"Guys, maybe you should stop arguing--" Holly started but was cut off by another remark from Kipps.
"What good is a brain if it needs new brain cells?" he cried.
Suddenly, the piano started playing.
An eerie melody was playing as the keys were bouncing up and down. Imagine the cheerful tone of an ice cream cart. Now imagine it being played super slow with a twinge of melancholy, say by a person who just lost their true love and want some ice cream to cheer them up. It's creepier than that.
"What's happening?" Kipps whimpered.
"Kipps, I apologize for saying this, but you idiot! Why would you start a fight in a haunted house? You know spirits feed on negative energy." Lockwood hissed.
Holly turned pale. "You mean...no." I could understand her disdain. There was only one type of ghost who could do this and we didn't really have the best history with this kind of ghost.
"Yes. It's a poltergeist that's haunting this place." I declared.
We all got out are rapiers and held them in front of us. Lockwood got out an iron chain and carefully made a circle around us with it.
"Don't step off this circle." he said. "Not until that piano stops playing."
The minute he said that, it stopped abruptly just as suddenly as it had started.
"Lockwood, you think it's safe?" George asked. Lockwood gave a tiny nod. The moment he stepped off, a cold chill crept through the attic. A sudden drop in temperature that made Holly draw up her coat. Feelings of malice and grief sounded all around us. For some reason, a picture of Lockwood looking at Lisa with a loving expression came into my mind. Why was I thinking about that at a time like this? I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. The atmosphere here was messing with my mind and twisting emotions I already had into something more threatening.
George brought out his thermometer and measured the room. "7°C. A drop of nearly 13 degrees. Something wicked is coming." he announced with a neutral expression. We all looked at him with scared expressions. 13 degrees is a huge drop. Usually it drops around 5 degrees when a spirit is coming but it's never been this much. The ghost we were about to face is no ordinary one. In a hurry, George got back into the circle and pushed me to the side. I hit the wall and used it as support to steady myself. Suddenly, I got flashes of the past.
A sudden, tinkling laugh with a piercing scream. Then the scene shifted and I was taken to this very attic. There were two women--one was blonde and the other was a brunette. They wore glamorous outfits though the brunette's hair was a mess--like she'd been dragged by the hair up here. The blonde was clutching a knife in her hand and her eyes had a crazy gleam, like she'd waited for this moment for an eternity. She reached up to her hair and pulled it off. She was now holding a wig. She had brown hair as well and now both of them looked the exact same--like twins. On the hand holding the knife, there was a single black letter--M. The woman laughed and plunged the knife into the other woman's chest. I forced myself to take my hand off the wall. I had seen enough.
"Lucy? Lucy? Are you okay?" came a smooth, concerned voice. I looked up and saw Lockwood with a worried expression, his hands were around me, supporting me.
I took a shaky breath and calmed myself.
"Y- Yea. Listen, Lockwood. The woman killed here wasn't Morgana. It was--"
"Hey, Lockwood, Luce," George interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt but I think you might want to get back into the circle." I looked at the direction he was pointing and saw a shape forming in the dark.
**Author's Note**
Plz vote, comment and share! Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This book will be updated next week as winter break will start so I have more time to write. See you in the next chapter!
--Blue