Castle of Illusions Chp 8: The Den

Castle of Illusions Chp 8: The Den

Chapter Eight: The Den

Scurrying towards the door James glances over his shoulder at

the spot where he had spotted the red eyes. When he looked towards

the corner the eyes were gone, as if it were only his imagination

that played tricks on him due to his sudden nightmare. Ignoring the

thought of there ever being a beast in his room, James grasped a hold

of the cold door knob and began to turn it, and as he did he took a

final glance towards the corner, just to make sure that it wasn't

real. With all the fear built up in him, James swore that when he

looked a second time he saw the eyes glaring at him again, but he

only mistaken himself when he came to the realization that he was

only looking at the alarm clock.

Opening the door slowly he stepped out into the dimly lit

hallway, and closing the door he made his way down the hall with his

shadow at his side. He thought that he would make his way to

Crystal's room, for he had known her longer than Jacob and there for

probably could talk to her and not with. As he was making his way

down the hall he began to here the faint sound of approaching foot

steps, and stopping in his tracks he looked over his shoulder. Indeed

he did hear the footsteps, for they echoed through the cold hall, but

he was also proven wrong about the red eyes, he might be hearing

things. Continuing his way down the hall he picked up his place and

as he did the footsteps grew louder, closer, more noticeable.

He stood outside her door and without hesitation he grasped a

hold of the door knob and opened the door with haste. Slamming it

shut behind him and locking it securely he turned around to face

Crystal's queen sized bed. She was up, sitting in her bed, her palms

pressing down on the mattress, the sheets clenched in her fists, her

eyes rested upon his, and she was breathing heavily. She was

frightened; it was shown in her eyes and face. Her skin was a pale

white and sweat was glistening on the surface reflected by torch

light. With a stutter James asked the question that had worried him

when he set sights on her as he entered the room.

"C-Crystal ... Is e-everything all right?"

She sat there in bed, face blank, her eyes blinking slowly

and he fists clenching tighter around the blanket that she held. She

pierced her lips and closed her eyes, he throat bounced up and down

as she swallowed saliva and she began to force the words out with a

sobbed expression in her voice.

"I-I s-saw something J-James."

Cocking his head to the left as if he were trying to get rid

of the water in his ears, James fixed his eyes on hers, opened his

mouth and closed it again. His thoughts went back to the nightmare

about the hospital, and then they brought back the image of the red

eyes. Could Crystal have seen the same thing? This was silly he

thought but it was worth a shot, what was the worse that could

happen?

"Hey Crystal."

She blinked with awareness that he was still there, looking

at him as though he fell from the ceiling. She wasn't all there that

was for sure, she was still, still dreaming; a dream so horrible that

she herself could not escape.

"Yes?"

"Did you happen to see a pair of red eyes by any chance?"

She shook her head, closed her eyes and responded with a

simple but to the point "No." Curious already he asked her the second

thing he would want to know. The nightmares, silly he thought,

teenagers wouldn't have nightmares. Would they? He wouldn't know for

sure because he himself wasn't one, but would be in a year's time. So

it was best for him to ask instead of finding out later.

"I had a nightmare Crystal ... I remember a hospital, and,

and I was looking for my dad. I saw nurses but they ignored me,

that's when I entered a room, it was the operation room ... My dad

was on the table and Mr. Keener was at the end ... Then I remember I

was grabbed by two nurses and he, Mr. Keener, slit opened my belly

and a giant leech slithered out."

Her mouth fell down in shock, her hand over the gapping mouth

and her eyes wide with fear. Immediately he knew that teenagers must

have nightmares, either that or she feared for him. But to his

surprise she too had a nightmare, a nightmare were the beast came to

her.

"I had a nightmare too James, one that was all too

frightening, one that you try to convince yourself that it was not

real. I was in class daydreaming about someone. Then my teacher

placed a sheet of paper upon my desk, and when I looked at it I found

that there were no words or pictures on the sheet, it was blank. So I

asked the teacher about this and then I remember that his fingers

turned into claws that punctured my skin; and from my mouth came

hungry spiders that crawled along my lips. Then my skin began to

melt, and, and something, a leech crawled up my leg."

He was sure of it now, the castle they stayed in wasn't

normal. How could two people have a dream with a leech in it? How was

it possible? It was though because she dreamt it just as he did, that

leech was in her dream. Shaking it out of his mind he approached the

edge of the bed and sat down on it.

