Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen

Arthur hoped to be able to perform the prayer immediately, but Dr. Bojoy said it was impossible.First of all, they are very tired after a long journey; secondly, they need to prepare some props for the ceremony. Without these props, nothing can be done.The doctor thought that after a night's rest, Arthur would become more sensible.When the sun shines on the ground next day, Arthur will be ashamed of the eccentric ideas that are completely opposite to what he has been taught.But Arthur remembered that the next day was exactly a week after Margaret's death, and it seemed to him that day would make their spell more effective.

When the three of them came downstairs to greet each other the next morning, everyone had tired looks on their faces.Obviously, none of them slept. "Are you still thinking the same way as last night?" the doctor asked seriously. "yes." The doctor hesitated nervously. "If you want to follow the rules of the ancient wizards, you have to fast for that day." "I can do whatever you want." "I'm fine." Susie laughed excitedly. "I can eat nothing for a day." "It's ridiculous," said Dr. Bojoy. "You promised me you'd try."

The long summer days passed slowly.The sky was so bright that the doctor couldn't help but think of Egypt.When the surface of Egypt was as hot as a bowl of molten fire, the sky was as bright as it is now.Arthur was restless and couldn't stay in the house at all, so he left the doctor and Susie and went out alone.He walked aimlessly, with quick steps, but he didn't feel tired at all.The scorching sun was shining on him, but he didn't know it.Time passed very slowly.Susie lay on the bed, trying to read a little.Her nerves were tense, and the sound of a pail falling on the cobblestones in the yard would have made her scream.The sun gradually rose, and before long, the entire window was shaking with golden beams.Time passed, noon came, then afternoon, then evening came.There was nothing cool in the air.At this time, Dr. Bojoy was sitting in the living room, holding his head in his hands, trying to recall what he had read.His heart was beating very fast.At this time, night fell, and the stars appeared one by one in the night.There was no wind in the air, and it was very dull.Susie came down and chatted with Dr. Bojoy.Their voices were low, as if they were afraid of being overheard.They were fainting with hunger.Several more hours passed.Every time the clock struck, they felt a wave of unspeakable terror.The lights in the village gradually went out, and people fell asleep.Susie had already lit the lamp, and now they were sitting opposite each other, watching the light silently.A chill spread all over her body.

"I feel like there's a dead body lying in the house right now." "Why hasn't Arthur come back yet?" The two said their own things, and neither of them cared what the other said.The windows were open, but the air was still too hot to breathe.The silence was unusual, and Susie couldn't help but tense up.She tried to recall the noise of the Parisian streets, the roar of the cars, the rushing of people coming home from get off work.She stood up. "There's no wind at all tonight. Look at the trees, the leaves don't budge." "Why hasn't Arthur come back?" repeated the doctor.

"There's no moonlight either, and it must be pitch black at Shane." "He has been away for a day and should be back." Susie felt a tightness in her chest and gasped for air.Finally, footsteps were heard on the road outside, and Arthur appeared at the window. "Are you ready?" he said. "We've been waiting for you." They took a few props that Dr. Bojoy thought were necessary, and walked with Arthur along the desolate country road to Shane.The heather trees beside the road spread their teeth and claws, extending into the dark night sky, exuding an ominous feeling.They walked without making a sound.Through the starlight, one can vaguely see the barren surrounding them.The road seems to be endless.They were so exhausted that they could barely move.

"Must give me a break," said Susie. Arthur and the doctor did not look back, but stopped.Susie sat on a boulder by the side of the road.The two stood motionless before her, waiting patiently.After a while, Susie forced herself to stand up. "Let's go," she said. The two continued on their way without saying a word.They are in a trance, sneaking forward according to the predetermined route, as if they are acting according to the will of others.Suddenly, there was no longer a road ahead, replaced by Scheene's fortified gate. "Follow me," Arthur said.

He stepped aside, and they followed him along the wooden fence.Susie felt a narrow path beneath their feet.It was so dark that Susie could barely see two steps away.Finally, Arthur stopped. "I've been here before and made the entrance easier." He knocked down a piece of wood from the railing and slipped inside.Susie followed closely, and Dr. Bojoy followed. "I can't see anything," said Susie. "Give me your hand and I'll take you away." It was very difficult to walk among the bracken tangled with vines and the dense trees. Now and then they stumbled, and Dr. Bojoy even fell once.They seem to have come a long way.Susie was very anxious, her heart was beating fast, and she had long forgotten her physical exhaustion.

At this moment Arthur stopped and pointed in front of him.From a clearing in the wood they saw Hador's villa.All the windows were dark, only a few under the eaves were brightly lit. "That's the attic and his laboratory. You see, he's working. There's no one else in the house." The brilliant light fascinated Susie.No one knew what Oliver Hadow was doing day and night.What kind of terrible things happened in this isolated place?That lunatic was doing terrible experiments alone in this big house, and who knows what kind of secret he discovered? "Don't worry about him coming out," said Arthur. "He'll stay there till daylight."

He took her hand again and led her forward.They were back in the woods again, and after a while came up a path.It's much easier to walk this way. "Doctor Bojoy, are you ready?" Arthur asked. "yes." The trees are getting thicker and thicker, the night is getting darker, the stars are covered by clouds, and it is so dark that you can't see your fingers. "Here we are," Arthur said. They stopped and saw a green field ahead.The green area is surrounded by four intersecting roads, with a stone chair in the middle looming in the dark. "This is where I saw Margaret for the last time."

