The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 60

Mark's POV

I'm not completely sure what I had expected the king's castle to look like. A giant wall enclosing it? Thousands of knights defending it? Enormous, bleak towers?

I was looking at almost the complete opposite when Dark announced that we had arrived.

"Wait, this is it?" Jack asked, clearly as confused as I was.

The king's 'castle' was a simple, white picket fence house out in the middle of the country. Dark had pulled into the driveway. Looking around, I almost thought we were on a farm.

"What? Not what you expected?" Dan replied, smirking slightly.

"No offense," I started, "but if the king's castle is a farmhouse, why didn't you break in sooner? Also, why did you guys come up with a plan–"

"Actually," Jack interrupted me, "Thomas and Logan never really had a plan, remember? They never told us how we were going to save Percy."

"Yeah, but I was told that Percy was locked up in a dungeon," I replied, looking around the area.

"This is new for me too," Thomas commented. "I've never seen the king's castle, but I'm pretty sure your GPS broke or something. This can't be it."

Anti and Dark seemed to glance at each other before they broke into a fit of laughter. Phil rolled his eyes. "Since it seems that no one else is going to explain this, I will. This little prairie house isn't the king's castle, it's the...well, entrance, I guess."

Jack and I exchanged glances before Jack replied, "Go ahead and keep explaining. How is a house an entrance to a castle?"

"That's a bit difficult–"

"I'll go put in the code and they can just see for themselves," Anti decided as he exited the van. "Let's just hope that Felix hasn't changed any of the passcodes since the last time we were here."

I watched as he walked up to the garage door and opened a keypad. He pressed four buttons and smiled before closing the keypad and jogging back to the van.

"Did it work?" Dark asked as Anti buckled his seatbelt.

"Yup, but honestly it's a bit concerning that he doesn't change his passwords," Anti replied.

"Okay, I'm not sure what went down between all of you," Logan started, "but if you guys are the only other people who know the password, maybe he wanted you to come back."

Dan and Phil chuckled half-heartedly. "I doubt it," Dan stated.

"Why?" I asked. "What happened with all of you?"

"It's a long story and if it becomes important, you'll find out," Anti replied. "As for right now, you humans better pay attention to the entrance. It's nearly impossible to explain how this works, so you're just gonna have to watch."

I stared at the house expectantly. Nothing changed. I turned to face the others. "I think you broke it instead of opening it."

"Pay attention or you'll miss it," Phil murmured from behind me.

I went to look back to the house, but it wasn't there. My eyes widened and I frantically looked around, but it was completely gone. "Where–"

"It's back behind us, now," Dan interrupted, more interested in where the van was moving than my question.

Not only the house, but the entire countryside had been torn away from us. The van shot through something that was similar to a wormhole. It kind of reminded me of the portal-like thing that had brought me to the Underworld. Multiple colors swirled around the van, forcing it forward toward a bright light.