Lark Clay's Mysterious Doors

The old metal locks on the door ground open.  Malachi could hear the cries of all the captives. If only they knew, he thought. They should be proud to serve the great master Clay.  If only Malachi wasn’t trapped here in Eureka Springs.  He should be with Master Clay, helping him with his plan-

“Dude, what are you doing under my house?”

Malachi groaned as a flashlight beam found his face.  “John!” he cried, covering his eyes with his hands.  “Turn it off!”

“ Sorry”, John said apologetically, flicking the flashlight off.  “What are you doing in the crawlspace?” John asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Malachi answered, uncovering his face.

“If my dad finds out that I’m not doing my homework to be under my house, he’ll kill me.”

“Ummmm hmmmm…..”, Malachi’s heart raced. He glanced behind him.  The ancient door was gone.  Malachi breathed a sigh of relief.  “I saw a light down here and I went to check it out, I guess it was nothing.”

“Well, let’s hurry back,” whispered John.

Malachi crawled after him through the small wooden door.  He would just have to wait.

***

“Hey Macy!”

Macy looked behind her to see Malachi rushing down the Eureka Springs school hallway towards her.

“Macy I need to ask you something.” Malachi skidded to a stop next to Macy.

Macy glanced quizzically at him.  He was wearing a dark black shirt, blue jeans, and red Converse sneakers.  As usual, his dark hair fell over his eyes, and as he swished it away his beautiful gray eyes came into view.

“ What do you need to know?” Macy asked.  If it wasn’t Malachi, it would be strange for someone to want to talk to her.  Macy wasn’t very popular, and not many people even knew who she was.  After all, he and John were her only friends.  She often felt lonely when her friends were away.  

“I was wondering if you would meet me and John after school at his house,” said Malachi.

“Ummm… alright,” she said.

“Cool see you then,” and with that he walked past her, brushing her shoulder as he went.

“Hmmmm…. Macy said aloud as she went to find her locker.

      ***

Ding Dong!  Macy waited for the door to be answered.  Finally the door opened, and before her stood John’s father, Robert Lucas.  In all the time that Macy had known John, she had never been to his house or met his parents. She had always met John and Malachi out in town somewhere.  Robert was a tall man, and as she looked at him now she could see how much John resembled him.  They had the same short blond hair, blue eyes and a tall build.  But one thing that was different was the very serious look that was on Robert’s face, a look that John hardly ever possessed.  

“Ahhh…. you must be Macy,” he inquired.  “Please, come in.”

The inside of the house was very neat and clean.  Stacks of books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, National Geographic, and Time Magazines stood tall on desks in the living room.  On the walls hung paintings that seemed to trail on and on down the lengthy hallways.  Family photos were displayed along the fireplace.  In the study, an elegant couch stood next to an expensive looking coffee table.  The entire house was a mystery to Macy; the only Lucas family member she had ever met was John, and his personality was nothing like how the house was decorated.

“The boys are in the kitchen,” remarked Mr.Lucas.

Macy said nothing, just walked into the kitchen, trying to hide her astonishment.  She sat down on a stool, made of only the finest wood, and glanced at the kitchen table.  Her astonishment grew bigger.  On the table was a giant, ancient looking book.  On the other side of the table stood Malachi.  He swished his hair out of his eyes and turned a page in the book.  Dust flew into the air making  Macy cough and shield her eyes.  Malachi seemed to notice her for the first time, and he smiled warmly.

“Macy!” John shouted loudly, so loud that he received a silencing gesture from Mr.Lucas.  John lowered his voice and started to speak again.  “You’re just in time, Malachi has this awesome book with potions in it, and he’s taking us to this place to change the world and-”

“That’s enough, John,” Malachi said sternly.  John looked hurt, but he got quiet.

“Macy, I’m very glad you’re here,” Malachi continued.  “John may have covered this, but we are going to visit my Master, so I suggest you ready yourself now.”  

Master?  This sounded terribly strange to Macy, but Malachi seemed to be serious, and she trusted him.  She decided she would stick with the boys just to see what would happen next.

