Celestial Sisters

Chapter 34: Two Gold Coffins

Two golden caskets sat on a stone platform, jutting out of the ground like an offering. A moat surrounded the stone platform, smelling faintly of sewage and rotted feces. In the distant, Luna could hear the chittering of a family rats, hiding in their borrowed holes in the walls, watching the newcomers. Xavier held a torch over their heads but it was no longer needed. The small flickering flame was greatly outweighed by the shimmering tendrils of silver light that came from a small opening above the caskets. The others disbanded, exploring the strange cavern but Luna remained rooted in place. Her hands were fisted by her sides as she fought off the haunting memory of the last time she had seen this dismal place.

When she first caught a glimpse of the tomb, she had sworn it was nothing more than a dream but now, as it stood in front of her, she could not deny that it was indeed a reality. And by extent, that meant the same dark presence she had felt, now existed as well.

"Luna come here!" Twyla was standing beside the platform. The formidable structure towered above her average 5'5 frame. But, she was bent at the waist as she inspected a series of engraved symbols.

"It looks like our necklaces," Twyla held her amulet in one hand as she brushed her fingers across the crescent moon shape engraved in the rock.

Hovering behind her, Luna regarded the two symbols with a curved brow and a tilt of her head. It looked like her sister was right but she seemed reluctant to part with her precious sapphire gem. The pure, untapped power that resided within the piece of jewelry held the memories of their past lives; it was a key. A key very different to the one they were looking for but just as important. It was their only connection to their former selves and their only way to know exactly what would happen next. Luna was going to share her fears with Twyla when Xavier knelt beside her sister.

"Well, why don't we try it out. Put it in and see what happens." He spoke Twyla's language of nonchalant apathy. It made perfect sense to Twyla.

"We don't what could happen. I mean let's just think about what happened when Twyla and I touched. We nearly killed ourselves."

"It's a necklace, Luna," Twyla peered at her sister, annoyed.

She unhooked the silver chain from her neck and slid the ruby gem into the crescent shape before Luna could say anything else. At first, nothing happened. Alix and Will nudged their way past the others, to gain a better look. All five of them stared at the rock, waiting. Waiting for what, they had no clue.

And then, the ruby began to glow. It started as a quiet, small glimmer and grew to a blinding light, making the crowd look away. A groan then followed, the stone platform began to shudder and shake as pebbles fell from the top of the ledge. Xavier, Will and Alix slowly backed away but Luna and Twyla stayed. When the dust finally settled a stone staircase appeared, leading to the coffin of Edith Beaumont.

"Your turn," Twyla smirked. She didn't bother to wait for her sister as she bounded up the steps.

"I am so going to regret this," Luna blew a golden curl away from her face. She grabbed the sapphire amulet between her hands and pulled, hard. The chain snapped and the sapphire was free to slide into its rightful place beside the ruby. A second flight of stairs appeared moments later, leading to the coffin of Clara Beaumont.

Twyla was already there, hovering over the large, oblong shaped box when Luna reached the top. The coffins were attached in the middle as if they weren't holding two separate bodies but one. Twyla offered Luna nothing more than a curt nod before unhinging the golden clasp and lifting the lid. Luna cringed away from the sight that awaited. She expected to be greeted by the repugnant scent of rotting corpses and see her old, decrepit body wasting away. But, she didn't. The coffin was empty, all except for one golden key that sat perfectly undisturbed for the last hundred years, on top of the velvet lining.

"That's it," Twyla plucked the key from it's resting place and held it up to the light. She looked rather unamused, Luna noticed.

"We came all this way, went through literal hell all for a diary key." It was not actually a diary key but Luna could see where her sister drew the parallels. It was a lot smaller than they had originally presumed from their memories, and it was slim with a thin golden bridge and carefully filed teeth. It was half the size of Luna's pinky and she was afraid that if Twyla kept waving it around, it would plummet into the ravine. Never to be seen again.

"Did you find it!" Alix yelled from the bottom. All three of them were leaning forward on their tiptoes trying to catch a glimpse of the mysterious key.

"I guess," Twyla heaved her shoulders and skipped back down the steps.

Luna watched her receding back, her arms wrapped around her sides as a cool breeze wafted through the chamber. She took the steps carefully, one at a time, as she tried to remember what had happened in her vision. She remembered the coffins and the stairs and the platform but everything else was a little fuzzy. She couldn't remember if something happened afterwards or maybe the vision cut off there. But she did remember the great sense of dread that was blooming in her stomach. That certainly did not change.

Will and Alix were by her side as she stepped down from the last step. She peered up at both of them, one set of green eyes and one set of blue. Two very different people in both spirit and body and yet they both stared at her with same level of adoration. It was a little frightening. She gave Alix a slight smile which was returned until Alix saw Luna reach for Will's hand.

"I thought it would be bigger," Will said as Twyla held out the key to Xavier, offering him to examine it's genuinity.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what she said," Alix brushed past the two.

"Ignore her," Luna sighed as Will's eyes enlarged, understanding what she meant a second too late.

He nodded once, his mouth remained closed not because he wanted to, or because of what Luna said buf because Alix Slade was a little terrifying. She stood beside Twyla, hands on her leather clad hips as she waited for Xavier to make up his mind. He had turned his back to the group, his shoulder hunched as she inspected every nick and curve on the key. Alix tapped her heel once, then twice; her fingers began to fidget as she grew inpatient.

"What's the problem? Will it work or not?"

Xavier's posture straightened, upon hearing Alix's comment. Slowly, he turned back around the golden key clutched tightly in his fist. A ghoulish smile stretched across the plains of his powder white face, his crimson eyes began to work.

"Work? Oh yes, this is going to work perfectly," He purred. He reached out, his long, thick fingers curling around Alix's chin. She tried to pull away but he refused to let go, his smile only growing.

"Twyla, Luna. Run!" She didn't need to say anything else. We both sprinted to chamber door, our hands reaching out for one another in the dark.

But we weren't fast enough. He was standing in the middle of the archways before we could even blink, his arms opened wide to catch us. I tried to turn around about a strong hand grabbed me by the throat and pulled me against what felt like a brick wall. I would later learn that was a chest. He continued to hold onto my throat as I struggled for air, kicking and gasping. Faintly I could hear the screams of Alix and Will but I couldn't see them, my vision was concealed by a million black dots that began to scatter across my eyes.

"Luna!" I heard Twyla rasp beside me and then, I passed out.

**Merry Christmas!**