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CHAPTER FIVE

Professor Lloyd’s Back Room

Professor Lloyd took Owen and Monica to the back room of his flat, where all the walls were covered with black curtains. In the centre of the room, there was a round, wooden table with strange black markings on it. In the centre, there was a circle with the drawing of an eye in the middle of it. Four spears, like rays of sunlight, went from the central circle to the edge of the table, dividing the table into four equal parts. There was another thin circle of numbers and letters that went round the edge of the table. Between the central circle and the circle at the edge of the table there were four equal spaces. In each there was a picture: one of a fish, one of a snake, one of the moon, and one of a lotus flower.

Professor Lloyd lit candles in the room as Owen and Monica sat at the table. The professor put on a tall black hat with a flat top, and a long black robe. He was the first to speak.

“We are going to try to call people back from the dead. If the stone has the power the myth says it does, we may hear voices we know.”

The professor put the scarab over the eye in the centre of the table, with the beetle facing up.

“Now, we must all hold hands and close our eyes. Do not break the circle by letting go of the hand of the person who is sitting next to you, or the ceremony will end. Relax, breathe slowly, and do not speak.”

They were all very quiet. They heard a soft whistling sound.

It became louder, like the sound of the wind. The room became cold and all the candles were blown out. Then there were voices. Wild laughing, screams of pain. Then again the sound of the wind.

One voice spoke clearly,

“Jack, it’s giving way! The tunnel is giving way!”

“Uncle Bob is that you?”

“Do not speak. They cannot hear you.”

“Jack, the tunnel is falling! Jack!”

The sound of an earthquake was heard and then nothing. A new voice spoke.

“She means alright, but it’s her first holiday on her own. Let her enjoy herself.”

“Mother. It’s me. I’m here!”

“Don’t speak!”

More wind, then rain and thunder.

“The boat’s going over! I can’t hold it!”

The woman’s voice screamed, then Monica screamed,

“Mother, no! I’m here!”

The lights went on and Monica was standing next to the round table where the professor and Owen were sitting. She ran out of the room. The professor found her in the front room where she was sitting on the sofa, crying. He sat next to her and put his arm round her as Owen walked nervously back and forth in front of them.

“It was my mother and father on the boat trip where they.”

“There, there. It’s over now.”

“What was that part about my uncle calling my father’s name?”

“If you recognise a voice that you hear, it means that there is something wrong between you and that person. One thing is certain, the scarab is real.”