Alex and Arthur rushed upstairs toward the room. When they reached Turtle, they saw him standing in front of a room, pale as a ghost, his whole body trembling in fear as if he'd really seen a ghost.
Arthur quickly asked Turtle, "What happened, Turtle? Why did you scream?"
Turtle was so scared he couldn't speak. His eyes were wide and red as if frozen in terror.
Alex, holding Turtle's hand, said, "Turtle, why are you panicking? We're here now, there's nothing to be scared of, okay? Just relax and tell us what happened."
Turtle didn't say anything; he just pointed with his hand toward the bottom of the door. When Alex and Arthur looked at where he was pointing, Arthur said, "What's he pointing at down there? There's nothing there."
Stammering, Turtle said, "Not at the bottom, l-look at the door latch."
When Alex and Arthur looked at the latch, their eyes widened in shock. There on the door latch was a large lock, wrapped with a red cloth, with a white sandalwood 'eye' painted on it. Hanging from the lock was a Muslim amulet with something written in Urdu. Along with the amulet, there was also a Christian cross locket dangling from it.
Arthur was shocked seeing the lock, "Why are there so many religious charms tied onto this lock?"
Alex, scanning the room, said, "This is Dad's room—this is the room where he died."
Arthur, thinking, said, "That means the story Turtle's grandma told him must be true."
Alex, confused, said, "Meaning?"
Arthur explained, "Turtle's grandma said your uncle—David—invited a priest, a pastor, and an imam from Maple Junction to seal the Graveyard Manor. They must have come here, and Elysira must have been haunting your dad's room—since she killed him there. So those three holy men used their spiritual powers to bind this room, so that Elysira wouldn't be able to leave."
Alex and Turtle listened in amazement as Arthur continued, "After imprisoning Elysira in the room, the three holy men probably went downstairs, locked up the outside, and then offered themselves as a sacrifice. I told you, to bind a spirit you have to make a sacrifice, and I bet that's what those three did."
Turtle sighed deeply, "So that means Elysira isn't free after all—she's still trapped in this room, right behind this door. That's actually a relief, Alex! You opened the manor, fine—but please, whatever you do, don't open this door or everything will be ruined."
Alex didn't know what to say. The charms on the door were proof that Turtle's grandma's story was true, but Alex's mind still refused to believe it; he was sure it was just superstition.
Arthur was inspecting the door from up and down when his eyes fell on the door's number plate. When he ran his hand over the number plate, he got a small electric shock and jerked his hand back.
Seeing Arthur recoil, Alex asked anxiously, "What happened to you? Are you okay?"
Arthur stared at the door in fear, "This room... this room is the Devil's room, Alex!"
Alex's eyes bulged, "What did you say—the Devil's room?!"
Arthur, pointing at the number plate, said, "Yeah, Alex. The Devil's room. Look—triple six, 666—that's considered the devil's number."
"Don't talk nonsense, Arthur."
"I'm not making this up, Alex. In Christianity, 666 is unlucky. The Bible says that this is the number of the Beast, the Devil. Anyone who keeps this number, who tries to destroy God's teachings, is considered an enemy of the faith. In the old days, wicked men summoned the Devil using this number to fulfill their evil wishes."
Alex, with a fake laugh, said, "You're joking, right?"
"I'm not joking, Alex. In the Holy Bible, in the last book—Revelation, chapter 13—there's a mention of 666. It's important because that's where it's actually called 'the number of the Beast,' the number of Satan."
Alex, shocked, "Are you serious?"
Arthur continued, "Yes. The mysterious author John wrote Revelation around 96 AD. This book was always controversial, but it also prophesizes the end of the world."
Turtle, trembling, asked, "What prophecy?"
"I'll tell you. It says that when the earth ends, it will be a terrifying time. Fiery balls will fall from the sky, horrible blood-drinking monsters will be born, any little bit of humanity left will be destroyed by demonic forces."
For a moment, Alex and Turtle actually imagined that final-day scene.
Arthur went on, "At that time evil will dominate the world, mainly two devils will be born. One will convince people to worship the other."
Turtle, stammering, "So, will that be the end for humans—there's no way out?"
"There's a way, Turtle. According to John, anyone who wants to survive can do one of two things: either take the Devil's name, or get the number 666 marked on their body."
Alex, wiping sweat from his brow, said, "Come on, Arthur, that's just written in a book—by a person. I don't believe in stuff like this."
"You don't have to, Alex. Just because you don't believe doesn't mean it's not true. Plenty of books say 666 is the Devil's number. 666 is even connected to the Hebrew language."
Alex, scratching his head, "Wait, what's Hebrew?"
