Demon Legacy: The Curse of the Amulet

The Curse Part II

          Finally, after fleeing the traps, we came to the chamber door that the professor had described. It was a huge black gate, ivy roots, stretching from all four corners, and all connecting to the middle of the gate where a rose symbol was carved in. Beneath the rose symbol was a root carving where an outer spiral ring lock was link, and on each of the ring, the alphabet of the Latin language was engraved. What I understood from my interpretation that we have to rotate each ring to form the word and if doing so right, we press down the middle button, causing the ring to move in spiral back into the gate, undoing the lock and opening the gate. The first ring needed seven turn, then three, five, again three, and finally seven. It looked like alphabet meant something. Captain Muller read the code aloud as Finn twisted the rings accordingly and finally pressed the last stone in the middle of lock. We heard a cracking sound, the hallway shake beneath our feet, dust and pebble fall above our head and the chamber gate wide opened.

Before we went through, I asked Finn about the code. “It’s strange. I’ve worked with many codes, but I have never seen one like this,” he said. “Remember when I translated the language on the wall? ‘Visions and death are bounded’—that was the code.”

Wind blew from the door and I remained there for a moment, stunned by Finn’s words, until Carl grabbed me and pulled me inside. I wondered what it all might mean.

The chamber was enormous, like a skyscraper. The centre of the room was hollowed where a platform was rising from within the hole. The amulet was kept at the top of the platform, and the only way to reach it was the one way staircase connecting to the platform. We saw the four statues that the notes mentioned—a king, queen, princess, and wizard—pointing with their left hands at the amulet.

I was at the bottom of the staircase when Alex shouted, “Captain Muller, sir! Over here! We found Professor Emerson.” This was great news, and we felt a surge of happiness. We all rushed toward him to see. The man matched the photo and description we had of a man forty-eight years old with graying black hair, dark skin tone, and a rectangular face. The captain pulled back the man’s eyelid to reveal a hazel eye. He wore a winter coat over a simple black shirt, navy pants, and black boots. At first he seemed dead, but Alex found a pulse.

“He’s alive, just unconscious,” said Alex.

“I wonder how he had survived without food and water for a whole month?” Carl said curiously.

“Here the answer to that question” Finn said pointing to a secret door near the wizard statue.

“Maybe it leads to the outside” Alex said positively.

“If so, it would explain how he came here without passing the trap again and also it could clarify that he has been at the campsite time to time, to get food and water, and came here to get some sleep.” Parker said assertively.

“I don’t understand why didn’t he simply leave this place? Wouldn’t it have been better if he stayed in the village?” I asked mystified.

“Well I think we will get the answer when he wakes up” Alex said looking down at the professor.

“Well, okay. So we’ve found the professor, two of colleague are not more, one is in state of comatose which leave only one, where could he be?” said the captain. “All right, listen up. Carl, Finn—you carry the professor to the start of the cave, and then come back here on the double. The rest of you, keep searching. Maybe there’s another secret passage somewhere here.”

The captain turned to me. “Derek, you retrieve the amulet. We need to analyze it. And we don’t want anyone else getting killed for it.”

This is my chance to convince the captain to leave the amulet alone and focus on the professor and his colleague well being first. When I was about to talk about my plan, my word froze, I could say what I wanted and just agreed with my Captain. My movement were in control what the hell is going? Why can’t I control my body? This is not right.

I started to walk up the staircase. Halfway up, I heard the whisper again. “Don’t go to it! It will kill you!” I wanted to tell this spirit that I want to stop myself, but I can’t, someone is controlling me, my body is not my own now until I heard an unknown voice “Sorry, this must be done, you will understand when this will over, I have faith in you to make right choice” It whisper into my head and disappeared. Soon I was at the top of the staircase, I stood looking at the amulet.

It was simply gorgeous. It was a shiny gold pendant, kite, with a red diamond-shaped stone in the center and a brilliant crystal, a diamond maybe, at each corner. A silver chain was attached to one of the four corners. I picked it up. It seemed too small and beautiful to be called a curse. Impulsively, I placed it around my neck and I felt in that moment my body is my own again and seeing that nothing happened, I sign in relieve.

“Okay, Captain Muller, I’ve got it,” I called down. “So much for a ‘curse,’ right?” I grinned and started walking down the staircase, but before I had descended more than a few steps, I started to feel numb. My whole body got stiff, and it felt like my heart was being squeezed. While I was wondering what was going on, I heard gunfire and the screams of my allies. I saw a dark purple mist consuming my captain and my friends. They were crying out for help, but there was nothing I could do: I was immobilized. I watched them vanish into the dark mist.

 “Captain Muller! Alex! Parker!” I tried to shout, but no sound emerged. No, this can’t be happening! Please just be a nightmare! But the truth was in front of me, and I felt helpless.

After a minute or two, my body felt normal again. I stared down at the mist. I was scared, but that feeling was accompanied by other emotions like hatred, anger, and grief but most importantly guilt to be unable stop this from happening. Then I heard a sinister voice speaking. “Yummy, yummy. More juicy human souls. It has been so long but soon with few more soul I will free!”

The voice was mocking me. I roared “DAMN YOU! Where are my friends?”

The voice giggled and said, “If you really want to see them, then I’ll let you join them.” The dark mist started to surround me. There no use fighting it. The more I struggled, the more I sank deeper into the blackness. Before I was fully consumed, I saw a woman’s hand reach out for mine. Was it helping me or pulling me farther down? Either way, I grabbed the hand, and then everything went black.