ROUND 1
anwaname
It was a dark and stormy
night. The rain lashed against the library windows and helped to drown out the
din of the party going on downstairs. The lights would flicker occasionally as
the wind gusted outside. It made it difficult to read, but Sean liked it. It
added atmosphere to the evening.
Sean had hidden himself
away in the massive library in an effort to avoid his uncle's horrid guests.
They were like brightly colored gnats, swarming throughout the estate. Even in
here, a floor above the goings on, he could still hear the gentle buzz of
conversation and shuddered. He would be the topic of many of those
conversations.
He thought guiltily of
his uncle, who had thrown this little soiree in honor of his coming to live at
Greenbrier. He should be down there attending to their guests. The thought of
eligible young daughters and their mothers quickly squashed any feelings of
obligation and he sank further into the leather reading chair with a book of
local legends.
He had made his way
through about a third of the book as was beginning to contemplate returning to
the party before he was missed, when a sharp keening interrupted his thoughts.
He jumped, dropping his book to the floor. The keening broke off for a moment
then resumed, louder than before. Sean hesitated, debating whether he out to
investigate.
ROUND 2
rottifan4
Stepping to the closed
door he pressed his ear against it to determine if it was right on the other
side. As the keening continued Sean thought it sounded like it was coming
from down the hall to his left. Slowly he opened the door and peered out
looking both ways. As he walked down the hall to the left, away from the stairs
leading down to the party, the keening seemed to become quieter the closer he
got to the last door at the end of the hall. It was as if who or whatever was
on the other side knew he was approaching. Sean thought it sounded like a girl’s
voice but it was hard to tell. Sean had no idea what was behind the door.
The estate was large and he was still discovering new rooms and passageways
everyday. Slowly, he reached for the door knob and turned it cautiously to the
left.
Peering through the
widening gap he saw that the room was dark inside. He waited for his eyes to
adjust to the blackness. As things were coming into focus he began to see the
outline of something towards the back of the room. Then suddenly he heard his
uncle's voice calling from the bottom of the stairs. Sean had been so intent on
learning what was in the room that his uncle's voice had startled him. Quickly,
he closed the door and headed back down the hallway. The room would have to
wait. "Yes, Uncle Caleb. I'm coming" he answered as he took the first
two steps down the stairs. Getting no reply back he realized it had suddenly
become completely silent downstairs. The music and the buzz of conversation had
ceased. He paused halfway down to listen more intently. He wondered if the
guests had left and he hadn't noticed. It was then that he heard what sounded
like a clicking sound. He descended the final steps and rounded the corner
towards the kitchen and the next thing he knew he was lying flat on
his back.
ROUND 3
Junemoon
The lights were all out.
Sean couldn’t see a thing, he might as well be locked in a casket. The clicking
noise… Yes, he heard a clicking noise, getting more distant. Ah, yes, it must be his uncle’s cane as he
climbed the stairs. He managed to sit up and
feel around; his head hurt, something had hit him hard at the back of his
head. Moving his head hurt. He leaned against the wall trying to gather together all the
events of this evening. What happened to the
guests? Oh, but then he heard
distant voices coming closer, a door – surely the massive front door –
opened. “Lights!” a man’s voice
cried. Light came on down the
hall where the huge living room and dining room were, but the lights at this
end of the hall were still out. People were pouring in, voices were talking, laughing. The group seemed to have been on a scavenger
hunt with only flash lights, they were exclaiming about who had won the grand
prize.
Okay. Sean still wasn’t interested in them. But
what about being knocked down. Had it been Uncle Caleb with his ebony cane? Why? Oh, he remembered the room, the dark room where keening came
from. He listened, he couldn’t hear any keening now, just the party guests, as always oblivious to everything
but their enjoyment. Could he stand? Sean pulled himself up, his head hurt so much he was almost
nauseous but curiosity was stronger than the lurching stomach. He began to
climb the stairs, very slowly, step by step. As he advanced the slight amount
of light from the living room faded; the stairs and the landing above were
dark. He heard–or did he only imagine it?–a high pitched voice, “No, no.” With
one hand on the back of his head, and one hand on the wall, Sean quietly climbed
the stair.
ROUND 4
Laurina
As quietly as he could,
Sean reentered the library. Turning his head to the right, he saw a moving
figure dressed all in black. Obviously, this wasn’t one from the party from
downstairs. This burglar looked slight, but it must be the person who knocked
him out, as well as made sounds to get him to leave the library.
“Stop!” Sean yelled to
surprise the burglar. “What do you have there?”
As the burglar spun
around, Sean noted the terror on her face. This is not what Sean had been
expecting, a female burglar ransacking his uncle’s library.
With a seductive smile,
she answered back, “Just reclaiming something that was stolen from me. I won’t
bother you, if you let me go now.”
“What are you
reclaiming? Show it to me,” Sean demanded.
As the woman lifted a
handful of papers up, Sean snatched them from her hand. Then he felt the knock
on the back of his head and all went black.
When Sean opened his
eyes next, his uncle was standing over him fanning him and even slapping his
cheek. “Wake up.”
“Uncle, I didn’t faint.
I was knocked out. You don’t have to wake me up like that.” Sean wasn’t sure
who he was angriest at right now, his uncle, the mysterious burglar, or her
accomplice who knocked him out. What a night! He would have been better off
just attending the party downstairs and then none of this would have happened.
As soon as Sean could
stand up again, he decided to go downstairs. Enough of this nonsense with
burglars, getting hit and hearing noises. It was safer to face the horrid
guests who had come to meet him.
The noise and bright
lights stunned him as he first entered the party. It took several minutes for
his senses to adjust and then he saw her, the burglar. Without even considering
his actions, Sean walked straight through the crowd to see her. Yes, it was the
same woman who had been stealing from his uncle’s library not long ago. With a
knowing smile, he greeted her and waited for her response.
“Ah, we meet again.”
“Really? You must be
mistaken,” the woman replied. “And it would be safer for you to forget whatever
you think you know about me.”
Sean heard the warning
in her voice and realized that here was a woman who knew how to catch his
interest. “So, what is your name?”
With that the woman
turned and threw a smile over her shoulder. Quickly, she headed to the front
door and exited the party, before Sean could do anything to stop her. He was
intrigued and would make sure he found the mystery woman again. Now this was better
than just reading; it was living.
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