October the 12th, 1844
Present day

The sound of chalk scratching the door's surface was clear; no lights, no smells, all lost its sense to the sound of redemption that Kosie had been waiting for so long.

"Why?" a sound rings in the boy's head.

"Why should I go back? Behind this door remains one thing for me: shame, disgrace," Kosie thought as he observed Merny.

"First," the young man said and then drew a line under number one of the door.

Then he added, "You open the first door to the left then," and drew another line under number four.

After that, he turned to Kosie and carried on, "Then you open the fourth door to the left. After that, you open the seventh door to the right, then you open the fourth door to the right, then finally, you get back and open this door again, and that's it; you're back to the safe shelter."
"Just like that? So the numbers on this door were instructions this whole time!" Kosie asked.
"Yes, the answer was right in front of you, but you were too blind to see it, and now you do as I say," Merny responded to Kosie in a low voice.
The man threw the chalk to the ground, then gathered both hands and said:
"tréla deíxte ton eaftó sas."
A black vomit came out from Kosie as he remembered seeing such a thing before.

"Good, he's real. Now let's go," Merny said as he threw the chalk bar to the ground.
"Just out of curiosity, who's behind those doors anyway?" Merny asked.
"My...my father," Kosie replied. It's been a long time since Kosie mentioned his father to anyone, but still, he now has the solution to get back home. All he needs to do now is go through these doors and do as Merny told him. But a promise is a promise, and Kosie will now obey Merny until the latter decides it's over.
"Your father is an alchemist, am I right?" Merny cut Kosie's line of thoughts.
"Huh, yes, but how did you know?" Kosie wondered.

Merny put his hand inside his pockets as Kosie watched him closely.
"Relax, it's not a gun," Merny said.

"Well, it's far worse than it," the man's thoughts then said.

"Your father, huh? He seems like a nice fellow. Why did he vanish you?" Merny said as he looked at the poor child from head to toe.

"He didn't; I escaped," Kosie replied, his eyes looking at the man in front of him.

"Escape!" Merny's thoughts, the word looked familiar to him.

"And why?" Merny said as his looks to the boy changed to pity.

"Because I..."

"Yes?"

"Because I think it's none of your business, sir."

The man held his fist of anger as his face looked cold as usual; not the smallest reaction could show his true feelings.

"You know why I want you to be my assistant," Merny said.
"No, not really!" Kosie replied, but Merny interrupted him.

"It's a metaphor question; of course, you don't."
The calm voice of the man spread in the room as his face showed a different expression than before.

"Well, I never wanted you; I...I just want something from you," Merny said as he looked at the boy.

"And what might a noble gentleman find in this place?" Kosie said.

"I'm afraid it's not of your concern," Merny said as he brought a clock from his pocket.

"Escape! You can't escape your fate, and that's why I'm here now. Read this line to me here," Merny demanded as he showed Kosie the clock.
Kosie was a bit lost as it showed that the lines on the clock were still the same, so why did Merny ask him to read them again?
"It says, beware the reflections," Kosie said.
"That's it? That's all that is written here, nothing more?" Merny asked.
. . .
September the 20th, 1843
In the past
In the empty city of Mulysa, there was a small house with an open green door...
Inside it, 12 people sat around a huge mahogany table.
Most of them were men, but there was also a woman. Sounds of whispers and shushes; everyone was still in their chair, no single movement, just some calm voices talking to each other; the subject seemed too dangerous to talk out loud.

All of a sudden, silence cut this scene when an old man with a grey mustache entered the room.
He took off his silver hat, then sat in his chair. He took a gallon and smoked a few breaths as his eyes looked left where there were 7 members.
He turned his head slowly to the other side; the scene was no different, but there were just 5 members this time.
Between the table's chairs, there was an empty place where the eyes of the other members climbed a bit.
At last, the old man cut the humming voices.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it comes to me that all of you have wondered, and even some of you have specific ideas about the reason I've called this meeting."
"No doubt. So, is it true?" a voice whispered as if its owner wished for permission to talk, but this need had shortly vanished when the old man stood and put both hands on the table.
"Yes, the rumors are true!" the old man yelled.
All of a sudden, all eyes looked to the empty chair.
"Too shame to lose her," a voice shushed while another voice cut the silence: "So you've called us for the funeral. Don't get me wrong, but..."
"But it's a stupid reason. You've never been emotional, David!" the old man interrupted, then added, "No...she's still alive."
After these words, all the other members got closer to the table.
"You sure know how to make things interesting," David said while he waited like the others for the old mustached man to talk.
"Yes, Queen Victoria is infected; she lost her mind, well, the majority of it!" the old man said as he sat slowly back in his chair, followed by some humming...
"And?" David added.
At this point, the room was dark; all faces surrounding the huge table were covered with shadows except for the old man.
"Frederick, what's the matter?" David asked as if his question flew in the minds of the other members.
"We've lost the box and the trace to the diamond," Frederick said as his grey mustache shook a bit.
"You mean..." David was about to say, but the old man interrupted him.
"I haven't finished?"
His phrase seemed more like an order than a question.
The old Frederick held his breath for a second.
"I'll try to treat her, but for now, she's in the white room, okay?" Frederick said, then rose and put his hands on the table as if he was taking back control of the room, or more like the people in the room with him.
He carried on: "Now let's talk about work. As you all know, when a member dies or becomes incapable of fulfilling his job, as in our case here, it's our duty to choose a replacement."
Everyone in the room knew that the new candidate must have at least half of the votes to officially become a member.
"So who is it?" a voice hushed in the back.
The moment he heard this, Frederick smiled and answered, "Merny."
A silence approached as if the room was empty.
"He'll arrive here after a few minutes," Frederick said as the humming voices carried on.
"Excuse me for my language, but..." a voice said while a woman stood from her place.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"No, not yet," Frederick replied.
A small smile slipped from the woman's mouth as she raised her voice: "Let's vote then!" she said it confidently as if she was about to challenge the old Frederick.
"It's all as he plans; sneaky Merny. Sometimes he does surprise me, but not this time," she thought while she touched the red hat on the top of her head.
Yes! Red hat, not silver like the others; Alethia was different from the other members. It's her greed to lead that will make her overcome the old Frederick and become the leader of the flame holders.

