Curtain Down

Chapter 35 - A Ghostly Reunion

Author's Note: Phew, only just about got this chapter done tonight. I'm awful tired now but I hope you like :)

*****

“It probably won’t show,” said Erik, crossing his legs in the chair he sat.

“Perhaps...” I said thoughtfully, staring off into the distance “or perhaps it will show more than it ever has before.”

“How do you mean?” He said, interest sparking in his eyes.

I shrugged “it’s just a hunch but, I think it’s trying to tell us something.”

“I never thought of that,” said Ryba rolling her eyes at my bluntness.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said, shaking my head “I meant that...it will probably show because we’re listening now.”

“You could be right but...why is he telling us to leave this place?”

“Maybe he knows there isn’t a way to stop this,” said Ryba, pessimistic as ever, “maybe he’s trying to tell us to get out of Prague before it’s too late.”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Erik “of course he wouldn’t do that.” But he looked doubtful.

“I know!” I said as an idea formed in my mind. I began pacing the room excitedly “maybe, just maybe, that wasn’t meant for us to find. Maybe,” I grinned, “he’s telling the puppets to leave. Telling whoever is messing with us to get out.”

“But why leave the messages here?” Said Ryba, clearly not buying my idea.

“Well, why not? You found the first note by the stage and the others close to the puppets. Maybe he wasn’t talking to the puppets directly, that would be kind of silly, maybe he was talking to the magic itself. Maybe he was trying to undo something through words but he couldn’t, because he’s dead.”

“And that’s why he’s been trying to get your attention, Ryba,” said Erik, snapping his fingers.

“Precisely,” I said, nodding.

Ryba put her head in her hands “but why us? Why couldn’t he have picked some other poor soul to carry out his dirty work?”

“Why not?” Erik and I said together.

“Because we’re children! What can we do?”

“Sometimes children are the best people to ask,” I said, “you think your father or the shopkeeper across the road would have bothered to listen to a ghost?”

“Well he should have gone to the magician then, he gets it. We don’t. The most magic I know is...is your cheap party tricks, Anna. And I still have no idea how you pulled ribbons out of your hand like that.”

I chuckled “a true magician-“

“-never reveals his secrets, I know.” Grumbled Ryba. Our candle flames shuddered and I looked up to see where the sudden breeze had come from. The window was closed, the door was closed. I looked back down at my candle again and noticed the flame still swaying. Then, with a gust of wind that even I felt, our candles went out, plunging the three of us into darkness, our faces and the rising wisps of blue grey smoke lit my moonlight. There was silence in the room and none of us dared breathe until we heard the quiet click of the door opening. I turned my head to see more clearly as the door swung open a crack.

I swallowed “I think we have to go through it.” I stood, Erik and Ryba not far behind me, and gently pushed the door open. At first, I didn’t see anything and then a white glow came to my attention. I gasped, stepping back, knocking into Erik and Ryba who stumbled a little. “What?” Hissed Erik and then he stopped, seeing the shape himself.

“Come on,” I said, nervously creeping forward. Even though I knew the ghost didn’t mean harm, there was this odd sense of fear that I couldn’t seem to get rid of from the pit of my stomach. I followed the ghost to the stairs and paused at the top, watching it disappear down the hall.

“What are you waiting for?”Said Erik, nudging me.

“Let’s not go,” said Ryba “it might kill us.”

“Ryba, it’s dead. It can’t kill us.” But there was uncertainty clouding my mind. Could it kill us? I didn’t really know that much about ghosts and what if it didn’t want to help us? What if it was working with the puppets?

*****

Alexandur flipped through the yellowing pages of a book, staring at the scrawled handwriting of this ancestor – whatever his name was. His eyes scanned the words, looking for something, anything, that might give him a clue as to what to do. What might be going on. Henric sighed and lit another candle for his friend “why don’t you call it a night?” He said, his eyes sleep deprived and dark.

“I have to try, to find something,” said the magician desperately, his eyes flicking from side to side even faster.

“You’ve tried enough, you’ll be able to see much more clearly in the morning.”

Alex snapped the book shut and rubbed his face, creasing it up and smoothing it out again with his hand. “If only I could talk to him in person, not read this gibberish in a some ancient diary.”

“Perhaps you could...” Henric wondered.

“No,” the magician said forcefully “I am not trying death magic. I refuse to become one of them,” he spat the next word out “a necromancer.”

Henric shrugged “was only trying to help and anyway, I didn’t mean that.”

“What then?”

“Maybe his ghost is still hanging around somewhere. Or someone else’s might be.”

*****

I held my breath as I came to the door leading to the theatre, I was almost sure the ghost had gone through there. Almost. I pushed on the heavy wood, making it groan under the pressure and my eyes widened at the sight.

A man stood in the centre of the room, a white light coming from him. He was dressed in a suit and a hat, his tie a little out of place. His face looked familiar, and I wondered if I’d seen his picture somewhere before. Perhaps I had. Ryba screamed behind me and I turned to see her white face. I looked back to the ghost and took a step back, almost tripping over a loose floorboard. My eyes travelled to a dark stain on the man’s shirt. A blood stain. Right above his heart.

Then something hit me.

Shock and realisation all rolled into one.

I couldn’t believe it but I voiced my thoughts aloud.

“Father?”

*****

Author's Note: Ahh, cliff hanger - I'm sorry :D Just had to do it. Quite short but hey, it's late :P Hope you liked this and thank you for reading!