Chasing Mystery: Unlocking Adventure, Thrill, and Suspense

By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri

Chasing Mystery: Unlocking Adventure, Thrill, and Suspense

Hold on tight, young adventurers! This book is packed with ten exciting stories, each one a thrilling chase after a mystery!

Unravel secrets, face challenges, and feel your heart pound with every page!

In "Chasing Mystery," you'll encounter:

Curious clues: Each story will drop you into a world of puzzles and riddles, waiting to be unraveled.

Daring adventures: Explore hidden locations, overcome obstacles, and embark on unforgettable quests.

Heart-stopping suspense: Will they solve the mystery? Every twist and turn will keep you guessing until the very end.

With ten unique mysteries to tackle, there's something for every curious mind!

Are you ready to unlock adventure, thrill, and suspense? Then jump into "Chasing Mystery" and get ready for a wild ride!

• Language: English
• Publisher: RC PRABIR
• Release date: Apr 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224869121

Book preview

THE CASTLE OF SUSCINIO

Korvina was spending a few days on vacation with her friend Mathieu, ten years old like her. They were with Mathieu's aunt, Rosa, mother of a five-year-old boy named Quentin. All three shared a great moment of happiness.

It was not the first time that she had had the pleasure of being with this charming lady.

One Saturday afternoon, a colorful van decorated with the faces of smiling clowns drove through the village. A voice was heard addressing the population.

-Come all tomorrow Sunday to attend our big show. The Double Six circus is coming to your area. Magic, magic and laughter guaranteed.

- Mom, said Quentin immediately, are we going to see the circus?

- Impossible, alas, my good man, unless...

She turned to Mathieu and Korvina.

- Could I trust you, the two big ones? Could I entrust my little boy to you?

Of course, Aunt Rosa, affirmed Mathieu.

-I will watch over him as if he were my little brother, Madame, added Korvina.

-I'll drive you to the circus tomorrow by car around half past two. The show starts at three o'clock and ends at a quarter to six. But I can't pick you up. An unmissable event. You will return by bus.

- No problem, madam, said our friend. I will be very careful of him.

-When the show ends, you will go to the bus stop, near the church. It passes at just six o'clock. You will go up there and you will go down at a crossroads in the middle of the forest. You will have to wait ten or fifteen minutes and another bus will pass. You will take it and it will lead you to the stop in front of my house.

I'll watch over my little nephew as over myself, promised Mathieu. Nothing will happen to him. You can be quite reassured, Aunt Rosa.

The next day, therefore, Quentin's mother drove our three friends to the village where the circus had pitched its tent.

Taking advantage of a little time before the start of the show, they observed the installations, the caravans, the menagerie.

Then they entered the enclosure. The performance began at about the appointed time and thrilled our friends.

Korvina particularly appreciated the squirrels who danced to the sound of their trainer's flute. The magician impressed Mathieu. This man, dressed all in black, was taking dead flies out of a box one by one and throwing them towards the audience. They metamorphosed into elephants, lions, rhinos, eagles or pythons, giraffes or rats. The funny and varied jokes of the clowns provoked a cascade of applause, especially from little Quentin, who could no longer laugh.

They left the big tent with the crowd around a quarter to six and headed for the church where the bus stop was. He arrived at just six o'clock. They went up there.

They got off fifteen minutes later, at a crossroads in the middle of the forest.

The weather had deteriorated. It was raining. They saw no shelter there.

It was not hot. Waves of cold rain followed one another and none of our friends had brought a jacket or K-Way to cover themselves.

No dwellings in sight. The three children huddled together under a large fir tree, but it did little to protect them from the cold and the downpour.

Time passed. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour. No bus. The rain was still falling and their correspondence did not arrive. Our friends didn't know, and neither did Aunt Rosa, that the bus they were waiting for didn't run on Sundays.

The three friends, all wet now, were dripping with rain. And above all, it was getting darker and darker.

The two older ones planned to walk to Quentin's mother's house. There were a little more than ten kilometers to go. Without the little boy, Korvina and Mathieu would have made it, but the little man couldn't walk for so long and he was a bit heavy to carry.

They set off anyway, along the roadway, in the rain. Everything was streaming. Walking warmed them up a bit. Besides, there was no point in staying there, in the middle of the woods.

They walked in single file, Quentin in the middle. Sometimes a car whizzed by. A truck splashed them. That was all it needed...

After a good twenty-minute walk, they saw a dirt road on their left. It was preceded by a large and majestic open wrought iron gate. We could guess, in the distance, lights of different colors.

The rain had just stopped.

Korvina and Mathieu decided to enter the property to ask for help. Maybe they could call Aunt Rosa, Quentin's mother. She must have been back home and very worried when she noticed the absence of the children. She would pick them up by car.

As they passed through the gates they saw a discouraging sign that read Private Property - Entry Prohibited. The three of them walked towards the lights they had just noticed.

They quickly emerged into a vast clearing in the center of which stood an imposing castle. With its towers, its battlements, its walkway, its battlements, its loopholes, it resembled those of the Middle Ages. It was surrounded by fairly wide moats, lined with reeds in some places.

Our friends were coming from behind the castle.

To the left stood two black towers, almost contiguous. On the right, a third tower lit in red seemed imposing to them, above the moat. On the other side, another tower made its green reflections dance in the water of the lake. Between them, located to the north, they guessed the presence of a three-story building, probably built around an old dungeon. It was well lit.

A drawbridge seemed to allow access.

