The Dream Sanctum: Beyond The End Read Online Free PDF Page A

and Kwin saw
each other in the real world all the time. Then again, it was only recently
that Kai learned that Alastor lived anywhere close to them in the first place.
    The car swerved suddenly and Frederick gunned the engines as they sped
through an intersection, horns blaring from all sides. The digital voice spoke
again through the car’s speakers, turning the volume of the music down as it
did so.
    “Warning: you have passed through a red light. Please drive carefully to
avoid any accidents or injuries.”
    “Stop with the scolding and put my music back on,” Frederick scoffed, and
the computer obliged.
    Frederick hummed along with the music as he sped through the streets,
darting between other cars at nearly twice their speed. Kai sat back in his
seat, holding the door handle to avoid being thrown left and right. Lindsay
looked absolutely terrified; she clutched the door handle and her seatbelt with
such force that her knuckles turned white, and her eyes were firmly shut. Even
Kwin looked slightly unsettled.
    At 12:32, the black car finally slowed and drove through a set of wide,
white iron gates that opened automatically as they approached, revealing a
sweeping landscape of tiny lawns, glittering white marble walkways and
carefully trimmed flower hedges. A long, straight driveway of flat,
pale-colored stones that intersected like hexagonal puzzle pieces led through
the massive front lawn and turned into a loop around a large fountain in front
of the building’s front doors.
    The mansion itself was a beautiful sight. It was the same clean white
color as the marble walkways that snaked around the grounds, and vast
symmetrical windows seemed to look back at them from every floor. A sweeping
staircase led up to where two huge doors sat under a broad archway along with a
large chandelier and two lamps. The front doors were made of a deep, red-tinged
wood and outfitted with golden handles.
    As they got out of the car, assisted by Frederick, Kai looked up at the
building in amazement. He had never seen a mansion this big in his life, not
even on television. The property itself was massive, too. The nearly endless
lawn stretched for acres and acres before fading into a dense growth of trees
far behind the building.
    Lindsay, on the other hand, simply looked happy to be alive. She stepped
uncertainly out of the car, looking shaken and pale. As Kwin walked over to
check on her, Lindsay draped her arm around her, leaning heavily on her smaller
friend.
    “You could just sit down!” Kwin gasped under the pressure.
    “You guys can do whatever you want on Sunday, I am walking home.”
    “This way, please!” Frederick said, walking up the stairs and tossing the
car key to another man who quickly drove the car away and out of sight around
the side of the mansion.
    The three friends followed Frederick up the stairs. He walked right up to
one of the heavy doors and opened it with difficulty; it looked very heavy.
    The interior of the house was surprisingly empty. There were many rooms
visible from the front hall that looked to be nothing more than sitting rooms
or guest rooms. However, each one appeared to have its own unique color scheme;
and Kai noticed rooms decorated purely in red, white, black, blue, orange,
purple and green.
    Kai also noticed a distinct lack of people in the house. He assumed many
people would live here, but he didn’t see or hear anyone apart from themselves.
Their footsteps echoed on the shiny tile floors as they approached the end of
the hall where a large double staircase swept up in opposing directions,
curving around and meeting back up at the top to form a bright ivory balcony.
    “Alastor will surely be down to see–” Frederick started, but broke off at
the sound of a slamming door from upstairs. They all looked up simultaneously
to see a man jogging across the balcony toward the top of the stairs.
    “Oh, damn. I’m late. Or rather, you’re early! Frederick, you didn’t ding
up your car, did