While the sound caused by his fall may not be comparable to that when Bella smashed the door open, Duncan was almost a hundred percent sure that a person located at the first floor could hear it.With the use of his hands Duncan managed to find the wooden stick, the dirty bag that he always carries seemed to have acted like a concussion for his and thus minimizing its harm.A groan left Duncan's lips as he got on his feet with the wooden stick under his right hand's grasp and the dirty bag re-secured on his back.A chill ran down his spine for he could not shake off the feeling that he was being watched. It felt like more than one gaze was pinned on his body, two if he were to be specific.The first gaze was strong and mundane as if cast by a person and yet there was a sense of bizarreness interwoven with it. The gaze while mundane it seemed to be able to pierce into his existence and seek knowledge of his very being or at least it was tried to. Duncan could not pinpoint the origin of the first gaze as if its owner was well versed in the art of stealth.The second gaze was faint and yet it carried a hint of otherworldliness that made Duncan cower in fear as if the gaze itself was the very manifestation of fear. Despite the indescribable fear that assaulted his heart, Duncan could also hear a faint call that accompanied this gaze. The call was not like that made by a human and yet it carried emotions similar to that of a human.Duncan had to blink in stupor.Was that loneliness I am sensing?In deed the call seemed to actually be a cry of loneliness, a cry for comfort, a cry for companionship. The gaze seemed to be longing for company and it just happened to be that Duncan was one of the few that could hear that cry.Despite his current predicament, a sense of curiosity filled Duncan's heart on the origin of the second gaze. Unlike the first gaze, he could roughly pinpoint the source of second gaze.Duncan was in doubt if he should proceed towards the source of the second gaze after all he would have to consider the reaction of the person who the first gaze belonged to.Despite Duncan being cautious, his curiosity got the better of him. With careful steps, Duncan made his way towards the source of the second gaze. He used the wooden stick to navigate across the basement.Crack!A sound of breaking glass reached Duncan's ears after he traversed a decent distance. At first he believed that the owner of the first gaze was the one who made the noise but he quickly dismissed that fact when he took another step forward.Crack!Now Duncan was sure that the sound of breaking glass came from below him and he was the one who was creating them. He shifted the grasp on his wooden stick to his left hand and squatted.Duncan used his right hand to get a feel of the floor. The floor seemed to be littered with scattered shards of glass. With some effort he managed to find the source of the shards of glass. It seemed to be a broken oil lamp and floor underneath it seemed wet.A thought sparked in Duncan's mind.The burnt smell is most probably a result of the broken oil lamp burning the wooden floor. The owner of the first gaze must have taken out the fire before it had caused any real damage to the basement.With that Duncan stood up and returned the grasp of the wooden stick back to his right hand. He continued to head towards the source of the second gaze, this time he was more cautious in order to avoid stepping on the scattered shards of glass.Tap! Tap! Tap!The sound of the wooden stick hitting the floor filled the basement as he made his way across it. The feeling he felt from the second gaze led him to a table, by using his free hand he tried to make out what was on top of the table.The first thing he noticed on the table was a book that seemed to have a cover made of wood and resting right next to the book was a box. As Duncan ran his hand around the box's surface, he noticed that the surface of the box was etched with drawings. After roaming his hand on the surface of the box for some time, Duncan managed to guess that the drawings depicted creatures, creatures of fantasy to be precise.The second gaze seemed to come from within the box. Duncan took a deep breath and laid the wooden stick on top of the table. With shaky hands, Duncan opened the box.The wave of fear that he had been sensing from before intensified to such an extent that he almost let go of the box. But it was the call, the cry of loneliness that kept him rooted in place. The call seemed to have gained a physical quality as it resounded in his ears in a unending manner.Duncan could now make out words from the call as whatever laid inside the box communicated with his very existence."We beseech you-The Dreadful One,The Herald of Terror,The Warden of Secrets,The Lord of Nightmares,The Horror."Duncan felt that he was worthless in front of whoever these titles belonged to. The titles seemed to instill fear to whoever hears them. The call did not stop when it reached the end of these titles, it just started all over again. It seemed that whatever was within the box, it was cursed to forever speak the titles of whoever these titles pointed to like a faithful worshipper.Duncan used his trembling left hand to explore the insides of the box.Here we go.
