The Story Of The Windlenot Museum Chapter 7 (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 7: Revealed Youth (Audio)

Carl Kolchak wasn’t sure what Michael had come upon, but something told him that it was important. He watched as the boy ran down the stage steps, and headed for the door. He also noticed that the other boy, Richard, started to follow him. “Mike, what have you figured out?”

He followed, and watch as Michael ran back into the museum lobby, and over to the stone fountain. As the boy looked it over, Carl was puzzled. “Michael, what did you figure out?”

He watched as the boy continued to search the fountain. He was stunned when one panel opened up, and he saw Michael do something in the panel. It was then that he heard the sound of running water.

He started to worry, especially when he heard Richard say, “Mike, are you nuts? After what that one Ixupi did to you, you’re trying to lure it here to finish the job.”

He was stunned when he heard Michael say, “No. Remember how we agreed to let the pots and lids where we found them. Well, I think we just found a matching pair. This one that was on the stage in the theater was the Water pot. After looking at the rim, I think the top part is in the workshop.” He then watched as the boy headed over to the museum office door.

He stepped away from the filling fountain, and watched as Richard followed the African boy. “Mike, didn’t you say we shouldn’t get out of view of the others.” He watched as Mike nodded, and then heard Richard say, “Good. I’ll go with you in the office door. Carl can stand right here near the door. We keep in each others eyeshot. We also keep distant from any Ixupi hiding spots.”

“Alright, just don’t you get attacked by that Ash one again. I just wish there was another way we could tell when they are around.” He then watched as Michael and Richard walked into the office.

Carl quickly positioned himself so he could look in the door, and alternatively look out over at the fountain. When he first looked into the office, he saw Richard standing back away from the fireplace, and noticed that Michael was opening the workshop door. He then glanced back out to the fountain. It was full of water now, and something seemed odd about it.

He glanced back into the office, and saw Michael was coming out of the workshop. As the boy headed towards him, he saw him smiling. “Did it work, Michael?”

He watched as both boys nodded and headed back out of the office. “It did. When I grabbed the lid, it flew right onto the pot, like it had a mind of it’s own.”

He then heard Richard say, “Must be part of an enchantment that was used to hold the Ixupi.” He noticed that Michael gave Richard an odd look, but decided not to say anything.

He then looked over at the fountain, and could have sworn the water didn’t look right. Carl looked at Michael and said, “Well, any clue how to capture the thing since you got that pot together?” He watched as the boys looked at each other, and then saw Michael shrug.

He then watched as Richard looked at the fountain, and said, “Maybe it’s something like just holding it up. You know how the movies always show a vampire backing away from a cross.”

Carl knew from experience that wasn’t always the case. “Well, they don’t back away from every cross. The drawing of a cross can deter them, but the actually thing must be held so it’s face to face.” He watched as both of them looked at him.

He then heard Richard say, “You encountered vampires before. I remembered reading one of those stories with Yvette.” He nodded to Richard, knowing the boy was speaking the truth.

He was surprised when Michael just stepped forward and said, “Well, I’m just going to do it. Something seems right about just holding the pot up when the Ixupi attacks.” He then watched as the boy approached the fountain.

His heart filled with apprehension when he saw Michael near it. He even heard the sound he heard down at the underground lake. It was a frightening moment, and part of him didn’t want to look. However, he was a reporter, and he quickly grabbed his Polaroid. If this worked, he wanted to have a picture of it.

Almost as if on cue, the Ixupi leaped from the water, and he was surprised when he flashed the camera. At the moment, it made a groan in pain, and flew right into the pot. He then saw green lightning encircle Michael’s body. It didn’t look painful, but when it cleared, Michael looked like his teenage self. The Ixupi had been caught, and the one teen was restored.

He then heard Richard shout, “Mike, you’re back to normal. It worked. Now we need to find the ones that attacked me.” He watched as the other teen, who looked twenty years older, then ran towards the double door that was to the left of the office door. “Shall we check out this room now?”

