The Kiss of Death

CHAPTER XVII

The little painting that hung near the doorway,  which didn't match the colour scheme, that definitely had to be it. Everything in this entire room was colour coordinated , except for that one painting.

The box had to be somewhere around it.

I ran my way there,  almost tripping on the folded carpet.

Things like this always had my full interest and attention.

Not the making people unconscious part,  but the searching for things part.

My father always told me that I'd become a great detective once I grew up. I still want to become one , but that dream seemed so incomplete without him.

The damn painting,  I was trying to remove it but it wouldn't come off ,but instead it shifted a little due to all the motion and I heard something move.

I knew it.

Something just opened,  but what?

I looked all around the room but I couldn't find it. This game was getting exhausting now.

And then suddenly all the photo frames starting moving to the sides,  clearing the space in between.

Here it was.

I could see the light seeping out through the edges of the door. The door to what I had just done all this for. Finally.

But no keyhole no locks , nothing was there. How was this to open ?

I brought my hand forward,  my fingers grazing through the soft fabric when suddenly something clicked and it opened.

What.

Thats it?

Someone left the final level to this entire puzzle unguarded,  what kind of idiotic person had planned all of this?

I opened the door further,  and there it lay , a box out of which a light so bright flew around that I was almost blinded by it.

I held that box in my hand and that light slowly dimmed until it was just a soft glow.

Wow, shall I pinch myself or something for confirmation.

So this was it. All of this was over now. I had found it. My biggest mission of all time.

As per the plan ,I had to ring Ian now , I had his number memoried by heart but that lingering curiosity in my conscience that wanted me to open the box and look at it just once,  it got the best of me.

So of course.

I turned a couple of switches here and there and it opened.

I lifted up the box's lid , and there lay the feather on a soft velvet cushion. The purest kind of gold I'd ever seen, a glow so serene and bright.

If all these blood-sucking creatures weren't roaming around , I'd have definitely called this a fairy tale.

So that's it I saw it, admired it and had all my inner wishes fulfilled.

I should call Ian now.

But there was this weird kind of itch inside me , to touch that feather, to hold it just once. I swear I was not thinking about it voluntarily but I couldn't control myself or my thoughts.

I bought my hand forward slowly.

This wasn't a part of the plan, if anything went wrong not only would I lose my chances at getting back my locket but I would become a victim of Ian's wrath as well.

But no amount of logic or sense was making my mind work right now, there was this invisible force pulling me towards the box , towards the feather.

Surrendering to myself , I finally touched it and a sudden spark of heat ran right through my finger . The feather was so soft yet the amount of energy it radiated at just a single touch was too much to contain.

I withdrew my hand immediately.

Too late.

The feather had melted at my touch, not melted exactly but it merged with my finger as if it just mysteriously went through my skin.

I could feel it , flowing within me . Spreading to every corner of my body.

It didn't hurt, instead it brought about a very strange kind of comfort.

As if it was a part of me.

What do I do now I-

"What the hell!" A voice so loud and suprised totally diverted my attention.

Ian stood at the gate.

Looking at me.

Drastic failure.