Chapter 12: Tenth, Terrible, Test Text,
textbook
“Dragon Alley, the Tenth Street” Sabrina heard a familiar demanding voice coming from
the other side phone “About ten o’clock, you would see a man in grey dumping
the garbage. Take it and meet me at the cottage.” Before Sabrina said anything,
he hung up the phone. “Damn it! Sabrina cursed, “A textbook example of a chauvinist.”
No matter how displeased with his bossy
manner, three hours later Sabrina still showed up in front of the cottage, with
a bag of stinky garbage. And another half an hour later, Lord Howard—the only name
he gave to Sabrina–finally found what he’s looking for: a very strange looking
white box. It was obviously being brutally destroyed. Lord Howard murmured
something, casting a spell to reconstruct the original text on it. Two Words finally showed up, but Sabrina couldn’t
recognize them. “Changchun Changsheng” he explained it to Sabrina: “It’s bio-technology
company in China, one of the Muggle Countries. This company sold the inferior
vaccines to more than 250000 children. About two years ago this terrible scandal outbroke, gripped
this country, and put the entire nation into crisis of faith. Nature of greed, something can always stand
the test of time. Anyway, afterwards it was shut down. But the
drugs, vaccines inventory also disappeared.”
Chapter 13:than thank that
the theatre
“Excuse me, my lord. But what
does that have to do with anything?”
Sabrina blurted out. She felt that she was almost drowning in a whirlpool of
puzzles. Hardly had she solved one than
another came up.
“Might or might not. But when
your father thought Buck was smuggling sugar into this country, he made a
mistake. What Buck really shipped was those vaccines from China. And he with the vaccines were last seen in Dragon
Alley, where Spitz, one of the most powerful wizards, is said to live.” Sabrina
was momentarily dumbfounded by this news. “But what for? Our children don’t need
vaccines against any infectious disease. And you told me Spitz was behind all
this?” “Scared?” he chuckled. “Of course not, what else could I possibly have
to lose? It’s just like fitting tiny pieces together to form a giant piece, but
all you got is just small part of it, and you don’t know which one fits where,
that’s all.” “Then go to Theater de
Paris at midnight, and you might find another piece in Box Five.” “What?
“Sabrina raised her voice almost to a shout, “You want me to go to a haunted box
in a haunted theatre at midnight? Thanks,
but no thanks!”
Chapter 14: their, theirs, them,
themselves, then
Then at midnight, Sabrina found herself stumbling along a
muddy lane. At the end of it was a dark, huge building—the Theatre de Paris.
For a ruin it was in good condition, as though the place was still being used.
If there was any place in this world that Sabrina was afraid of, here it was.
In fact, it scares off everyone in this kingdom. Their deeply-rooted fears could trace back into decades ago. Once
Theatre de Paris was the favorite place of theirs,
with its elegant style and mesmerizing performances, this theatre gripped their
attentions and attracted them like
moths to the flames. Anyway, it is one of those places where people would
indulge themselves in pure pleasures
of sensations.
Chapter 15: there, these, they, thick, thief
Its other great claim to fame was
its owner—Erik. There were a lot of
rumors going on about him, but none of these
could tell where he came from, who he really was, and even what he looked
like—because was never seen without a thick
mask on his face. Only one thing they had known for sure: he had incredible
talents in music. That’s the major reason for its overwhelming popularity. No
one could resist the temptation of the music in Don Juan Triumphant, which
Erick created it himself, and they
called it as “Music from the Angels.” Everything had changed when one night, a thief, broke into his room and stole a
ring, which he had never took it off his finger. How did that thief managed to
steal it—it was still a mystery and would remain a mystery forever. Because the
next morning the thief found died, in the most terrible way, at home and the
stolen ring was gone.
Chapter 16: thin, thing, think,
third, thirteen
And almost at the same time, the splendid
Theater De Paris was gone, replaced by a ghastly, haunted building. Since that
day no one could be able to come near to this place—including the most powerful
wizard. Every year at three o’clock am in July 13th, people could hear someone singing the most heartbreaking song
from a distance. The song was sad, but surprisingly it had sort of healing
power, giving hope to the hopeless, and making you cry and smile at the same
time. There was only one person who could enter this building—Sabrina. It was
supposed to be a secret, a secret only Sabrina and her father knew. Many years
ago, on July 13th, Sabrina’s 6-year-old birthday, she got lost in Third Street. The crowd gradually thinned off and then Sabrina found
herself in a dark lane with no one else around. This dark and hard building,
abandoned by the summer light, should make her scared. However instead, a sense
of loneliness stole over her. Something in this building was calling for her,
alluring her to come closer. And the strangest thing happened, the invisible wall which blocked everyone out
disappeared. Without a second thought,
Sabrina entered in the Theatre De Paris.
Chapter 17: Thirty,
this, those, though thought
What
had happened next was a blur. Theatre De Paris was like those palaces in fairy tales which had been cursed and abandoned,
waiting in the last thirty years for
the one who could break that cruse to show up. The dusky light inside seemed to
create more shadows, instead of driving them away. Suddenly Sabrina heard someone
moving, with a light, stealthy step, up to the stairs. Without troubling for a
reason, she followed up. The footsteps stopped at Box 5. But it was empty.
Sabrina started to panic and tried to get out. Just then, she heard this most unforgettable music, so
beautiful, so mesmerizing, so unbelievably wonderful. She thought everything inside, every piece of her soul, seemed to be drawn
out toward the invisible singer. When it was over, she caught a glimpse of a
shadow moving. “Wait! Please…” she ran toward it. The shadow pause, though, for just a few seconds. It was
enough for Sabrina to catch it up. She raised her head and only saw a pair of
scorching eyes, like a wild wounded animal, like the death itself. And she
remembered nothing more until she recovered consciousness at her home.
Day 19: Thousand, three, through,
throw Thursday
When the setting sun threw long shadows over the sea, the
last sunlight filtered through
Sabrina’s window.
“How could you
get into that theatre?” For a thousand
times, his father asked and for a thousand times, Sabrina couldn’t give out an
answer. It’s dangerous to be different, especially for a normal little girl to do
something that a wizard couldn’t.
“Promise me, my
dear, what happened on Thursday
night is a secret. Never mention about it, and never, never go to that place
again”
Until now, Sabrina still
remembered quite clearly her father’s face when he said that. However, fate
once again led her along the same lane into the unknown.
And it’s three minutes to go
before the midnight.
Day
20: Ticket, tie, till, time, tired.
Just
as Sabrina was about to step into the building, she heard a tired voice whispering by the ear: “Got
you. “The hair on Sabrina’s whole body stood up and time seemed to stand still for this moment. And then
she must have blacked out for a couple of minutes. The next thing she knew, she
was tied tightly by some magic spell
to the tree outside of the theatre. She struggled to break it free, only was
interrupted by the voice that felt upon her ear saying in vicious tone: “Dear
ghost, you rejected my offer twice. But I guess this time it would be
different. See, I got my free ticket,
didn’t I? “The invisible rope that around her neck suddenly tightened up.
Sabrina felt her life slowly draining away, and she couldn’t help letting out a
whining.