He nodded and said, “Might be best. Just don’t rush in yet. We need to keep the Water pot safe now. We don’t know where it goes yet.” He then turned to Michael. “Mike, do you want me to keep the pot in the bag with the other stuff.”

Michael handed him the pot. “Yes. Until we can find where it goes, keep it in that bag. Something tells me it can only be opened if you do it by hand. I bet these pots are even unbreakable.”

He placed the pot in the bag, and then headed with Michael to the door Richard was in front of. He noticed that Richard had opened the door, but had not moved. As he looked in the room, he saw that it was a room devoted to animals. He started to head towards the door. “Well, shall we see the animals?” He waited a moment, and saw that Richard had still not moved, but he also noticed a look of fear on the teen’s face.

He watched as Michael looked in the room. “Oh dear.” He then watched as Michael turned to Richard and said, “It’s dead, Rich, and it’s in a glass case. It can’t hurt you. Now relax. We don’t need you to freeze up like this.” Michael then turned to him and said, “Rich is arachnophobia. I think that large spider is having an effect on him.”

Carl looked in the room and saw what Michael was talking about. He then stepped into the room, and pushed a button on the wall. Soon a voice was talking about the bizarre creatures in the world. After a moment, he said, “I think everything is safe in here for now. You should see some of the things in here.”

He watched as Michael came in, followed cautiously by Richard. It was then that the boy finally spoke. “I’m alright now. That big thing was a bit of a scare. I’ll be fine now that I know it’s here.” He then watched as Richard started to walk around the room, keeping a distance from the spider.

He watched as Michael walked over to the left side of the room, near a replica of a stegosaurus, and what looked like a creature out of Greek Mythology. He could see Richard was looking at a unicorn statue on the right side of the room. As for himself, he was standing in front of a large eagle’s nest, which had a dial with four skulls along side of it. As he looked at the large nest, he noticed something on the floor. He bent down to look at it, and saw it was an inhaler.

He reached down and picked it up. As he looked it over, he noticed it was a prescription inhaler. “I think I found the name of the other teen. Merrick Campbell. It’s on an inhaler.” He put back down on the floor, and then looked over and noticed that each of the boys was facing something. He looked over to Richard who was closest to him, and saw the boy looking at the skull dial. He walked over to the boy and said, “What is it?”

He watched as Richard looked at the dial, and then at the museum brochure. He then watched as the boy walked over to the dial and turned it. “This is one of the six items listed in the brochure. I think we need to set the dial so the skull that lights up to the color in the brochure.” He then watched as Richard pushed the button in the center of the dial, and saw the top skull glow green. “See, the brochure shows the skull is supposed to be blue, not green.”

He watched as Richard turned the dial, and then looked over as Michael was coming towards them. As the teen neared, he heard him say, “What did you find over here? On the other side of the room is a door to another room.”

Carl looked at the boy and said, “Well, there is door here as well, and Rich found this skull dial. He thinks it’s linked to the puzzle mentioned in the brochure.”

Once the dial’s top skull glowed blue, he watched as Richard turned and said, “It might help us get out of here. Now what’s the next course of action. You are the expert on this situation.”

Carl watched as Michael rolled his eyes. He then looked at the two, and decided to offer a suggestion. “I don’t know about you two, but I think we should take the door on the left side of the room, near the weird creature. Something tells me that there is something important in the room.” He watched as the two teens looked each other, and nodded in agreement. He then lead the way over to the door, and opened it. When he saw it open, his first thought was of the place he had gotten the stick that he used to defeat Peramatfait.

Richard Cale was stunned when he saw the room. It was almost like a greenhouse. As they all entered, he glanced around, taking in everything he could. Plants appeared to be everywhere, and that wasn’t a good thing for him. It wasn’t that he hated plants, but his nose always closed up. “May I suggest we don’t spend a lot of time in here.”

He watched as Michael headed off to one side, and Carl headed in another direction. Even from where he stood, near the door, he could tell the room wasn’t very large. He then noticed a button near the door and pressed it. He then started to look at the area near the door, as the message played.

