Episode 7: The Cursed Sonata
It was just past midnight when Aarav and Maya climbed the staircase toward the west wing, guided only by candlelight. The air grew heavier with every step — thick with dust, but also with something else.
Fear.
"The second mirror is in the music room," Maya said. "I think it belonged to Lucien Blackthorn."
"Ambrose's son?" Aarav asked.
"Yes. He was obsessed with music… and madness."
The Music Room
The door creaked open.
Inside, the music room looked like it had once been beautiful — polished floors, red velvet curtains, and a massive black grand piano in the center. But now, it was decaying. The walls were cracked, and sheet music was scattered across the floor like leaves in a dead forest.
A large mirror stood behind the piano — tall and ornate, its silver surface rippling faintly, like water.
Maya whispered,
"That's it. The second mirror."
Aarav stepped forward — but as soon as his foot touched the wooden floor, the piano keys played themselves.
Three notes.
Then silence.
Then a scream.
The Spirit of Lucien
Suddenly, a gust of freezing wind slammed the door shut behind them. The candle went out. Moonlight flooded the room through a broken window.
And sitting at the piano…
...was Lucien Blackthorn.
His back was to them, his suit torn, his head twitching violently. When he turned, his face was melted on one side, and his mouth had been stitched shut.
Maya gasped.
"The Whisper Curse… They silenced him to stop the voices."
Lucien stood, dragging a rusted violin bow in one hand. He didn't walk — he glided, his feet hovering an inch off the ground.
"Don't let him touch you," Maya whispered. "If he does, you'll stop hearing the living. Forever."
Breaking the Curse
The spirit lunged.
Aarav barely dodged as the ghost screeched — not with his mouth, but through the mirror, which vibrated violently. Aarav's ears rang, and blood dripped from his nose.
Maya pulled chalk from her bag and began drawing a warding sigil on the floor.
"Keep him back! Just thirty seconds!"
Aarav grabbed a candle stand and swung it through Lucien — which did nothing.
But when he shouted "Eleanor!", the spirit froze — its head snapping violently to one side, confused, scared.
"You knew her, didn't you?" Aarav shouted. "She betrayed you!"
Lucien shrieked and flew toward him — but the ward lit up. A shockwave burst through the room.
Lucien let out one last haunting note — a violin chord so sharp and beautiful, it made Aarav weep.
Then, the mirror flashed, and the spirit was gone.
On the mirror's surface, a name appeared in golden light:
Lucien Blackthorn
"The Silent One"
The Second Seal
Maya stepped closer to the mirror.
"Two down. Five to go."
She looked at Aarav, eyes filled with something new — not just fear, but urgency.
"We need to talk. If you really are part of Ambrose's bloodline, the ritual doesn't just need your blood… it needs your consent."
Aarav clenched his jaw.
"And if I don't give it?"
The mirror behind him cracked slightly — as if in warning.