hexer magic,” the words fell from my mouth as I grew sick. The powder Jakkal had been using wasn’t some random drug he created. It was filled with dark magik. Buthow?

I tore a handful of pages from the journal, stuffing them into the pocket of my coat as I looked around. The door of the supposed hidden room beneath the basement had to be near. If Dr. Reynard knew of this hidden room, he might be hiding his ‘prizes’ there. I rose, returning the glove to my hand. I needed to find the entrance. The hand-drawn map didn’t indicate any specifics as to where the entrance was, just that the secret room was located beneath the basement.

“If I were a secret door,” I paced around the room, searching through the desk and amongst the shelves, “where would I be?” My hands moved a stack of leaning books aside, revealing an old lever protruding from the inside of the bookcase. “There you are.”

My hand yanked the lever, pulling it fiercely as I could hear gears moving beyond, clicking as the lever lowered. The bookcase pushed forward, a layer of dust shooting into the air around me. I jumped back as the bookshelf moved at an angle, like a door. The grinding, machine-like noises stopped as I inched closer. The bookcase had revealed a doorway into a tunnel-like hall. Pushing the heavy bookcase, my arms screamed as it moved, allowing me enough room to squeeze through.

An eerie presence shadowed me as I forcefully pushed through the large crack, the rough outline of the doorway scraping my back as I carefully wriggled through. Before I could think, the bookcase moved, closing the gap. “No!” I tried to force the bookcase to stop, but it was too heavy. The hidden door shut, enclosing me in the cold, dark tunnel. My fist slammed against the back of the bookcase, pounding hard. “Open!” My magik burned in my hands as I tried to force it open, but something was blocking my power. Something…magikal. Groaning, I turned to face the dark abyss that lay ahead of me. I shook my hands down at my sides, bursts of magik illuminating the darkness as I studied where I was.

The tunnel was old, carved into the earth. Small steps were etched into the dirt, leading deeper in the darkness. There were no lights, no torches, just pure darkness. Small droplets could be heard dripping in the distance as sounds of the storm rumbled faintly in the distance. Sighing, my hands illuminated the darkness as I cautiously followed the steps down the tunnel.

The effects of the fairy dust slowly began to affect my mind. My body felt as though it was on fire. Something about the tunnel felt oddly familiar, as if I’d seen it in a dream…or a nightmare. Uneasiness lingered over me as the eerie presence of not being alone increased. Shadows danced around me as I kept glancing over my shoulder, half expecting to find someone standing there.

Alas, I am alone.

The tunnel slowly began to spin, carnival-like Calypso music played faintly in the distance as the image of a small wooden door appeared in the distance. My magik glittered into the air around me, sparkling like stars as the fairy dust gripped my mind, pulling it in multiple directions. My pupils dilated as the effects coursed through my limbs, making my limbs feel numb. Fairy dust didn’t affect Hexers the same as Others, but it did distort reality and weaken us.

Stumbling along the tunnel, the carnival-like music grew louder as purple stars glistened around me, the door slowly inching closer. I shook my head, fighting the fairy dust effects.

Just focus, Casper, it’ll be over soon.Thankfully, I had only ingested a small amount. The dust would pass through my system pretty quickly.

The sound of a cryptic carnival tune playing on a phonograph had increased, coming from the other side of the basic wooden door. I tripped, falling into the door, groaning as I tried to regain my footing. My legs felt as though they were numb, tingling as I tried to wake them. A faint, familiar orange glow peeked through the bottom of the door.Jakkal.

My magik returned to my body, darkness falling around me as I forced my weight to my legs, standing tall. The effects of the fairy dust were slowly fading. My hands twisted the knob, slowly opening the door. The room was dark, scattered burning orange candles faintly illuminating the room. Stepping through the door, my feet moved down a small wooden staircase, taking in the earthy room. It appeared like the tunnel, as though it had been carved into the earth. There were no windows and only the singular door.

As I slowly moved down the staircase, flashes of familiarity rang through my head. My skull ached as I stepped from the stairs and noted the large bed. My hand ran along the velvet bedding, flashes of sensual moments and sounds flooding my brain. I stumbled back, running into the railing of the stairs, taken back by what I saw in my mind.

My eyes scanned the bed, remembering bits and pieces but not complete memories. Just beyond the bed, along the rough wall, were chains. They were anchored to the wall and snaked onto the floor below. Another memory of my hands being chained flew by. Screams filled my ears as I recalled a woman dead in my lap.

The memories were too much, the intensity knocking me into the stairs. Pieces of my mind were being pieced together, dancing along the record music playing on loop. My skull ached, struggling to comprehend the nightmarish memories. My hands covered my ears, attempting to block the music as I felt like I was spinning. My scream burst from my lungs, drowned out by the increasing music. No one could hear me.

The eerie presence of a shadow crept behind me. I was too stunned, confused, and shocked to process what I was feeling. To register thathewas here.

Poor little ghost.His voice silenced the chaos churning inside.

I turned, slowly peeking over my shoulder to see Jakkal standing in the doorway.Tears had fallen from my eyes, soaking my face. “What’s wrong with me?” I cried, as he slowly stepped down the stairs toward me. “Why are these foreign thoughts rushing my mind?”

Jakkal stopped, a few feet away. “There’s nothing foreign about what you are remembering.”

“These memories aren’t mine.” I shook my head, denying what he said.

“You’re right,” he continued toward me, “they’reours.”

I stood, moving away from Jakkal as he continued toward me. The record ended, replaying the same cryptic carnival tune. “No,” I backed into the edge of the bed, moving around it as he followed, “this poison you put inside my brain isn’t me.” He quietly followed as I stepped toward the chains along the wall. “And there is nous.” The words burned from my throat. Threatening him.

Jakkal stopped, tilting his head. “Shall I remind you of the truth?”

“Truth? You want to hear the truth?” I stood my ground, my hand raising as my palms ignited in a rich flame of violet, my eyes glowing in unison. “I know who you really are.”

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