☂︎︎ HOUSE OF SHADOWS ☂︎︎ - five hargreeves

* 𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝙱𝚘𝚢 𝚁𝚞𝚗 *

[009]
- ☾ '☂︎︎' ☽ -

           Grace placed a record in the gramophone and lowered the needle onto it. The voice of a man echoed out of it and filled the dining room.

During extreme weather conditions, a climber must possess the wisdom to determine when evacuation is inevitable.

Grace rang a small silver bell and soon there were footsteps thundering down the staircase. The Hargreeves children entered the dining room and stood behind their chairs, awaiting their father's orders.

Reginald was positioned at the head of the table, Vanya at the opposite end.

A controlled alpine descent begins with the girding of one's loins and the anchoring of the climbing rope to one's enemy, the mountain. The Dülfersitz rappel is the preferred method for descent when the rope is the only available tool, but must be regarded as the last resort. Begin by looping the rope . . .

"Sit," said Reginald.

The children sat down and dug into the sumptuous dishes on the table. There was no talking except by the man from the gramophone.

Allison and Luther smiled at each other bashfully from across each other. Cassidy scribbled away furiously in her notebook, ignoring the small bags that Klaus kept loudly fiddling with. Vanya watched her siblings with interest but otherwise did not engage with them. Five stared at his father with an odd expression.

A screen anchor must be used if to be successfully retrieved from the face of the mountain. Tightly knot the ends of the rope. Once anchored, thread the doubled rope through the legs, front to back, and around the buttocks.

Cassidy kicked the underneath of Klaus' chair, sending the bag in his hand soaring into the air. She caught it, and put it away, shaking her head in her brother's direction. Klaus glared at her and stuck out his tongue while she went back to her notebook smirking.

It is of utmost importance that the rope be drawn under the gluteal muscles, not through the crevice between the gluteus. Proceed by holding the rope diagonally . . .

CLANG.

Everyone froze; Five had driven the blade of his butterknife into the table.

"I have a question," he said to Reginald.

His father did not look up from his plate.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."

Five scowled deeply and pushed his food away. "I want to time travel."

"No," said Reginald.

"But I'm ready. I've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said." Five disappeared and reappeared next to Reginald with a pop. "See?"

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel," said Reginald, sounding impatient. "One is like sliding across the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."