The minute hand ticked with a dead echo, the sound dying fast into the blood red night. Flickering red moonlight splashed over Cade’s short dark hair falling low over his intense gaze.
“You ready?” Cade asked.
“Let’s go,” Blake answered, running his hand through his short, choppy blonde hair. Cade slowly broke a smile as the two kids slowly opened the old, creaking gate, glowing like a soft orange fire. The dark orange lit up School of the Arts appeared ahead past the heavy, twisted gardens full of large green and blue leaves spiraled around. The second hand groaned slowly, echoing through the empty air, groaning slowly around and around as the two 12 year olds crept up the dark orange glowing brick path narrowly cutting through the garden.
Just then black figures flashed across the sky overhead. The kids ducked down, crawling ahead in the deep shadows. A chilling wind pushed down on them. The image of the dark orange clock appeared. The minute hand left a burning orange glow. The second hand blazed across the clock face with empty darkness between them. The ghost cried out across the sky. The kids looked up to find themselves inside the garden room of the school, locked inside…
We’ll get back inside the School of the Arts in a moment. The mystery to solve is how can they get to the Lustaray Clock, and how can they escape? What’s the secret of the Lustaray Clock? Knowing that answer will be a strong clue for how to escape this haunted school. Can you figure it out? Check out the post called:
DARKCORNER LAND FEATURE: WHO IS THE LUSTARAY CLOCK GHOST?
This post will give you a description of the School of the Arts which will offer clues to the mystery. Check out the prophecy at the end which offers the key clues to finding the answer for the mystery. Click on this link to check it out:
https://dadestarmysteries.com/darkcorner-land-featurewho-is-the-lustaray-clock-ghost/
Let’s get back to the story, but be prepared, you might not escape…
The kids gazed up at the massively high marble black walls in the gigantic room, dimly lit by numerous dark orange candles hanging from the trees throughout the hall.
“How did we get in here?” Blake whispered. Cade just flashed him a wide-eyed, confused expression. The dead hands ticked on and on and on.
“Over here,” Cade whispered, ducking into a narrow, twisted path between dark twisted green trees called Deyvas. Chilling winds whistled through the glittering green leaves, barely lit by the dark orange candles hanging from the twisted branches curling around.
“What?” asked Blake.
“I said, ‘over here,'” answered Cade. The minute hand pounded against the wall on all sides, dying into the chilling silence.
“No, I heard that.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Because you said something after that.” The tragic groaning circled back around, never ending, never finding relief.
“Maybe I said something clever about the trees.”
“Did you?”
“I don’t know.” The deyvas closed in, falling down over the path ahead. “Back up slowly.”
“That’s what you said?”
“No, that’s what I’m saying now.” The distant ghost groaned through the massive dark chamber with the turning second hand.
“How do you not know what you said?”
“I don’t know. You remember everything you’ve ever said?”
“In the last thirty seconds? Yeah.” Dead whispers shot out from the high balconies holding more Deyvas, hanging far over the edge with long candles pulling them low over the black marble floor. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, it’s them,” Cade answered in a low voice. Heavy trees closed in. Candles lit up just ahead of them. The ghost cried out again in a voice searching in the dark. The kids found a narrow path cutting ahead where more whispers went back and forth. The clock groaned louder around them. Two long dark pools appeared ahead, reflecting the flickering candle lights with a single round table between them. The kids slowly crept ahead. Just then the dark orange clock appeared high above them.
“We found it,” said Blake as the kids gazed up at the clock groaning louder and louder around them. A chilling wind rushed down through the dark twisted gardens. Most of the candle lights went out. Whispers grew louder around them. The kids pushed ahead as the branches closed in.
“Stay focused on it,” said Cade, “stay focused on it.” The clock grew brighter and brighter, burning in a dark orange fire until all around them went completely dark.
“What’s going on?” Blake whispered.
“I’m not sure.” Just then eerie, sour sounding fiddle music started up around them with a cheerful but off-key melody. Green glowing ghosts began to appear, dancing in swift, sharp motions ahead of them, stretching far to the left and right seemingly endless. The kids backed up against the cold dark wall. The hidden clock ticked quietly with distant dead echoes. “I think we’re farther away.” Cade nodded strongly.
