The Music Box: Chapter Seventy-Three

The moment she opened her eyes Emily felt she had made a terrible mistake. How could she have been so silly? Finally reunited with her parents, out of immediate danger with Crouch now out of the picture, she had almost everything for which she could have dreamed. So what could have led her to do something so stupid?

Sitting here, back in the woods inside the box, Emily wondered whether Crouch had deliberately released the music that brought her here. If so, then he still had the potential to do harm. And if that was the case, simply having him trapped here in the box would not be enough. Emily was devastated she had been so easily lured back here, but knew there was no time to dwell. She had to think. Where would Crouch be?

Revenge. That would be first and foremost on his mind, even moreso than escape, Emily felt. Revenge upon those who had helped Emily to thwart his plans with Isabelle. Minerva.

Dashing through the trees, Emily raced towards what she felt must be the heart of the forest, keeping her ears primed for the slightest hint that would suggest she was near one of the entryways to Minerva’s underground dominion. The further she went the more she was certain she would never be able to find her way, until she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Of course I won’t find it if I think I won’t,” Emily chastised herself. “That’s exactly how this place works. Now if I turn around and look at that doorway that has just opened in that tree behind me…”

Emily slowly turned and was amazed to see a gaping doorway where only moments before there had been a solid tree trunk. So much had rested on this being the case, for she now knew what she must do.

Winding her way down the spiral stone staircase, Emily guided herself down through the darkness by running her hand along the cool stone wall. She stopped briefly to rest her burning forehead against the stone, knowing she must have all her wits about her. The stairs now opened out into a passageway, again unlit. Emily didn’t bother trying to produce any light, now trusting her way simply by deciding the passageway was wide enough not to run into anything.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she decided, knowing she had now emerged into the room where she had first met Minerva. She just hoped she had arrived in time.

“So lovely of you to join us,” came a voice from the dark, the unmistakable, bone-chilling tone of Aloysius Crouch. But how had he got his own voice back?

“Because I wanted it back,” he said. “I believe I have talked like a spoilt little girl quite long enough, don’t you Emily Button?”

“If you say so, Mr Crouch,” replied Emily, shocked to hear her own voice emerge. She put a finger to her nose and felt not the sharp, pointed thing she had expected but rather her very own.

“That’s right, Emily,” Couch cooed. “I no longer need it, so it’s all yours. Of course I now no longer need you at all in the slightest. In fact, it would suit me greatly for you to disappear entirely!”

At this came a sudden flash of light, so bright after all this darkness. While relieved to have escaped Crouch’s body – she still wasn’t entirely sure how – she was terrified by his sudden appearance across the room from her. He appeared to be standing over something, a huddled bundle on the floor. As quickly as the light had appeared, darkness closed back in.

“It was very valiant of you to come down here, Emily, but I am afraid you are too late. Minerva should have known better than to help you against me and she has now paid the price.”

“You vile beast!” Emily cried, tears welling up in her eyes. “What have you done?”

“Oh, not so much so far, merely removed her tongue. She may still be able to hear, but she won’t be able to tell you anything. She will certainly never sing again.”

Emily was lost for words. After all this time she was still shocked that anyone could be so heartless, selfish and cruel. Could this really be true? Emily tried to hold her feelings in check and see what might happen if she decided – truly convinced herself – that he had simply made it up to try and unsettle her.

“You’re lying. You may have wanted to do that, but you haven’t.”