Cliffhanger Castle

Ceremony: Chapter 5

by DavidJThirteen

Austen didn't feel his feet move toward the door. It was hard to focus on anything other than the carvings covering the portal. There was something hypnotic about the way the crystal prisms of the chandeliers cast glittering waves of color across the strange figures etched into relief on the wood.

Staring at it, Austen felt himself falling. The images had no end—carvings were inside of carvings. What at first appeared to be an elephant topped by a war tower turned into a forest as he neared, only for the trees to separate into a mob of people after a few more steps. The moon in the top corner of the portal was filled with monkeys, who in turn were filled with cities. Knights became rabbits and the masts of sailing ships turned into gallows with hanging men.

By the time he reached for the golden knob, Austen wasn't sure if he was grabbing it or it was grabbing him. Cold metal fingers seemed to encircle his hand and press the bones tightly together.

"Don't..." Tiffany said but it was no louder than a whisper and it was too late.

The door swung open with ease and a yawning blackness rushed in like strong wind. The lights extinguished behind them as though they had been nothing but a weak, exposed flame. Plunged into darkness, Austen's eyes slowly made out a set of stairs in front of them.

They seemed to glow a faint blue but an outstretched hand proved that they were actually being illuminated by a thin light from above. They curled upward and disappeared in the black gloom of the ceiling.

To the left of the stairs, a hallway was only detectable by a dank odor carried on a faint breeze and the echoing jangle of metal on metal off in the distance.

"Do you hear that," he said to Tiff in hushed voice. "I think that's Cigarro's collar." Austen cleared the dryness from his throat and called, "Cigarro. Here boy. Here boy."

"Shut up. Are you crazy? You don't know it's him. How could he get past that door?"

"I don't know. But I have to check it out."

"Well, I'm not going into that dark hole. I'm going to see where those stairs lead. With any luck it's out of here."

"So you're serious about splitting up in this place?"

"You can come with me if you want." Tiff said it as though she was being generous letting him follow her. "But I'm heading toward the light." A soft squeal escaped her as she recognized the familiar phrase she had just spoken. "I mean, I'm going to go where there is some light."

"Okay," Austen said grudgingly. "Try and get out of here and get help. I'm going to keep looking for Rhea."

"Be careful." Tiffany put her hand on his shoulder and hesitated. For a brief second, Austen thought she might embrace him or even kiss him. But Tiff just gave him an encouraging pat and began to ascend the stairs that wound upward into the unknown.

Had he really thought they were about to have a moment? Him and Tiffany? Meeting Dracula in this abandoned hotel was more likely. My mind is playing tricks on me down here, he thought. First there had been the ghostly robed figure, then the way the images on the door had swirled and changed, and now the sudden alien emotions for Tiff. It put a fearful doubt in his mind. Could he trust what he saw or heard, or even felt down here?

Maybe Tiffany was right. Maybe getting out and calling the police should be his priority.

But the tinkling came again and this time he was certain it was the tags on the collar clattering together. The sound was too familiar to be wrong about. Austen called for the dog again and made his way after him, feeling his way along with one hand against the wall.