The Story Of The WIndlenot Museum Chapter 3 (Kolchak)

Attention: Shivers is property of Sierra. Richard Cale is my character, and is used in other fics with my blessing. Michael McNeal is a creation of Mike N, who has fics posted on fanfiction.net as well. Carl is Carl Kolchak from the Kolchak: The Night Stalker franchise.

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The Story of the Windlenot Museum

Chapter 3: Otherworldly Encounters (Audio)

Michael McNeal couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It looked like a mummified corpse, minus the wrappings. He watched as Carl started to take another picture, and wondered how the reporter couldn’t get sick after seeing that. He had noticed that Richard almost threw up, but saw that his friend must have fought the reflex. He then watched as Richard neared the corpse and looked at the clothes on it. He also noticed that Richard was nearing a book. Before Richard even touched the book, he heard him say, “Well, I think we just found Professor Windlenot, and by the looks of it, I think he was trying to flee from here.”

He walked over to Richard and said, “What makes you say that? The fact that he’s laying like he was heading for the door before he fell dead? The rumor was he killed those two teens.”

He was startled when he heard Carl say, “Well, if he was responsible for the murders, why is he heading out this way. Also, why is he only carrying a book on Hieroglyphics?”

He watched as Richard pulled the book away from the corpse and opened it. He watched as Richard paged through the book, and saw him hesitate. “It looks like there is a page missing. Other than that, we might need some info in the book, but I don’t think we should be carrying it around.”

He then watched as Carl pulled out a note pad and pen and said, “Here you go. Maybe you should write down everything you think might be needed.” He watched as Richard nodded and started jotting stuff down. He then watched as Carl walked over to a small boat that was on the shore. He watched as Carl took a photo of it, and then heard him say, “Michael, any clue how the boat might work?”

Michael walked over to the boat and looked inside, seeing what looked like two anchor levers and two turn knobs. He then climbed in the boat and studied it. Soon he said, “Well, it looks like the levers anchor and lock the turn knobs, and most likely the knobs cause the ship to move forward. That could mean that there is a track guiding the boat.”

He then watched as Carl climbed in, and said, “Roomy vehicle. At least we won’t have to swim across since the only way out might be across this lake.” He then saw that Richard was finishing the notes he was taking, and starting to put the book back where they had found it. He then heard Carl say, “You know, there is something weird about that body. Something about how it’s posed makes me think he was fleeing from something when he died, but I didn’t see any signs of an attack.”

Michael looked at him for a moment and said, “If that is the case, then what did attack him?” He watched as Carl shrugged and then saw Richard entering the boat.

When his friend was in, he heard him say, “Well, shall we find out what is on the far shore?” He nodded and then started to move the boat forward. As he moved it forward, he watched as Richard looked around cautiously as he said, “What’s the weird bubbling sound?” He stopped moving the boat forward when Richard said that, and looked down at the boat. He saw no signs of a leak in the boat, and then looked over the side. When he did, he saw a strange creature lunge up at him. He fell back into the boat, and felt the creature touch him, and could have sworn it even reached into him as he fell back. It was then he noticed a flash of light, and saw the creature retreating.

Carl quickly snapped a picture when the thing attacked Michael. He was scared that the creature might have killed the boy, but when the watery thing returned to the lake, he noticed that there were no marks on the boy. He leaned forward and said to Michael, “Are you all right?”

He was distressed when he heard Michael saying, “So Cold. My chest feels numb.” He then saw Michael clutching at his chest, and could have even swore that Michael’s face looked at least ten years older.

He then saw Richard moving to stay low, and heard him say, “Carl, get down. I’m going to get this boat to shore before that thing attacks again.” He then heard the bubbling sound start up again.

As Richard started to turn the knob, Carl said, “You better hurry, Richard. I think that thing is about to make a second appearance.” He then watched as it took very little time for them to reach the far shore. He then heard Richard trying to force the knob to turn and said, “Richard, I think we are safe.”

He watched as Richard turned to face him, and then saw the worried look on his face. He then watched as the boy moved over to Michael and hear him say, “Mike, are you alright?”

Carl held his breath for a moment until he heard Michael gasp for breath. Soon, he heard Michael say, “What then hell was that?” Carl then looked down at the photo he had taken when the thing attacked, and saw it had developed. He then held the photo up so all could see. He then heard Michael say after seeing it, “It looks like it’s from a horror movie. I knew I had a bad feeling about this.”

Carl watched as Richard got out of the boat and said, “Well, I think that answers our question about what happened to Professor Windlenot, but not what that thing in the water was.”

