Page 4 of Slash or Smash
RAVEN
A distant howlbreaks through the silence when we enter the library. It’s as impressive as the foyer, all dark wood, rich jewel tones, and two stories of shelves upon shelves of books.
“Wonder if there’s any smut in here,” my best friend snickers as she runs her fingers along the spines.
“Doubt it,” I chuckle, already searching for anything that could be a clue.
We’re on a time crunch, only forty minutes remaining, and we still have one more room after finding our way out of here. Turns out, none of us need to look too hard because on the desk tucked up against the window is the next riddle—right there in plain sight.
Nina notices it first and clears her throat for our attention before reading aloud,“A spider weaves without a loom. In corners dark, it spells your doom. But look with light, you just might see. A hidden code to set you free.”
“That sounds like spiderwebs,” comes from Audrey.“A spider weaves without a loom…”
“And we probably need the flashlight,” Letti agrees. “But look with light, you just might see. A hidden code to set you free.”
The scouring begins anew, no nook or cranny left untouched. Feels like we comb through it a good three times before we finally realize the web is clinging to the window behind the desk, hidden to the naked eye behind the thick merlot curtain. Letti shines the light its way, revealing three numbers: 131.
“Where are we supposed to put this?” Nina questions, looking equally as confused as I feel.
“That’s what I was thinking, too,” I concede.
There’s not a lockbox or safe anywhere within the room.
As we all discuss the possibilities, I catch Audrey stepping away from the group, her dark head cocking to one side.“What if…” she trails off.
My brow perks curiously. “What if what?”
“What if it’s not a code, but atime, and we have to move the grandfather clock’s hands?”
“Ohhh, that’s good!” Letti exclaims.
“It’s genius, really,” Frankie agrees.
My best friend takes that as her cue, stepping toward the clock and pulling open the glass face. A few seconds later, a loud click resounds right beside us, one akin to when the painting disengaged from the wall in the foyer. The desk’s drawer is now popped open—one that wasn’t visible before—another wax-sealed envelope sitting inside. Reaching for it, I rip it open and read the small folded paper inside:
Among the tomes of dust and lore, seek the book with spine of gore. Its pages bleed, its secrets deep. Awake the one who’s not asleep….
“Well, it’s obviously a book. The question is, which one? There’s hundreds in here,” I emit pensively, passing the riddle to Frankie as she holds her hand out. “Though ‘spine of gore’ and pages bleeding makes me think it’s red.”
And it was.
Took us long enough to find it, but eventually, the book in question reveals another hidden corridor behind one of the shelves. At a first glance, it appears to be a cramped landing for a stone stairway that only goes downward.
Likely to a cellar or creepy basement…
“Is this the part where we die?” Nina whispers, stepping behind Letti as a shield.
“No one’s dying,” I snort unceremoniously. “It’s a haunted mansion, not a serial killer’s den.”
No sooner do the words leave my mouth when a roaring crack of thunder all but vibrates through the building, and the room goes completely dark almost immediately after the fact. Five matching screams sound off in unison, prompting Letti, who’s leading the way, to quickly flick on the flashlight.
“Everyone watch your step,” she says quietly, her breaths a bit ragged as that now familiar purple glow illuminates the path. “The stairs look narrow as shit.”
I can’t see them at the back of the line, but I believe it. The bulky stone walls don’t exactly scream open and spacious, let alone welcoming. Nina disappears around the corner behind her, then Frankie and Audrey.
And that’s the last I see of them.
Before my boot hits the first step, a hand seals around my mouth, followed by a taut arm around my waist. It happens so quickly, my brain doesn’t compute, my instincts delayed in a way that should alarm me. That’s when my back hits one of the shelves, a muffledoofblasting against my captor’s hand as the lights cut back on and I realizewhoit is.
