M I C H A E L
R E E F S
PART 1: THE SECRET HALLS
CHAPTER 1
A gruesome legend
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- Sunday, January 1st -
aunted – that was the first thing that came to mind when Luca Little stood and observed the ruins of the timber house from up close. Whenever she looked at
it from other vantage points in South Bay, it was just like any other old-fashioned, dilapidated mansion. But here, at the foot of the enormous hill it was built on, it was as though she was entering another world. Ominous shadows seemed to choke the top and the dense forest almost made it impossible to see how ancient and rotten the house was. No one felt welcome here when they saw the building. Some even felt like something evil was alive inside – something that could lunge at them at any moment. Not that Luca was one of those people. Of course not – that’s why they were here, wasn’t it? The house wouldn’t harm then, not even if they went to have a good look at it. Luca shot a glance at her friends. Roy answered it with a challenging look, his arms crossed in front of his chest. His black, spiky hair was partly covered by the headband of his headphone set. He stood ramrod straight against the wind, like some warrior in an old-fashioned painting. She knew she could always count on him in times of trouble.
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Next to him was Sander, who was Roy’s complete opposite in every way. He let his head hang a bit as he pretended to clean his glasses. He always did that when he felt ill at ease. “Come on, didn’t you guys say you wanted to do this with me?” she said. “And now you’re all scared? I knew it. Same old, same old. You always back out when things get real. I can’t believe I keep falling for your promises every time!” She crossed her arms in protest and wrinkled her nose. “We’re far too young to die,” Valerie replied. She had the whole dramatic voice-of-doom down to a tee, biting her nails and hanging her head just like Sander. Her shoulder-length light-brown hair fluttered across her shoulders, and she had her legs crossed like she really needed the toilet. Luca laughed. They weren’t that young, after all. Roy was thirteen, Melanie, Valerie, and Sander were twelve, and she herself was eleven. “Why would you say that?” she asked. “I know I’m the youngest and the smallest, but all our years added up must entitle us to having an adventure together, for sure?” “I’m only saying that because you seem to think we’re much older.” “You know the consequences, Luca.” Melanie Wendersteen retightened the scrunchy around her plaited, dark-brown hair and took a step closer to Luca. “I warned you,” she whispered from behind one hand, “but you wouldn’t listen.” “Your predictions never turn out to be true,” Luca protested. “What if she’s right this time?” Valerie wanted to know. Roy Leyder and Sander Rijkbroek both had their gazes doggedly fixed on the top of the hill.
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“It looks just like in the book,” Sander commented quietly. “So?” Luca responded immediately, while lining up between the two boys. “Just because there’s a legend in some book doesn’t mean the legend’s real. This would be the perfect opportunity to find out if there’s any truth to it.” “Well, your gran told us about it too,” Roy objected. “It was her story that inspired us to investigate this hill in the first place.” “There’s more going on there than you realize.” Melanie moved to stand behind Luca. “Things we can’t explain away. Take the castle that’s supposed to be at the top of this hill, for example. Do you guys see it? I sure don’t. And yet it has to be there.” Luca let out a sigh. Everybody was always being so mysterious about that house, and now that she was finally here to hike up the hill her friends were all chickening out. Even though they’d kept an eye on the hilltop for a long time and nothing remarkable had ever happened. Granted, now that all five of them were standing in the decrepit and mossy square at the foot of the hill the area didn’t exactly look inviting. Behind them, a few abandoned, ancient houses with pointed roofs bordered the edge of the plaza. All the way in the distance they could make out the clock tower of the city hall. Other than that there was nothing to see in this square and it was rather obvious that no one lived here anymore. Even the fence that used to separate this area from the surrounding meadows looked run-down. The rest of South Bay was a lot better-looking and cleaner, whereas this part of town had seemingly been cast off by its inhabitants and forgotten in time. A narrow, twisting track seemed to wind up the hill, but it was hardly suitable for pedestrians. Luca was convinced they’d have to climb all the way up there, and that their trek would be a
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challenging one. She shivered. The sky was turning greyer by the minute. Pretty soon it would start to rain. “What do we do?” she asked the others. “Maybe you should tell us that story again,” Roy said to Sander. “I bet you know the entire saga by heart now.” “I really don’t want to listen to it again,” Valerie said in a trembling voice. “Yes, you do,” Luca said determinedly. “You should tell us again so we all know exactly why we’re here.” Sander scratched his head. Luca knew that Sander’s brain was an impressive one to pick, since her friend had read thousands of books, all of them about strange occurrences in day-to-day life on earth. And Sander liked the history of the village of South Bay the best. “Well, okay.” Sander hesitated. “But not while we’re standing here.” The five children crossed the round plaza and stopped near the first few leafless bushes that grew on the hillside. The ascent from here would be a steep journey to the top. They sat down near a big tree. Sander cleared his throat and launched into the story. “The night was alight with lightning zigzagging across the sky. The leader of the Skyriders huddled deeper into his coat and spurred on his horse to go faster. He was the last one remaining. One by one his eleven men had disappeared, and so the king of his country had sent him out on a quest to find out what had become of them. All he knew was that they had last been seen in South Bay.
