LACUNA OBSCURA - A Horror Thriller

CHAPTER I

Amelia had been quite elated for the last few days.
Afterall, why not.

She was been one of the three students selected from the whole archaeology department at university by proffesor Sean for their upcoming expedition to Austria.

Of the things, she had managed to do without fail upon recieving the news of her selection was to write a long drawn out email full of gratitude to professor Sean Graham.

Into his late 50s now, Amelia had always adored him as a teacher.

A lightly framed man,with a long drawn out chin, smooth eyebrows, and blue eyes which seemed to summon forth an ocean of knowledge, she always had a heart full of respect and admiration for proffesor Sean.

Every year during the summer break proffesor Sean went off to a plethora of destinations across the world which may seem quite bland at first sight to a commoner, but often held in them some of the world's most treasured artifacts and excavation sites.

Sean, infact had made himself quite a name in these expeditions.

He likes being in the shadows though, much to himself, and often can be found sulking in the library, peeking at artifact guides by the window through those dust riddled glasses of his.

The students were however, only to arrive much late to join him this year, as per professor's request to the university to depart for the expedition early.

He had already arrived to their destination, the Moosham castle in Austria one month prior.

That was perhaps the only thing Amelia was somewhat dampened and dissapointed about.

However the dissapointment vanished in thin air, as soon as she came to know of the three other people who would be accompanying her to the expedition.

Rexi, a girl with a dark brown complexion, tightly knit curly hair which piled up in a canopy over her head, and someone who was seriously interested in relics and artifacts.

Farhan, who was one of Amelia's closest friends at the university.

He, along with his sharp features is often find sulking among equally sharp weaponry such as swords and lances, and most significantly, guns.
Amelia, often joked around how Farhan shall be found sleeping with guns on his marraige night as a taunt to his obssesiveness with the domain.

Then there was the shy, less spoken Zani. With a mind as calm as Spring afternoon, he navigated onerous circumstances with impeccable skill and ice cold veins.

Sculptures and art were his life. Anything ranging from ancient to mediaval art, they lived in his writings and thoughts.
To be rather honest, those were one of very few chosen things this boy held dear in his life.

☯︎

Proffesor Sean, walking among the thick alpine forests that surrounded Moosham frowed upon himself.

He was rather dissapointed about everything that had taken place in the past few weeks with him.

To the many questions that lingered inside his mind, were not any answers, but only bafflement.

How of all things that were possible in this expedition, he has managed to stumble upon such piece of mystery is quite a miracle.

As far as he remembered, findings likewise the ones he has made at the excavation site, have not been found in europe for decades.

His strides were brittle and leisurely, with his long slimy fingers stacked upon his lips.

The sunset was coming about around Moosham. It was getting late, so proffesor Sean started his descent towards the low-lands for his journey back to the lodging.

This place does get tourists often. There are quite a few lodgings, situated not very far from the castle, and Mr. Sean has decided to make his over two months long residence fixed in one of them.

He climbs down the small rockhill he decided to explore, one foot at a time with not much of a stable balance.

Often fumbling on his grip of the rocks around him when he suddenly heard his cellphone go off to a dead battery.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed, lamenting how careless he had been over charging it up over the week.

And it is all due to what had happened over the last few weeks at Moosham that his thought has been riddled with riddles.

With the setting sun over his shoulders, casting long shadows on the winding paths down from the hill, proffesor Sean quickened his pace to the lodging house.

The evening here is quite cold, even in summers, possibly due to the presence of such dense forests in and around Moosham.

Even with all that he had come to know since arriving here, there is absolutely no doubt that very few could match what this place and the castle brought to a hungry archaeologist like him, rather it only increased the charm further.

Upon arriving he plugged his cellphone to the charger and went off to the tap, splashing cool over to his face. He looked up into the mirror.

His face somehow seemed to have become much older in this one month. So many more wrinkles now ornamented his skin underneath the eyes and the vicinity of his lips.

He sighed in dissapointment as he picked up the towel to wipe the water off his face and his glasses.

At the very next moment, he rushed off to his phone to find around half a dozen text messages and two calls from Miss Ruth.

Miss Ruth was the seniormost caretaker at the castle who Sean had formed quite a bond with over his expeditions in the castle ever since he had arrived, with her quite notably taking significant interest in his work.

Sean immidiately dialed her back, quite impaitently rather, as he anticipated she might have some piece of urgent news to deliver.

However, on recieving the call, Miss Ruth began narrating out to Sean without any momentary introduction or pause.

As her narration went forward, however, the face of Professor Sean became ever paler and his eyes widened with shock.

"Yeah I shall be there tommorow morning!

Make sure to call in the doctor urgently"

He cut the line off but his fingers lingered over the screen.
With urgency in his eyes he typed a quick email to Amelia.

"Make sure you reach here safely.
I want you to bring the Glock 19 along with you.

And bring along a copy of the collected manuscripts of witchcraft and magic in medieval Europe from the University library without fail"

With this, proffesor Sean Graham flunged the cellphone to his bed and dumped himself on the sofa in thought of something that eluded and puzzled him like never before.

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