"It has everything to do with Brad." She said and then went towards the attic. Everything was deathly silent. Only the pitter-patter of the drops of water falling from the tap in the kitchen sink onto the plates could be heard. Amelia was dazed, Darcy was confused and Isabella sat there as if nothing happened, until she heard a loud scream. Darcy and Amelia immediately dashed to the attic, where the scream came from. Isabella followed her daughters gathering her shawl and spectacles. She could only helplessly climb the stairs, with her walking stick. She sighed in her heart. Who told that old woman to go upstairs? She must have slipped! She cursed her a thousand times in her heart.
When she went upstairs, she saw her daughters standing like a statue at the doorway. She scooted forward only to find her mother-in-law gaping wide-eyed at something. She slowly turned her head and what she saw next, left her dumbfounded, too.
There was a circular trap-door on the ceiling of the attic and a staircase spiraled in the middle of the attic. She was never allowed inside the room before. She even heard from her mother-in-law that she herself hasn"t gone inside the room before. No one knows what"s inside it. But the spectacular sight was, that door was glowing in brilliant shades of yellow and blue.
The yellow and blue light was spiraling all around the door and it mixed in the middle. The two lights never rippled, and seemed as if those two light were playing with each other. Isabella was dumbfounded at her own ideas. She shook her head to get rid of such ideas and concentrated on the wide-eyed Chelsea.
She went inside, pushing her daughters out of the way and patted her mother-in-law on her back. "There there, are you okay Mom?"
"Huh?" Isabella was still not in her senses. She looked at her daughter-in-law confusedly. She slowly regained her senses and said, "Yeah, I"m… I"m okay. Bring me some water, please."
Isabella looked at Darcy, indicating her to fetch a water bottle from the kitchen. Darcy nodded her head in understanding, and darted towards the kitchen downstairs. She grabbed a bottle of water as fast as she could and ran upstairs.
When she reached upstairs, she saw the same scene when she left. Her mother patting her grandma on her back and her sister standing there like a rock. She handed the bottle to her mother and nudged her sister. "Sis, what do you think is going on?"
"I…" Amelia cleared her throat and tried again, "I don"t know."
"Hmm. These seem so interesting. I love magic and everything. Have you watched that movie? It was so wonderful." Darcy kept on rambling.
"What movie?"
"Ah?"
"You said something about a movie, right? So, what movie?"
"It"s Harry Potter. The magic and spells. My son is in love with that series. I used to watch with him. And his bedtime stories are also related to Harry Potter." She laughed with glee as she continued rambling about Harry Potter and her son.
Amelia thought in her heart, "Why Brad? What is going on? How will I find out about everything?" Amelia did not know what to do anymore. She clutched her forehead as she thought.
When Chelsea calmed down enough, Isabella asked her, "Mom, what are these lights?"
Chelsea took a deep breath and said, "Someone is going through an awakening."
"Awakening?"
"Yes, awakening."
"What is that?" Darcy asked curiously and Amelia lifted her head to listen attentively, as she understood that this was the key-point. She knew exactly who was going through the awakening. She did not believe at first, but now, she was sure. She asked herself, "Why Brad of all people? Why?"
"It is like this… That person, left something inside this place, and only when awakening occurs, something will change. He did not mention clearly what will change, but I guess, this is the thing he was talking about."
"But, Grandma, you said earlier that we are only supposed to guard it, and some eternal being can only claim it with his/her contracted beast." Darcy interrupted her grandma.
"Yes, that was what I believed, but before leaving this place, the king and the queen blessed us that someone from our family will have the fortune to be a part of this. I don"t know all the details, but there must be something left behind by our ancestors, and it might be in this room. I was going to find that when I saw this door glowing." She patted her chest as she said these things.
Darcy was very interested in magic and ancient times. On the other hand, Amelia was looking at the trap door with interest. There were few lines on her forehead. She looked at the attic and she thought to herself, "Did I do the right thing by coming here? But, then again, I understood that it has definitely got something to do with this household. But Brad never stepped in here. Will he come? What if he doesn"t come? What will happen to the thing? Is that really related to Brad?"
Lots of questions were running through her mind, and she did not know what to do. She stared at everything and felt a headache coming. She looked at her younger sister who was very interested in these thing, and shook her head. She could not reveal this to her. Actually, she can"t reveal these to anyone. She sighed and shook her thoughts off.
She tried to bring a genuine smile on her face. Being a Mayor"s wife had its own perks. She became good at pretending. She smiled at her thoughts, and then tried a few more times before a genuine smile blossomed on her face. Then she said, "Mom, Grandma, I think I should go home now. You all know how Stephan is. He will be worried if I stay too long here."
The smile did not falter as she lied with a straight face. She bid adieu to everyone as she gathered her belongings and left. Darcy stood there with a glowing face, not knowing what was going on, but Isabella and Chelsea looked at each other, worry etched on their old faces.