“Let’s get past them,” said Cade. The kids jogged along the wall, staring down at the designs of twisted ghostly faces, hiding from incredibly tall people looking down at them from high towers, gazing down from the balconies. Dark orange crystal chandeliers floated around in the murky dark air high above the dancing ghosts. Blake gazed out at the many complicated scenes of politcal debates and battles across the black marble floor barely lit by the dingy lights flickering to the fast, stumbling rhythm of the floating music. After several minutes the floor turned dark before complicated designs of dances and games spread out across the floor under the dancing ghosts.
A bright green ghost appeared suddenly directly ahead, mopping the floor. He held out his hand, letting go of the mop as it froze in place. His rugged face turned on them. The kids spun around and flew back down the wall.
“Should we cut across the floor?” whispered Blake.
“I’m not sure.” Cade glanced back. The old ghost started tapping his feet to the rhythm of the music and the mop fell back into his hands. Then he started gliding fast towards them.
“How are we getting away?”
“We have to disappear. Follow me.” Cade kept glancing at the dancing ghosts, moving in wide circles. “Now.” Blake slid across the floor as Cade disappeared. He turned right. Cade flew between two dancing circles. Blake sprinted after him, staying low to the slick floor. The kids took a sharp turn cutting between two more groups of dancing ghosts. “See?” Cade turned back momentarily, with a smile, “They’re too focused on their dance, as long as we don’t cut between them.” Blake glanced back at the empty darkness.
“He’s long gone,” he said, nodding rhythmically. The kids swerved to avoid another group then sprinted between several more groups before reaching the far wall. They turned around, leaning back against the cold wall, vibrating to the barely audible dead ticks of the distant clock. They could only see the dancing ghosts across the vast floor under the dingy floating shine. Just then the old ghost appeared again. The kids started to run, but he held out his right hand and they fell back against the wall.
“You can’t outrun me,” he said in a raspy voice as the kids struggled to move from the wall, but they were frozen in place. His eyes glowed in a dark, dead green stare.
“What do you want?” asked Cade.
“How are you going to find the Lustaray Clock?”
“Who says we’re trying to?” asked Blake.
“That’s why everyone enters here, looking for the secret clock. Everyone enters this school with big dreams, but they all turn to nightmares.”
“Who are you?” asked Cade in a low voice.
“I was a janitor here when this school was open. I died 30 years ago. I’ve been here ever since. I have to clean this entire floor tonight. They demand that this floor shines under the lights for the party.” Blake and Cade exchanged highly anxious looks.
“You do realize you don’t have to do this anymore right?” asked Blake. “I mean, you’re dead.” Cade nudged him hard in his side. “What? He is,” Blake answered as he felt the clock’s dead ticking heavier and heavier behind the wall.
“I don’t have a choice,” the old ghost answered. “I can’t get any other job. They won’t let me leave, and I don’t know how to escape.”
“But you’re…”
“Life continues on after death, it’s just a lot…quieter. We continue as spirits. They told me I have to do this job while I’m here, and I just can’t leave, but I’m not sure why. I just can’t leave. Ghosts can get stuck in different places for years and years, maybe never escape.” His sad, empty eyes turned downward as he dragged the mop slowly across the floor.
“Is there a God? Have you seen Heaven?” asked Cade, shuffling his feet across the slick floor as the eerie, sour music continued around them.
“I don’t know if God or Heaven exists,” the ghost answered, leaning heavier on his mop. His dark eyes began to reflect a slow hand turning, circling slowly around and around. “We don’t know yet.” The dancing ghosts and the dingy lights turned to a murky, gloomy glow behind him. “But I wish I could leave, but I never could, watching the students building their projects, creating new dances, creating amazing designs, I always thought I could do something like that, but every time I got started, it just got too complicated, they never wanted it, it was never good enough, never good enough…”
“They’re gone now,” said Cade. “The students are gone.”
“No,” he answered, with a crooked smile, “some are still here, still trying to finish their projects, especially him.”
“Who?” asked Cade.
“The one who is stuck in the underground classroom where the Lustaray Clock is. He was obsessed with it, couldn’t stop staring at it.”
“You mean the Lustaray Clock ghost?” asked Blake. “He was a student here?”
“That’s right, and he’s been expecting you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Cade.
“Didn’t you realize the real reason you’re here? He invited you, and it’s time, time to meet him.” Cold darkness fell over them. They couldn’t see anything. The emptiness around them was silent until they heard it…
Dead, heavy ticking of a massive clock, with the clock hand groaning as it swung around and around and around, never ending, never reaching it’s destination, just circling around and around slowly in the empty cold darkness, where time never stops, and no one ever leaves…