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The hooves of his horse clattered on the stones of the street. He held the reins tighter to stop the animal when he reached the hill and then dismounted. As he made his way to the winding track uphill, he clutched his cloak tightly. He walked up and stood in front of the hilltop house. Behind him, South Bay was a place he could no longer see clearly due to a shroud of darkness and fog. Out of nowhere, the house in front of him morphed into a gigantic castle. The man felt his heart beating in his throat and he reached for the weapon he knew to be in his coat pocket. His hand found nothing, just an empty sheath. Where…? He looked around. Maybe he’d lost it on his way up? He froze when the iron of the gate groaned like something alive. The groan turned into a roar and something wormed its way towards him across the earth. Something that looked suspiciously like a snake. It dashed forward as the Skyrider jumped back. To no avail; thick rope coiled around the man’s feet like a trap and pulled tight. The man fell backwards, hitting his head on the ground. And the rope dragged the almost unconscious man into the giant castle, towards the dark and cold dungeons.” A bolt of lightning cut across the sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The children cowered and Luca pressed her hands against her ears as she scanned the dark sky. “It’s going to happen,” Melanie said, stifling a gasp with her hand. Luca pulled that hand away immediately. “Nothing’s going to happen,” she said. “Nothing at all.” “Luca’s right – it’s just a thunderstorm,” Roy said matter-of-factly. “Come on, Sander, don’t hold out on us.” While Sander cleared his throat again and went on, Valerie anxiously clung to Melanie.
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“Hallways flashed by. Every now and then his hands and feet would catch on something and he’d cry out in pain, but no sound was coming from his mouth – he’d mysteriously turned mute the minute he entered the castle. In all his life he had never been this terrified. Deep inside he realised he would never leave this place alive. At last the hold of the rope eased and it partly unwound itself from his ankles. Quickly the Skyrider unfastened the knot and he tried to stand up. The pain he felt was indescribable, but he didn’t give up. He clenched his jaw and started back up the hallway to get out. He didn’t get far. Behind him he heard the sound of a heavy object being dragged across the floor. His heart beat in his throat and again he searched his cloak for a weapon. Too late. Much too late. The Man with the Axe emerged from the darkness and approached him. The Skyrider looked him right in the eye – the eye of his fiercest enemy – and died seconds later.” It was as though the story somehow affected the weather. The first raindrops fell from the sky and pummelled the stones of the square. The five friends shot each other questioning looks; no one dared to speak. Roy opened his mouth, but Luca beat him to it. “So, let’s head up then, shall we?” she said. As she was getting up she felt something vibrate in her pocket. Oh no – not now. “What’s with the sour face?” Roy inquired. “My phone. It’s ringing.” She dug it up from her trouser pocket and saw ‘Waltraud Little’ on the display. With a sigh she slid the green icon to the left to answer the call and pressed her mobile phone against her ear.
