Hidden World

Chapter II - The First Riddle

Gentile rays of sunshine made their way through the curtains. It was not early in the morning but almost close to noon, a little over 11 A.M. Rose groaned and pulled the blanket over her head wishing that she could have just a little bit more time to spend in bed. After a few mental battles she decided to get up and get ready for the day ahead.

Once she was done packing, she dragged her suitcase downstairs and stopped in front of the front desk.

"Here's the key" she said with a yawn while handing it to the blonde girl in front of her. Rose stood a little to look at her as she did not see her before there. She read the name tag and tilted her head a little "Eli... hmmm... Eliseea".

"Yes?" Eliseea replied a little surprised to hear her name.

"Aaaaaaaaaa... I was just trying to read your name." Rose said awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck. She did not like human interactions too much.

"Ah, yes. I know, weird name, new in town." The girl said very lively. She looked and acted like she had extra coffee and energy drinks before coming into work. "I just moved here a month ago." She added as she knew that when someone was looking at her like that, it was because she was a stranger in a town with less than 1000 people.

Rose just nodded and made her way to the dining room as they were already wrapping up the breakfast service. She ordered herself a coffee and moved her attention towards the small tv that filled the room with the daily news and some occasional static noises.

"It's been a week since a couple vanished in the woods near Aramore. Despite the effort put in by the locals and the rescue teams, no new information has resurfaced leaving the relatives of the two in a state of confusion and dread while the rescue teams feel helpless. This is the 6th time in the past year when a similar incident occurred. The authorities have no explanation. It seems that the people vanished in thin air and were never seen again. So far, this year is the darkest in the history of our town as the missing people total reached 20." The lady on the news spoke with a soft and calm voice but Rose could hear a hint of grief hidden behind every word. She thought, maybe the news anchor knew some of the missing people, but then she realized it was not a matter of if she knew someone, but who that someone was.

"This came for you in the morning!" Eliseea said and made Rose jump from her chair a little. The blonde girl randomly spawned behind her holding an envelope. Rose took it and then turned back at her table. Gladly her coffee leftover was safe, but her heart was still racing from the jump scare that occurred seconds ago.

She looked at the white envelope in her hand and turned it multiple times. It did not have a sender or anything on it that could indicate who was it from, just her name printed on one side.

She put it towards the light to see if she could manage to figure the content but that was all in vain. She thought more than once what to do but she realized that she did not have an entire day to contemplate about the envelope. Was it suspicious? Yes, it was. Was she a little worried that it was one of those glitter pranks? ABSOLUTELY

She took a knife from the table before she cut the top of the envelope. She moved it away from her body as soon as she reached the end but, nothing happened. A frown appeared on her face as she was even more curious now about what it might be. She peeked inside and from it, she took out a letter. This made her frown even more. The paper was mostly empty apart from a few words.

"What the..." she whispered reading the words repeatedly. "Die without me, never thank me. Always watching, never speaking. Always lurking, never seen. What am I?" she read them out loud hoping that it would made sense. She chuckled realizing that it was indeed as she thought initially, a riddle. But who could've been the one that sent it. The words were typed out so there was no way that she could try and find the handwriting. Was someone she knew?

She finished her coffee and put the riddle back in the envelope before putting it in her backpack. She paid for the beverage and got ready to face an impact with the cold air outside. The girl was no longer at the front desk, but she did not even bother to question it as the riddle ran in circles in her mind.

She reached the place she once called home. As she climbed the stairs to the front porch, she slowly remembered what happened the day before she left. The fight she had with Leo and then the one with her parents. In a way she regretted that she said all those awful things. She wouldn't have said them if she knew that those were the last things her parents would hear from her. She was happy that Leo at least bothered to clean the snow.

She unlocked the door and once she entered, she realized that nothing has changed. The same old red carpet was placed from the door to the bottom of the stairs. On the left side of the hallway there was the living room, on the right it was the dining room and the kitchen. Under the stairs, a small room where her mother used to store winter coats and shoes, while her father stored different tools.

She closed the front door and made her way upstairs leaving her suitcase behind. She could see that nobody has been there in a while as dust was gathered on the stair's wooden railing. Upstairs there were two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Hers was at the end of the small hallway. The only room that had a balcony. She entered her old room, and it looked like she never left. Her stuffed toys still took half of the space, while her desk was empty, waiting for her to sit at.

On her bed there was a book with dark covers, perfectly centered. She walked and picked it up, but it seemed to be locked. She turned it around, but she could not figure a way to open it. "Strange" she mumbled but her immediate thought was that maybe her mother left it there as a gift in case she ever came back. What annoyed her was that it was a book that she could not read.

She put the book on her desk and shook her head. She took off her backpack and sat on the chair before taking the riddle out. She read it once more. "Die without me, never thank me. Always watching, never speaking. Always lurking, never seen. What am I?" she read it out loud, hoping that someone could answer it for her but, she was all alone. She leaned on the back of the chair and closed her eyes. Memories were coming back to her, but they were so vivid. Did she go to school? Of course, she did. But why did she barely remember any of it? Did she have any friends? With a sigh she opened her eyes again and gave a last look at the riddle. "Die without me...hmmmm" and suddenly, like a small lightbulb that lit above her read, she realized that she knew the answer. "Air!" she said excited.

The moment she spoke that one word the book on her desk opened and the papers started to turn rapidly. In shock she fell from her chair not wanting to believe what she was seeing. A gush of wind appeared out of nowhere and swirled around her before seemingly vanishing into the book. Once everything calmed down and silence fell once more inside the house she got up from the floor and stared down at the book. Her heart was racing faster than ever in a mix of fear and amazement. "What the hell..." she muttered as she leaned over the book. She poked it with her finger, nothing. The page was blank. She messed her hair "I AM LOSING MY MIND" she yelled at the wall before looking back down at the book. She touched the paper with her finger and once more the book decided to surprise her and, like in a dream filled with magic, words started to fill the pages. She blinked rapidly before reading the first word on the page. "Air..." she whispered and lifted the chair from the floor. She sat down and began to read.

"The element that is a powerful tool in divination and a great teacher. It represents the East, and its most common symbol is an upward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line." She stops for a second trying to make sense of what she was reading but she quickly gave up as the past 30 minutes already seemed like she stepped in a parallel world. She picked the book up and laid on her bed deciding to at least be comfortable if her mental state was declining already. Maybe she was tired or maybe she indeed stumbled upon something that she had to know.