Discovering a Forgotten Room

Sabrina never paid attention to the architecture of the bed and breakfast when she’d purchased it with a loan from the Coven. It was the size she needed for her business and she was fully focused on the actual running of that business.

So when her twin brother, Sebastian, started poking around and talking about how the rooms didn’t match up with the outside of the house, she fled to the kitchen to bake.

She was just pulling a tray of scones out of the oven when he barreled into the kitchen. “Bree, you have to come see what I found!” he exclaimed.

It was unusual for Sebastian to get that excited about something so she turned off the oven and set the tray on the counter. “What did you find?” she asked, wiping her hands on the towel over her shoulder before setting it on the table.

Sebastian grabbed her hand, tugging her out of the kitchen. “I found a secret room.”

“Where?” she asked as she allowed him to pull her up the stairs. They bypassed the main bedrooms, going towards what was once the servants’ quarters. Sabrina had turned them into smaller bedrooms without en suites for guests, but now Sebastian moved past them to the end of the hall. She sighed when she saw that he had torn the wallpaper to reveal two indentations. “You’re fixing that,” she informed him.

“Yeah. Yeah.” He waved it off, pressing his fingers to the indentations. A moment later, a section of the wall popped out and Sebastian grabbed it, pulling it out to reveal a dark chamber.

**Sabrina stepped back as stale air flowed out of the chamber, pushed out by the fresh air that Sebastian had let in. “What made you look for this?” she asked, not wanting to step forward and stick her head into the dark. In response, Sebastian held up his hand, conjuring a glowing ball with a word. “Showoff,” Sabrina muttered as he sent the orb into the room. While she could conjure lights, hers were stationary.

“I told you, I thought the measurements didn’t match up,” he replied. “Did you know about this?”

Emboldened now, she moved closer. “No,” she answered absently, taking in the details. The orb brightened the room enough that she could see dusty furniture that looked to be from the early colonial period. She recognized the joins and heavy furniture. In addition, the use of a standing wardrobe instead of a closet signalled the time period. “This looks like it hasn’t been opened in centuries.”

Sebastian grabbed her arm as she started to step into the room. “We don’t know why they closed it off… let’s not trigger something.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sebastian, I didn’t buy the house from one of the Coven families. I’m sure it’s fine.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but she had already stepped into the room. Sabrina looked behind at him as she crossed the threshold. Instead of a clear view of her twin, she saw a foggy rendition. Frowning, she turned to see him clearer, but didn’t step out of the room. He didn’t become any clearer, but since she could still see him, she didn’t worry about it.

When she turned back to face the room, the dust had disappeared from the furniture and the muted colors were deeper and richer. Slowly she moved towards the bed, fingers carefully reaching out to touch the quilt that covered the bed. Beneath her fingers wasn’t the feeling of a mattress she expected, but instead felt more like straw or corn husks.

Sabrina drew her hand back, frowning. If the mattress had been in there since the room was sealed, she shouldn’t have found an intact mattress. In fact, she should smell decay and the bed shouldn’t look like it was waiting for its owner to return from a day’s work and slip under the blanket for an evening’s rest.

She felt a shiver across her body, goosebumps breaking out as she realized that maybe stepping into the room wasn’t her best idea. Looking up, she realized that Sebastian’s orb had disappeared somewhere and instead the little light she had came from the rising sun.

Pulling her hand away from the bed, she crossed the room to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open, almost unsurprised to find woolen dresses hanging from hooks. Quickly shutting the door, she moved quickly towards the still open door.

As she approached it, she felt a pull on her body and it was as if she was fighting through ocean waves to reach it. Almost throwing herself at the door, she grabbed at Sebastian as she tumbled into the hallway. “Seal it back up,” she gasped, “shut the door!”

”Where did you go?” Sebastian demanded, even as he grabbed the edges of the door and closed it. A quick hand gesture before it completely shut pulled his orb back to him and he extinguished it as he asked, “What was that?”

Sabrina was bent over, gasping for air, and unsure why she was having trouble breathing. She felt Sebastian’s hand land on her back and drew power from him, an advantage to being twins meant they could share power. Feeling steadier, she answered, “Somehow I was back before that room was sealed. I was afraid I’d get stuck there.”

”I couldn’t even see you when you were in there,” he told her.

”I think we need to seal it and seal it better,” she said as she straightened up. “I don’t want a guest stumbling onto it.”

”Maybe we can get a quorum and do a cleansing spell,” Sebastian said. “Come on, let’s get you something sweet.”

As he guided her back down the stairs, Sabrina looked back at the room. She’d agree to the cleansing spell and keep an eye on it. She had a feeling the room would be important later.