Refraction of Beauty
*
The next morning came surprisingly quickly, with Joe and I up, way before the rest due to our aching backs – the couch was as benumbed as hard wood – and got ready to make our way through the dull, dreary and dark hallway together. Successfully managing to do so, we entered the great Hall, and from there we went over to the extensive kitchen. Aunt Cora, Sora and Nora were nowhere to be found, and personally, we wanted it to stay that way. Not knowing where and how we could make our breakfast, we scattered ourselves around to find any useful ingredients to mould food out of. Yesterday we got these amazing cookies and now, all we could find were cobwebs, dust, spiders, lots of dust, and more cobwebs, in all the cupboards. Every one of them was dingy and broken, with a horribly sickening light green painted on them. The only worthwhile thing about the mammoth room was the brilliant sunlight that graced the ancient kitchen with its light.
Unsuccessful in finding anything, we found our ways outside and began to stroll in the massive fields, and luckily, upon finding orange trees, plucked some fruit off and heartily enjoyed its nectar. The day went by slowly, as the sky suddenly changed to grey with the brilliant sunlight gone, and instead a canopy of clouds started to loom about. We went back into the Manor that had become dark and gloomy. All of a sudden, we heard a sudden clap of thunder, and the next thing we knew, it was raining cats and dogs. Roxanne began surveying through her cell phone numbers for any that might prove useful in bringing us some food. We were complete strangers to Marlowe Davis Town and the Manor was a complete stranger to us. With no food, our stomachs were growling incessantly, and we lingered on, listlessly.
Interestingly enough, Roxanne came back in the lounge where we had seated ourselves, gigantic cloths covering the Victorian furniture, and the great candle lamps atop the dull green wallpapered three sections of the room, which opened towards the hallway that had the entrance inside. ‘Well?’ Annie inquired hopefully at the securing of food. Roxanne sighed. There was no cell-phone reception.
‘We’ll starve!’ Annie broke out, touching her stomach that began to grumble, for effect.
‘Nobody’s going to starve, Annie.’ I droned. That’s when I began to walk around. Delilah and Joe were by the fireplace, looking at the arranged pictures set on the emerald green granite. They were portraits of little girls. ‘This one’s got such a sour look!’ Joe held up one of the battered frames for Delilah to see, who nodded, acknowledging. One of the pictures was of an old woman, who looked like an alien – small, shrunken, decrepit and wrinkled beyond recognition. There was something weird about her eyes, but because the picture was in black and white, we couldn’t tell what; except for the way they were creepily enlarged, and looked as if they were in a shocked trance. I picked it up… ‘Hmm…weird…’ I spoke, frowning.
Just then, a chill went through us all. ‘Burr…where in the world did that come from?’ Joe shivered, rubbing her arms together. We all looked around and then back at each other. It had come and gone.
Annie who had been sitting farthest on the sofa, walked over to me. ‘I’m hungry.’ She said with crossed arms.
‘Right...’ I snapped, getting back on my original track. ‘Let’s all search the Manor some more?’ I suggested. ‘Maybe we can find something?’
‘YOU can search the Manor. I’m already exhausted from all the fruit picking.’ Annie sank back into the sofa, after lifting the cloth and unleashing a perfume of dust.
‘Go alone? No thank you. Joe?’ Joe turned her head in a sleepy manner from the fireplace, ‘You and I’ll go and search the west wing of the Manor, while Roxy, Del and Annie – well, not Annie, she can stay here all by herself because she’s so tired, will go and explore the Manor on the east. We’ll try to look for our Aunts – unless they’ve disappeared as quickly as they got here…’ Breaking into an awkward silence.
‘N-n-n-o! I’ll go with Roxy and Del!’ Annie, quick to her feet cried. The assigned parties, switched places with Joe coming over to me while the rest clustered together on the other side.
‘Right, meet you all back here. Whenever we find something useful.’ I pointed towards our directed areas of investigation before setting off in the opposite way with Joe, only to be stopped by, ‘Oh and Sherlock, in case this brilliant plan fails, I still want food! My skin’s starting to look lump.’ Annie’s bratty side had re-surfaced.
Rolling my eyes, Joe and I made our way upstairs. The general colour schemes of the Manor seemed to be crimson, black and green. The rectangular roof was wide and high, all wood, the staircase took us up the first level and we began to walk on into some passageways. ‘Should’ve brought my flashlight! It’s in our room but only God knows where THAT is.’ Joe mused, looking around the dilapidated walls, and the shroud of darkness we walked into.
Twisting and turning we found another staircase that was taking us further up, onto the second and final level of the Manor. Nothing but the creaks of the wooden floor behind us, there was a small door, glazed with the silvery golden sheet of sunlight from the top window, against the dark wooden wall. I went ahead and opened it and to my surprise; it was the biggest library I had ever seen. I felt the gustation in my mouth as my eyes beheld all the books I could gobble down, while Joe just stood by the door and sighed.
‘I believe BOOKS aren’t going to solve anyone’s hunger, Carr.’ She said begrudgingly.
‘A minute?’ I excitedly asked her. ‘Just one minute!’ And ran over among the shelves and their harboured treasures.
Joe grunted and followed me in. Interestingly, what happened next, was the exact opposite of what one would expect after pitting a compulsive book reader and an avid sports player in a library together. As I delved deeper and deeper among its many shelves, I saw another little door towards the back. Curious, though cautious, I went over and opened it. ‘Joe?’ I signaled.
‘Yeah?’ She voiced back almost immediately, and I heard her footsteps behind me.
‘Follow me…’ I said to her, assuming she was right behind me and so didn’t particularly mention the door, though I should have. This was because Joe got side tracked due to stumbling upon some sort of photo-album on Alistan Sports League University that she had to check out; forgetting I ever asked her to follow me. However, I was completely oblivious to Joe’s occupation and walked inside the door. It led into an even narrower little passageway than the one we had for our rooms, darker and more claustrophobic of course. Towards the end of the passage, there was a strong, binding light, reddish and yellowish…and it shone brightly from the last room, with faint voices coming from the end…and a terrible, terrible smell of decomposition.
‘Joe, I think there’s something going on there. What do you think it – Joe?’ I turned around and saw an empty passage; she wasn’t there. Suddenly, as if conscious of something, the light dimmed, the voices lowered…and the next instant, I had the strangest feeling of something big crawling over my head…
I got a tap on my shoulder, and feeling a sense of relief, ‘Ah, Joe…’ I turned but let out a shriek instead. It was Aunt Cora.
‘What on Earth are you doing here?’ She asked, her alarm hiding behind the fake pretense of a smile, and her large eyes gleaming maliciously; surrounded by the blackness of her hair.
Losing focus and myself as I was too astounded as well, I finally stuttered how we were looking for them and wanted food.
Her eyes loosened their wide glare and she let out a laugh between gritted teeth, and muttered, ‘Oh, yes, food… Come, I’ll show you the food.’
She led me out the narrow passage, and locked the door behind her. Then she led an equally flabbergasted Joe with us out the library and into a spare kitchen…
-- CHAPTER 9 --
Wandering