A moment of stress cut the atmosphere of the room, a room with 12 silver hats on the heads of the people in it, except for the red hat. She was alone against the rest, but not for too long.
"Who votes for yes, raise your hands," the woman said while her eyes watched the old man.
And as she expected, no one raised their hand except for Frederick.
She couldn't hide her laugh as she said: "Now, who votes for no? Raise your hands, please!"
The beginning was clear, full of sarcasm, but old Frederick didn't respond while he watched the others raising their hands, all but a man who looked at him and smiled.
"It's okay, Dav, go ahead," Frederick said to his friend who raised his hand like the others.
"Sorry, but I don't trust that kid; you know what I mean, Fred," David said.
"Better tell your boy not to come," she said while her body took its place back in the seat.
"Then all of you are against this decision," the old man said, then smiled. He couldn't care less about Alethia's small victory over him; no, he still hadn't lost.
"Not this time, my child," Frederick thinks while he gave the woman a confident look.
He walked in the room and turned around the mahogany table, stepping one after the other as he passed behind all the other members; then he pointed with his gallon to the empty chair and yelled,
"This place is for Merny, Merny Rockefeller, understood?"
"Maybe years made you lose your vision, but..." she said, but Frederick interrupted her. "Shut it."
Whether they liked Merny or not, David and the other gentlemen couldn't hide their smiles; they hated her, for she had all their dirty secrets.
"Who the hell do you think you are? I'm the founder of the FLAME HOLDERS; your authority means nothing here, your magistrate!" the old man screamed while his hand slammed the table.
"Your magistrate! Founder! Let me remind you at this table," she said while she stood and put a finger on the wooden surface in a dramatic way and added, "there are no titles, no grades, no authorities; there is none but the..."
"Truth!" he interrupted her, then added, "isn't it?"
"The truth! The truth! Is it all she knows?" David thinks while he puts his hand on his cheek.
"Here it is, as usual, the eternal battle between Miss Alethia and Fred," David thinks while his red face shows no expression, just like his friend Frederick called him not emotional. Well, he was wrong: David did have feelings; he just never had the potential to show them.
"He'll not join us, get it..." Alethia yelled. The calm face she had moments earlier was gone...
"Us?" Frederick said...
"Here it comes," David thinks...
"Since when do you consider yourself one of US?" Frederick said, then added, "In fact, no one at this table wants a nightcrawler like you."
"Oh boy," David thinks...
"Wants? Old man, you're crossing limits; are you blind? All votes are against your boy," she said...
"Well, this didn't stop you from getting a place here, woman," a voice hushed in the back as some smiles walked through the sad room...
"Wish you had the guts to say it face to face, Tanner... maybe a few bottles of wine shall give you the right courage to talk out loud," Alethia said, then turned her face to one of the members...
"No! I guess even the finest gin in the world wouldn't bring your bar to work again, puss," she added while a smile slowly spread through her lips. She knew it, and Tanner knew it; all his secrets were in her hands - this was blackmail in words.
"Enough!" Frederick yelled. He wasn't scared of her; not for he was the leader, no! But because he had no secrets to hide; his past, his horrible deeds were all known to everyone around the mahogany table. Yet to the rest of the world, he was just a grey old mustached man with a Bible book in his hand.
We could describe Mister Frederick with one word... unknown...!
(For he is... but not for LONG...!)

.............................................................

{ chapter nine ends }

NOTE: the strange phrases are Greek; in English, it means "madness, show yourself."