I shook my head. “No, this cannot wait, and I don’t certainly want him to know, not yet anyway.”
Ebony disappeared down the banister before reappearing with a candelabra in hand, candles aglow. “At least take this for protection. They will get close enough but not enough to harm you while holding a light.”
“I suspect you know what is behind this door, then,” I said and grasped the black stand, the soft heat burgeoning out of the cold.
She gave a half-hearted nod, wringing her hands in her apron. “It’s what all ghosts see when we die, and it’s the one thing we fear in the hereafter.”
The fact there were two doors harboring them gave me some pause as to why. What was so different from the other door I had encountered on my first journey to the west wing? Palm laid on the knob. There was only one thought—the hope in the darkness lay the key to the puzzle or a clue we had missed.
I strengthened my conviction, turning the knob and tightening my fingers around the stand. I opened the door, and the hinges creaked as if it was sighing for the first time in centuries. A fathomless darkness greeted me as did the hungry whispers bubbling coldly from inside.
Have you come to free us, child of man?
Oh, how delicious. She has met the others...
And live to tell, no doubt. Interesting indeed...
I crossed the threshold into their domain, praying Ebony would do what I needed her to do. I held the candlelight overhead to the writhing black massswirling above me. Thousands of eyes narrowed on me, their eerily human-like irises shining with amusement. Their cold presence crept up my spine, grasping my neck with their long tendrils.
Heart drumming loudly, I was sure Silas would know I had opened this very door, but I couldn’t turn back. Not when their riddle had haunted my waking nightmares, and the faint whispering of words was still etched into my skin.
“Tell me, how can I restore Silas’s name?” I asked, my voice carrying in all manner of directions.
Too easy, girl. He is trapped here as much as we are, so why would we want to free our captor—our brethren? We are all communally damned, never to see peace, writhing in madness. The question you should be asking is if the others damned beside ussss.
The black mass darted to the open door, only to shrink back at the budding beams cast by the afternoon light. It hissed and slinked to the dark corners.
My fingers shook, the flames wobbling. “Are you speaking of the person responsible for the deaths in the village? Tell me something, children of darkness.”
The black mass hissed,Ignorant child, we are not them. Mindless, mischievous creatures, they are. We are far older, seen the darkest pits and fed on the sweetest of despair. We are all, and we are one.
“Tell me what you know. They have shown me the past. Can you show me what the future holds, perhaps?” I pressed, and blood roared in my ears as a searing icy cold ripped through the warmth of the air.I swallowed down the blaring warnings. “In exchange, I’ll give you what you want.”
The mass of eyes lowered to meet me at face level, flickering to a collection of color. A tendril caressed my cheeks, retracting it quickly as the light burned the darkness away.
Solve our little riddle, and perhaps we can find common ground.
Yesss—solve our little riddle, and we’ll tell you all you need to know.
The mass darted once more across the room, blending in with the shadowy corners.
I stepped carefully around the mass, candelabra held high to find three candles remained lit. Panic set in as I watched another candle extinguished to the harsh laughter of the shadows. “You tell me how to free Silas, the ghost, and everyone from this curse, not some stupid riddle. I don’t have time for that!”
Careful now, you only have so much light left.It smirked as thousands of its eyes scrunching together.But there is something we desssssire, more so than sweet despair, and it’d behoove you to take what we are offering, child.
“Then, get to the point,” I growled, patience running thin.
Candles flickered, and my palms were clammy as I shot a glance back to the door behind me to Ebony, so out of reach.
I began small, hungry to grow. We consume all, devouring everything in turning tides. I dance and make merry before I destroy all in mypath—what am I?
“Too easy.” I smirked. It did not take me long to guess as I held the key. “I am a flame.”
Its eyes smiled.Excellent. What you desire is found in a labyrinth, hidden by passages of time. Blood spilled upon a name for the burden to be shared by a lover’s kiss.
Another candle extinguished, smoke rising as a warning. “You told me that you would tell me all I needed to know!”
And we have, it hissed once more, voices reverberating from its inky mass. You never asked us how. In exchange, we want a promise from you, child of man.