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“Mum?” she said in a hushed tone. It felt as though the thunderstorm was gathering directly above her head. “Why aren’t you home? I told you to be here before the storm started. So, where are you? I’ll come and collect you.” “You don’t have to do that, Mum,” Luca venture. “I’m on my way there now.” “For your sake I hope that’s true. You have fifteen minutes.” Without another word Luca clicked off. “Your mother?” Melanie inquired with a worried frown. “Don’t tell me she knows.” “Nah.” Luca adjusted the straps on her backpack. “I promised her something and she wants me to stick to it.” Valerie stared at the top as she clutched something in her trouser pocket like it was a talisman of sorts. And in a way it was, Luca realised. Valerie had suffered from asthma all her life, which made it difficult for her to run long distances. And if she got really scared, her lungs suffered straight away. So in tense situations like these, she’d frequently use her inhaler. “I really need to leave now,” Luca quickly said as she checked the time on her phone. A quarter to two. She’d make it home around two easily. “We’re leaving as well,” Roy said. “In this weather nothing’s much fun anyway.” The rain started to pelt down faster. Fat drops splattered onto their coats like tiny bombs of water. The gang of adventurers left the square and they split to each go their own way. A thunderbolt like the crack of a whip seemed to tear the skies apart. Luca swiveled around, her eyes just catching a bolt
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of lightning lighting up the house like a falling star. Unfortunately the others had already left. For a split second she considering phoning them to ask them to come back, but she was running out of time. She really needed to get home. But maybe, just maybe…. Her curiosity won out. Luca took one tentative step towards her own house, then another step back in the direction of the hill. “Dammit,” she cursed under her breath. As quickly as she could she ran back to the square and stood at the foot of the hill. From here she fixed the house with her gaze, not paying any mind to anything else that was visible or audible around her. Rain ran down her face and clothes. Her mobile phone vibrated again in her pocket. She reluctantly pulled it from her trousers. Without looking, she answered the call: “Yes, Mum, I said I’m on my way!” “Luca! Why are you still standing at the hill?” Melanie’s voice piped up. For a moment Luca was lost for words. “Melanie?” she asked in wonder. “How would you know that?” “Doesn’t matter how I know; you really need to get home or you’ll be in trouble. We’ll get together later in the day.” “But I just saw…” She wanted to tell her fiend about the bolt of lightning, but Melanie had hung up on her. She immediately clicked Melanie’s photo on the display to call her back. The phone rang a few times on the other end, only for Melanie to answer and hang up at once again. Everything and everyone seemed to conspire against her to keep her away from that awful house and its secrets – even the rain and the thunderstorm seemed to be mocking her. But this
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was something she wouldn’t allow anyone to take away from her. This was her adventure. One last time she looked up at the gloomy house on the hilltop. Never mind. I’m coming back, and once I’m here I’ll unravel all your mysteries. I’m not afraid. I’m never afraid.
