The House of Lost Souls

Chapter 2

As she walked through the front door her eyes scanned the room, taking in everything there was to see. On her left was a kitchen, Its tile floor contrasted with the wood floor of the room beside it. Counters lined the walls, the expensive marbling of the countertop on top shining under the bright lights. Cabinets lined the underside of the counters, eventually leading over to a small pantry in the corner. On the left wall and back wall sat large windows, a large sink sitting underneath both. Meanwhile on her right was a massive living room, with a set of stairs sitting in the corner of the room. On the far right wall of the room was a fireplace, in which fresh logs laid dormant inside. In front of it were three fancy grey sofas arranged in a U shape, their leather showing not a sign of use, and sitting in the middle of them was a wooly red and black rug. On the far back wall were two shelves of games and other stuff, and sitting beside them on a nightstand was a record player. On the wall left of that was a door, but to where she did not know. Even though she had said it several times that morning, this place was really as majestic as she was told, actually, it was more majestic than that. She could see that everyone else shared a similar sentiment, except for Jake, who was absentmindedly tapping away on his phone.

The rest of the morning was spent unpacking and exploring the place, as it would turn out, the door on the first floor led to a fair-sized library. Each floor up from the first was arranged the same way, a landing at the top of the stairs, and two bedrooms on either side of the floor. Jessie was the first to pick her room, choosing one of the rooms on the second floor so she'd be the closest to the first floor in case anything happened. Then John chose one of the rooms on the fourth floor so that he could get an amazing view of the valley. After him Jake chose the other room on the fourth floor, just so that he'd be bothered less. Madison quickly chose one of the rooms on the third floor so that she'd be alone on that floor, forcing Daniel to take the other room on the second floor, which he made no small deal of complaining about.

By the time everything was unpacked, which was around noon, everyone was hungry and tired. Jessie especially as she helped everyone move things up to their rooms. However she still made lunch for the group since Jessica was nowhere to be seen. This had alarmed Jessie at first but she had probably just visited the town or something, so she dismissed her worry. She also found that the cabinets underneath the counters were stocked full of food, however she still just used the food they brought with them. After making everybody else a sandwich she made herself one and joined everybody else in the living room. Jake and Madison had gone up to their rooms, leaving only John and Daniel, who were both sitting on separate couches in awkward silence. John cleared his throat and said, "Wow it's uh, very quiet in here," his eyes shifted over to the record player. "I wonder if that thing still works," he said while getting up and walking towards it. Daniel leaned towards Jessie and said, "don't tell me he's actually about to play a record on that thing." But John did indeed start searching the shelves for records to play on it, and there seemed to be an entire section dedicated to just records. There was a wide selection of music, instrumentals, classics (there was a surprising amount of Frank Sinatra) and among them were some odd ones as well. The first one he found was located within a box of sticks and twine, when he pulled it out it seemed to be made of clay and felt oddly warm to his touch. The next one was stored inside a rough leather bag, when he pulled it out he saw it was blood red and very cold in his hands. The last one he found was in a dark oak box, and when he pulled it out he found it to be made completely of gold. But eventually he found a record he liked and went to put it on when he noticed something. A little slip of white under the record player. He put the record down and pulled it out, it was a folded up piece of paper. He unfolded it and found a note, it read:

"I haven't much time, to whomever reads this note, seek the Lady in White, take her words to heart and follow them. There are many things I wish I could tell you about this valley, but there is only time for just one. Over my years I have made many allies. I cannot list them here but the mark of the compass and the name of my kin will reveal them. May the flight of the owl grant you guidance, and may secrets reveal themselves to those in need of them. My journey in life crescendos here, but my story does not end with me, carry the torch, and use it to reignite our legacy. I'll be watching with eager eyes.