The Birdcage

Ring-a-ring O'Roses

"... What are you two do-ack!"

"Shh!" Ronnie and Nyx shushed Jayson, as they yanked him into the alcove, wedging him between them against the wall.

"Some of the Shadowhunters are on the staircase just there." Ronnie explained, pointing. Jace and Isabelle stood in plain sight towards the top of the stairs, talking to Doctor Montgomery. "We're trying to find out what they're doing."

"So you're spying?" Jayson said.

"Depends. Do you have a problem with that?" Nyx asked, squinting around the corner at the figures assembled on the stairs.

"No, not really."

"Then yeah, we're spying."

Nyx had a very particular interest in what was going on; this staircase that the pair of Shadowhunters were on now was the same staircase that she'd hidden on the night before- the same staircase where she'd seen that strange apparition. She'd been wondering exactly what had happened ever since; the whole night had been a very bizarre experience.
So it would be very interesting to see what they discovered there.

"You know that's the way up to solitary, right?" Jayson said behind her, peering over the top of her head. "That, and the records office, along with some other things."

Now that spiked her intrigue. "Really? That's the door up there?"

"Yeah. You need a code to get in. Montgomery's opening the door for them now."

Nyx watched as Montgomery pushed the door open, ushering Jace and Isabelle inside. "Wow. I wonder what it's like up there."

***

Nyx was sitting on her bed reading a magazine when someone knocked lightly on the door. "Come in." She chimed without giving it a second thought.
She dropped her magazine in surprise when Jace opened the door; scrabbling for somewhere to hide before realising it was no use.

"Oh. Hello. Is this your room then?"

"Uh... Yes." She nodded, pressed against the back wall, looking like a deer in the headlights. "I'm not crazy." She blurted out; and immediately wanted to facepalm. 'Oh, that's a great way to convince him. Well done.'

"I never said you were." Jace said politely. "None of my business why you're here."

"I shouldn't be." She said quickly, standing up from the bed to easier have a conversation with him. "It's a big mistake."

"Oh?" He said, furrowing his brow in concern. "Well, there is definitely something off about this place."

"Oh yeah?" Nyx queried with genuine interest. "Like what?"

"It depends. Have you seen or noticed anything... strange?" He said, cleverly turning the questioning on her, Nyx noticed.

Point blank, she asked. "Is this about that Whisperer legend everyone keeps freaking out about?"

"Yeah." He said, coming closer to her. "We've been hearing reports for quite some time now. Do you know anything about it at all? You've been staying here."

"Oh, there's something." She replied quickly. "I've seen it. Well... Not quite seen it, it's mostly invisible. It's quite difficult to explain, but... you can kind of see the way the air moves around it, sometimes, I suppose. That's when you can hear it too- you know, whispering things. It comes through here quite often." She explained.

"What kind of things does it say?" He asked.

"Well, most often it's just completely unintelligible. But then occasionally you can hear things- it once told me I should be asleep already, on my first night here." She remembered.

"Well, that's definitely odd." Jace chuckled. "Sorry, it's not really funny."

"It sounds it when I say it out loud." Nyx laughed, then forced herself to calm. "But it can actually get quite freaky. Sometimes it'll just... hang around." She looked down at her fingers awkwardly; whilst she absolutely wanted to tell him everything, she wasn't too keen to confess entirely to her nighttime escapades, in case it leaked to those in charge and got her in trouble. She was trying so hard to be good. But at the same time, she had to tell him everything she knew.
Whilst she was trying to figure out how, she went on with explaining. "First day I was here, I got told to smile else it'll get me. I think it targets those who are unhappy; they claim it'll start whispering in your ear and then one day, you're dead. I know someone's died already; I don't know how, but everyone is claiming the creature did it."
She turned, looking him straight in the eyes. "There's too many secrets. None of the people in charge will talk about what's going on. They think it's for the best, but it's making the situation worse. Everyone is scared because they don't know what's happening."

Jace nodded slowly. "And that's contributing to the cycle. Providing it even more prey."

Nyx nodded solemnly.

"Thank you for this." Jace said after a moments pause. "Your observations are actually incredibly helpful."

"I try." She smiled.

"If you see anything else, or hear anything else, let me know, okay?" He said. "Unfortunately, I think you're in a better position to find this stuff out than we are."

"You want me to keep an ear to the ground and let you know what I find?"

"Don't go out of your way to find this thing, I'm not asking you to go digging around and getting yourself in trouble." He told her firmly. "But if anything comes your way..."

"I'll let you know." Nyx agreed.

"Good. And I'll let the others know what you've said, and we'll get this thing." He grinned. "And then maybe you can actually go to bed on time."

Nyx snorted, laughing.

As he turned towards the door, she nibbled her lip nervously, mind racing. Then suddenly, she blurted out. "It can unlock doors. And... There's this pale shrieking woman that roams around sometimes. Uh... Some people have seen her." She added by way of flimsy explanation.

He appeared to think over this newly included information. "We didn't know about the doors."

Noticed the title? I've started another nursery rhyme. XD

So, tell me, what did you think of the chapter?
I was going to include more of Nyx's attempts to avoid being discovered there, but that got dull quickly. Hope you like it XD