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CHAPTER 2
A stolen pencil
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uca ran through the streets. Every now and then she checked her phone for the time. She’d taken the quickest route from the hill to her house – the road that
ran alongside the river Strong in a wide curve. Beside her, the water beat against the riverside. Wild waves foamed ever fiercer, pulling a few bushes with them into the river. She kept running when she entered her own street, East Quay, where old fishing cottages were crammed in between modern terraced houses. East Quay was a typical example of what the rest of South Bay looked like – old and new went hand in hand. Every house on this street was built with its façade facing the Strong, which provided the owners with a nice view of the meadows and the mountains in the distance. Most houses had well-kept, tiny flower gardens next to the front door, but in wintertime they looked rather desolate. Just in time Luca got to her front door. With a sigh of relief, she slipped the key into the lock and turned it to open the door. She rushed inside, only to bump into someone else on the threshold. Without even looking up she said: “What’s up, Mum?” She shrugged off her coat and threw it in the direction of the coat
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rack. Meanwhile she tried to keep her gaze on the floor, not her mother. Because her mum must have been worried sick, and it was her fault. She should keep quiet and not start a discussion – she was sure Mum would forget about the whole thing very quickly if she kept a low profile. “Where have you been?” her mother wanted to know, her hands planted in her sides. “Oh, at Valerie’s. She asked me to help her out with an assignment for school.” “She’s not even in the same year. How’s that possible, Luca?” “Maybe I’m just too clever for my age,” she improvised while stepping aside. Damn – her mum wasn’t budging. At least she was no longer striking an avenger pose. “I really don’t know what to think of this, sweetheart. Oh well – I’m happy you’re here now. We’ll talk later. Are you still hungry? I set a few sandwiches aside for you.” “Yeah, that sounds great! I’ll be down in a minute,” Luca replied with relief. She’d been right about acting as though nothing special had happened. Her mum wasn’t kicking up a fuss, even though she could be a worrywart sometimes. Luca climbed the stairs. What in all the world was her little brother doing? The infernal noise coming from his room sounded horrible, but Michael had shut his door. Clearly he wanted to keep whatever he was doing a secret. Something landed against the door with a thud. Luca froze and tried to peek inside through the keyhole, but took a quick step back when something brown stared back at her. Stumbling backward, she waited for a few seconds. “What’s up, Luca?” It was her brother’s voice. “I can see you,
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you know. You want to sniff my socks again, do you?” “You and your smelly socks,” Luca said with revulsion. “What are you up to?” “I’m building something.” “Get out of here. You’re only seven years old. I’d be surprised if you knew how to hold a hammer.” “Mum said you went to the hill,” Michael changed the subject. “How would she know?” Damn! Her mum hadn’t even mentioned it! “So it’s true? Mum said you and your friends were up to no good near that hill.” Luca walked away from the door and went into her own room. In front of the window was the chair she always used to sit down and ponder things. During moments when she had a lot on her mind she’d sit here to stare outside and come up with answers to the burning questions she loved to ask herself. Either that, or she’d count passing cars, gawk at whistling pedestrians – lots of men loved to whistle, it turned out – scanned the trees for bird’s nests, or just fixed her gaze on the clouds in the sky in the hope something would come to mind. The window was fogged up, so she couldn’t see much now. She used her sleeve to wipe away the condensation and make a peephole. That didn’t do much good. Rain was lashing against the windowpane, blocking her view. Her mum called up after a minute. Of course: the sandwiches were waiting. Luca jumped off her chair and crossed her room. “I’m coming!” she called down. On the stairs she skipped three steps at a time and made it down
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in two seconds – a new personal record. Her mother was sitting at the dining table and even Michael, the nosy parker, had joined her. “I’m still not completely clear on where you were, Luca. You said you were with Valerie to help her with her homework? That’s odd,” Mum started. Luca swallowed. Oops... seemed like her mum wasn’t going to drop the matter after all. “Why?” she asked as innocently as she could. “Doesn’t Valerie’s mum dislike you?” “Well, ‘dislike’ isn’t the word I’d use, Mum,” she defended herself. “She just likes me a little bit less than the rest of the gang.” Her mother nodded and looked pensive. “Yes, that’s no surprise, considering what happened last year.” “Mum! Please. Can we not talk about this?” Luca took a bite of her cheese-and-tomato sandwich. Her favorite. “No, Luca, I think we should. It was theft, and the fact that you would sink to that level truly upset me. I didn’t understand what had gone into you. But at least that situation has taught you a valuable lesson about the consequences of dishonesty – or so I hoped, anyway.” “It has.” She caught Michael’s questioning look – a look that spelled mischief. “You was only stealing a bloody pencil,” he chuckled. “Were stealing,” Luca corrected him. “And it wasn’t a pencil, it was eyeliner, you dimwit.” When were they ever going to stop bringing this up? It seemed to be her mother’s favorite topic. In her memory she could still see herself, sitting in that police car
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while the entire population of South Bay seemed to have gathered on the pavement to stare at her like she was the worst villain in the history of their small community. It had all started with her stealing eyeliner from the department store because she was fed up with not having any make-up. But someone had caught her red-handed and she’d fled the scene and the village of South Bay because she’d been too scared to go home. What would her parents say? Especially her dad – who was a lawyer – would be so embarrassed about his daughter’s behaviour. She’d been in a hideout where no one could find her for almost two full days. All the residents of South Bay had helped the police during their search-and-rescue because they were convinced something terrible must have happened to her. At long last the police had found her on the hillside, halfway to the top. She’d been starved and freezing, but other than that she couldn’t remember much of what had happened in those two days. “You’re a dimwit!” her brother replied, shoving her arm. “Will you two stop that!” their mother warned them. “I’ve had it with your incessant bickering. Can’t you just try to get along?” Michael didn’t seem to hear his mum. “You were out with your stupid friends and you were trying to be cool,” he egged her on. “Not true! It was just because Mum wouldn’t allow me to wear make-up. And I wanted to know what it would feel like to look beautiful.” Her mum heaved a sigh. “I still think you’re too young to use make-up. We had that discussion last year and as far as I’m concerned nothing’s changed in the meantime.”
