The Plague Doctor [RATED R] ✓

(35) Evil Depiction

WARNING: There is a description in this chapter that can be uncomfortable to some. Reader discretion is advised. Remember to enjoy and read responsively. Thank you.

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DESPITE MY GROWING DESIRE to be the last one to go to the attic, I still ended up finding myself walking up the steps of the ladder toward the dark hole found in the ceiling. I glanced down at Adeline and father Laurence who were looking at me with relieved smiles on their faces, making me roll my eyes and continue climbing up.

     "If a rat climbs down my body, I'm jumping," I warned, and I could hear Adeline giggling beside Laurence.

     She's enjoying this way too much.

      I climbed the ladder until I reached the top. I took a deep breath and stuck my head inside the attic. The attic was pitch black, so I tried to adjust my eyes to see better, but I still couldn't see a thing.

     "You have a flashlight there? Or maybe a lighter?" I ask, looking back at the two. Adeline quickly looks through the toolbox, while Laurence searches his pocket. Adeline looks at me and shakes her head, signaling that the toolbox didn't have anything. Thankfully Laurence pulls out a lighter from his coat and hands it over to me.

     "Thank you. This will be such a great help," I sarcastically say before lighting up the small lighter and using it to see. I finally got up the steps and dust instantly welcomes me, making me start coughing. I still couldn't see well, but the fire coming from the lighter was enough to help me watch my step.

     "The attic's pretty big," I say out loud, considering how I'm able to stand straight.

     "You see any deranged man chained up there?" I could hear Laurence asking from upstairs.

     "Funny."

     I continued to look around the attic so I could find any type of switch. While I walked, I could hear the floors creaking, and for a second I thought it was going to break on me. But as I continued walking, my head suddenly got hit by this string that was actually a pull switch.

     I pulled the switch, instantly lighting up the attic. "I found the light! You can go up now!" I announced, putting out the fire from the lighter and shoving it in my pocket. I dusted off the dirt on my hand and turned around, but as soon as I turned around, my heart drops and I instantly fall to the ground.

     I grabbed my chest as I tried to understand what was in front of me, but I eventually took a deep breath when I realized that the thing that I saw was not a figure of a man, but a mannequin instead.

     "Bishop, you okay?" Laurence asks, his head sticking out from the hole.

     "I-I'm fine," I answer as I stood from the floor to save myself from the embarrassment.

     Father Laurence got to the attic, and then he reached out for Adeline's hand to help her too. When the three of us finally got up to the attic, we looked around and realized that the attic was actually filled with files and boxes. There were old toys like a rocking horse and a two-foot-tall nutcracker, and even a baby crib and a piano.

     "Wow...junk," Laurence sarcastically says as he and Adeline looked around the area.

     "I don't think so," I answered him as I walked towards the mannequin that scared me to death a couple of seconds ago. Adeline and Laurence saw it too so they stood beside me as we stared at it. The mannequin was wearing a familiar suit, and the cherry on top was it was also wearing an old mask that is similar to Claudio's.