To reach it and use it, you first had to go around the moat to the left or to the right. They opted for the left.

So they skirted the two black towers and headed for the green. At this point, the moat widened. It felt like being on the edge of a lake. The two older ones noticed a tightly closed black metal door, located at water level, between the two black towers.

They passed near a boat tied by a rope to a black and worn stone. They were tempted for a moment to climb up and enter the fortress through that dark door. But they didn't want to meet the inhabitants of the castle in hiding. They had nothing to hide.

In addition, eddies were bursting here and there in the black water. It was scary. Our friends shivered watching them. The moat seemed invaded by restless animals, uninviting, not at all reassuring.

On the boards of the tray was a beautiful iron key about ten centimeters long. She shone in the moonlight.

Mathieu and Korvina hesitated. Should I leave it there or take it? This key could be used for them to enter the castle, for example. If it were abandoned, they would at least be safe from the rain and cold inside.

You who read this story, would you have taken it?

The two big ones decided to win. Korvina slipped it into the pocket of her blue denim overalls.

The three children, still holding hands, finished walking around the chateau. Passing the green tower, they noticed bars on the windows. This tower looked like a prison.

They saw, on the second floor, an old man who was watching them in silence. His two hands gripped the bars attached to the windows. He gave them a sign that unfortunately our friends did not understand.

They presented themselves in front of the drawbridge. The titanic mass of the main building of the castle impressed them.

As they took the passage above the water, they passed between two imposing statues. That of a bear on the left, that of a crow on the right. These black stone statues were scary despite the yellow glow in the bear's mouth and the red light in the crow's beak.

Quentin clung to the two tall ones. The three children did not delay and reached the large portcullis at the entrance. She was up.

They passed, silent, in a magnificently decorated monumental hall. A huge wrought-iron chandelier lit it.

There were three vehicles parked there. A carriage gilded with fine gold on the left. It was reminiscent of Cinderella when she goes to the prince's castle. In the middle a magnificent dark blue Rolls Royce. And on the right, a red Ferrari, the famous Italian racing car.

Mathieu approached the racing car and looked out the window. He looked at the seats and the dashboard. Quentin, who was giving Korvina his hand, wanted to take a look at the carriage. The children admired its leather seats and the marvelous interior decoration of the vehicle.

Just then, they heard the steady sound of someone's footsteps descending a stone staircase leading upstairs. The three children, not very reassured, came together and hugged each other.

A man of about fifty, white shirt, well-kept suit, tasteful tie, approached. Korvina felt a little uncomfortable in her faded overalls and muddy sneakers. None of the three children looked very presentable for such a place, but that was not their fault. They had just walked nearly an hour in the rain and in the mud.

The man approached, looked at the children and named himself.

-I am the Count of Suscinio, owner of this castle.

-Forgive us for entering like this, apologized our friend, but we did not see a bell to announce our arrival.

-We attended a show at the circus this afternoon, then we had to take a bus to return home, but it never arrived, explained Mathieu. My aunt entrusted my little cousin to us. She lives ten kilometers from here. We saw your castle lights while walking and thought we'd ask your permission to call. My aunt Rosa will pick us up along the road near your entrance gates.

- Unhappy children, cried the man who stood in front of them. You should not enter this castle at night. I am the owner, but not the master. It's seven-thirty...

At the same moment, interrupting his sentence, the portcullis creaked down and the drawbridge rose with a hellish noise. The heavy wooden shutters closed on the ground-floor windows.

- From half past seven in the evening to half past seven in the morning, no one can enter or leave this castle. I am not the master of it at night. You have to stay there. I can't raise this portcullis or lower the drawbridge until tomorrow morning. We don't have a landline and there's no network for my cell phone.

The children looked at each other, appalled. But what could they do?

-What is your name ?

-I'm Christina. This is my friend Mathieu and his little cousin Quentin.

-I invite you to share the evening meal at eight o'clock, on the first floor, in the large dining room. Until then, you can visit the castle. Don't get lost and beware of the red tower.

Thank you, sir, stammered the children.

-After the evening meal, added the man, turning around, I will lead you to the second floor, where there are well-equipped rooms. You can spend the night there.

Our three friends still emitted a vague murmur of thanks. The Comte de Suscinio was already going upstairs.

Taking their pain patiently and the situation philosophically, they had to, they headed left towards a large room. It added to their fear because there were many display cases in which tools and instruments of torture from the Middle Ages were displayed.

There were long clubs ending in a chain to which was attached a ball covered with iron spikes. They stopped in front of an armchair whose board that served as a seat was pierced with numerous holes under which one could see long nails.

They observed a tongue puller. It is both pliers used to pull the tongue out of the mouth, and scissors to cut it. Other iron scissors were used to cut off fingers or ears.

They quickly left this nightmarish museum and entered the next, much nicer room. A large kitchen. Two old ladies were bustling around pots and pans and it smelled delicious. Our friends decided to go and greet them.

- What are you doing here, you little wretches? one of them said.

-We missed a bus in the woods, explained Korvina, and we came to call my friend's aunt, but alas, it seems that no communication is possible with the outside world. We cannot leave and return home.

Listen to me, unhappy children, said one of them. You should never have entered this castle. During the evening meal, you will be presented with a chocolate cake. Don't taste it. He is poisoned.

Our friends thanked the two ladies, then still holding hands, they went to the third room on the ground floor of this well-lit part of the building.

In the third room, quite large, and whose Romanesque vault was black, there reigned a pungent, rather disagreeable odor. It felt like a chemistry lab.

Various