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“Well, something did change – I’m a year older. Lots of girls in my grade use make-up.” “We’ll see about that. And now could you please tell me the truth about where you were this afternoon?” Again with the questioning? Clearly this wasn’t her lucky day. “Not now, Mum,” she said. “I’ll tell you later.” Her mother gave up and went to the living room to dust her porcelain statuettes instead. After dinner Luca went upstairs. Michael followed in her wake and didn’t lose sight of her for a split second. “Stop bothering me,” she wanted to snap as she turned around. A pillow hit her full-on in the face. “Here, use this to powder your face!” Michael was in stitches. Quickly he picked up the pillow and darted into his room. “Wait till I get you!” Luca called after him. “You bastard.” She wiped one hand across her face and felt a few feathers on her cheek. She picked the downy feathered off her skin one by one and let them flutter in the air. Then she firmly shut the door of her room behind her, checking through the keyhole whether Michael was really still in his room. It was time to call Melanie. Her friend simply had to know what had happened near the hill. She was dying to go back there in the afternoon. This time around Melanie answered the phone immediately. “You wanted to tell me something?” she asked. “Yes, I did,” Luca said. “I saw something after all of you had left. We need to go back to the hill before it’s too late.”
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“Count Valerie out, though. She’s had it with the whole thing.” “I don’t think so! Just tell she has to come! I’ll try to come up with an excuse to head back out so my mum will let me leave. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” “I’ll be there in half an hour.” Melanie hung up. If only Melanie would be able to convince Valerie. Fortunately, Valerie lived close to the hill, so they could all chime in to persuade her at the last minute if need be. One minute later she was sitting in her chair facing the window, staring into the distance. It was still raining – the rivulets of water running down her window and the choppy water of the river made that all too clear. Somehow it calmed her mind. Her thoughts kept wandering back to that strange bolt of lightning she’d seen. It had looked like a falling star, but weren’t those invisible in broad daylight? She didn’t understand. “Luca?” Her mother knocked at the door. “Yes?” The door opened and her mum walked in with a laundry basket. “Clean washing,” she said as she put the basket on the bed while scanning the room. “What a mess you’ve made again, young lady.” Luca stayed put. “Not just me, Mum. You know I had a few friends over last night, don’t you?” Her mother picked up an empty bottle from the desk. “You’ve drunk a lot,” she added. “Well, it was alcohol-free fizz mixed with apple juice. You always allow me to drink fizz on New Year’s Eve too, right?” Luca noticed her mother was standing behind her, because suddenly
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her mum’s hands were in her neck. Two warm hands massaged her tense muscles. It felt divine, but she couldn’t be swayed by the gesture. When her mum was in one of her cuddly moods, she always wanted to talk, talk, talk. “What’s been happening in your life lately? I really worry about you. Every time I want to sit down and talk to you, you’re not around, and when you are you dodge my questions. What’s up with you, sweetheart?” her mother asked, while her massage turned a little bit more intense. “Nothing special, Mum. The usual.” See? Talk, talk, talk! Her mum was worried about all sorts of things she’d gotten into her head and the next step would be to keep Luca on a leash. But that wasn’t going to happen. It was her life and she was the one deciding which rules to stick to. End of discussion! It was as though her mother could read her mind. “As long as you live in this house we expect you to respect our rules. And even though your father’s a bit stricter when it comes to rules, I fully agree with him. Sometimes you go too far, young lady. We don’t make promises just to break them, do we?” Luca swallowed. Mum’s voice sounded so sweet and concerned. What could she possibly say to that? “I, ehm, I really do try to stick to the rules, Mum, but it isn’t always easy.” Her mobile vibrated again in her trouser pocket. Just one time, so that meant she’d received a text message. Hopefully it was Melanie with some good news. “Can I go outside for a bit?” she asked. Her mum shot a doubtful look out the window. “In this weather?”
