Chapter 14

Bubble Room

Holly loved exploring the old Victorian house on her own while her sisters were busy doing something else.
One day, Holly was wandering around the second floor, looking for a book to read. She came across a small door that was hidden behind a bookshelf. She had never noticed it before, and she wondered what was behind it.

She tried to open the door, but it was locked. She looked for a keyhole, but there was none. Instead, there was a strange symbol carved on the door. It looked like a circle with a dot in the center and four lines radiating from it. Holly felt a surge of curiosity and excitement. She ran downstairs to find her sisters and tell them about her discovery.

Molly and Dolly were playing cards in the living room when Holly burst in. "You guys, you have to come with me! I found a secret room upstairs!" she exclaimed.

"A secret room? Where?" Molly asked.

"Behind the bookshelf on the second floor. There's a door with a weird symbol on it. It's locked, but I'm sure we can find a way to open it," Holly said.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Dolly said, jumping up from her seat.

The three sisters ran upstairs, followed by their grandmother's cat, Fluffy. Holly led them to the bookshelf and moved it aside to reveal the door. Molly and Dolly gasped when they saw the symbol.

"What is that?" Molly asked.

"I don't know, but it looks cool," Dolly said.

"Maybe it's a clue to how to open the door," Holly suggested.

They examined the symbol closely, trying to figure out what it meant. They noticed that there were four small holes around the circle, one for each line. They wondered if they needed to insert something into the holes to unlock the door.

"Maybe we need a key," Molly said.

"Or maybe we need four keys," Dolly said.

"Or maybe we need something else entirely," Holly said.

They decided to look for anything that might fit into the holes. They searched the bookshelf, the drawers, the closet, and even under the bed. They found all kinds of things: coins, buttons, pins, earrings, rings, keys, and more. They tried them all, but none of them worked.

They were about to give up when Fluffy meowed loudly and scratched at the door. They looked at him and saw that he had something in his mouth. It was a small metal rod with a ball at one end and a hook at the other.

"Fluffy, where did you get that?" Holly asked.

Fluffy dropped the rod on the floor and nudged it towards them with his paw. They picked it up and examined it. It looked like it could fit into one of the holes.

"Maybe this is what we need," Molly said.

"Let's try it," Dolly said.

They inserted the rod into one of the holes and turned it slightly. They heard a click and saw that one of the lines on the symbol lit up with a blue glow.

"It worked!" Holly exclaimed.

They looked for more rods like the one Fluffy had found. They searched everywhere, but they couldn't find any more.

"Maybe Fluffy knows where they are," Dolly said.

They called Fluffy over and asked him to help them find more rods. Fluffy seemed to understand them and ran off to another room. He came back with another rod in his mouth. It was identical to the first one, except that it had a red ball instead of a blue one.

They inserted the second rod into another hole and turned it. Another click, another line lit up with a red glow.

"Two down, two to go," Molly said.

Fluffy ran off again and returned with another rod. This one had a green ball. They repeated the process and activated another line with a green glow.

"One more," Holly said.

Fluffy dashed off for the last time and came back with the final rod. It had a yellow ball. They put it into the last hole and turned it. The last line lit up with a yellow glow.

The circle in the center of the symbol started to spin faster and faster until it became a blur of colors. Then it stopped abruptly and opened up like an eye. A bright light shone from within, filling the room with a warm glow.

The sisters stared in awe at the circle. It looked like a portal to another world. They could see shapes and colors moving inside it, like bubbles in a soap dish.

"What is that?" Molly asked.

"I don't know, but I want to find out," Dolly said.

"Me too," Holly said.

They moved closer to the circle, feeling a strange pull towards it. They reached out their hands to touch it, wondering what would happen if they did.

They were about to find out when they heard a loud scream behind them.

"Stop! Don't touch it! You're not ready, but someday you will be!"

They turned around and saw their grandmother standing in the doorway. She looked furious and terrified at the same time. She ran towards them and pushed them away from the circle.

"Grandma, what are you doing?" Holly asked.

"What are you doing? How did you open the door? How did you find the rods?" their grandmother demanded.

"We were just curious. We wanted to see what was behind the door. We found the rods with Fluffy's help. What is that circle? Where does it lead?" Molly asked.

"That circle is a gateway to the BubbleVerse. It's a place of wonder and danger, of magic and mystery, of beauty and horror. It's not for children like you. It's not for anyone who doesn't know what they're doing. You could have been lost forever, or worse," their grandmother said.

"The BubbleVerse? What is that? How do you know about it?" Dolly asked.

"That's a long story, my dears. A story that I will tell you when you're older and wiser. A story that involves your parents, your ancestors, and your destiny. A story that you're not ready to hear yet, but someday you will be," their grandmother said.

She took the rods out of the holes and closed the circle. The light faded and the symbol went dark. She locked the door and hid the rods in a secret place. She hugged her granddaughters and apologized for yelling at them.

"I'm sorry, my loves. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just worried about you. You don't know what dangers lurk in the BubbleVerse. You don't know what secrets it holds. You don't know what powers it bestows. You don't know what price it demands," she said.

She led them downstairs and made them some hot chocolate. She told them stories about her childhood, her travels, her adventures, and her dreams. She made them laugh and smile and forget about the secret room for a while.

But she didn't tell them everything. She didn't tell them why she had a key to the secret room in her necklace. She didn't tell them why she had a tattoo of the symbol on her wrist. She didn't tell them why she had a scar on her chest that matched the shape of the circle.

She didn't tell them that she had been to the BubbleVerse before.

And she didn't tell them that she would take them there someday.