The Extraordinary Curiosities of Ixworth and Maddox by J.D. Grolic

Author:J.D. Grolic [J.D. Grolic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: thissmallplace
Published: 2023-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Voices in the Hall

Chloe remembered taking a car trip to Portsmouth when she was small. Dad, perhaps driving faster than he should have around a slippery bend, had gone off the road. Nobody had been hurt, but she could still recall how she’d felt during the accident. The separation between herself and reality. The drag of time. Her last turn around the hat rack was like that.

People were not meant to travel by hat rack because it takes an eternity.

Chloe's arrival was a wobbly, off-kilter landing. It left her feeling like her body had been stretched out like an image in a carnival mirror. It was a long moment before she could gather herself and begin to take in her surroundings. Eventually, she realised she had left the workshop and was now standing in the cramped corner of a very untidy office.

Maddox was nowhere to be seen.

Chloe took a breath and tried to relax. Sneaking about looked so much easier in films. In real life, it was terrifying. The hat rack was beside her, a finger's length away. For a moment she was tempted to use it. Three whirls around and she would be back in the safety of the workshop. I’m not a baby, she thought. They had come to find Ixworth. She took a step forward, determined to finish what she had started.

It was clear Chloe had arrived in someone’s house. Around her, all was quiet, save the settling of the foundations and the restless popping of pipes from behind walls. Somewhere distant, a clock ticked patiently. Chloe took note of the messy office. There were books on every surface: piled high on bookshelves, on an antique corner table, on chairs, on the floor, and stacked in corners. Several rolls of old parchment had been piled beside a desk that stood in front of a window. To her left, an assortment of vials containing vomit-coloured liquids was perched on top of a worn, dry sink. On the wall behind, someone had tacked up several photos of old theatre masks. But it was the map dotted with pushpins beside the photos that caught Chloe's attention. She leaned closer, noting the pins that had been arranged in an irregular line from Marylebone through Mayfair to Green Park. She took her mobile from her pocket and snapped a picture.

To her left, the office door stood ajar, showing a sliver of the dim hallway beyond. Chloe took three measured steps across the worn hardwood, thankful the soles of her trainers were soft and useful for creeping about. She hesitated at the door, taking a moment to listen. She was tempted to call out for Maddox. Why would he leave her alone in a strange house? Wasn’t he the one who’d said this was going to be dangerous? She waited, but there was no sign of life. When she was sure it was safe, she peered out into the hallway. A flight of stairs rose to her left. At the top, the door to a bedroom stood open.

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