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“Melanie’s parents aren’t home and we want to finish a few projects for school.” It was all she could think of. Her mother turned around and gave her a stern look. Even though her voice still sounded sweet, it also had a little edge of steel to it now. “Luca – here you go again. You’re not telling the truth. What are you up to?” “Nothing, Mum, I swear. I’ll be back in a flash. You can ring Melanie if you don’t believe me. Bye!” Once she got downstairs she took her coat from the rack and grabbed a woollen hat. Just before she pulled the front door shut behind her, her mum called something unintelligible after her. Standing on the pavement Luca pulled out her phone. Just what she’d expected: a text message from Melanie. Valerie was coming along to the hill after all. Great.
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CHAPTER 3
A monstrous castle
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er street was deserted, so she could follow East Quay and turn onto the road leading to the hill without being disturbed. While walking she kicked some
pebbles, jumped off and back onto the kerb, and ran though deep puddles. As she approached the hill her stomach convulsed slightly. Suppose the legend was actually true? That would be… absolutely gruesome. The first trees of the hill loomed in the distance. Through squinted eyes Luca tried to make out what was on the hilltop. Everything looked dark and deserted as usual. Fortunately the rain had stopped. She ran the last few yards until she reached the giant square at last. Here, she calmed down while the rest of the gang looked at her expectantly. “So what’s up?” Roy wanted to know. “Melanie said you saw something?” Luca saw Valerie digging up the inhaler from her backpack and holding it firmly in her left hand. Her other hand was clasped around Melanie’s. “We’re going up there,” Luca said. “I saw a flash of light and
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I think we might discover more about it once we’re at the top.” “Are you sure?” Roy asked. “Of course I’m sure. Those twelve men disappeared right here, in this very spot, from South Bay. If they really are up there, we’ll see them for sure.” She took the initiative to take the first few steps towards the hill, but the others stayed put. Carefully she put one foot in front of the other. It was only when she’d reached the edge of the hill that the others started to move. Everyone was carrying backpacks on their backs with their hands tightly clasping the straps. “Maybe this is a mistake after all,” Melanie mumbled. “This just feels wrong.” “Don’t say that!” Valerie cried out while wringing her hands. Roy passed Luca and his hands grabbed hold of a thick tree trunk. He pulled himself up and used it for support by resting his back against it. Then, he continued climbing, past a few bushes, and used another tree to haul himself up. “Is that working for you?” Luca called up. “It looks tricky.” Roy turned around while holding onto a low-hanging branch so he wouldn’t fall. “It’s not easy on the hands. Some branches have thorns.” “Right, we’ll skip those, then,” Luca concluded. She turned the around. Her other friends looked quite miserable. Valerie and Sander were slightly pale, but Melanie still looked like her normal self, although Luca was sure that Melanie wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to follow in her footsteps. “I don’t think you’re really up for this,” she pointed out. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” Melanie avoided her gaze. “Because I knew you wouldn’t
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back down.” “That’s not true!” Luca couldn’t believe her ears. Was that how Melanie saw her – a girl who wanted to have it her way no matter what? “Let’s face it, this is all you talk about,” Sander chimed in. “And here’s your chance to check everything out. Which is fine by me, but maybe you should give it a rest after this little expedition, okay?” “Whatever. Shall I go next?” Luca suggested to avoid arguing. “I’ll go,” Sander replied, and he pushed past her without saying another word. He hauled himself up near the tree Roy had used to scale the first part of the hillside. Every now and again, he’d slide back, but he managed to find purchase