House of a Thousand Rooms

Chapter 12

"I do not understand what you mean at all," Cora muttered huffily, "and you seem to think rather highly of yourself for a ghost."

The boy laughed heartily. "I am not a ghost, you little fool. My brothers were right about you. You are rather dense."

Cora's mouth fell open with disbelief as her cheeks flushed angrily. "How dare you! I will have you know that I am a very educated young lady. More educated than most, in fact. I speak Greek and Latin—"

"Yes, yes, I know," the boy interrupted with weary tones. His nose began to twitch as he sniffed around her in a canine-like manner. "Your entire being reeks of witchcraft. I can smell the rotten eggs and sulfur radiating from your pores. Those two old crones are really something else. How they managed to get you, a gatekeeper, to bewitch yourself every day for the past five years with all those binding spells and hexes is beyond me. Again, I cannot help but question your intellect..."

Gatekeeper? Binding spells and hexes? Cora's mouth flapped open and shut several times before she found her ability to speak.

Confusion and indignation radiated from her voice. "Do you make a habit of spouting nonsense and insulting everyone you meet? You, sir, may be the rudest boy I have ever met!"

With that, Cora spun on the heel of her foot to march away from the infuriating boy.

"Stop, please!" the boy called after her. "I apologize for upsetting you. I admit, I am not accustomed to interacting with others in my human form yet, but I suppose I should not have spoken to you in such a way. Regardless, you must let me destroy that black charm they placed on your person. Only then will you begin to understand."

Without breaking her stride, Cora continued to walk away from him.

"The needle and thread!" the boy cried as he traipsed behind her. "You must relinquish them in order to regain control of your powers. The powers they stole from you."

Cora's steps faltered slightly. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the boy. "What kind of rubbish are you spewing out now? And how do you know about the needle and thread that my aunts gave me? You

must have seen me trying to use them on the black hole earlier. You should not spy on others, you know. It is very impolite."

The boy begged, "Just hand them over to me, gatekeeper, and I promise everything will start making more sense!"

Cora scoffed. "Absolutely not!"

Her aunts were right. This boy was going to drive her positively loony. She started stalking away again. He ran after her and caught her by the wrist. They began tussling. She shrieked as his hands snaked inside her skirt pockets. With a quickness that startled her, the boy snatched the needle and thread from Cora. He smiled triumphantly. Cora wailed in frustration.

In one fluid motion, the boy tossed the needle and thread into his mouth and chomped down. Cora heard a loud crunching sound. Then, a large black puff of smoke billowed from the boy's mouth. He doubled over, as though in pain, and began hacking and coughing uncontrollably.

Cora wanted to help the boy, but she was too overwhelmed by a sudden shift in her entire state of being. A blinding lightness washed over her. She stumbled backwards in astonishment. Her senses skyrocketed to unreached heights. Colors became more vivid. Smells and sounds grew so intense that she wanted to cover her ears and pinch her nostrils shut.

Never had she felt quite so alive or aware of her surroundings in her thirteen years.

"Wh-what is happening to me right now?" she spluttered skittishly. "I feel so strange!"

The boy cleared his throat and panted out weakly, "It is... because... you are more yourself... than you have ever been. Do you... believe me now, gate... keeper?"