Page 97
Story: Ghosts of Averoigne
Bits and pieces. That’s all she got. Fragments. Shadows. And sometimes, she’d learned bitterly? Getting half a story from someone’s mind was worse than nothing at all.
A minute later she was in the conservatory, standing in front of an elaborate glass trophy case. Tiny crystal birds filled the first two shelves. Melody saw a beautiful vintage music box — she knew it from the treble-clef on its front, and because she owned a similar one herself. Her father, a violinist, had given it to her on her eighth birthday. He’d given her her name, too.
Focus.
Above, on the higher shelves, she saw more gold and silver trinkets. There was a small spoon collection. An antique dueling pistol, set in a wooden stand. Melody stood on her tiptoes, straining to see. She saw a drinking — no, a powder — horn. An engraved flask. A scrolling filigree box with the cameo of a woman on the front. It was too small to hold the egg though, she decided.
SKRIIIIIIT!
Melody’s heart leapt into her throat. Something moved. Something in the shadows, on the other side of the room.
She recoiled immediately, crouching down and curling into a ball. She felt vulnerable and naked in only her underwear. She was torn immediately between hoping she wouldn’t be seen, and wanting to run as fast as she could.
For now, she stayed put.
SKRIIIIIIT!
It was a shifting noise. A dragging sound. Like someone scraping a dried branch against a stone floor.
Get out of here! her mind screamed. Go!
She was up and out, moving in one fluid motion. At the base of the staircase she turned to look back. It was horrible, staring into the darkness of the previous doorway. Wanting but not wanting to see what might come through it…
SKRIIIIIIT! SKRIIIIIIT!
She took the stairs two at a time. And then she was back, back in the hallway. Back in her hallway, in front of the door to her room. Melody grabbed the knob. Turned it…
But the knob didn’t move.
The key!
She’d forgotten to take it with her! I didn’t even occur to her that the door might lock behind her.
Another noise reached her ears. This time, it was more of a bump. A thump. A double-thump…
Someone — or something — was coming up the stairs.
Holy shit holy shit holy shit…
Melody ran past the next door and stopped at the second one. How many doors down was Eric’s room? Two? Three? She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember. Tried the knob gently, but it didn’t move.
This is it. It’s gotta be it.
She curled her knuckles against the door. Just before knocking, she heard another sound — this one from the other side.
The sound of a man weeping.
All the blood in her veins went to ice. The long, wracking sobs on the other side of the door were borderline hysterical. They came with an intermittent wailing that sent shivers down Melody’s spine.
Not this door…
The thumping sound ended. Whatever was coming had finished climbing the staircase…
Melody turned away, scrambling frantically over to the next door. But before she could do anything, her entire body froze again.
There was man at the other end of the hall.
He was seated. Motionless. Sitting and just staring at her. Staring straight at her, but not really seeing her.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97 (Reading here)
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100