Eden's Gate

Chapter 18: The Screaming Door

They waited for the week. There was no doubt in any of their minds that what may well have been Clifton's last gift was not to be wasted. While the teachers could be relied on to be out and about the campus on the weekends, they could be relied on more to be inside their rooms immediately after class ended. Between that and Taylor's sharp Sixth Sense, they'd have all the time they'd need to sneak to the Screaming Door, investigate what was within and leave.

Or so they hoped. They had no idea what was there, for all they knew it could be an entire underground wing of the school. But they finally had a chance for answers.

The door was not screaming today, thank god, though it's spooky visage didn't set any of them at ease. Kaitlyn felt the door. It was strangely warm.

Richard reached into his pocket and pulled out the key, twisting it into the lock. The door let out a strange hiss as it was unlocked, and they pushed it open with a rattling creek. On the other side was a stairwell, leading straight down into darkness.

"That doesn't make sense," Taylor pointed out. "A stairwell this far down would run through the tunnels."

"It's magic," Richard concluded. "Makes sense for a ritual."

He tossed a marble he had brought with him down the stairs, seeing it bounce all the way to the bottom before giving a nod.

"Taylor, keep watch. Me and Kaitlyn will go and investigate."

Taylor gave a thumbs up and shut the door behind them as the two followed the stairs down. Initially it smelt like mildew and mold, but as they got deeper another metallic scent hit the air. Eventually it opened up into a stone hewn room that was obviously the center of the ritual. A table was laid out with various substances and materials, and in the exact center of the room was a circle - the circle. The symbol that adorned the door, and the rock, and the grade book. It was drawn in red. On one of the five prongs sat a pedestal on top of which had been placed a strange object. A gold plate base carved with intricate details, securing a piece of domed glass over what was displayed inside. A hexagonal piece of stone, carved with runes,and almost like a candle something shined on top. Kaitlyn was very aware that whatever it was, it was not a flame, but the way it flickered and shimmered she couldn't think of anything else to call it. It felt familiar.

Two of the points, including the one with the pedestal, had circles of red around them. Kaitlyn was trying very hard not to think they were blood.

She went to the table and began looking through the items while Richard went into the next room. She hardly recognized any of them specifically. Herbs, unknown animals, various powders. About the only thing she did recognize was a jar full of eyes, each of different sizes and colors. She finally caught sight of a book. While it was closed, several of the pages had been marked with little pieces of red tape. Kaitlyn opened it to the first one, and saw a picture of what they had called the Noise.

An illustration, drawn in delicate pencil work, showing the monster in all its terror. Other pictures showed close up of details - the wings, the mouth, the eye. On the reverse side there was text.

THE ELDER THINGS

The first of the many species to colonize the Earth, the Elder Things specialized in space travel and colonization so that is no surprise. Their empire spanned the galaxy and possibly beyond, harvesting vast resources from every corner for their home planet in

Archeological excavation indicates that they arrived on Earth about 1.5 billion years ago, and while the Earth was once ruled by them, by the time life emerged onto land they were already in decline, and the Permian Extinction seems to have destroyed everything but a settlement in the Antarctic. By 50 million years ago, this settlement too was also abandoned. What caused their decline and extinction is unknown, and because they have been gone from the Earth for so long it is difficult to know for certain what the life of one might have been like. However, the site of their last colony in the Antarctic has been a boon, as it has yielded a great deal of information.