The Twins from the Sea

Chapter IV

Lana entered the musky basement and lit a torch she found in the pantry beside the basement door. She descended the very creaky stairs. Except for the cobwebs hanging from the corners of each wall, the room looked empty. Lana grinned as memories flooded over her. She continued on farther into the basement, and her certainty that the noise had come from here grew stronger. When she found nothing, she sighed and walked back to the door. Lana shined her torch on the floor, and what she saw made her gasp.

She slowly approached the object, her heart suddenly pounding and her breathing rapid. It was a book, but the word old wouldn't come close to describing it. There was a beautiful perfect seashell shape imprinted into the cover, and a title in a script she had never seen before.

"Lana?" she heard a voice call from upstairs. "Lana Sun!" Ophelia.

Lana looked at the book, then back upstairs. I can't just leave it here, but, it might be dangerous. A book, dangerous? Anything is possible. As the internal war raged in Lana's head, she decided to take it.

"Coming, O!" she hollered back, and snatched the book up in her hands. She quietly shut the basement door, and rushed as fast as she could back to her bedroom.

"Lana, did you-" Ophelia caught herself short. "What. Is. That?" She yelled.

"I... I heard a thud in the basement, and, and, there was this book, and... I don't know what it is but I just needed to see it," Lana spilled.

"Slow down. You found this in the basement?" Ophelia asked.

"Yes, and, I don't know where it came from, and it... Was just there."

Ophelia sighed, and looked at Lana. "Well, let's open it up, then."

Moana looked up, an excited and mischievous grin on her face. She ran her small hand over the smooth cover, and Ophelia thought it curious that though this mysterious book looked so old, there wasn't a speck of dust on it. Lana looked at her sister, and opened it. Suddenly the room was filled with the scent of the ocean, and a slight breeze seemed to be blowing out of the book. The sound of the ocean could be heard. Magic, thought Lana and Ophelia simultaneously. The hugest grins lit up their faces. Not surprisingly, the words inside the book were in the same script as the cover, and completely illegible.

"Girls! What's all that racket up there?!" boomed Aunt Kelly's voice from below them, as she clomped up the stairs. Lana and Ophelia exchanged panicked glances and shut the book. The breeze and noises immediately stopped, and Moana shoved the book under the bed without thinking.

"What on Earth is going on up here?" Kelly yelled, and she opened the door.

"Calm down, Auntie! Nothing! We're just talking, that's all," Ophelia said coolly.

"Alright. It's getting late, so please get to bed soon," said Kelly.

"Aw, Auntie, it's a Friday! Can we watch a movie or something?" Lana pleaded.

"No not-" she cut herself short. "Alright. I guess. Don't stay up too late, then."

With that, Ophelia Day and Lana Sun were left to a whole night of exploring their new treasure.