Something happened the night the aliens attacked Cashes Dade that Cade doesn’t talk about. He saw something that he refuses to tell others. Can you figure it out? Cade’s parents left him to join the aliens. His parents were ranked as WhiteStar by the aliens which meant they had the privilege to live in the alien City of Arapreshday and hold a high position. They would get a great home with many other benefits and rewards, but they didn’t take Cade with him. They didn’t even tell him they were leaving. Cade’s best friend Blake’s parents also left him behind several years before, but not to join the aliens. Blake began living with another couple from Cashes Dade and when they found out what happened to Cade, they invited him to live with them as well. Cade is a great guest to have in your home, but it can get pretty interesting…
Cade is really energetic in the mornings. He’s a morning person even though he swears he isn’t. In fact, he gets upset if you call him a morning person and no one really knows why. He tends to wake up pretty early, but he’s really quiet, strangely quiet in fact. There are many times Blake has woken up early, gotten breakfast thinking Cade must still be asleep, only to get a rude shock turning around to suddenly see Cade just standing there, usually with a wry smile on his face.
It’s not just how quiet Cade is in the morning that’s mysterious, but how energetic he is, well, that is until you find out what he does for breakfast. He drinks coffee, and pours sugar, a lot of sugar, into his coffee. He also pours sugar on whatever he’s having for breakfast as well. You would think this means he’d be pretty early to school every morning, but he isn’t. Blake isn’t because usually he rolls out of bed at the last minute and barely has time to get ready, but Cade just seems to space off a lot and suddenly realizes it’s time to go. Then he and Blake race to school, trying different crazy routes to see who could find the craziest routes to school.
Cade does the same bizarre routine every night. When the four of them are hanging out in the living room in the late evening, reading different books, Cade starts to drift off. Then he’ll stand up and say, “I can’t stay awake. I’m off to sleep. See you all tomorrow.” But it doesn’t end there. Moments later you will hear sounds coming from his room, those sounds would be him kicking a mini soccer ball into his mini soccer goal in his room; trying crazy trick shots, or trying to beat his previous records of how many goals he can score in a row. Then he comes back out to re-join them. He does the same thing every time; he walks in shaking his head acting shocked that he couldn’t fall asleep. Then he starts to drift off again. Then he says he’s going to sleep, again, but he doesn’t leave. He stays and suddenly starts asking them about some random topic, talking fast and usually branching off into different things they really need to talk about like what they’re doing for dinner tomorrow, what they’re doing for the weekend, and do ghosts sleep? Eventually Cade does go back to his room to go to sleep, but he usually gets up about five more times for some random reason. Some people wonder if he ever does in fact go to sleep…
Cade seems to wander a lot, and stare, a lot, especially when he’s supposed to be studying. He’ll just stop and start thinking about something, sometimes getting this crazy intense look in his face while closing his eyes and whispering rapidly to himself. He might “study” for several hours but only have read a few lines in his notes. Then he’ll go through the rest of them crazy fast. He has a way of re-writing his notes in a way that makes sense to him so he can look at for a long time and visualize it. It seems to work pretty well for him, but many wonder why he doesn’t just do that from the beginning instead of wasting so many hours staring out the window. It’s a mystery that may never be solved…
On the final morning Cade saw his parents, he did his usual routine. He was on his third cup of sugar with coffee when his dad quietly left to go to their Furniture Store. He’ll never forget the last thing his mom ever said to him. He thinks maybe it means something, but he can’t figure out how, because it seemed like a routine statement about how he should get to school that day. His mom looked out the window at the sleek blue clouds slowly streaming across the hazy morning sky over the dazzling blue towers of Dayces Cameron arranged in a massive stadium shape. Then she told him, “You should take the bridge…”
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:
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…
