Pantomaniac

Chapter 21

Despite dust and dirt all over the place, the place was pretty gorgeous. Kef could imagine living in a house like that. A massive hall in the middle, capped with a glass dome from which hung a chandelier. Of course, none of those were as beautiful as they should have been. The dome was coated in thick dust, with barely any light escaping through it. The chandelier was no more, except for its frame which hung mid-air like a skeleton's hands.

But still, Kef appreciated the potential of that bungalow and what it once was. He walked in circles around the hall, for a moment forgetting why he was there. Around the atrium, glass windows assembled like a row of audience. Ragged, dusty brown curtains fell to the floor on each window.

Looking at how old the curtains were drowned out every last bit of bravery left in Kef. There he was. In the middle of a mansion, trying to find an answer to everything. The mimes. His visions. His dreams. He wanted a reason behind all of that. But he realized, agonizingly so, he might not get those answers. He was inside a mysterious bungalow inside the forest. No one knew where he was. He cursed silently. How stupid was he?

"Abah..."

Kef froze. There it was again. His daughter called out to him. The loud whisper. The faint voice that was a thousand decibels too high to be a whisper. But yet it was a whisper.

Instinctively, Kef's eyes landed on the staircase to his right

"Abah..."

Kef gulped. He stepped forward, half wanting to close his eyes. He wasn't prepared to witness any mime that time. To see one outside the bungalow was one thing. To witness one in that secluded, dead and silent mansion is another.

After several heavy steps, he was finally on the staircase. Unlike the one in the basement, this staircase had a more elegant touch. Which made everything feel even more twisted. So twisted that the hair on Kef's arms stood on its end.

He took one step at a time and as difficult as it was, he was finally done with the first flight. Standing there on the landing, his neck strained as he surveyed the area above. Gloomy. Hints of light crept through small holes on the dusty windows. Kef released a small sigh of relief. Better some light, no matter how faint, rather than pitch blackness.

He continued climbing up the stairs. Surprisingly, the area above wasn't as vast. There was one room to his right, two others on his left. A common area spread in front of him. Even that wasn't very big. Kef was expecting another level of massive space.

He looked to his right. Seconds later, he glanced to his left. All the doors looked the same and, had it been any other occasion, Kef would have simply picked one and dashed right through. But it was not an ordinary occasion. It was anything but that.

Failing to decide, he gambled and made his way into the first room on his left. It was the master bedroom. As Kef stepped inside, he felt someone blowing air onto the back of his neck. Kef gasped and spun.

Empty.

All he saw was the door to the other room. Immediately, his entire arm was infested with chills. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

The reality of it all washed over him like a giant wave. It consumed him. It threatened to wipe out every last bit of gut he had left in his body. Standing there, in front of the master bedroom, he felt like he was standing inside the mouth of a killer whale. A tiny, frail fish that was about to get eaten. What the hell was he thinking? He had entered the mansion without a back-up plan. No gear. No weapon. Nothing. Just his thoughts and his helpless body. He had let his desire to solve the mystery lead him into what could have possibly been the devil's den.