Miranda, once again, pushed herself away from the back of her chair, leaning toward the table to fix her gaze on the words in the book.
Slowly, she tried pronouncing the strange words inside her mind, following the initial instructions. She read it all and waited to see if anything would happen.
After a few seconds when nothing changed, she let out a sigh and decided to read them out loud this time.
However, before she did that, she moved to the last set of writings on that page which states:
'You have only ten days to find all the symbols and complete the puzzle. Only then will the prisoners be let out. Failure to complete it before the ten days expires, you and them will be trapped in there forever.'
Seeing that, Miranda's eyes veered over to the part containing the symbols and she went over them again from the first one to the tenth one.
Ten days, ten symbols. She had to give it to the person who came up with this joke.
But if this wasn't a joke, then she may be putting her hands into something she had no idea about.
It was time for her to stop and throw the book away or maybe return it to the library, but her curiosity had reached its peak. So she forged on.
One word after the other she read the strange writings out loud until she spoke the very last awkward-sounding word.
Again, as soon as she finished, she waited with slightly narrowed eyes for what would happen.
Seconds passed by and she was about to start laughing at her stupidity for believing in such rubbish, seeing that nothing happened.
However, just then, she noticed the book move ever so slightly.
Then suddenly, the pages of the book began to flip backward of their own accord, going slowly at first before picking up speed.
It eventually stopped at the middle page, and right from the center of the book, that golden light shone forth again, this time, brighter than it was before.
The intensity forced Miranda to move and stand up from the chair, turning her eyes away from the light. But she didn't take more than three steps away when she realized she couldn't move any farther.
"What the hell?" She uttered, trying to move her body, but it proved impossible. The light seemed to be pulling her toward its center, preventing her from retreating.
Before she could react further, the force from the middle of the book intensified beyond her imagination, pulling her without giving her a fighting chance. The only thing she could manage to do was to let out a short, sharp scream before she was sucked into the book.
As soon as that happened, the light instantly went off and the book immediately turned to ash. A heavy wind blew her window open, scattering the ash around the room to get rid of any evidence of its presence.
Miranda's scream, however short, was sharp and loud enough to wake her parents up from their slumber. They weren't sure why, but the sound sent shivers down their spine, forcing the sleep to disappear from their eyes instantly.
They exited their room and headed toward hers in a hurry, only to meet her door locked.
"Miranda, are you okay? What is going on?" Mr Alfred asked, his brows pulled together in concern.
When they received no response, he released harder knocks on the door. "Miranda, are you there? Open the door." He called out again.
But still no response.
"Could she still be sleeping?" He asked, not sure why he was receiving complete silence as an answer to his call. Miranda never behaves that way and she was not a heavy sleeper. Moreover, wasn't she the one who just screamed?
"I keep scolding and punishing her about this attitude of hers but she never listens." Mrs. Alfred chipped in, her tone filled with irritation. She had a tough and stressful evening and the last thing she expected was to be awake by that time of the night because of a grown child. She needed her rest.
"Miranda! Open the door!" Mr. Alfred called out in a louder voice, hitting the door harder than he was previously doing.
"I'll go get the spare key." His wife announced when they still received no response from within the room.
In a minute, she returned with the spare key and thereafter opened the door. However, when they entered, they were met with an empty room.
Confusion instantly registered on their features as their eyes roamed around the room.
"Miranda?" The two of them called out despite the chilling silence and obvious absence of the one they sought, their concern soaring. They were very sure they heard her scream so where was she?
"The window is open. Could she have gone out through the window?" The woman asked, while the man went about lifting the covers on the bed, checking underneath the bed and inside the closet.
Having not found her in her room, the couple became alarmed, running outside to check for her in the neighborhood, and even going as far as visiting her friend, Loretta, that night to know if she went there.
When they did not find her after everything, they called the police as a last resort, insisting there had been a kidnap because they heard her scream and met her windows open when they got to her room.
Shortly after, two police officers arrived at their house. However, instead of conducting any investigation or asking any questions, the officers emptied gallons of gasoline on the furniture, bringing confusion to the faces and hearts of the Alfreds.
They did all they could to stop the men from their current endeavor, but realizing their words were only falling on deaf ears, they ran outside to call for help.
Unfortunately, they couldn't get very far or call anyone when they heard their house go up in flames.