"Someone tell me what's going on.....?!" James asked in a very panicked tone, desperate for some sort of answer. "Get them!" Melody exclaimed. Within seconds, the three ghosts who had entered the Conservatory teleported onto the stage and had Ricardo, Cooper, and James restrained. They left Elijah alone; he had already been injured by the rope.
"Ummm....I have a lot of questions!" Cooper cried. "Melody, was it? Can we help you? What business do you have with us?!" Ricardo asked. "We're already in a hurry; we've got our own problems." Melody turned to him. "Don't talk to me about 'problems'. If anything, mine are leaps and bounds ahead of yours." "What......? What do you mean?" Cooper asked. Melody sighed and turned back around, facing away from the boys. "Long have I wandered these opulent halls, craving the chance to cross over to the afterlife.....but it's been a long and difficult road. My life was ended rather abruptly, if I may say so." "Huh.....now that you mention it, you do look pretty young.....what happened to cause you to die at such an early age?" Ricardo inquired. Suddenly, with one swift motion, Melody spun around and held her machete up to Ricardo's neck, tilting it up so he could look at her. "It doesn't matter how I died; what matters is how I get to be free," she said.
"....Are you going to try to bring yourself back to life?" asked Cooper. "No!" Melody boomed. "I can't return to life, even if I tried! .....But at last, the moment of my freedom is at hand." She turned around again and ran her fingers across her blade. "Your souls.....so pure, so clean, so brave....I can feel it. Soon, they will be mine. And then I will finally be able to depart this place after all these years!"
"Our souls.....? How are you going to get them? Kill us?" James asked. Melody chuckled. "Precisely. I must say, though, it really is a shame....I would've already had the job partway done if it weren't for your interference on the rafters earlier," she said disdainfully to Ricardo. ".....Wait.....so that was you who tried to hang Elijah to death?!" he asked. Melody rolled her eyes. "Of course it was. What'd you think it was? A stage malfunction?" ".....Yes." Cooper said bluntly, only managing to annoy her more. "Enough!" In a matter of seconds, she had cast a spell that wrapped several chains around the four boys. The chains also had mysterious purple runes inscribed into them. "Don't bother trying to struggle. The more you do, the faster those chains will drain your life. When I return....you will be mine." she said darkly. She turned to the three ghosts who had restrained the boys earlier. "My thanks for your assistance. Return to your posts." she ordered. "As You command! ALL HAIL THE MAGISTRIX!" they all proclaimed in unison before dissipating.
"I have another question. What's with them?" Ricardo asked, gesturing to the spot where Melody's followers just were. "Did you mind control them or something?" She laughed. "Fool. I got them to join my side by just being myself. Well....not entirely. A little allure here, a little charisma there, and a bit of temptation thrown in. What can I say? This is the Conservatory. My influence is felt everywhere." She paused briefly. "Oh, and by the way, they're not the only ones. The Songsworn are many in number, but choose to hide in plain sight. All you need to know is that they faithfully serve me. They see me as a divine entity. And I wouldn't have it any other way, to be honest. After all, it would be ever so tiring to have to do all of this on my own."
"So basically what you're saying is that this is a cult. Wonderful...." Cooper muttered.
"So what now? We just wait until we're drained dry?!" James exclaimed. "Yes. And....just to make sure you don't try to escape...." Melody looked to the side. "Oh, Dischord! Come, my champion! Your Magistrix summons you!" she called. Yet another ghost materialized in front of everyone--this time a male who was about Melody's height, wearing a tuxedo, and a white cape with the beamed eighth notes symbol sewn onto it. He was also wearing a badge on the left side of his outer coat with the same mark, and carried a sheathed sword on his right hip.
YOU ARE READING
The Curse of Taloncrest Manor
TerrorThe year is 2010. Fresh out of school and into his long summer break, Ricardo, a high school senior, has just learned that he has inherited a massive mansion from his late aunt, so he takes his girlfriend Rose and his friends Cooper, James, and Elij...
