Chapter 2 - The Cryptic Interior

...click. The door knob twisted open. "Strange, I thought it would be more difficult to open", she whispered under her breath. The door was rather heavy. She pushed it with all her might and swung it open. A chill, ghastly breeze greeted her.

It smelled of old wood inside, it was difficult to see because of how dark it was. Lyra stood at the doorway, vigilant of her surroundings. The chilliness of the house made her hair stand on ends... By the light from the outdoors, she could make out the structures of sofas and tables that lay before her, covered by a cloth. "Looks like this is the living room", she murmured. The scene inside the house felt more ominous compared to the outside that was comparatively more mesmerizing.

She reached for her phone, to turn the flashlight on. "Shucks,what bad luck, out of battery! I could have sworn I had charged it before I came." exclaimed Lyra. "Oh, well, I guess i'll have to do without it". She went in further, to where the furnitures lay. They were covered by dust and spiders had made their homes among them. She made her way through the cobwebs and brushed off the dust that had settled on them. The cloth that was used to cover them was rather... intriguing. It was soft, as soft as silk, or perhaps it was silk.... It was delicate to touch, and she could feel that it was embroidered.

The embroidery felt enigmatic to the touch. It was hard to understand the patterns that were used to make the cloth... A few of these that she could make out were those of cherry blossoms, daisies, and tulips. By the touch, she could make out that it was mostly floral embroidery. They seem to tell a story. She went about carefully trying to dodge the cobwebs, though a few got stuck on her hair, feeling her way to another sofa, this one had the sun, moon and stars embroidered on it. Another one had a full night sky, while another one had mountains, and yet another was filled with ships and decks, indicating that it was of the marine lands. She went further in, and was met with a long, dark, gloomy hallway. She could not see what lay ahead. The hallway seemed to call out to her... "Come, my child. Come in. Come, come... " sinister voices sounded in her head. She was not sure if they were real or just in her imagination... She stood there for a while, dazed, it was as if she had been enchanted by a spell... Her eyes were not clear; they had the look of one who is hypnotized. Suddenly, some crows fluttered outside, bringing her back to her senses. She was confused and felt uneasy. She seemed to have lost control over herself for a moment.

At that moment, an unsettling thought came to her mind, thoughts of her classmates rushed through her head. She knew she could not be gone for long, it would only worry them... Given that her undertaking this adventure was already more than enough to have scared them, staying any longer would surely cause them to panic. "I-i better get back soon or else they'll be worried". Thoughts of how they would panic over her now filled her mind. She now felt the urgency to get back to her campmates as soon as possible. In such a rush she stumbled upon a table, and almost knocked down a vase, had she not grabbed it on time. Her heart began to beat faster snd faster, adrenaline rushed through her body. Her heart beated so loud, it was the only sound that could be heard throughout the entire house. Panic seized her. Her senses began to become disorientated... Perhaps it was because of the panic, or perhaps it was actually the creepiness of the house, but she began to hallucinate... Shadowy figures crept past her, they began surrounding her... They looked familiar and yet so distant... They looked like those people who tried to hurt her in the past... Memories of her harsh life now began to fill her mind... Memories that were unwanted, memories that she wished would vanish forever....

She bent down, and tried to catch her breath. Her eyes began to tear up. She tried to calm herself down by breathing in and out. Her eyes we're now hazy, she could hardly see... The world around her seemed to dissolve in a hazy mist... In that mist, a shadowy figure, came creeping towards her. The figure seemed different from the other shadows. However, now, she could no longer differentiate between reality and illusions. "No, please, please, don't hurt me... I promise i'll be a good girl- please don't hurt me- please, please..." she writhed away trying to cover herself with her hand as if in defense... The figure continued to walk towards her and lent out what seemed like a hand... And that made her withe away further.. But the figure was patient and showed no signs of harming her. She calmed down a little and amidst the unsure and uneasy feelings of the things that were happening to her, she subconsciously stretched her hand out and grabbed it... The figure's presence was the only thing that made her feel safe among the creepy figures that continued to surround her. The figure slowly pulled her out of this haunting delirium, and pulled her into an embrace... 'It' was cold, but it seemed to do the job of bringing her back to her senses.... She felt safe in its embrace. It had a nice and comforting smell on it and in this smell, she slowly drifted away to sleep....

She woke up with a start. There she was all alone in that house, on the cold hard floor. Nothing seemed to have changed. She looked about her to check if she was dreaming or not. Everything seemed to be the same... The furniture lay about unchanged... She pinched herself, it was all the same, except for a few cobwebs that were stuck in her hair, and her clothes that had now been covered in dust. She would have stayed to contemplate on this whole situation, but she left it for later, as she felt that it would be better if she got out for tonight. With that she began walking out of the house...

Outside she was met with the cold night winds, the winds helped her calm down better. She felt that it must have been midnight by now. "I'd better reach the camp as soon as possible", she said, resuming her previous demeanor, now determined and revived with a new sense of bravery that was for a moment lost in that house. "Boy, do they know what I have in store for them", she said rather merrily, trying to push aside all negative thoughts about the things that happened to her in the house. So, she set foot once again, this time setting forth back to her camp...

.................................

Unbeknownst to her, the door of the big house behind her, slowly began to close.....

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