Not So Easy

JP with mdman, Jaxx, Trustno1, and Cindy

“Good job,” Dahlia encouraged. “It looks like a bandstand.”

Dahlia waltzed into the room. She looked around, even picking up the instruments.

Alyssa stepped into the room and looked around. It was hard to believe the instruments had just been left like that. "I wonder if this place was possibly raided, at some point.”

“It’s quite possible,” Dahlia affirmed.

Choi entered the once hidden room. “I doubt that,” Choi suggested. “Someone cleared out all the full bottles of alcohol. All the kegs are dry. It doesn’t make sense. Of course, when has anything made sense in our investigations.”

Agent Powers rubbed his chin then said, "Maybe this place was used as a safe house in the past. I have had to hunt a few targets hiding in safe houses in the past. They used old slum houses, closed up business, crack houses and even shut down amusement parks. That would explain why the bottles are empty and the sheets are still covering their stuff up."

Ekaterina was a bit surprised by Agent Powers' insight. She elegantly said, "That is a possibility Mr. Powers. This place would be ideal for that in the past."

Then Agent Powers gave a smolder as he looked around then paused. He then said, "Is it me or does this place kinda remind you of that movie "The Shining? I am worried we will open a door or elevator and a river of blood will gush out or something.”

Ekaterina noticed an old book on one of the tables. It was covered in dust and had not been used since early in the last century. It was called, "The house of light.” Inside the book, could be found several strange passages referencing light. Specifically mystical light bulbs that could light the way to the end of suffering and towards the stars. In dried blood were the strange sayings. "Tower" and "Golconda.”

Ekaterina was elegantly looking around when she found an old book covered in dust. She looked at the title and saw it was labeled as "The House Of Light". She opened it up and looked it over. Then she elegantly said to the group, "I found a rather old creepy book if any of you are interested. The label reads "The House Of Light. Alyssa I may need your insight on this one.”

Alyssa looked at the book as if it were a snake that might bite her, at first. "As long as I never have to jump inside one again. Alright." She walked over to the book. "Let's take a look.”

Light was something with which Dahlia was familiar. The Kabbalah contained shards of light. Each shard entrapped a portion of divine light, seemingly separating this primordial light from its source. These shards, known as the kelipot (pronounced k'lee-pote), represent malevolent constrictions in being, which, according to the Kabbalah, are the source of evil and personal suffering.

According to the Kabbalah, divine sparks of light — psychic/spiritual treasures — are encoded within us and hidden throughout the physical universe. The forces of darkness imprison the light in such a way so as to have the light under a magical spell.

“Let me have a look too,” Dahlia requested.

Alyssa put the words in blood into her phone. "Golconda means a source of great wealth. It's also an abandoned city in Turkey which is in ruins." Alyssa swallowed. "When I went into the book, I was taken to a ruined city in the desert." That seemed to not be a coincidence, at least to Alyssa, and she suddenly didn't want to be in that room any longer. She wasn't even thinking about the fact that two of the people in the room hadn't been at the Halliwell house for the book journey.

“We believe there is light hidden in each one of us. It is hidden by the darkness, or evil, that we may not know the source of that light,” Dahlia explained as she perused the pages on display.

“Hmmm,” Dahlia thought, “Is there a tower in this Golconda? There is actually a Golconda in India. Hyderabad…I don’t know much about the one in Turkey.”

"Alyssa, lets go into the hallway and look up "Tower". said Sartre, knowing the hacker was shaken." Has the group would look up to the ceiling, they would notice that it was a black ceiling covered in stars and constellations.

"There was obelisks, but I ...I don't know." She took a breath, Peter's suggestion was welcomed. "Yes," she walked out in the hallway with Peter.

Agent Powers rubbed his chin then gave a smolder as he said, "I am pretty sure there is a fort and a watch tower in Golconda, India. I had to chase down a weapons dealer there once. I almost got in trouble since I accidently damaged the wall.”

As Dahlia began flipping through pages referencing lights making visible the way towards the stars, she remembered her grandfather teaching her from the Torah of Jakov and the stairway to heaven. A smile came to her face at the memory.

Choi noticed it. “You find something good in there?”

“Just a memory,” Dahlia confessed. She looked upward. On the ceiling there were small points of light, which made them look like stars in the sky.

She uttered a word, “Hokhmah!”, meaning wisdom, a point on the Tree of Life. She had hope to gain the wisdom to interpret the meaning and find this passage. She began to glisten as a glow emanated seemingly from within her.

