BEL AND THE FOUR OF HEARTS

One

I sat at my desk, my room dark except for the soft light of my reading lamp. I was tinkering with an old singing box I found while clearing out old stuff in my room earlier in the day, trying to fix the tiny wires that connected its components. Frowning in concentration, I made my small hands thread the wires through the tiny holes as carefully as I could.

The sleep I had thrust aside occasionally wore my eyes out as they worked, but I wasn't backing down on the fight to stay awake and fix the darn box either.

It started as a challenge I had given myself, out of boredom…but can you believe this inanimate object wanting to frustrate my technical intelligence?

As I worked, I noticed the light from the lamp becoming extra bright, emitting a soft humming sound that caught my attention.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I glanced up at the lamp.

"Hello, what's going on with you?" I murmured annoyedly, placing the singing box carefully on the desk as I examined it.

The light continued to glow, casting an ethereal glow around the room.

I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness.

Running my left fingers over each of my weary eyeballs sitting behind my eyeglasses, I reached out to touch the lamp with my other hand, but as soon as my fingers brushed against the warm surface, a strange sensation coursed through my body.

It was like an electric current, but strangely different.

I sat back, a little startled…just a little. It wasn't like I had never experienced anything like that before. Okay, I must have felt chills running down my back as I watched the light from the lamp beginning to pulse and throb, like a living thing.

"What's happening?" I whispered, in both shock and fear.

I looked back into the faded darkness, in direction of my door, wondering if dad was doing one of his crazy experiments again. But the clock ticking past 2 am assured me it wasn't him; 2am was infact his bedtime.

The humming sound grew louder, and I felt as if the air around me was charged with energy. It was as if the very atoms of my room were vibrating in response to the light.

The light expanded, filling the entire room with its soft glow. I felt a wave of heat wash over me, and I shielded my eyes with my arm.

But just as suddenly as it had begun, the light faded away, leaving me sitting in the darkness once again, puzzled. Stunned. Heart racing, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"What was that?" I breathed, looking at the lamp in wonder, and turning it back on.

I was blinded with an even brighter light for a moment before I could adjust my vision to it. I rubbed my eyes, now noticing a small note on my desk that was never there before.

I ran my eyes over the handwritten words which read, "The post box" before looking around the room. There were really no hiding spots in my room and if I didn't see anyone, there wasn't anyone…

…if I couldn't see them with my eyes, especially with Jim sitting on them, then it meant they were invisible.

Still puzzled, I stood up from my chair and walked around the desk, inspecting the note. It was small, about the size of a business card, and was made of fine parchment paper. I looked closely, trying to see if there was any indication of who might have left it, but there was none.

Okay, let me guess the note materialized out of thin air?

If it was some sort of spell, I was honestly impressed at it, but my mind wouldn't stop racing with all sorts of possibilities as to who could have left the note.

"Wait, what if it's really a spell,” I asked myself.

It was the only logical explanation, considering it's mysterious appearance.

I quickly grabbed my wand from the desk, casting a few checking spells to see if there was any dark magic involved with the note that could harm me if I touched it. But after a few moments of intense concentration, I dropped the wand, concluding that it was safe.

I rushed to the door, grabbed my jacket and shut it behind me.

I carefully made my way down the stairs, each step taken with caution as I tried not to make any noise that could alert the security bells dad had decorated the whole house with.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I quickly made my way outside the gate and towards the post box. The night was quiet and still, and I could hear the crickets chirping in the distance.

I took out the key to the post box from my pocket and unlocked it. And there it was - a big envelope that seemed to contain some documents from the looks of it. I carefully took it out, closed the post box, and locked it back.

I made my way back inside, trying to be as quiet as possible. As I tiptoed up the stairs, my heart raced with excitement and anticipation.

Once I was back in my room, I locked the door behind me and turned on the lights, sitting at my desk as I examined the envelope.

It was plain, with no markings or labels to indicate who it was from. I carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the documents.

In utter disbelief, I scanned through the documents.

They were admission, acceptance letters and other necessary forms from Haykes Academy (pronounced hikes by the way) that had been pre-filled without losing any details. Even my signature had been impended. What?

My hands went cold with shivers. They were all the documents I needed to get back into Haykes without any hassle.

I picked up the attached letter, reading;

“We hope this letter finds you well. We are writing to inform you that we have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that you can return to Haykes Academy without any hindrance. Enclosed in this envelope, you will find all the necessary documents you need to return to school.

We understand the events of last year have caused much confusion and suspicion to be cast on you. We want you to know that we believe you are innocent of any wrongdoing. We also know that you have been unfairly prevented from returning to school.

Therefore, we have taken steps to ensure that all necessary paperwork is in order for your return. We have filled out all the forms, including the admission and acceptance letters to ensure you're able to return to Haykes Academy without any questions or hindrances (these are photocopies).

We urge you to keep the matter of having privately received this letter confidential and it's important that you keep a low profile and not draw any unnecessary attention to yourself.

We hope this gesture will help you to move forward with your studies. Unfortunately, there isn't any means through which you can contact us, therefore if you have any questions or concerns you can't reach us.

Best Regards."

I leaned back in my seat with stupefaction. One, this was a miracle, an ultimately creepy one at that. Two, whoever these people were, they definitely had their eyes on me.