“I don’t know about this, Malachi.”  Macy dropped to her knees and peered into the crawl space cautiously.  Malachi said nothing, just squeezed her shoulder encouragingly.  Macy looked into his striking eyes.  They were bright, and they  twinkled like stars.  He startled Macy when he suddenly flattened himself onto his stomach and crawled through the wooden door. John went next, and then with a moments hesitation Macy followed the boys.

***

Soon Malachi reached a low spot in the crawl space where he could sit up.  He had to admit, the Lucas family kept a very clean house, and he noticed now that they had even managed to keep the crawl space tidy and new looking.  Where most crawl spaces would have dry, splintering boards and support beams, these were smooth, strong ones.  Somehow even the spiderwebs and bugs were at a minimum.

 Malachi glanced around the pitch black darkness.  He couldn’t see his friends anywhere!

“Ooff!” Malachi moaned as John and Macy both crashed into him.  

“Why did we stop?” Macy asked, rubbing her head.

“I need to sit up to summon a door,” Malachi answered, receiving a questioning look from Macy.

Malachi ignored her, bent to his knees, and closed his eyes, concentrating hard.  Before long, a small, faded black door popped into view.  John and Macy stared wide eyed at Malachi.  Malachi simply twisted the doorknob and crawled through the mysterious door.

                               ***

After a moment of astonished silence, John’s curiosity got the best of him.  In his mind, the expression “Curiosity killed the cat”  kept repeating itself, making John quake in his boots.  He tried to look brave as he slowly descended  through the peculiar door. When he got through, he went completely still.  He had actually portaled somewhere!  He had entered a small room that was made entirely of steel.  The walls, the three little tables in the center, and the benches that sat near each of the tables.  As John looked around the room, he noticed that there were no windows, and there was no door in front of him and no door behind him.  The tiny black door he had just passed through moments ago had simply vanished.  Under normal circumstances, John  would have panicked.  But he didn’t because sitting on one of the benches was Malachi Jones, who was staring right at him.  At least, he thought it was Malachi.  He looked the same as he had in the crawl space, except that his eyes seemed to be glowing around the pupils.  Then Malachi spoke, sending shivers down John’s spine.

“I hope you had a pleasant trip here,” he said.  The odd part was that he sounded as if three Malachi’s were talking in unison.  Malachi’s lips spread into a wild smile.  He opened his arms out wide and he said “Welcome”

***

Before he could finish, the black door quickly reappeared as Macy toppled out.  Macy stood up, brushing the small amount of dust from the crawl space off of her stomach and knees.

“Sorry I took so long, I...” it was then that she saw Malachi with his glowing eyes.  Macy scrambled back against the steel wall, her hands frantically searching for the door’s knob.  But she couldn’t find it.  The door, her only escape, was gone.

 At this point, Macy didn’t think things could get any creepier.  First, she and her two friends had entered another place going through a magical  door. Then, her best friend, whom she had completely trusted for almost four years of her life, had  glowing eyes.  What could possibly happen next?  Maybe John would develope glittering skin.

Macy tried to speak, but no words could find their way out of her mouth.  All she could do was have a horrified look on her face. Great poker face, Macy, she thought.  Malachi surely won’t realize you’re absolutely terrified.

“It’s alright, Macy.” Macy must have looked even more terrified, because now Malachi’s voice had changed.   Malachi sounded so sincere,even with his weird, creepy voice, Macy wanted to believe him.  But Malachi was acting strange, and after all, Macy didn’t really know where she was and she didn’t know who she could trust.  Slowly, Macy peeled herself away from the wall.  She would just suck it up and try to find a way out of- well, wherever she was.

“Good,” the new Malachi encouraged.  “Its still me, Macy.  I took you both here to have a simple talk.”  Malachi ushered John and Macy to the metal benches.  Very cautiously, they both sat down.  Macy could see that John must have been pretty freaked out as well.  His face was white, and he was clenching and unclenching his fists relentlessly.  

