The Story Of The WIndlenot Museum Chapter 4 (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 4 Terror In The Office (Audio)

Carl Kolchak stood in the back of the elevator, surprised by what Richard had said. He had never known that copies of his scrapped stories had gotten out. He waited until the elevator stopped before he said, “Richard, you’ve read all my stories?”

He then heard Michael say as the door opened, “Let me guess, both you and Yvette are into the weird stuff, like UFO’s and ghosts.” Just from hearing Michael speak, Carl could tell that the boy didn’t totally believe all that was happening.

He watched as Richard stepped towards the office door in front of him and said, “I never really believe if UFO’s, but Yvette does. I tended to learn about myths, legends, and ghosts. When we started dating, she asked her uncle, who had told her about your stories, Carl, to send some of them to us. As we read them, we both agreed on one thing. You knew what you were talking about, and they weren’t made up.”

Carl smiled when he heard Richard say that. Many of the stories he had written had been stopped, some by Tony, others by someone else. The usual complaint was that they were too far fetched. It was good to know someone believed them for what they were, the truth. Of course, now he wanted to know the truth about the spirit outbreak that was happening here. He watched as Richard started to open the door, and said, “You know, I’m glad you believe it. Of course, you both realize you are walking into a normal story that just turned abnormal. I hope you are ready for it.” He then raised his camera as the door opened, and snapped a picture of the office.

He watched as both teens entered, and heard Michael say, “The place is a mess. Definitely signs that Windlenot left in a hurry.” He watched as Michael started to look over the desk in the room, and saw Richard started to examine a coat that was hanging up. As they looked around, he heard Michael say, “So should we look for a new way out, and a way to catch that thing down in the lake.”

He watched as Richard glanced back at the desk, and said, “Well, I know we can rule out calling anyone. The phone line is cut.” He then watched as Richard pulled out a paper that was in the pocket of the jacket. He watched as Richard looked at it and said, “And here is an article on the disappearances. Windlenot circled the one picture and noted it ‘The Boy who has been following me?’. How much you want to bet that he was one of the teens who disappeared.”

Carl opened the case he had brought, and pulled out some of the information that Tony had given him. “You’re right. Apparently the two kids were reported missing, and someone suspected the Professor. However, the only thing that cleared him, but people forget since he ‘disappeared’, was he wasn’t in town the day the teens disappeared. Of course, everyone forgets that fact, and since no one could get into the museum, they had no proof that the kids are dead. However, after what we found, they can’t accuse Professor Windlenot.” He then looked at the nearby bulletin board. On it was some odd information, which included a listing of a possible location of Atlantis. He then said, “Do you think any of this info is important?”

He was startled when Michael said, “Who knows. But I found something with what looks like a dog’s head on a triangular base in this drawer. I also found a scrapbook which lists some of his ‘findings’ and I don’t think you guys are going to like this.”

Carl saw Richard move to the desk as he said, “What is it?” He also noticed that Richard’s had was resting on a tape recorder.

He watched as Michael said, “Apparently Professor Windlenot had acquired the Ixupi pots for the museum, and there is apparently thirteen pots.” He heard Richard gasp and then noticed that Richard had bumped the play button on the tape recorder.

They all glanced at it, and he noticed that Richard had stepped back. As they listened, they heard Professor Windlenot mention about the missing teens, and that stuff was misplaced in the museum. They then heard him mention about the puzzles, and finally heard him as he was apparently attacked by one of the Ixupi. When it ended, he heard Michael say, “So we are dealing with thirteen of these creatures. That doesn’t sound good.”

It was then he heard Richard say, “Not thirteen, if Windlenot and the two teens all died at the Ixupi’s claws, and each spirit is in a pot, then that means that three Ixupi are gone. There are ten left, and one is water.” He also noticed that Richard had backed up until he was right in front of the fireplace in the room. He then heard Richard say, “We should keep note of everything we find. I have a feeling that no matter how unlikely it seems, it’s a key to a puzzle or the mystery of the place.” He then saw Richard pause, and heard him say, “Is it just me, or does anyone else hear what sounds like bellows?” He then saw Richard turn towards the fireplace.