"I don't know how it is possible that we have had the same

dreams, but all I know is that this place is giving me the creeps."

Crystal nodded and turned her face away from James and stared

at the corner of room with a feeling of uncertainty. Then bringing

her eyes back to James she began to wonder about his recent

nightmare, wondered if he not only felt the pain in his dream but

when he surfaced from it. The question settled in her mind caused her

to open her mouth but looking back into her dream she was afraid that

the spiders would return; cupping her mouth as though to keep any

spiders that might come out she gasped. A pain shot through her like

a bolt of lightning, and then she let out a scream.

James hurried over to her aid, lifted the sheets and found a

deep indent in the side of her belly. Blood was seeping out of the

wound, staining the bed with a velvet red. Tears ran down the side of

her face as James touched the wound with caution, trying not to hurt

Crystal. She let out a groan of pain, and shutting her eyes she

pierced her lips together in agony. James looked up at her and took

his hand away from the opening.

"Do you remember what happened?"

She shook her head, her eyes still closed, her tears still

soaking her fine skin, and her top teeth pierced the bottom lip. She

swallowed, opened her eyes and mouth and cried a loud.

"No, I can't really remember anything when I woke up. It's

hazy, but it is there."

Pausing she grabbed a hold of James's hand tightly and

sobbed. She wiped the tears off of her face with her free arm, and

began to speak of what she saw.

"When I woke up James, I took a look at the corner of my

room, the one by that book shelf."

Pointing towards the bookshelf with a shaky arm, she turned

her sight away and closed her eyes as though to keep what ever she

saw away from her thoughts.

"A beast with red eyes made home in that corner, the beast in

my dreams James, it was in that corner."

This is what he feared, he feared that if Crystal had seen

what he had thought he had saw in his room, it wasn't imagination but

it was a disturbing reality in which they were living.

"We have to go see Jacob, if I am right Crystal, and that is

something I don't want, we may be all in danger."

Mr. Keener walked down the hall with graceful steps, looking

at the portraits that hung on the wall he smiled with the up most

glee. It was a fine day indeed; a day where he could do as he pleased

and no one could tell him otherwise. Chuckling to himself he said

with a chilled whisper.

"Mary, it will soon be time that you will be revived and we

shall reunite a life together, in bloody holy matrimony."

The leech that slithered along his side hissed with pleasure,

revealing a section of razor like teeth it squealed with glee.

Charles looked down and smiled at the pet and knelt down to stroke it

when he could here the faint sound of children's voices.

The leech looked up at Charles with its beady red eyes that

sparkled in the torch light, it hissed as if it were trying to talk

with Keener, and Charles responded as if he knew what the leech were

saying.

"Those kids can be some trouble can't they Mary?"

He smirked and laughed as he stroked Mary with his bony

finger tips, he began to laugh.

"But they won't be a bother much longer, I will deal with

them."

He continued his way down the hall, Mary at his side

slithering along the carpeted floor. They made their way down the

stairs towards the door that would lead them outside into the grounds

where the fog settled upon the land and darkness always lingered.

James and Crystal hurried towards Jacob's room, their hearts

pounding inside their chest and their breathing becoming heavy with

every step they had made. Approaching the door they opened it quickly

and slipped in with stealth, making sure they were not to be seen by

Mr. Keener, they knew he was close by.

Jacob was in bed, sitting up and looking at them with wonder.

His eyes showed that he wasn't all there, that he was still half

asleep but also that he was aware that the were there at his door.

Crystal approached his bed as she gazed around the room with

disgust.

"Mr. Keener sure did give you one ugly room Jacob. This is

more like a dungeon than a bedroom."

Jacob shook his head in shock and exclaimed that his bedroom

was fabulous, but what Crystal's eyes showed her wasn't fabulous by

hideous. James stated that Jacob's room looked more like a barn than

a dungeon or even a bedroom. He pointed to the corner of the room and

said.

"See there's a horse over there guys."

Crystal looked at James, crooked a brow and laughed at him as

she stared from the corner of the room to James.

"Sorry buddy but that is no horse, it's only a pile of dusty

bones."

Jacob got out of bed and walked towards the bedroom door,

stopped and took a deep breath of reassurance that with what James

and Crystal had saw in his bedroom must mean that everything in this

Castle will adapt to the persons idea of what they see.

"Where are you going Jacob?"