"Two thousand years ago, Hebrew was the main language, the original Bible was in Hebrew. In Hebrew, numbers are written as letters—so each letter has a numerical value. 666 is connected to certain letters and used as a kind of code in Hebrew called Gematria—"
Turtle cut in, "Now what's Gematria?"
"It's a method for decoding letters into numbers. Hebrew is read with Gematria. The number 'one' is the number of God, and seven is considered perfect. Just as God is complete, so is seven."
Alex, surprised, "Why? What's special about seven?"
"Because the Bible says God made the world in seven days, so the number just before that, six, is considered incomplete. Also, it's said God made man on the sixth day, and that's also when Adam and Eve broke God's command and were punished—"
Turtle interrupted again, "And who were Adam and Eve?"
"Turtle, that's another story—we'll talk about it later. For now, focus on 666. The one who pushed Adam and Eve to sin was a serpent—considered an avatar of the Devil. All of that happened on the sixth day, so six is considered the number of sin—of the Devil. Now, remember, Elysira seduced and killed men—maybe she was a devil, and wrote 666 on the door to summon Satan."
Alex protested, "But Dad said Elysira was a good woman—"
No sooner had Alex finished than the door in front of which they stood began shaking violently. It was shaking so hard it seemed like something inside was smashing into it. All three—Alex, Arthur, Turtle—were stunned. Turtle began trembling in terror.
He stuttered, "See, Alex, I told you Elysira's inside, desperate to get out. Do you see now that it's really her in there?"
For a moment, Alex was scared too, but then he looked out the window—and breathed a sigh of relief.
He pointed, "Look—the weather's turning bad, looks like there'll be a storm. Maybe a window inside this room is open, and the wind is blowing in hard, banging the door. Turtle, you've been making excuses to avoid cleaning since we were kids. Come on, stop this, and get back to work!"
Turtle, making a sad face, said, "No, I can't."
"Oh, come on, you're acting like this is some big government exam instead of just sweeping. If you don't want to clean the upstairs, go mop the downstairs hall. Arthur and I will clean up here, and don't forget you still owe us Kevy's share of the cleaning too."
"Fine, but first promise me that no matter what, you won't even touch this door, much less open it."
Alex, folding his hands in mock reverence, "Fine, I promise I won't. Now go."
Turtle left to mop the hall. As soon as Turtle was gone, Arthur asked Alex, "Hey, you were saying something earlier about Elysira…"
"Yeah, I was asking, how can you say it's Elysira who wrote 666? Dad told me Elysira was a good woman, she only turned bad because of a curse. I know Dad would never lie to me. And you yourself said Elysiras came from other realms, worshipped as goddesses. Why would such beings do the Devil's work?"
Arthur sank into thought. "Well, you make a good point. Then who wrote 666 on this door?"
"I know how it got here and who did it."
Arthur, surprised, "Who?"
"Remember you said the manor was built in English times? The British were devious. I bet they put 666 here to try and summon demons so they could win wars and rule here. Those English would do anything, even make deals with devils."
Arthur nodded, "Yeah, you might be right. That could be it."
"Of course it is. Anyway, let's get back to cleaning—and leave this door alone. If one amulet falls, Turtle will murder us both!"
"Yeah, you're right."
So Alex and Arthur returned to cleaning the Graveyard Manor.
It was eight o'clock at night, and the cleaning was nearly finished. It was pouring rain outside. All that was left was to clean the hall chandelier, which Alex and Arthur had taken down to clean. Turtle was sitting on the floor, resting.
Turtle, admiring the chandelier, said, "Man, this is amazing! I feel like I'm holding something magical."
Arthur joked, "It is magical, Turtle. It's a lamp chandelier—a rarity these days."
"What do you think it's worth?"
Arthur teased him, "Why, you planning to sell it?"
Turtle grinned, "Yeah, if Alex says yes."
He had just finished saying that, when suddenly, the lights went out.
Arthur laughed, "See, you mentioned selling and the electricity's gone! If you try selling Elysira's things, she'll sell you first—don't forget, this manor belongs to Elysira."
Turtle, panicked, "Don't say that! It was just a joke—sorry, Elysira, I'm not selling anything."
Alex interrupted, "Enough with the jokes, guys—turn on your phone flashlights, and go get matches from the kitchen, my phone's almost dead."
Arthur said, "No need, I have a lighter right here."
He took a lighter from his pocket and started lighting the gas lamps in the chandelier. When the lamps lit, the manor was bright again—the lamps looked extra beautiful in the dark. Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the door upstairs—"Knock, knock, knock."
Alex said, "Did you guys hear that?"
Turtle, stammering, "Yeah, I heard it."
Arthur, frightened, said, "That sound's coming from the upstairs room—where Elysira's imprisoned."