“So ok, are we waiting for some giant creature to appear out of the darkness and eat us?” Josh said. “Not to be, like, alarmist or anything.”
“It is a valid question,” Mr. Symarian said, “the answer to which would require information which, at present, we woefully lack.”
“Nice!” Charlie said.
The teacher looked puzzled. “What precisely is ‘nice’ about the possibility of being eaten?”
“No, I mean that great way you say things. Very nice. I could listen to you all day.”
“Yeah, me too Charlie,” Sid said. “Unless we get eaten first. Maybe we aughta focus here. What do we know?”
“Well,” Josh said, “Jenny said this place reminded her of the attic.”
“Yes,” Mr. Symarian said, looking thoughtful. “It would appear that everything we are witnessing here is, in some sense, a reflection of Jenny’s mind.”
“Or my grandmother’s mind,” Jenny said. The others all looked at her. “I mean, think about it. The attic is pretty much the same now as it was when she was a girl. And I’m not the one under some kind of spell, with demons and stuff.” She grinned apologetically at Sid and Charlie. “No offense intended.”
“None taken,” Sid said, a little too quickly.