Now that the charm spell had been broken on the house, they looked at the dark silhouette of the house that stood lonely when there were people in there.
Penny had heard and read of how there were some houses that were told to have a soul of their own. As if they were breathing and alive and were only using the people and the living things around them to survive like reaching for its food. It made Penny wonder if that was why some of the trees they had passed by half an hour ago were leafless and bare, looking as if it was going to die.
It wasn’t all houses but a house that had many stories to tell, secrets that had been stuffed over and over again without anywhere to spill, it was those houses that turned out to be like that.
“Ready?” Penny asked them. She raised her hand and smiled when she looked at the ball of fire. The black witches had not used spilled magic. How rare, she thought to herself.
“Let’s go,” Damien started to walk and she along with Piers started to walk behind him before they split themselves up. Going together would not only be time-consuming but if a trap was waiting, all three of them would end up being trapped and killed.
Damien took to the first floor while Piers took the back door. Penny in the meanwhile headed straight to the door. She pulled out the pocket watch she had in her pocket. The time wasn’t late and she could still use any excuse to be here somehow.
Coming to stand in front of the door, she raised her hand to knock on it. Using the metal to hit the wooden door that echoed louder than it should. The mansion was empty therefore it was taken that any sound in there would come to echo. To Penny and the other two, the spell had been broken but the person or people who were living here didn’t have to know about it.
The door opened and it wasn’t the butler who opened it but Robarte. He gave her a quizzical look, a smile on his face,
“Lady Penelope, what a surprise to see you here.”
“I hope I haven’t come late in front of your door. I thought to give you a visit,” Penny gave him a look as if she needed his help and she didn’t know where to go.
Penny looked into the man’s eyes, his eyes appearing much brighter compared to the last time she had met him. Even his face looked younger, his features handsome that made Penny think that his body had been modified again. A person couldn’t operate on his back without help and she could tell it was her dead mother who had helped in operating him.
“You can visit me anytime. Please come in,” he stepped away from the door so that she could come in. To Penny, right now, the space behind him looked dark and she only hoped she would be able to walk without tripping on something in the dark.
“How did you come?” he asked her. He looked outside the mansion through the window to see no carriage standing outside.
She placed her foot in the dark hallways and saw him close the door. Keeping her heart as calm as she could she started to follow him while keeping a decent distance between them. Penny wondered what Robarte was seeing right now. Was it the charm that he had placed or if he was seeing the same house as she was.
Penny felt rather eerie at the thought that she had walked by this very passage to find the painted walls which now were covered in moss. There was a bad pungent smell that drifted to her nose which made her stomach flip and she had to try hard not to let her senses overtake her body.
“I came on foot. I used the carriage halfway before sending it back.”
“That must have been quite a long walk. You must be tired,” he said, looking at her shoes which were covered in mud, “Would you like to drink something?” he asked her.
“Uh, yes. A glass of water, please. I feel thirsty,” she added the words.
“Why don’t you take a seat in here and make yourself comfortable. My butler hasn’t been keeping well, let me check on him and get you water. Please take a seat,” Robarte insisted.
Penny offered him a small smile and she sat down on the torn couch which had cobwebs in the corner of the seats. Though Penny knew how to break the spell, she didn’t know how to put the charm spell back in place which meant she would have to walk the path in the darkness.
She didn’t bother to look at the hall now because her job was to keep one of the black witches occupied. Damien was going to search for Grace and if he did meet her mother he would have to take her down.
When Robarte appeared back in the room, a glass of water in his hand, Penny asked him,
“Is your butler alright?”
“Yes, it’s just the change in the weather for him. He’s grown quite old making his body susceptible to catch an illness,” he passed the glass to her and she took it.
The water that was given to her looked like water but no matter what it was, Penny had the habit of purifying anything she drank. She took the water to her lips and gulped all of it. She was truly thirsty after walking for so long as they had been searching for the location.
She could feel the eyes of the black witch when she finished the glass of water until the very last sip. His demeanor appeared satisfied but Penny didn’t care about it. If he thought he was smart, Penny was a step ahead of him and she smiled.