At that moment, he heard Michael shout, “Richard, get away from the fireplace.” He noticed that Michael had started moving towards Richard, but he also saw a black horned shape with glowing eyes rise out of the ashes. He pulled out his camera, and took a picture, and hoped Richard would move back in time. He was shocked when the creature slashed at Richard, and he fell backwards into Michael’s arms. As the lad fell backwards, he saw the creature go back into the ashes. Carl then realized that they now knew something more about the Ixupi, however, he wasn’t sure what it was.

Michael McNeal held his friend, and worried. He knew what the one in the lake had done to him, and now he noticed it had happened to Richard as well. His friend aged about ten years in his arms. He waited a moment, and then glanced at Carl. He was about to yell at the man, and realized that Carl might not survive an Ixupi attack. He did noticed that Carl now had a Polaroid of the creature. He then heard Carl say, “I did think about trying to push Richard out of the way, but I thought Richard might be upset if it killed me.”

He then felt Richard shiver as he said, “I would be. Besides, we will need proof that these things exist.” He watched as Richard slowly got up, and said, “We still need to figure out how to capture the things. I have a feeling that if we capture one that attacked us, we will get our essence back.”

He nodded and said, “That makes sense, and both you and I need to do that. However, for right now, we should avoid getting to close to the fireplace, or anything with water and ash. So far, we know those things will each hold an Ixupi.” He then watched as Richard nodded.

Michael then noticed that Carl was looking between two obvious door and said, “All right, now for the next question. Which way should we head next, left or right?”

He glanced between the two door, and then went to the door on the right side of the fireplace, and opened it. When he did so, he stepped in and said, “Looks like this is a workshop of sorts. There are tools of all sorts in here, and even a diagram of a purposed Basilisk skull.” He then looked at the other two who were entering and said, “What the hell is a Basilisk?”

He watched as Richard walked over to the diagram, and said, “If I remember my mythology right, it’s some creature that has a gaze that kills anything. I don’t remember all the specifics, but if such a creature did exist, I hoped it died out.” He then noticed that Richard was looking over the diagram and said, “And why are some of these pieces marked with numbers.”

He started to wonder about that as well, when he heard Carl say, “Maybe it’s another puzzle. There is a box full of drawers here on the counter with all sorts of numbers on it.” Michael turned and was stunned to see that Carl was right. He also noticed a small key in the lower corner of the box.

Michael watched as Richard looked over the box and said, “There are twelve drawers. I guess we have to pull out the marked drawers and turn the key.” He then watched as Richard start to pull out the marked drawers.

It was at that point an idea hit him. He looked over at Richard and said, “Wait, push those drawers back in, and pull out the ones not on the diagram. If the Basilisk was a dangerous creature, that it’s skull should stay locked up.” He watched as Richard nodded and did like he suggested. Soon, he saw Richard turn the key, and he heard Carl yelp.

He glanced over at Carl who was rubbing his leg as he said, “That door just sprung open. I shouldn’t have been standing so close.” He then saw that Carl had glanced into the cabinet, and heard him say, “However, I think I just found one of those pots in there. I think this one might be of interest to you.”

Michael glanced in the cabinet and smiled when he saw the pot. On it was a drawing of what looked like water. Michael went to pick it up, but Richard stopped him. He looked at Richard as said, “Why are you stopping me?”

He watched as Richard motioned and said, “We seem to be stuck in this place right now. We also don’t have anything we can safely carry stuff in. Also, that pot has no lid. I think before we pick up this pot, we should find the lid, and be sure which Ixupi we will capture using it.”

Michael nodded in agreement and then said, “I don’t like this idea, Richard. We should take it with us. I can see your point about no room to hold stuff, but with ten Ixupi running around, we should be ready.”