Carl then helped Michael get up, as Michael said, “It was some sort of monster. I knew it was a bad idea coming in here. We are going to have to get out of here as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that means braving the water again.” Carl then saw Richard walking over to a door in the wall, with a strange pot near it. As Richard walked, he saw Michael edge towards his friend as he said, “Rich, we need to get out of here.”

As Michael neared Richard, Carl pulled out his tape recorder and then said into it. “What I originally thought would be a story about an old mystery, I soon discovered was that something unnatural was happening here, but then given the name of the museum, that’s an understatement. However, the recent attack by that creature reminds me of the incident with the Peramatfait. I have a feeling that this might be a repeat of that, however, this time I don’t think a stake of bayou gum wood will help.” He turned to face the two boys, and saw that Richard had knelt down and opened the pot. He was then surprised to see a spirit come flying out of the pot. After a moment, he realized what he was looking at.

As the spirit looked around for a moment, he heard Richard say, “It’s the spirit of Professor Windlenot.” At that moment, Carl was sure that this was going to be a story that Tony might not let him print.

Richard Cale looked in awe at the spirit before him. He had never seen a ghost before, and he was sure he was seeing Professor Windlenot. He wasn’t surprised when he saw a brief flash of light, and figured Carl had snapped another picture. Soon he heard the spirit speak, “Fifteen long years I’ve been stuck in that pot.” He watched as the spirit looked at him and said, “You must get out. They are evil.”

He only looked at the spirit and said, “What are?”

He wasn’t surprised when the spirit said, “The Ixupi. They have already stolen some of your friend’s life essence. The only way to regain it is to capture the Ixupi.”

Right then, he heard Michael say, “What a minute? What do you mean life essence?” Richard then looked over at Michael and gasped. His friend appeared ten years older. When he first saw Michael in the dim light, he thought his eyes were playing a trick on him.

He was then surprised when Carl said, “I think he means your soul. In simple terms, it can be called your essence. I guess that one in the water stole part of it.”

Richard looked at the ghost again and said, “How do we catch them?”

He watched as the ghost started to fade and say, “You must catch them in their vessel. Match the lid with the pot and confront them. It’s the only way, or you’ll be doomed like me.” He watched as the ghost disappeared and then recapped the pot and picked it up.

As he did so, he heard Michael say, “This is not good. We should get out of here. It’s like a run of the mill horror movie.” He had to agree with him on that. It played like something from one of the films he knew Michael loved. However, he also realized that people would start asking why Michael looked ten years older.

Richard looked down the hallway and decided there was only one choice they could make. He started down the hall. As he progressed, he heard both Carl and Michael following him. As he moved down the hall, he heard Carl say, “Richard, didn’t you hear your friend?”

Richard nodded and said, “I did, but let me ask you this. What will all our friends think if Michael comes home ten years older, or possibly twenty. We cross that lake again, and that Ixupi will attack us again. Right now, our only course of action is to find the way to capture it again. Plus, if you want to leave, we should find another way out.”

He heard someone smack their head, and looked to see it was Michael, as he said, “He’s got a point. People will ask questions, and they can’t be easily answered, especially with your pictures, Carl.”

As they neared the end of the passage, he looked up as a camera focused on him. It was just above an elevator door, and pointed at a panel on the wall. As he approached it and slid it open, he said, “Besides, Carl, wouldn’t it help your story if you stumbled across the story behind the disappearances. Besides, I think this story is more your line of study. Now, before we continue, I need to figure out this panel.” He glanced at the elevator and noticed the diagonal pattern on the elevator doors.

As he worked on the panel to match the pattern, he heard Carl say, “I must admit it would be a boost to my story, but why do you think it would be in my field of interest?” He could sense in Carl’s voice that he was surprised by his statement.

When he finished getting the pattern in place, he heard the doors open, and started into the elevator. He then turned to the others and said to Carl, “Because I did hear what you said into your tape recorder. I remember reading a story of yours about that thing you named. Yvette had gotten copies of them from her uncle. Something tells me you know him, am I right, Mr. Kolchak?” He watched as Carl’s eyes went wide as he entered the elevator.

He then heard Michael say, “Wait a minute. Are you saying he knows more about these sort of things than he’s letting on?” When he nodded, he heard Michael say, “You know, this is playing out more like a horror movie the farther we get into this place. I just hope we make it out of this place.” As the elevator started to rise, Richard was hoping the same thing. He also started to wonder how many Ixupi might be running around the museum.