Turning around Jacob shook his head to wake himself up and

explained that what they see and what they hear is different, this is

a castle of imagination, one that plays tricks on your mind and

causes you to go crazy. He also said that he saw Mr. Keener leave the

castle. Crystal looked at him with wonder, knowing that it was their

chance for escape if Jacob was right. Following Jacob out into the

hall way, Crystal looked at a portrait that hung on the wall in front

of her. The portrait glared down at her with a sinister smile. Its

face wrinkled and slacked, and its white mustache curled at the tips.

The eyes of the portrait were an icy blue and they seemed to be

watching her as she observed the painting with care. It was eerie how

the painting seemed to be watching her, but it was also the way it

looked at her, the smile was unsettling.

Mr. Keener reached the grounds entrance, he cupped his hands

together and smiled as he listened carefully, listening for something

that would make him sneer with pleasure. Off in the distance he could

hear the faint sound of voices, voices that belonged to children who

had mistakenly took a wrong turn and wound up on a path towards a

land where anything was possible.

Looking down at Mary Charles smiled and softly said with a

smile.

"Looks like we have visitors Mary, and what a pleasant

welcoming they will get from us, oh they will won't they?"

Crystal, James, and Jacob entered a large room lit by a dozen

torches. In the middle of the room were leather couches of a dark

green. A fire burned inside its home welcoming them to come on in and

take a breather for the day. They approached the sofas and sat down,

and as they did they took a look at each other with curiosity as to

where they were. Just at that moment a voice spoke up and answered

their curiosity, and that voice was none other than Charles Keener.

"Ah I see you have found the den, a fine place indeed."

Behind Keener were two children around the ages of seven and

ten. They hid behind Charles with the presence of shyness, looking

around Keener at the other guests. One of them came out and looked up

at Charles with astonishment and wonder.

"Is this your home Charles?"

This was said in a tone in which a child would speak to their

mother as though they knew that she would be able to answer every

question they threw at her.

"It is Bobbie Sanders, but it isn't only mine it is also

yours."


Bobbie was only a small child who was often bullied around by

his size and also appearance. You see Bobbie had one eye that was

bigger than the other, and his nose was a bit crooked, leaning to the

left. The eyes he bore inside his head were an oak brown, his brown

hair tousled. Bobbie stood only four foot two and he was the older

child at the age of ten. He sucked his thumb still, leaving red marks

from his teeth; his clothes were stained with snot that he would wipe

off from his fingers and hands, this went onto his sides and thighs.

Crystal looked at Bobbie and smiled a friendly smile that was

welcoming to Sanders. He smiled back and acknowledges that there was

nothing to be afraid of; he did not need to hide from these people

that surrounded him, for Charles said that everyone here was family

(victims) and would look after one another.

The other child stepped out from behind Mr. Keener and looked

at everyone with a scared look on his face, for he has never been

around so many old people before and looking up at Mr. Keener he went

back to his secure place behind him and whispered.

"Who are these people Charles?"

Charles patted the boy on the head and smiled softly with

content.

"These are your family Joey Finch, and they will be looking

after you from now on."

"But I want my real family Charles, these people scare me."

Joey was bigger than Bobbie in both ways. He weighed 102 and

stood at an amazing height of five foot one, which in fact was tall

for his age group. His mother always said he was a walking bean stalk

and that he would probably grow so much that they would have to raise

the roof on their house just to suit Joey's height. Joey was a very

handsome boy and was admired by all the girls in his school. He hated

girls though said they carried a disease called "Cooties" which you

can only get from girls. His mother always told him that he was being

silly but also said that he had nothing to fear about the girls that

were always chasing him, in fact she always admired her son too, and

all her friends did the same. It wasn't hard to see, what with his

golden blonde hair that was like silk when you would run your fingers

through, his dreamy sky blue eyes that you could get lost in, and his

smooth cream like face that gave him the look of an angel.

Charles stepped away from Joey and knelt down so he could

look him in the eyes with a cheerful smile, well it would be cheerful

if he didn't have those crooked teeth that protruded from his gums.

But Joey didn't mind he had a liking for Charles and always expected

that crooked smile of his with a smile of his own, and he always

listened to Mr. Keener because he knew that Mr. Keener knew best.

"This is your real family Joey Finch, just look at them."

Joey nodded his head and came out from the safety of Charles

and looked at everyone with big eyes. This was his real family

because Charles said so, and you know that Mr. Keener was always

right. Walking over to Jacob he pointed up at him and said in a soft

child like voice.

