 CHAPTER 4 (section 4) copyright © 2001, S. Y. Affolee The study was cloaked in black. Only faint shades of lighter or darker black distinguished any part of the study from any other part. The drapes that hung along the window was partially drawn, a thin beam of moonlight slithered through the window pane and out through a slice of the stone floor, illuminating a thin gray path that trailed from the end of the window to some point at the middle of the room where the trail was swallowed up by the darkness. The shelves that lined the walls up to the second floor were simply darker horizontal and vertical lines that criss-crossed in teeth-like grids. The fireplace was a hungry mepty maw standing at the end of the room waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to come by and be nabbed by some imaginary monster. The late Greenville’s desk was transformed into a dark altar in the night. Perhaps in some frenzied nightmare or hallucination some hapless victim would be sacrificed to it for the appeasement or gratification of some dark and carnal pagan god. Despite the stillness of the air, there was some sort of anticipation, clinging like an unforgettable bloody odor. The whole library masquerading as a dead man’s study was an entire tomb of frozen violence. A small sound permeated the study. It came from the double doors. Previously they were shut tight, but now, a crack appeared letting an inky darkness spill into the study. A brief shadow moved and oozed across the room, the silence punctuated by periodic tapping sounds as the thing moved. It never hisitated as it headed directly towards the spiraling stairwell and drifted upwards. It purposefully drifted across the balcony, heading to the hidden alcove and simply disappeared through the shelves. Only a faint scraping sound indicated the shelf opening mechanism. The window drapes moved slightly and two dark human figures emerged. They quickly scrambled up the stairs and took positions on either side of the shelf. They stood still and practiced, patiently waiting for their unknowing prey. Minutes trickled by, but they did not waver from their pose. But finally, a faint clicking could be heard on the other side of the panel. The two figures seemed to stop breathing. In what seemed like less than a second, the shelf whooshed aside, heavy sucking air attempting to pull everything inside. The two figures stood firm as the dark shadow which had invaded the study earlier emerged from the alcove. “Freeze!” The shorter figure whipped out a revolver, the thin glimmering moonlight highlighting the deadly barrel. The phantom uttered a high pitched squeal that suspiciously sounded like “Eep!” and instinctively turned around and ran straight into the larger dark figure who quickly grabbed the phantom’s arms to immobilize him. Something large and heavy dropped with a thunk to the floor. “Simone. Light.” “Right.” She flicked on her flashlight, aiming it directly into the intruder’s face. A black ski mask hid his features. “So what pathetic villian have we nabbed this time?” She brutally grasped the bottom of the mask and peeled upwards. She gasped. “You’re supposed to be dead.” Robert Greenville’s brown eyes wearily regarded her. “And I presume both of you are the investigators that Edna hired? Bravo. I had thought I would be able to move the things I had forgotten before without anyone noticing, but well, we know how that is.” He tried to bend down, but Adrian resolutely held him. Greenville sighed and slumped back in defeat. Simone grabbed the object that had fallen over and flipped it over in her hands. “The carving above the desk.” She looked pointedly at Greenville. “So this is yours?” He nodded. “I can explain everything if...” At that moment, a clamouring could be heard on the first floor as the study doors burst open in a bang. Light flooded the room. “Put my mask back on!” Greenville hissed. Adrian and Simone glanced at each other and in a quick communication, Simone pulled the mask back down. Evidently, it would complicate matters if Edna Greenville and the servants found out that the master of the house was alive and not dead. “You caught him!” declared Edna as she marched into the study. She was wearing a sparkly pink wrapper and her feet were clad in delicate yellow slippers. A bit of yellow silk nightgown peeked from underneath. Her graying hair was done up in multicolored hair rollers. She wasn’t wearing any make-up which made her look several years older than they had originally taken her as. Adrian thought she looked like a glorified version of trailer-trash stay home wives who sat on the couch to watch television all day, sort of like what his brother was doing at the moment. “Is it a ghost?” Dargood the butler had trailed behind. He was wearing a set of pajamas in glaring stripes, beige, dark green, and maroon, and on top of his head was a cap made of the same material. All he was missing was a stuffed animal. He had his hands on his hips and his lips were quivering as he looked up at the man Adrian was restraining. “Who is it?” “Not a ghost,” said Simone. “Just some prowler who probably wants to rid the house of goods.” Mina the maid had arrived a moment later, rubbing her eyes. She looked satisfied at the results. “I told you Dargood. It’s just some intruder or would-be robber. It’s not Robert Greenville’s ghost for heaven’s sake. You have an overactive imagination.” “I do not,” the butler whined. “Just somebody call the police for us,” Adrian said. “This is where we hand it off to them. It is their jurisdiction after all.” “I’ll go do that,” Mina volunteered. She shuffled off to find the phone. “Excellent job,” Edna gushed. “Rest assured that your payment will be delivered on time. I’m just glad that this whole things is over with. I can sleep easier knowing that the house is free of pests.” The masked man started laughing. “What’s wrong with him?” Dargood asked curiously. “Oh, nothing that a little R and R in the local sanitorium couldn’t cure,” Simone replied. |