Fates spell; Jack Korrapati

Chapter 8- Interesting. Useful. Good.

Something woke me in the night. A sound—like the fluttering of wings or the rifling of pages. I lay awake, in my plain and boring bed, waiting for  the mysterious sound to return, but the room was silent. Perhaps I'd been dreaming, of birds or books, I wonder where I can get books here, I must ask Jupiter. And whether I can get some glasses as well as my eyes have been suffering the past day.

I closed my eyes and made my brain shut off to hopefully fall into a deep and dreamless sleep, but it never came. The patch of sky in my bedroom window lightened from darkest black to inky predawn blue, the stars extinguishing one by one. 

I thought of the pink sailing ship, smashed on the checkerboard floor, its light gone out forever. Jupiter's favorite thing, Martha had said. When I went to bed, after I had spoken to Dame Chanda and Martha, them wanting to know everything and anything, Jupiter still hadn't returned from the Transportation Authority. What would he say, I wonder, when he saw the gaping cavity in the ceiling where his favorite thing used to be?

Of course, I knew Morrigan wasn't to blame for the ship falling, but a gaping hole in my heart is just starting to fill, after 11 years of being attention starved, I'm getting my fill here and she's ruining everything for me. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that she had done it, just to spite me and that I'm getting more attention than her. But this hotel must be over a hundred years old, and things are always bound to fall and break.

Old things break! The chandelier probably had faulty wires that had worn away or—or the plaster in the ceiling was crumbling! I sat up in bed, suddenly determined, and threw my black fluffy blanket off.

 I'll go down there and see whether Morrigan had done it or not, just to examine the damage for herself. I will see it was her fault. I'll go back to sleep and live happily ever after, getting more attention than I could dream of, The End.

I crept down to the elevator, Jack just couldn't of gone to the elevator that's at our end of the hall! I look to Jack's room, seeing the door closed, and it was giving the aura of a dead person, that a soul has not been in there since a long time ago. 

Of course, the lobby was rather dark without the glow of the chandelier, I should of realised and had brought a torch with me. The concierge desk was empty. It was spooky being down here all on my own in the small hours, I could hear my footsteps echoing in the emptiness. This was stupid. A stupid idea. The mess had all been cleared away anyway, and the lobby was so dimly lit that from where I stood, the hole in the ceiling was just a vague black smudge up high—I can't  see any worn-away wires.I'm not even certain they were still there.

I turn around getting ready to go back to the elevator, the one near my room, when I heard a sound.

Music? No.

 Humming? Yes.

Somebody was there, in the shadows, humming. It was a strange little tune. One I vaguely remember ... a nursery rhyme, or a song I've heard on the radio. I could feel my heart racing, not wanting to use my powers to defend myself against this assailant.

"Hello?" I said quietly—well, I had meant to say it quietly, but my voice resounded and bounced off the walls. The humming stopped. 

"Who's there?"

"Don't be afraid.''

I turn towards the voice. It was a man—-sitting half in shadows, legs crossed, coat folded neatly across his lap. I step closer, trying to see his face. He was shrouded in darkness.

"I'm just waiting for the front desk to open," he said. "My train was late, so I missed last check-in. Sorry if I frightened you."

I know this voice. Soft and clipped, all crisp Ts and sharp Ss.