Mist & Whispers by C.M. Lucas Read Free Book Online

the walls and the floor like prison flood lights in search of escapees. Then the light dimmed and the man hit the torch against his leg.
    ‘Stupid, poxy pound-shop batteries,’ sighed a voice she knew all too well.
    ‘Michael?’ She lit her phone again and came out from the door way. ‘What are you doing here? How did you even know where we were?’
    ‘Well, I just wanted to make sure you were ok,’ he said.
    ‘Did you follow us from Stephanie’s place?’
    He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
    ‘Argh! I can’t believe you! You had no right! I’m not your girlfriend anymore, Michael! You can’t just follow me round to find out what I’m doing! It’s none of your business! Just go home, will you!’
    Michael looked down to the ground like an abashed puppy. She could see his eyes glisten, though he made an effort to hide it. Stephanie and Tim looked at each other, and then to Anya, silently appealing to her better nature with a raise of the eyebrows and a tilt of their heads.
    She sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Fine, you can stay. I suppose it’s better to have an extra pair of hands, anyway.’
    ‘Extra pair of hands for what exactly?’ Michael asked.
    ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ she frowned, looking around the room.
    ‘I followed you. I didn’t bug their place and listen in on your plans!’
    Anya pursed her lips at him, but before anything else could be said, Stephanie stepped in between them. ‘You two fighting isn’t going to save Scott’s now, is it?’
    Michael dropped Anya’s challenging stare and looked to Stephanie, confused. ‘Save Scott’s from what?’ After she explained, he said, ‘Right, well, that’s a very good idea. I’d be happy to help,’ and then glanced, completely smug, at Anya.
    Anya carried on searching the room, glowering at Michael for a good few minutes or so. After a while she came to the dragon statue in the corner of the room. ‘I bet James is kicking himself that he didn’t take these statues – think of what they’d go for online.’
    ‘They are magnificent, aren’t they?’ Tim said as he studied the unicorn.
    ‘It’s funny, this one is crying,’ Stephanie said, standing in front of the phoenix statue. ‘And one of Weaver’s books is called Phoenix Tears, and it was found right here in this room, with this crying phoenix!’
    ‘That isn’t just funny, that’s a very intriguing coincidence. I wonder...’ and Michael made his way over to the statue.
    His sudden interest captured Anya and Tim’s attention and they joined both him and Stephanie by the phoenix. Michael felt around the statue then took Anya’s phone to shine more light on to its face. He examined the tear closely then, with an unsure finger, he pressed it.
    To Anya’s surprise, the tear sank back into the statue and one of the phoenix’s claws sprung open. A small metal ball clanged onto the ground, straight into the groove that ran from the base of the statue, and rolled into the labyrinth on the black limestone. Its momentum carried it around the pattern until it reached the hole in the centre. The four companions watched, breaths bated as the ball fell into the black hole, and were startled by a clunking mechanical sound that rang out around the room. In a breath, the chandelier that had been gathering dust was slowly lowering from the ceiling, and in its place a secret entrance appeared.

 
    T HE CHANDELIER CAME to a stop just before the lowest candle touched the ground. A portion of the ceiling had come down with it, on which, old footprints could be seen in the layers of dust.
    ‘What do you think is up there?’ Tim asked.
    ‘I don’t know, but it looks like you’re supposed to get on this to get to it,’ Anya observed, climbing on to the platform attached to the chandelier.
    ‘O.M.G, Anya! What are you doing?’ Stephanie blurted, aghast.
    ‘I’m going up there.’ She knew this couldn’t just be coincidence, the tear on the phoenix leading to a secret room. There