“I suppose that you want to know what this is all about,” Malachi said, gesturing to the room around them.  “ I chose this particular room so that we would not be disturbed during our fun little chat,” he continued.  “I serve a great man named Lark Clay.”  Malachi knotted his fingers together and sat down across from Macy and John.  “And my Master needs, well…. helpers.  His mission- our mission- is to spread a poison throughout the world, turning each and every person to Master Clay’s side. No one will be able to resist, and he will forever rule.”  With that final statement, Malachi calmly walked over to the back wall of the room and pressed his hands firmly against it.  Just like before, a door appeared,only this time the door was a bronze color and it had a sophisticated lock.

Macy began to wonder if she would make it out of this place alive.  She had no clue who this “Master Clay” guy was, but he seemed completely sure of himself and his plan.  Maybe Lark Clay was a good guy, trying to save the world from something like pollution, or global warming, Macy thought.  Even so, part of her knew that there was no chance that this person was doing any good, but that he was doing something truly evil.  

Macy did know one thing, and that was that she would seek revenge on this guy for changing the spirit of one of her only friends.

                                ***

When Malachi finally unlocked the door, he started to talk again.  

“We need you to be the first two humans to spread the poison.  It will not take long , and after the task is done you will be rewarded greatly.”  Malachi swung open the door and motioned for Macy and John to walk through.  

The next room was Malachi’s favorite.  The room was big; it had wooden walls, large tables, and tall chairs, but what he really liked about this particular room was that on one of the longer walls there was a large, paneled screen.  But not just any screen, but a screen that had been created by Malachi himself.  It was a new kind of technology, and it was roughly fifteen feet long and weighed around eighty pounds.  If you put your hands up to the panels they would immediately click to life, and would picture anything you pictured in your mind..  For instance, if you wanted to talk to someone from any other place in the world, all you had to do was picture their face  or name and they would pop up and you could talk to them.  These were only some of the abilities of the screen, and there were hardly any limitations. The screen could even serve food. Of course Macy and John didn’t know this, and they probably thought the room was bare and boring.  

When John and Macy finally appeared, he took them to one of the tables to sit down once again.  They both still looked astonished at the whole transporting thing, which made Malachi laugh to himself.  

He then handed them a small silver box.  They just stared at it, so Malachi unhooked one of it’s latches.

“You can open it, you know,” he said.  John seemed to wake up from a trance.  He pulled the box closer to him and opened the lid.  Green gas filled the air around him.  John looked surprised, and ten seconds later he dropped onto the floor unconscious.  

“John!” Macy screamed, leaning over him.  She stuck her head right next to the box, and soon she too passed out.

Malachi grinned, rubbing his hands together.  “And this,” he said, “is where the fun begins.”

             ***

When Macy came to, she couldn’t remember exactly where she was, and then memories of what seemed like hours before started to creep back into Macy’s mind.  She jumped to her feet, looking around for John.  She found him slumped against the wall of yet another room.  Macy bent down and shook him, and his eyes popped open.  

“John,” Macy whispered.  John stood up and rubbed his eyes.  “John, look.”  John followed Macy’s gaze.  The wall of this room had another one of those odd screens that had been in the other room.  This time instead of  being black the panels were lit up, showing what looked like a sad movie where  kids are forced to become soldiers.  It showed kids getting shoved into rooms with the terrible green gas.  Then it showed thousands of kids all in lines, marching and shouting something Macy couldn’t understand.  Several more similar videos were shown before the one video that made Macy’s stomach lurch.  There were two boys, thirteen or so, just like John and Macy.  The boys were heavily armed, and they both had deadly looking swords in hand.  They went on and on with hand to hand combat, until one boy ended the match with a strong strike of the sword in the chest of the other boy.  Macy looked away.  She couldn’t bare to watch any more, though she thought that she understood what the video meant.  This is what would happen if Lark Clay took over the world, and Macy had to stop him, even though she knew just how capable he was of doing it.

Suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere.  “Hmmm…” said the man. “I assume you were eavesdropping, were you not?”

Macy and John both had nothing to say.  

“Very well,” said the man.  The man wore an odd brown robe that was long enough that it touched the floor when he stood  still.  His head was completely bald, and he had strange tattoos zig-zagging across his head. On his wrists were gold bracelets that twined up his arms.  He wore a mild expression, and Macy could feel the power that seemed to radiate off of him.

“Greetings, my new assistants,” he said. “I am Lark Clay, Master of all.”  His hand swooped down to touch Macy’s cheek.  “Such a youthful girl,” he commended.  

“Don’t touch her!” John screamed.

Macy felt the man’s hand go rigid.  He let go, but then he focused on John, his eyes burning like fire.  John didn’t seem to care, and he had a look on his face that Macy had never seen him with.  Desperation, Macy thought.  That’s what that look meant.

“Oh, John,” Lark said.  “I adore your defense for the people you truly care about. It reminds me of me. That is why I told Malachi to look after you, to make sure that you would stick by him all this time.  Which is really my point.” Lark took a small vial of green gas out of his pocket.  “This,” he said “ is the key to success. If you spread this, I will keep you both to be two of my honored assistants.” Lark handed the vial to Macy.  “I suppose you know what I want from you, but I will clarify it just in case.  I need you to find all the kids in the world and take this,” he rummaged through a pocket of his robe and brought out another vial, only this one was filled with orange liquid “and safely eliminate their parents, or any other adult. And what will this achieve, you may ask? Well, in my studies, I realized just how youthful children can be.  So much more work can be done. So, why not keep them for better use?” He handed the orange vial to John.  “You have been assigned your tasks.” He made shooing motions with his hands.  “Get to work. Quickly.”

At that point a door opened on one of the walls, and Malachi Jones stepped through.

“Master I finished with all the captives, I presume you will have good news from Macy Lont and John Lucas,” he said.  John stared open mouthed at Malachi.  

“Ahh..I see that we are slightly behind,” Malachi said, noticing Macy and John.

“Malachi, I, I can’t believe you….” Macy started to sob.  She couldn’t believe her best friend had only been a fake to draw her into a crazy plan of some wacky guy who thought he could change the world.  It was all just too much.

“Oh, please,” Lark continued. “Don’t cry.  I just need you to -” but he never got to finish, because John was so completely outraged that he had shoved the vial of orange liquid down Lark Clay’s throat.  Lark choked and gagged, collapsing in a heap on the ground.  Moments later, he burst into flames, leaving only his robe behind.  Then almost as a chain reaction, Malachi burst into flames as well.  Slowly everything else around John and Macy burst into flames, and started to melt away, and by  a minute later John and Macy were once again sitting on their knees in the crawl space.

                    ***

Weeks later, John joined Macy in the hallway at the public school.  After Lark Clay and Malachi had been taken care of, John had begged his parents to let him join the public school instead of being home schooled.  At first he had felt lonely without Malachi, but then he remembered that he still had Macy, and she was a better friend than Malachi ever could have been.   In the past few days he had learned that even though no one knew about their victory of saving the world, he and Macy would still be confident because of it.  He had never really thought about it, but now he realized how important it was to have a good friend, and a friend that would stick with you no matter what.  As long as he had Macy and Macy had him, neither one of them would ever be lonely again.

Author's Note

This was a story we had to write in school. I am sharing it to get an unbiased opinion from real people.

Reviews

[Ali Riza Kaya]

I liked the story generally,especially the rising action-but climax and the final could have been better I guess.All in all,well done! An entertaining well written piece!

[ZeniaK]

I liked your characters a lot in this, though I was a little confused in the beginning as to what was going on, though it was explained throughout the story. The ending was nice, saying they'd never be lonely again :)

[Lila Flowers]

Thank you sooooooooo much for your opinion. I share your thoughts about the first part; I think I just ran out of time to really complete it. I tried again after it was graded ( 100% ) but I coudn't get in the mood to write it better.