6 - The Return II

...It all began when someone suggested that I should visit the house to see how brave I was", Lyra began. "Who suggested it?" questioned Seraphina. "Someone I'd rather not talk about", Lyra answered honestly, not even batting an eye towards Victoria, who sighed at Lyra's answer. "Doesn't matter if she says who it was or not. In the end, I'll find out about it all anyway", thought Silas, who knew his students best. "May I continue?" Lyra asked. "Oh, of course. Go on, dear", replied Seraphina. "Well, after I had a talk with the person, I went on ahead with my adventure, if you would call it. The moon shone bright and illuminated my path. It was almost as if, it was showing me the way, guiding me to the house, which I find quite peculiar." "That is quite peculiar indeed, considering that there was no moonlight for most of the night", Silas spoke. "Wait, what?", Lyra questioned. "That is true", Seraphina explained, "There wasn't much of it. The moon seemed to play hide and seek with us most of the time. It didn't shine for that long." "Creepy", said Lyra almost whispering. She continued, "Um, so anyways, I went on and reached the house, or mansion, if you would call it... And, boy, was it beautiful and creepy! The scene that was displayed before me, was so enchanting and magical and yet so eerie. The combination made it hard to look away! There was the milky way stretched above me, the stars filled the sky, fireflies danced with their flickering lights. The night's cool breezes brushed past me, the air smelt musky, and he trees looked so different at night. They looked creepier at night than they did in the afternoon. I stood for a while at the porch of the mansion, astounded by its huge door. I don't know for sure, but a creepy feeling came over me, that the house was staring back at me. Maybe it was just my imagination... I reached for the door knob, it was larger than the ones we used at home. And there were intricate carvings on it that felt almost ancient... I could be wrong since, I couldn't see that well, but I think the door had carvings on it too", explained Lyra excitedly.

"Well, what happened after that?", asked Jane, anticipating, in excitement and in fear of what was to come next. "Well, after that, I opened the door, which was rather heavy, and peeked inside. There was nothing particular about the inside, except for old furnitures covered by cloths. The cloth was rather intriguing though, it had been embroidered. But the patterns were not very intelligible... There were floral ones, one about the skies, one about mountains and another one about ships and decks! But most of it were unintelligible, as if the patterns were not of this world, or era", here, Lyra furrowed brows in contemplation. "Not of this world?", Seraphina asked. "It didn't feel like it was from this era. That was what I meant, actually... I'm not sure, I'm not good at these things", replied Lyra. "I see, I'd better note these things down", Seraphina muttered to herself. And she took out a pocket book and jotted them down. "Did anything else happen after that?", Silas asked rather tenderly yet as strict as ever. "Um... Nothing much happened later on....", Lyra thought if it would be good if she told them about the dream-like experience she had. She hesitated. Then she spoke once more, "Um... I did move in further, but I only saw a large hallway. I didn't have my flashlight with me. My phone was dead so it was no help to me. But, then something strange happened... ", she paused again, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Something strange? What happened? Were you injured or any of that sort?", asked Seraphina, fer face full of concern. The atmosphere around Lyra tensed, curiosity was on the face of everyone present, yet there was a subtle trace of fear, the fear of the unknown. "I don't know how to explain it. I'm not sure if it was a dream or an illusion either...", her voice trailed off, as if unsure of which words to use to describe the inexplicable. "It's alright. Go ahead. Use whatever words come to mind. It's fine if it's not very articulate, we'll manage it", Silas interrupted upon seeing the frustration and hesitation on Lyra's face, much to the surprise of all present there. The students gasped and glanced at each other in disbelief. Jane's mouth was slightly open, Lyra's eyes were opened widely, some of them were whispering to each other. "Oh, Silas!! How have you been teaching them that they have such reactions to your kind words? You weren't torturing them, I hope", Seraphina cried out loudly, in a scolding tone, genuinely concerned. Silas went quiet. "I've been teaching them fine. I just don't show this side very often", he went on to explain. "Humph, I don't believe you", answered Seraphina. "Fine, it's not like you have to", mumbled Silas. "What was that?", Seraphina asked. "Nothing", was the reply she received. "Well, continue on", he urged Lyra.

Recovering from the momentary surprise of those unexpected kind words, Lyra continued, "Ah, um... It's just that",she paused for a second, looking at the faces that were around her once more. She knew she couldn't hide it for long, not from Silas nor Seraphina or maybe even Jane. She decided to let it out, " I felt like I was hallucinating. But I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like I was... I was hypnotized", gasps and whispers sounded about her, making Lyra nervous. Silas shot the students a glance and it quieted down. "I looked at the long hallway, but as I did, I heard sinister voices call out to me. Though I'm not sure if they were just my imagination. I felt like I lost control of myself for a moment, as if, I was drifting away from the world or something", she paused to take a breath. "I'm not certain, but I saw shadowy figures all about me, and, um.. they were haunting me. But, then, there was this other figure that somehow pulled me out from those figures and hugged me. And then, I remember being calmer and somehow I fell asleep." "That sounds creepy, honestly, but you might have been hallucinating after all", Seraphina said after deep contemplation. "I thought so too, but it felt all too real, to be just a dream...", Lyra reasoned. " Well, they do that sometimes, you know, when it gets too overwhelming and scary, the body often goes into the fight or flight mode, and most often, the adrenaline rush makes it hard to know if it was real or not", Seraphina assured her._But it felt too real,_ Lyra thought. "Well, did anything else happen?", Seraphina asked. " Um... No, not much happened after that. I woke up and I was all alone. I decided to come back after that, that's all", Lyra concluded. "Hmmm, so, are you alright now, any injuries, or you know, the kinds that needs checkups?", Seraphina suggested. " No, I'm okay", Lyra assured her. "You might still need to get checked for your mental or emotional well being", Silas suggested. " He's right. Just to be sure, have a checkup ok?", Seraphina said. "Okay...", Lyra said in a rather soft tone.

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