The Grim Reality of Cahercon House
Disclaimer: Never wander alone.
Kieran Quinn stared down at the bare ground. Concentrating hard on the spot in front of him, he tried his best to remember the happenings of the day before. Nothing came to him. He sighed with frustration as his mind went blank. Shaking his russet head, he groaned and glared up at the clear sky. The shining sun mocked him with its bright glare, the translucent rays descending upon him in all their glory. He knew something was missing, he knew it was at the back of his mind, all he had to do was think hard enough. One thing he knew for sure, he was not supposed to be here, wherever here was.
A flash of movement from his left caught his eye. Immediately, he sprang into a defensive stance, ready to defend himself. A second later, he found himself staring ahead, instantly lowering his stance and gaping at the scene in front of him. His face went stark white as he recognised the looming structure – Cahercon House. All of sudden, he cried out as he was flooded with memories.
Going to school, half his class being missing, the strange new people wandering the halls, coming back home, his mother.
He gasped as it all came flowing back, trying, to no avail to stop the tears flowing down his face.
He had come back from school, expecting to be greeted with his mother’s bright blue eyes, not unlike his own. Instead, when he arrived, his house was nowhere to be seen. Not only his house, but his whole neighbourhood had vanished. The last thing he remembered was shock overcoming him, his face meeting the dirty ground.
He looked around now, wondering if his mother was in some other place, looking for him, if she was also in such strange surroundings. He sighed, thinking of what his mother would have done is she were with him. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his tears, and looked around, taking in his surroundings. All that was in visible sight was the Cahercon House. Towering over him, it stood in all its glory. Kieran stared, trying to work up the courage to walk up the steps to the bronze double doors, which itself intimidated him enough. With his mother in mind, squaring his shoulders, he took a deep breath and started towards the steps.
[Aoife Quinn spun around in glee as she stood in a banquet hall inside Cahercon House. She cackled, blue eyes gleaming with mirth, as she wondered if Kieran would be smart enough to figure out how to find her. Upstairs, in one of the bedrooms, a lady with bright blue eyes lay comatose, blissfully unaware of her surroundings.]
Throwing open the double doors, Kieran braced himself for the sights ahead. He sighed with relief as he saw it was like any normal house, albeit bigger, as mansions are, and slightly archaic. In the main area, there was a huge, twisting staircase, seemingly with no end. On his left, there was a ballroom with open doors.
A teenage with a very curious nature, he walked towards the ballroom to see the interior when he saw a shadow move inside. Overriding his fear, he ran inside, ready to battle whatever came out. On the windowsill, covered in dust and cobwebs, lay a black sheet, covering a large monument of sorts, as still as a picture with no wind anywhere to have caused anything to move with a shadow.
As he stepped forward to take a closer look, the sunlight streaming through the window disappeared, only to be replaced by dark, ominous shadows and an eerie silver light. Elsewhere, a loud bang echoed. Turning white, Kieran fled the room only to see the bang was from the entrance doors slamming shut. Frantically pulling on the handles, he cried out as he unsuccessfully tried to open the doors. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream resonated through the house, chilling him to the core. Scared witless, he sprinted up the staircase to try and escape somehow from the second floor.
[The blue-eyed lady stared at herself. She frowned as her mirror image smiled. Stumbling back in shock, she gasped in horror. At the same time, her counterpart stepped forward and laughed in delight.]
Reaching the end of the staircase, Kieran stared blindly, unable to see a thing. The whole floor was pitch black. Suddenly, a beam of silver light shone through the air, a fine line so thin, it was almost invisible. He cautiously walked up to the line, reaching out with his hand to touch it. He gasped as his hand passed through it as if it was air. Deeming it harmless, he followed the line straight ahead. It stopped at the entrance of a rusty door, with no doorknob in sight.
Pushing it open with his hand, Kieran peered inside, the only light being the silver line. Glancing to his left, he saw a mirror with a blue-eyed face staring straight at him. He turned to his left and looked straight. Choking on air, he stood frozen, gaping at the scene in front of him.