"I can't see anything," said the doctor. Arthur handed Dr. Bojoy two flat brass bowls for censers.The doctor was busy preparing, and Arthur stood beside Susie and watched.I saw the doctor walking back and forth, bent over and busy.They heard a crackling of wood, and then saw flames bursting from the brass bowl.They didn't know what was burning, but a thick cloud of smoke rose up, and a pungent fragrance filled the air.From time to time the doctor stood with the backlight, and the firelight clearly outlined his outline.His slender and slightly arched figure is particularly mysterious.Susie saw his face and saw a strong emotion in the doctor's face.The work at hand affected him deeply, driving away all his doubts and fears.He looked like some ancient alchemist devoted to the supernatural.Susie's heart was beating painfully, and she felt so frightened that she couldn't help stretching out her hands to grab Arthur.He silently took her arm.Then the doctor drew strange symbols on the ground.The flames died down, leaving only a sliver of light, but his vision didn't seem to be affected at all.Susie couldn't see the symbols he drew.Then he added some twigs to the brazier, and the flames sprang up again, piercing the darkness like a sharp sword.

"Come on," he said. Just then, Susie felt a wave of unexplainable fear.She felt her hair stand on end, and she was covered in cold sweat.Her limbs were as heavy as lead, and she couldn't move at all.An unprecedented panic surged in her heart.If it wasn't for her legs being unable to move, she would have already run away desperately.She was shaking.She tried to speak, but there was a lump in her throat. "I can't, I'm afraid." She muttered hoarsely. "You must come. We can do nothing without you," said Arthur. She couldn't comfort herself rationally.She forgot everything but the fear of death.Her heart was beating so fast that she almost fainted.Arthur grabbed her hard and her face twitched. "Let me go," she murmured, "I won't help you, I'm afraid." "You must come," he said, "you must." "no." "I tell you, you must come." "why?" The deadly fear in her heart turned into a sudden surge of anger. "Because you love me, and that's the only way I can find peace." She let out a wail of pain, and the anger in her heart turned to shame.It turned out that he also knew his secret!Her face turned red to the root of her hair.Then she felt another pang of anger that he had taken advantage of this cruelly to make fun of her.At this point she had regained her courage and took a few steps forward.Dr. Bojoy told her where to stand.Arthur stood in front of her. "Never move without my order. If you step out of the symbol I drew, then I can't protect you." Dr. Bojoy stood for a while without making a sound.Then he began to chant strange words in Latin.Susie could hear his voice, but it was indistinct.She didn't understand the words, and his voice was so low she couldn't make out the individual words.His tone was so serious that it made people tremble, completely devoid of the usual sarcasm.Arthur stood as motionless as a stone.The flames went out, and they could only see each other dimly through the twilight of the embers, as if in a vision of death.There was silence, and then "The Wizard" intoned again, this time a little louder.He seemed to be reciting some strange prayers, but no one could understand what he was saying.At this moment, all the burning embers suddenly went out. The ashes hadn't burned out, but they were suddenly extinguished, as if they had been snuffed out by a pair of invisible hands.The darkness around him grew darker, darker than the darkest night.They could not see the trees around them, nor the white light reflected from the stone chairs.They stood very close to each other, but as if they were standing alone.Susie opened her eyes as hard as she could, but she couldn't see anything.She looked up quickly and saw that the stars were gone, and she could see nothing but a small area above her head.It was terribly dark.In such darkness, Dr. Bojoy's voice seemed very frightening.His voice was different from before, as if it came from the bottomless chaos.Susie clenched her fists to keep herself from fainting. Suddenly, a sudden strong wind interrupted the doctor's voice.Su Xi was startled suddenly, the silence was unbearable just now, but now she looked as if the rain was about to come.The surrounding trees shook violently in the strong wind, their branches creaked and their leaves hissed as they rubbed against each other.They're right in the center of the hurricane.The surrounding trees seemed to be uprooted by the tyrannical wind, and the ground under their feet trembled.The doctor raised his voice as the wind howled past them, trying in vain to contain it.Strangely enough, there was not a breath of wind where they stood.The air around them was as calm as ever, and Susie's hair was unruffled.There was an almost unnatural calm where they stood, and there was an intense noise in their ears—an absolutely terrifying thing. Suddenly, the doctor raised his voice, shouting the unknown language hoarsely.There was an unprecedented severity in his voice.Then he called Marguerite, calling her name three times.With the wind howling, Susie could barely hear the doctor's call.Fear once again swept through her body.When she was terrified, she remembered the doctor's order, so she dared not move her position. "Margaret, Margaret, Margaret." As soon as the voice fell, the surroundings returned to silence, without any gap in between, as coherent as a stone falling to the ground.The terrible sound of the storm did not gradually weaken. One second the hurricane was still roaring, and the next it became absolute, deathly silence. Then, a woman's cry came from nowhere, strange and clear.Susie's heart almost stopped.They heard a woman crying and recognized Margaret's voice.A moan of pain escaped Arthur's lips.Just as he was about to move forward, Dr. Bojoy stopped him with his hand.That cry was heartbreaking.It was the cry of a woman who had lost all hope, a woman tormented by fear.If she could move, Susie would have covered her ears—she didn't want to feel the pain of that cry. After a while Arthur saw her, though it was still very dark, and the sky was devoid of a single star.She sat on the stone chair, just like the last time she spoke to him.She was in so much pain that she didn't cover her face with her hands.She looked at the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks like broken beads.Her chest heaved with crying. Arthur knew then that all his suspicions were correct.