As it spoke of the hidden lethal nature of plants, he looked at the various pots on the walls by the doors. He was trying to suppress another fear he had, one spawned by a movie from years back. He was almost over it when he heard Carl say, “Lethal plants, almost like the tales of man-eating plants that some people told. Do you think there is some truth to that?”

He suppressed a shudder as Michael said, “There are small plants that feed off insects. One of those plants might be what started the legends.” He barely heard the statement, because as Michael had started talking, he heard the sound of pouring sand.

He glanced over to the side of the room, and saw Michael standing near a huge pile of sand. That had to be the source of the noise, but nothing was moving. He saw that Michael had his back to the sand, and he didn’t want an Ixupi to attack his friend from behind. “Mike, maybe you should get away from the sand. I think there is an Ixupi in it.”

He watched as Mike jumped away from the sand area, and was standing next to Carl. He watch as his friend and the reporter looked at the sand. He noticed that Carl seemed to be really looking at it, as if looking for something. “I think he’s right, Mike. The sand looks like it has a green tint to it. I noticed that about the water in the fountain until you had caught the Ixupi.”

He then heard Michael say, “It’s probably just the lighting in the room. All the plant and green could be pulling tricks on your eyes, but I did hear the sand moving. Maybe you are right about the Sand Ixupi being there. Rich, maybe we should get out of this room.”

Richard nodded in agreement, and then said, “One moment. There is something we need to get before we head out.” He looked back at the shelves of pots, and picked up the one that caught his eye before. It had the pictogram for Ash on it. He smiled and said, “Now we can head back to the office. I want to see if our Ash Ixupi friend is in the room.”

He then headed to the room door, and opened it. As they walked through, he stopped for a moment. From where they stood, they could see the tar pit near the dinosaur statue. It occupied a lone corner of the room. Before, when he had glanced at it, it was black. Now, it had a greenish glow to it, and he could hear the sounds of bubbling tar. “I think Carl is right about the greenish glow. It sounds like the Tar Ixupi is in the room now. I suggest we head straight for the door.”

He watched as the other two nodded, and they all headed for the door to the lobby. He suppressed a shiver when they walked past the giant spider. It was against nature for spiders to get that big. He was even sure the spider was a phony, but he wasn’t about to break the case to find out.

Soon, they had returned to the office, and he listened. There was no sounds of bellows, and he looked at the fireplace again. As he watched, he noticed there was no green glow around the ashes in the fireplace. Maybe the Ixupi wasn’t in the room, but there was something else in here. He then said to the others, “Didn’t we find a lid to a pot in here?”

He watched as Michael nodded. “Yes. It’s in the one desk drawer. Do you think you found the pot it is the lid for?” He nodded and went over to the desk. He opened all the drawers and soon found the lid he was looking for. He quickly picked it up, but was surprised as it disappeared out of his hand, and fused with the Ash pot that he already held.

As he looked at it, he looked at Carl and Mike, and they were dumbstruck. He realized that Mike had been in so much of a hurry before that he hadn’t noticed what had happened. He then looked at the others and said, “Looks like the ones who trapped the Ixupi long ago knew what they were doing.” He then headed back to the door to the lobby. “Shall we head back to the Animal room and check the other door?” When they nodded, he led the way back to the other door in the Animal’s room. He also wondered if the new room might hold another hiding place for the Ash Ixupi.

When they reached the other door in the Animal’s room, Michael McNeal couldn’t believe how unreal this situation kept getting. It started out being a dare, then getting stuck in an old museum with a friend and a stranger. Now it had become like a horror movie, or some sort of sick game. If it hadn’t been for the fact that it was real, he might enjoy it as a game. He then looked at the others and said, “Shall we find out what’s behind the door?”

He watched as both nodded. He then opened the door, and saw steps heading down to a room themed for underwater. As they headed down the steps, he pushed a button, and heard the recording speak of legends of the sea, and the mystery of Atlantis. He then looked through the room, and saw a few things. Most of them were linked to Poseidon. He walked up to a statue of Poseidon, and noticed it was holding a globe.