"Charles told me that you were his first child, he named you

Jacob after his father."

Jacob looked at everyone with a blank expression, and then

looked back at the kid. What was the meaning of this? He was no son

of Keener's their blood was different and also their views on each

other. Jacob didn't like Charles that much because he knew what he

was really like and he didn't like what Keener was doing, taking

children in and warping their minds to make them think that he was

their father and we are their family. That was a bunch of bullshit he

thought, Mr. Keener is a fake and should be revealed for what he

really is. But before he could open his mouth Mr. Keener glanced

towards him and sneered, his eyes squinted and his wrinkles tightened

around his face like bread spread over toast. That moment Jacob knew

that Charles had the idea that Miller knew what he really was and was

about to reveal that truth, that couldn't happen, oh golly no. Then

he smiled softly, loosening his wrinkles and opening his eyes to show

that Jacob had nothing to fear.

"Jacob Miller, is there something wrong?"

His thoughts faded away in an instant and he felt a bit light

headed. Shaking his head he stared at Mr. Keener with a blank

expression of wonder, and shook his head.

"No I am fine Charles, thanks for asking."

Joey approached Jacob and climbed up onto the couch and

looked at him with a child like wonder as to why Jacob didn't seem to

be like the others. Jacob was the only teenager that Charles talked

to, and every time he talked to Jacob he seemed to change his

appearance from a friendly one to a very serious and concerned one.

Jacob stared down at Joey and Joey stared up with his big

blue eyes. Smiling he pointed at Jacob and smiled a big toothy smile.

He was missing a tooth in the front, in which was claimed by

something his mother called the tooth fairy, and when Joey's mom

first told him this Joey would ask. "Who is the tooth fairy mom?" She

would always respond in a soft, sweet mother like voice as she held

her child close. "The tooth fairy, Joey, is a fairy that comes in the

night time when you loose your tooth. She needs your teeth to build

her magical tooth kingdom. You see Joey, when she takes your tooth

she leaves a present behind as a complement, usually a quarter." His

mom would always take out a quarter and would show it to her son. He

always looked at it with fascination, and most of the time he would

try to take it but his mom would always bring it back into her pocket

and would say. "Wait until you loose a tooth Joey, then you will get

your very own quarter to admire."

Digging into his pockets he brought out a quarter and stared

at it with wonder and fascination. Then looking at Jacob he smiled

and said with joy in his voice.

"See this tooth and quarter? The tooth fairy came and took my

tooth, and look at what she left me."

He was smiling like an idiot, and Jacob smiled back thinking

that this was just about the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"I lost my first tooth when I was six."

Joey opened his mouth wide then smiled with glee.

"So you got a present from the tooth fairy too?"

Jacob nodded his head and turned his look towards Charles who

was talking to Bobbie. In a soft, worried voice he said.

"Yes the tooth fairy came and took my tooth, but then

something else came and took my soul."

Joey was curious about the soul thing, he never was told

anything about a soul being taken away from people, heck he didn't

even know what a soul was. Cocking his head to the side Joey examined

Jacob with a puzzled look then decided that he would mind his own

business because it was probably best.

Charles got up and onto his feet and looked around the room

at everyone, and cupping his hands together he said with a sigh in

his voice.

"I have some business to go do children, I am sorry but I

have to leave for now but I will be back later."

Joey and Bobbie walked up to Charles and tugged on his pants

leg and whimpered. When Charles looked down he saw two pathetic

children who were dependent on others too much. But smiling he knelt

down and placed his hands upon their shoulders and said in a sweet,

soothing voice that would remind them of their mothers.

"Don't you guys worry now, I will be back sooner than you

know it. But when I am gone your brothers and sisters will be looking

after you."

He wiped the tears from the eyes and hugged them gently and

said softly.

"Father will be back don't you worry about that."

Leaving the room he left everyone in silence and doubt as to Charles actions with the two youngest. He lied to them and he made them think that we were his family, what a fake Jacob thought as he watched Mr. Keener exit the room. But when he did the torches in the room went out and everyone was left in total darkness with the sound of breathing that indicated fear. Something could be heard in the room, a hissing sound that could only be recognized as ...

"Mary." Charles said this as he walked down the hall, he began to laugh to himself as he thought of the children left all alone with his Mary, in the den to die and become one of his own.