The Curse

Chapter 5: The Grandfather

The night air enveloped her as she walked, not unlike the chill of the dungeons of a certain magical castle, carrying whispers of secrets and hidden truths just out of reach. Ellie's mind raced, thoughts tumbling over each other like potion ingredients in a cauldron, each adding color and smoke but no clarity. Sebastians revealing what he actually believed was devastating to her. She had experienced a spark of hope that he had ignited.

The laughter and chatter of students around her faded into a distant hum as she stormed by, their forms blurring into shadows that flitted past. They were ghosts in her periphery, specters of a normalcy she felt slipping away. The campus, with its gothic architecture and ancient trees, seemed to transform before her eyes into a place as mysterious and fraught with potential as any wizarding world.

Ellie knew she could not simply let the book, the curse, or Sebastian's words rest. There was a mystery here, one that tugged at the very core of her being, a siren song that promised answers and danger in equal measure. It was not unlike the call to adventure that had led so many into the Forbidden Forest or through the trapdoor under the trapdoor. The realization that her journey was not yet over, that her own story had chapters yet unwritten, reignited a spark within her.

Resolved, Ellie lifted her chin, her stride gaining purpose as she navigated her way back to her dormitory. The night was not a barrier but a backdrop, a canvas upon which her tale would unfold. The stars above, hidden though they might be by the light pollution of the modern world, whispered of ancient magics and modern courage, of battles fought in the quiet of one's heart.

Back in the solitude of her room, surrounded by the tomes of her academics, Ellie opened her laptop, her fingers poised over the keys. It was here, in the glow of the screen, that she would begin her true research, diving into the depths of lore and legend, of curses and their breakers.

As the digital pages began to fill with notes and queries, sleep started to dawn over her, a map of her next steps. She had to fight the urge to close her eyes and fall asleep in her chair. Looking out her window she saw the first break of sunlight, it was already early morning. Taking this as her que try to and get at least a few hours of sleep before her first class. She got up from her chair and passed out on top of her bed, covers and all.

The library's grand entrance towered over Ellie, its huge doors more daunting than in any memory she held. With a push that demanded all her resolve, the doors swung open, releasing a gust of air laden with the scent of time-worn pages and secrets long whispered between their lines. Yet, this evening, a peculiar chill accompanied the familiar aroma, slithering through her veins, an ominous prelude to the unknown that awaited.

Silence enveloped her immediately, a suffocating blanket woven from the very essence of solitude and anticipation. It seemed to devour the sparse light that dared trickle from the sparse overhead lamps, birthing elongated, contorted shadows that danced macabrely across the library's marble floors. Ellie's footsteps resounded through the vast hall, solitary drumbeats echoing in the belly of a dormant leviathan.

With bookshelves looming over her like silent sentinels, casting a net of shadows that felt almost tangible, a dark caress against her skin as she ventured deeper into the maze of knowledge. A call that resonated with the very core of her being, guiding her to the heart of the library where the air turned frigid, the darkness only deepened, and the very fabric of reality seemed thinner.

In this sanctum of shadow, a solitary grandfather clock stood illuminated by an uncanny light, as if spotlighted by the moon herself. Upon it rested the time, its presence commanding yet forbidding. Ellie moved towards it, each step laden with trepidation and an insatiable curiosity. Her fingers brushed the hard wooden surface, tracing the path of the natural wood that writhed under her touch as if it was alive, thrumming with a sinister, pulsating energy.

The clock struck a time and with it a sound that vibrated her whole body. As she looked at the face of the clock, the numbers once familiar, now twisted into new formations, no longer were numbers, they were words that hissed with foreboding, speaking of consuming into her soul, spinning a narrative of her inevitable demise.

Around her, the library's grandeur melted away, leaving Ellie adrift in an endless dark void, alone with the grandfather clock.

Her heart a galloping steed in her chest, she fought to steady her breathing, as she started to sprint away into the void to try and get away as fast she could from the clock. As she ran, the clock only grew larger and larger, with each step she felt its presence rise and become closer to her. She screamed letting out all the air in her lungs as the clock consumed her and she jerked upwards, clutching her heart as she sat right up in her bed.