with his hands in time. “I’ll come and help you!” Melanie shouted. Valerie stayed close to Melanie and watched her like a hawk. Even though had planned to be the first one to go up there, she closed ranks. Just to make they weren’t being watched she looked over her shoulder one last time. Good – no one was here. Quickly, she disappeared in the undergrowth behind the tree. The rest of the gang was already out of sight. Once she reached the top she hauled herself over the edge. Strange… was she the first one to get here? She had to be, since her friends were nowhere to be seen. “Is anyone here yet?” No reply. Suddenly the ground trembled under her feet. Crikey, what
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was happening? It was almost like an earthquake coming from the interior of the hill. She needed to make sure she wouldn’t fall and so she planted her feet firmly on the grassy field. Even though her entire body shook and she had great difficulty to keep standing. Her hand grabbed a few twigs of a bush next to her. The earthquake subsided and suddenly it was eerily quiet. Weird – she’d never realised how loud an earthquake actually was, but… what was that sound? Who was yelling so desperately? It could only be one of her friends! She turned around, but the thick trees obstructed her view. “What’s happening?” Her voice sounded hollow and echoed back to her, almost as though she was standing in front of an invisible wall. Surprised, she retraced her steps and called out again. “Valerie, is that you?” An unnerving silence followed her words. There was no more screaming, but there was no one to answer her either. Where had they gone? She checked the hilltop. The house was gone! What had just happened? The place seemed completely empty and abandoned. “Guys? Are you still there?” she called out again. Her voice still sounded flimsy and hollow. With a hissing sound she sucked in a deep breath and whipped around. All of South Bay had been plunged into darkness, and the village seemed to be further away. It also smelled different all of a sudden. Just after she’d reached the top there’d been the smell of wet grass, but now her nostrils picked up a scent that reminded her of fire in a hearth. Her stomach turned to stone. Why hadn’t she heeded Melanie’s words?
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She took a few tentative steps forward, only to smack into something solid and massive. With a jerk she stepped back and rubbed her face. Out of nowhere, a tall castle had appeared in front of her. It was in the exact same spot as the house was supposed to be. The tall tower at the front seemed to touch the dark sky. The solid iron gate had been let down. Goosebumps erupted on her back. This wasn’t possible, was it? “Guys, where are you?” Her voice sounded more distant by the minute and her mouth was bone-dry. As she pinched her own arm to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, she staggered back. “Okay, Melanie, I believe you now! Please come back. All of this is my fault. I’m sorry.” No one came. A heavy thud sounded in front of her and she started. Every bone in her body told her to get away from here. The gruesome tales about the legend were all true – she realised that now. With a laborious groan the heavy gate of the castle slowly opened. She wanted to run from this place as far away as she could, but somehow she couldn’t, because her stupid legs wouldn’t move – they were too heavy. A silvery glow hovered above the earth and came at her with dazzling speed. She felt it winding itself around her ankles like some sort of rope before it yanked at her legs. She landed on her bum with a thud. The rope dragged her towards the darkness behind the open gate – a slithering tongue guiding her into a gaping mouth. “Help! Roy! Melanie! Anybody!” With a squeaky, screechy noise, the gate was slowly let down again. Luca saw the sharp spikes edging close to her face as she
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was dragged inside. One last time she looked behind her. The gate fell shut with a deafening bang which made the building shake to its foundations. Even the floor underneath Luca’s body quivered. She was a prisoner in the castle that belonged to the Man with the Axe.
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