As he looked at it, he noticed there were two dials, which appeared to criss cross. One had numbers marked north and south, and the other had numbers marked east and west. It was then he had noticed that Richard was behind the statue and looking at something, and that Carl had headed to the far end of the room. As he looked at the statue, he remembered the recording mentioning Atlantis. He also started to hear the sound of pouring sand. He glanced around, and noticed a sand castle. He didn’t want to get close to it, remembering what had happen to Richard with the Wax Ixupi.

He then turn to see Carl looking at a few statues in the far end of the room. He shouted, “Carl, do you remember seeing anything about the location of Atlantis is Windlenot’s office?”

He watched as Carl walked over to him, glancing briefly at the castle, and then looked at the globe with him. “Yes. There was something about the location of Atlantis. In fact, the map seemed to put in the area known as The Bermuda Triangle.” As Carl watched, he worked the dials until they were almost right. When he stopped, Carl just said, “I think the right number is a few degrees north of that.”

He moved the dial one more time, and was startled when a light focused on a spot on the floor. He watched as a small circular section rose out of the floor. He also noticed that the floor was covered with a map of the world. He also noticed that Richard had come away from behind the statue. “Now that is better than what I was looking at. There was apparently a power crystal from Atlantis over there. What do you think you found with that?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. We will have to check from the other side. Just don’t get too close to the castle. I think the Sand Ixupi is in it.”

He then heard Carl say, “I think you are right. It seems to have a greenish glow to it.” He shook his head at what Carl said. How could anyone assume something like that in the room’s color scheme. He then watched as Richard moved to the other side of the room, and got on the floor by the raised area.

He stepped over to the far side and said, “What is it?” He watched as Richard pulled out some papers and handed them to him. He looked over the papers, and smiled. “It’s a map of the museum. Now we can see where we are going, or at least what the other rooms are. What else is in there?”

He saw Richard looking at something. “It looks like a pot with the symbol of Thunder and Lightning on it.” He watched as Richard stood up. “I guess that means the Lightning Ixupi is still in the museum.” He then watched as Richard eyes went wide. “My God, that thing could be anywhere.”

Michael knew what Richard meant. The lights were on, and everything ran on electricity. The only saving grace for the place was that there were no outside wires from the place. But that didn’t excuse the fact that they were sitting ducks.

Before the panic could fully set in, he heard Carl say, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that one is waiting down in the power room. I had a run in with something similar back in Chicago. A hospital had been built on the old stomping grounds, and the creature was feeding on energy.”

He then heard Richard say, “Then lets hope we can find another way of telling if one of the Ixupi are waiting, other than sound. We don’t hear the sound until one of us is close to them.” He then watched as Richard started to look around the side of the room they were all on.

As they looked, he jumped when he heard some music, and turned to see Carl pushing a shell on what looked like an organ. He watched as Carl stopped touching it. “I thought I looked like an organ, but I wasn’t sure earlier. Now why have this organ here?”

He was wondering that as well, until he heard strange singing. He turned to see Richard had pushed a button linked to the statues in the room. The music sounded eerie, and Richard seemed to be perfectly calm about it. As the music played, he heard Richard say, “The display says these statues are of the Sirens. Remember Mike, Odysseus sailed past them before he reached Scylla and Chrybdis.”

He did remember that part of the legend. He was familiar with the story since his project in school. It was also when he first encountered his friend, Richard Cale.

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Michael McNeal had entered the library that day with one task in mind. Getting all the info he needed to figure out the path of Odysseus. Ever since he read the story of the legendary hero, he wanted to see if he could figure out the path the ancient figure took. However, that meant spending a few study halls in the library. When he had told his friends about it, they had told him not to become like the spooky kids. He often heard them mock those kids. Sometimes they would pick on a redheaded girl who always would be in the library during her study hall. However he knew she wouldn’t be there.

As the headed back to the back left corner of the library, he started to wonder about the boy that always hung out with the redhead. Some of his classmates said the boy would often walk to the old abandoned museum. That seemed weird to him. Maybe the boy was one of the people who did those crazy dares he heard others talk of.

