His House

Chapter 21

"Hey," Logan's voice called out through the silence. "I think I got the first sentence."

I moved away from where I was inspecting the clock, and walked back over to the desk where Logan sat, decoding the poem. Matteo and Willow doing the same thing.

"Well? What does it say?" Willow asked.

"I don't know... It's kind of confusing, but maybe one of you can figure it out." Logan looked back down at the once blank piece of paper and read out the sentence that was written at the top of the page. "The sun shines, the darkness calls."

"That's all you got?" Matteo asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's been like twenty minutes."

Logan glared at Matteo. "It has not. It's not even been ten." Logan then stood up and gestured to the empty chair. "If you'd like this to go faster then be my guest."

Matteo grinned widely at Logan who stalked off with an eye roll before plopping himself down on the wooden chair and picking up the black inked pen.

"You two really don't have to read over my shoulder," Matteo said as he looked at the open book.

Willow and I both shared a look before going back to where we were, searching the place for any other clues.

* * *

"The sun shines, the darkness calls,

There you will find, near the black wall

When you have found the thing that is there,

Collect it and look near the chair.

Dark violet pops out, out of the wood,

It is the only one that is good

So pick it up and do not tear,

And search for the days of the year."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Willow asked once Matteo was done reading out the decoded poem.

Matteo shrugged and passed the paper to Willow. "I don't know, but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Me?" Willow glared at Matteo. "You're helping too."

Matteo sighed and rolled his eyes, but I could see a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Whatever you say, ma'am."

Willow and I both ignored what Matteo had said and looked down at the paper, rereading over and over what the first few lines had meant.

"What darkness?" Willow muttered to herself.

I knew exactly what she meant. The light overhead was just bright enough that not one inch of the room was in darkness. There was no darkness to be found.

Matteo spun the pen between his fingers as he looked at Logan who was shifting through the other papers again. "Did you find anything else?"

Logan shook his head. "Not really. I mean, if you helped we could probably get out of here faster."

Matteo spun the pen once more, and then stuck the pen in the gap between his ear and his head. "I decoded the poem. I think I did quite a bit of work." After seeing the look we all gave him, Matteo got up from the chair and joined Logan in the search for more clues. "Alright, alright."

I looked away from him and back down at the paper in Willow's hands. The first part of it looked very confusing. There was no black wall in the room either, and we had checked everywhere near the chair after Matteo had told us to do so. There was just nothing there.