The Rise of Dawn - Dean Winchester

Chapter 19. Indiana Jones Who?

Black car came to a stop in front of the old Victorian house where generations of families lived and fought their battles, no matter the income. Brown oak double doors held the weight of an enormous balcony from which green flora draped, engulfing the walls with its dried leaves. It resembled an abandoned building whose walls learned to dance with the wind piercing through the cracks of the high windows, its only company being trees and grass that grew for ages without being interrupted by a human hand. A quick breeze picked up as if trying to warn the house of the intruders as Niamh, Sam and Dean approached the porch shielding its floorboards with a curved awning.

Niamh reached her hand into the back pocket of her faded jeans to read the instructions again before entering the house. She folded the paper to follow the drawn arrows which would lead them towards The Scroll. A digital lock on the left side of the door stock blocked them from entering freely into the mansion. Niamh traced her fingers along the tech lock where the correct sequence of numbers should unlock the door. She inverted the piece of paper into another position which allowed her to extract the four numbers pin. A beeping sound echoed from the mechanism, opening the door with a loud creek coming from the hinges.

Walking inside the house, they trailed behind them the breath of the wind that raised the dust particles from the floor, resulting into a sneezing fit coming from Niamh while the odor of nothing filled the hollow room, mixing with hunters' breaths. The center of the main hall was decorated with a circular red carpet which was illuminated with sun rays piercing through the high window ceiling. To the left, next to the lighted part of the room stood an old couch covered with a dark nylon cover that had several fingers of thick, filthy powder frolicking under the sun's beams. Straight forward was a built-in fireplace on the wall, in which were scattered unburnt logs and a few yellowed papers with black ink swaying into calligraphy over the pages. The house's walls shivered seeing new visitors, but quickly gave off a feeling of warmth hugging their bodies as its spirits etched into the walls recognized the righteous owner taking further steps into the inwardness of the home.

Niamh's eyes widened at the interior construction of the mansion while her mouth curved downwards as she observed the stretched-out residence.

Just as Niamh leaned her elbow on the bottom of the stairwell, the wooden part broke away and fell to the floor with the ringing sound moving through an empty room. Sam and Dean rushed back from exploring the first floor when they heard smashing, seeing Niamh with a broken wooden piece in her hand.

"I think I broke it," Niamh said apologetically, trying to fit the piece back into its place when her eye caught a glimpse of folded paper inside the hole. Hesitantly entering the hole with her fingers, she retrieved the paper trying hard to be gentle as the paper was near tearing. "Guys."

"What is that?"

"I think it's another instruction."

"What does our instruction say?"

"Diagonally left, so the stairs."

"And this one?"

"Walking over what goes up and down but does not move, find the ocean without water."

"What in the Merchant of Venice is this?" Dean commented, grabbing the paper from Niamh to see for himself what he thought was nonsense.

"Okay Shakespeare, I didn't see you there." Niamh mocked, sending a wink in his way.

"What goes up and down but doesn't move, it's an old riddle for stairs." Sam concluded and began ascending the old creaky carpeted stairs of the same design as the one in the lobby, Dean and Niamh following.

Closed stairs led to the second floor of the mansion, stretching into a semi-circle, reaching a small, opened balcony which hung above the center of the main lobby. The stairs were decorated with many framed pictures of people scattered across the upholstered wall. Across the balcony was a long corridor and straight was a continuation of the stairs which led to the third floor.