𝙏𝙀𝙉𝘼𝘾𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎 » 𝙅𝙒: 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 ✓ [2]

XV

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WILTING IRIS

A gust of cold air greets my scalp at top of the ladder shaft. I clamber out into the dark swiftly, quietly closing the lid behind me.

This part of the mansion, unlike its preceder below, was deathly silent. All I could hear was the hum of electricity, the pounding of my heartbeat between in my ears, and the rain.

Rain.

It had begun at some point during my climb up the ladder to the top floor. A faint rumble of thunder graces the foyer, my shaky breathes touching the pitch black space in front of me.

The rain had a different echo beyond the corridor. I could just distinguish it. It was pitter-pattering against glass.

The door ahead of me was outlined with a thin line of light making a rectangle. I inch shaking towards the door, enveloping them around the handle. Ever so gently, I crack it open a fraction.

It was a hall, far bigger than any room I'd seen in the house yet— lavished with expensive wood and antiques. Almost a dozen dinosaur fossils were mounted on magnificent cherry wood stands, a massive overhead glass ceiling casting slivers of moonlight onto the marble floor.

I crack the door open further, poking my head out to listen carefully. Just rain.

With a hitch in my breath, I slowly slip amongst the grand hall of Lockwood Manor. My shoes began to quietly echo in the sheer size of the room.

Each wall featured an illuminated mural depicting a dinosaur. Glass cases housed smaller, more intricate fossils and artifacts like displays a museum. Even the lamps plastered to the walls cast an orange glow that resembled the amber which Nublar sought for their DNA extracts.

I steal a glance at one of the fossils on display, peering at the gold label. An impressively large triceratops skull had been balanced on a wooden block.