The security guard from the upstairs office ran into meet Dahlia and the others. "You asked about the heralds, isn't that why you people are? You have strange visions and an inopportune time. Seeing the world is it really is. Or are you different?”

Agent Powers looked at the security guard and gave him a smolder. Then asked, "Who are you?"

Ekaterina was shocked as she looked at the security guard and then asked not so elegantly, "How are you okay after Choi put you through a wall?”

"Alyssa, earlier you said you had some information. You said you wanted to go over and at the hotel. Perhaps we can make a connection. Do you want to go ahead and get out of here before night fall?" said Sartre.”

The guard said "I'm just here for what the pipeline brings in, the circulatory system has the best there is." He then made his way away from the group.

Choi rolled his eyes at the randomness of this guard. Perhaps the kick through the wall brought the guard to his senses. Still, the circulatory system, which seemed to be a drug, and the pipeline must be the supply line.

The glow had ceased from Dahlia, yet her face maintained a radiant feature to it. She continued looking at the small lights in the ceiling.

In her search for wisdom, she had sensed a presence somewhere out there in space. Could this be the actual source of the light that is within each individual? Where El stated, “Let us make man in our image.”

Dahlia breathed slowly, then announced, “I believe the what we seek is in the stars. I sense a presence out there.”

Alyssa had this distinct feeling she should get out of there, like another portal might open up at any second however, "I don't know if I feel right just leaving the others. " Especially, with the guard in there now. Alyssa was standing outside the hidden room but did look in and saw the glow from Dahlia. She heard the guard speak about the circulatory system, Heralds and a pipeline. Placing those terms in her mind to investigate later, for any kind of connection. Then what Dahlia said, which sounded a lot like a description of God. Alyssa, despite everything or maybe because of it wasn't overly religious. She hadn't been raised with any sort of real religious upbringing and never sort out to learn more than she might need to know as a general working knowledge for her. (Being she was a genius it was certainly more knowledge than some but it was on a purely intellectual level). There wasn't a connection like some had, that Dahlia clearly had. However, that also got shoved into her mind for more research.

Alyssa quietly stepped away from the room, deciding, on second thought that the ones in the room were more than capable of taking care of themselves. She did text Max and said, she was going back to the hotel with Peter. She doubted he would have ridden back with her but she was still his job and thought he should know. Alyssa included in the text that someone should get pics of the hidden room.

The temptation to take the bottle of whiskey found earlier was great because it would be getting a piece of history, but it didn't belong to her so she left it. The hacker did take a few last pics of the room and the bottle and then left with Peter.

Agent Powers saw the text from Alyssa and replied, "Okay. Text me if you need me for anything. I'll help the others till then." Moments later Alyssa hit the thumbs up emoji and sent it to Max. Agent Powers nodded at the reply and went back to taking pictures of the entire room and all the decor included. He was sending it to the cloud account Alyssa had set up for incoming files and pics so they didn't overload her phone. After Agent Powers showed Ekaterina the cloud account and connected her to it she began taking pictures as well. She also planned to take pictures of the book when the others were done reading it.

Dahlia was amazed. It was the closest she had ever felt to the source of the light that was within her, for that is what she thought the presence she had sensed to be. It was the book that led her to that presence.

Her gaze fell to the book once more. Certainly, this book held clues to reaching that presence. Closing the book, she picked it up and slid it into the back of her pants.

“We need this,” she assured the others. “It has important clues.”

Learning from the books at the Halliwell mansion, Choi stated, “We should take pictures and leave the book.”

Choi saw the now familiar pout. It was quickly becoming a week spot for him.

“Okay,” Choi said, “bring the book.”

Ekaterina elegantly asked, "Dahlia Mr. Powers asked if I could scan the book and send to his cloud account later on. Would that be fine? If you have a cloud account as well Choi I could send a copy as well.”

“We can do that back at the hotel,” Dahlia confirmed.

Choi probed, “Is there anything else we need? If not, we should head back.”

Agent Powers finished his photos and gave Choi a smolder before he replied, "Yeah I'm done sending Alyssa photos of the place." Ekaterina gave an elegant smile and replied, "I am ready anytime. You know I bet they could make more turning this place into an historical haunted house.”

“Okay,” Choi said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Dahlia was a little hesitant, wondering of she needed to read the book here for it to lead her to the presence she had felt. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, so it may be best if all of them be there when they were led to that presence. However, if it was the source of the light in each person, Dahlia wanted to meet it. Apparently, it was lights that led the way to it. She’d research the book at the hotel.

“Shotgun,” she called, ensuring she’d be up front with Choi, while Max would be with Kat in the back.