When he got to the shelves he needed, he was stunned to see no books there. He wasn’t going to get his project done if none of the books were there. He then heard a few pages turn. He looked around the corner of the one bookshelf, and was stunned to see a table full of books, and the boy that hung around with the redhead sitting over them. He could see the boy was looking at them trying to find something.

Well, the boy wasn’t the only one looking for something. He walked over to the table and said, “Pardon me, could I borrow one of those books for a moment?”

He watched as the boy looked up, and smiled. “Sure. I was just trying to check all the legends of a great flood. It’s one of the oddities of Mythology that everyone has a great flood story. Which book did you need?”

Michael was stunned by what the boy said. He knew the story of the great flood. What he hadn’t been aware of was that many cultures had a legend about it. He started to put it out of his mind, remembering what he needed. “Any of the books that covers Odysseus.”

He watched as the boy closed one book, and said, “Well, this one covers a portion of it, but it argues with this one. Seems they place a couple locations differently. However, the best one would be this book here.”

He grabbed the book the boy offered, but was puzzled by what the boy said. “Excuse me, but why did you say that...” He paused, realizing he never asked the boy’s name.”

He watched as the boy opened the book to a map drawn on the interior pages and pointed to the tip of Italy. “This is why. According to this, this is the straight between Scylla and Chrybdis. By the way, my name is Richard Cale.”

He looked at the map. “My name’s Michael McNeal. You mean to say this book says the course is through here.” He watched the boy nod, and then looked at it. It was a narrow straight. A whirlpool on one end would make it even more dangerous. He was amazed at what the boy had told him. He then looked at him and said, “Any other insights?”

He watched as the boy stood up and said, “Only if you don’t mind hanging out with one of the spooky kids. Yvette and I usually find all sorts of weird things checking this stuff out. It’s just a shame that all the books are in the low numbers. Some of these could be place in other sections.” As he watched the boy, he thought about things.

It was wrong for his friends to pick on Richard, and now that he had a name to go with the redhead, Yvette. It was also wrong to think that because they were weird, to leave them alone. He could tell that Richard was a smart kid. He smiled and said, “Hey Richard, I realize you don’t socialize much, but I’d like to offer to be a friend.”

He was glad when the boy nodded. “That would be cool. Maybe one day I can introduce you to Yvette as well. We could always use a few more friends here. Ones that don’t do dares.”

He was stunned by that. “You mean you don’t do dares. I thought that was why you kept walking up to the museum.” He was stunned when Richard shook his head. He then started to wonder who the real darers were. It was a sign of stupidity to do a dare. However, he did wonder why Richard kept walking up there. “So why do you head up there?”

He was stunned when Richard said, “I’ll tell you sometime, Michael. It’s a bit of local history.” He then sat down, and started to work on his research, and was thankful for the help of a new friend.

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Michael came out of the memory of that day when he heard Richard shouting. “Michael, I think we should get going. I want to check the office before we head anywhere else.” He looked in the direction of the shouting and saw that Richard and Carl were at the door at the top of the steps. He quickly ran over and followed them out the door.

He was surprised that he had missed stuff. As he followed, he looked at Carl and said, “Why are we heading back to the office. I remember seeing a passage on the map in the room.”

He watched as Carl stepped back and said, “Richard said that too, but he also said a maze was down that way. It’s probably best we check the rest of the place out, before we venture into a maze.” He had to admit, there was some sense to it.

Before he realized it, they were in the office, and he noticed something he didn’t see the first time they were in the room. The ashes in the fireplace had a greenish glow. He then watched as Richard approached the fireplace, and he heard the sound of bellows again. He watched as Richard then held up the Ash pot, and watched as the Ash Ixupi was sucked into it.

He also noticed a flash, and saw Carl had taken another picture. Afterwards, Carl just said, “Two Ixupi down. And you look better, Richard.” He looked up at his friend and agreed. His friend was now only looking ten years older than he was. Now, all they had to do was catch eight more Ixupi. However, he knew that the green glow was another sign that Ixupi were around.