UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(31)

Mina pulled on Nan’s arm tentatively and led her into the store, being on the alert to not walk into another pet-infested store. You couldn’t be too careful especially with two animals on the store sign.

It was nestled discreetly between Pottery Palace and Rosie’s Flowers. The quiet tinkle of a bell announced their entrance into the small dark store.

“Hello! Anyone here?” Mina called out when no one came to greet them.

“Maybe they are not open? I’m going to go check outside to see if the hours are posted.” Nan stepped out the rickety wooden door and down the front steps.

Mina had the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. Turning around in a circle she took in the dark oak shelves, the paisley wallpaper, the dimmed and burned out lights. A check-out table and old cash register stood off to one side and looked as if it hadn’t been used in ages. The place was clean and dust-free, but had the feeling of being empty for a long time, or at least empty of anything living.

A large chair stood to one corner and Mina began to walk toward it when she heard the distant sound of children laughing.

“Hello? Who’s there?” She took a few hesitant steps in the direction she thought she heard the laughing come from. “You can come out; I’m looking for a book. Maybe you can help me?”

A glow began in the back of the store and the sounds of children laughing continued. Mina followed the light as it grew brighter and seemed to pulse with its own rhythm and ended at a back wall. The light disappeared and she was encased in darkness. Letting her eyes adjust, Mina had a moment of fear when she turned and was confronted with red angry eyes. Jumping back, she stumbled and knocked into something furry that shifted from her weight. Mina screamed. When nothing reached or lunged for her she reached out her hands to touch the angry glass eyes she had seen earlier. They were part of a life size giant bull, but it was fake or dead. Mina wasn’t really sure she wanted to know. But whoever was the taxidermist behind the bull was incredible, she swore that it breathed. Behind her stood another life-sized animal. But it was a very large stag, frozen on his hind legs.

The stag and bull were lifelike and magical in their realism, neither touching the ceiling nor the floor, and were in front of an intricately painted forest mural. The stag was on his hind legs, head angled as if challenging the raging bull. Mina touched the soft fur of the stag and felt heat emanating from the life-sized diorama. The stag swayed and slid a few inches to the right. Pressing her head to the wall, she could see that the pieces were attached to the wall behind and were movable, able to slide to the right or left.

Taking a few steps back she looked at the two animals and decided that they were on the verge of being joined in battle. Mina went to the heavy black bull and pushed as hard as she could to move it to the center of the wooden puzzle. Grunting and biting her lip Mina struggled with the bull piece. It was as if it was fighting her instead of the stag. When she knew she had moved it as much as she could, Mina tackled moving the large stag piece. Unbelievably it slid with ease toward the bull, almost eagerly. When the stag reached the bull in battle in the exact center of the diorama, a loud audible click was heard followed by ominous creaking.

Mina only had a moment to react as the giant bull, unhinged and fell forward toward her, horns aiming for her heart. Leaping to the left, she dodged the heavy piece as it collided with the stone floor, breaking in two large pieces. When the dust settled, a door appeared where the bull was moments before. How can that be? Mina thought. There was nothing behind there.

Dusting off her hands, Mina stood and looked toward the stag and blinked in surprise. It was gone. She turned and couldn’t figure out where the large stag had disappeared to. Finally giving up, Mina decided to try the door that appeared behind the defeated bull. Opening it led to a dead-end circular room. Stepping through, led no further clues as she was surrounded by large stone blocks. There was stone above her, to the side of her, below her. Wait!

Below her, there was something carved into the floor. Crawling on her hands and knees, Mina did the best she could to wipe away what looked to be hundreds of years of accumulated dust. Her fingers could feel the distinct outline of something. Getting excited, she blew on the engraving, scattering dust particles everywhere. They were all over her clothes and hair, making her sneeze, but it didn’t deter her.

“So that’s where you went!” Mina spoke quietly as her fingers traced the outline of a fighting stag. It was the same stag on the sign and diorama piece, but in a circle of stone three feet in diameter. It looked as if it was a seal or cover for something. Mina stood up and looked around the room for something to break the seal. Finding nothing she turned and stepped on the stone circle in an attempt to head out of the room, but the ground shifted beneath her causing her to drop to her knees.

The stone circle was dropping from underneath her into what looked to be, nothingness. Scrambling Mina, leapt away from the circle and dug her fingers into the crack between another stone in the floor. The stone circle stopped moving and waited, almost patiently until her fingers gave out and she slid back into the hole to land ungracefully on her backside. Once properly seated again, the stone circle continued its descent, although slower as if not to scare Mina further. It didn’t help, she was still terrified. The stone connected with another stone and it stopped a few inches in the air. The new room Mina was in was dark; the only light came from the hole she just descended.

It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust but when they did, she noticed they were in what looked like an oubliette, but with one difference, there was still a way out. Mina started to call for help but felt power gathering again, warning her that something was about to happen. Never leaving the circle of light cast into the hole, Mina waited. A small voice warned her to not step off of the stone circle. What if it decided to float to the ceiling again shutting her in the dark forever? What if there wasn’t anything anchoring it here and if she left it would never float again. There were too many “what if’s” to convince herself to not leave the stone tablet. That was until her eyes alit on a clear glass coffin.