It was then that Michael had noticed Carl looking at the tool board and heard him say, “I think someone else had the idea to carry a weapon.” He then glanced behind him and said, “I think they used the ax on the box behind me here, but found it to be harmless.” He then watched as Carl motioned to the door and said, “Gentlemen, I do think that right now we are in a place we shouldn’t be. A room with one way out. I suggest that we get out of the room.”

Michael nodded in agreement and they all headed back to the office. As they left the room, he closed the door and said, “I guess we should now head out the door. It probably leads to the museum.” He then noticed that Richard was looking at the rug hanging on the wall near the door.

Richard Cale glanced at the door opposite them. As he looked at it, and then at the rug hanging on the wall, he wondered if that was the only door left in the room. He walked over to it, steering clear of the fireplace. He crouched down, and lifted up the rug to see a doorway behind it. He then said, “Well, I think we have one more area to search before the other door.”

He started to go into the doorway, when he heard Michael say, “Hey, wait for us. Right now we shouldn’t be going anywhere alone.” He nodded and waited until they were all together. Once they were all there, he noticed an elevator in the room, and walked over to the call panel.

As he started to manipulate the call panel, he heard Carl say, “Well, I guess this is an area that wasn’t supposed to be found. Do you think we found something we shouldn’t have?”

As he continued working the puzzle, he heard Michael say, “I don’t know. Maybe we found something for privacy, like a private room or something. I don’t know everything about the place.” He knew that was true. Unlike most of the people in town, who knew more about the Windlenot Museum’s history, Michael and his family had moved into the area.

When he finished manipulating the call panel, he saw the elevator open. He entered the elevator and said, “If anything, it probably leads to a private bedroom. The town first loved the idea of the museum, but when it took too long to build, they started giving Windlenot problems. So the only place Windlenot could stay once it was built was here.”

As they followed him in, he heard Carl say, “So it could mean that there is background information about the professor up there.” He nodded in agreement, and start the elevator.

No one spoke as it rose up, and Richard found himself focusing on the music that was playing. It helped him relax after all that had happened. When it finally stopped, he watched as the door opened, and said, “Top floor, ancient mysteries, family backgrounds, and hopefully no supernatural terrors. Everyone off.”

He watched as the others stepped off and opened the near by door. As he left, he saw Carl start to enter the room, and heard Michael say, “Very funny, Richard. I don’t think the humor helped.”

Richard looked at Michael and said, “If we didn’t joke about this, we would go nuts. You might not appreciate the joke right now, but later you will.” He then entered the room, and noticed that Carl was over at the desk in the room. He looked over at Carl and said, “Find something interesting?”

He watched as Carl nodded and said, “Yes I did. I think I found his journal. He talked about a few things in here, including his son. I think he even wanted to send this journal to his son, Geoffrey. It has a lot of information in here, but I don’t think it explains any of the things in the museum.”

He walked over and looked at it, and then noticed that Michael was looking at a small clock on the desk. As he walked over, he heard Michael say, “Doesn’t this clock look like the one on the museum outside. Maybe that’s a clue to something.”

He then watched as Michael turned the hands on the clock face, and noticed the figures under the face changed. He then remembered the clock tower and said, “Maybe this clock is a model of the tower. Let’s write down the times that certain faces are out, and maybe it will tell us something later.” He watched as Michael nodded and then saw Carl walk over with the pad and pen.

When they were done, Richard heard Carl say, “Well, shall we head into the museum now. Maybe there are more clues in the museum, as well as ways to find and capture the Ixupi.” He nodded, and headed out of the room, and back to the elevator. Soon, he was joined by the others and they returned to Windlenot’s office.

Soon, they were right at the door to the museum. They still stayed clear of the fireplace, and Richard looked at Carl and Michael. He just smiled and said, “Well, we are about to venture someplace very few people have seen. Let’s find out what Professor Windlenot had in his museum.” He then opened the door, and they stepped into the main museum.