As we walked down the staircase, I felt a chill run down my spine. The wooden door opened on its own, and I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched by some unseen force. Inside the room, my eyes widened at the sight before us. It was a lab for occult studies, with strange equipment and odd symbols etched into the walls. Kevin was right; Lord Dregan probably kept all his secrets here.

Jars filled with organs lined the shelves, and I couldn't help but wonder if they belonged to his victims. I shuddered at the thought. Cobwebs covered an old desk, and Kevin was reading through some yellow papers he found.

"He was studying magic, trying to become a powerful monster," Kevin said, looking up at us. "But what happened to him?"

I shook my head, unable to answer. My eyes scanned the room, taking in every detail. There were books on dark magic and spells, and a strange machine with wires and tubes that looked like it belonged in a mad scientist's lab.

Salina approached a table with an old, dusty tome on it. She flipped through the pages, but her expression turned to confusion. "It's written in some kind of code. I can't read it."

I walked over to look at the book, but I drew my attention to a portrait on the wall. It was a painting of Lord Dregan, and his eyes seemed to follow me wherever I went. I shivered and turned away.

"We should keep looking for more clues," Kevin said, holding up the yellow papers. "There has to be something else here."

I nodded, still feeling uneasy. This room held too many secrets, and I couldn't help but wonder what other horrors awaited us in this castle.

I noticed a cluster of cobwebs on the wall near the bookcase. I brushed them off with my hand, and tiny black spiders scurried away. But as I did so, I found a small rusted safe door on the stone wall. I called Kevin over and asked if he could open it. He examined the lock. “Sorry, I don’t know the combination.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I got an idea!” Salina pulled out a piece of chalk and drew a fire symbol on the safe. She whispered a spell in Latin, and the safe door melted into the cobblestone floor. I looked inside and found a black leather book. I pulled it out and showed it to my friends.

"What is it?" I asked.

Salina examined it closely and dropped her mouth open. "This is a Shadow Book," she said. "It's a spell book with powerful spells. I've heard of such a book, but I thought it was only a legend. It might be related to another spell book called the Book of Shadows."

I couldn't believe it. We had stumbled upon something extraordinary, and it was right here in Dregan Keep. But the thought of using such powerful spells made me uneasy. I wondered if it was wise to even touch the book, let alone keep it.

I watched as Salina's eyes scanned the pages of the Shadow Book, her fingers tracing the strange symbols and glyphs etched on its yellowed pages. I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, as if we were meddling with something far beyond our control.

"What kind of spells does it have?" I asked, my voice hushed.

Salina looked up at me, her expression excited. "Transformations, curses, and-" Her voice trailed off as she turned another page. "Oh, wow. Here's something interesting."

I leaned in to get a closer look, trying to decipher the ancient text and creepy images on the page. "What is it?"

"It's a spell for a time portal," Salina said, her eyes wide with wonder. "It can take you anywhere in time. Imagine being able to see historical events firsthand."

I shook my head in disbelief. “That's crazy. Time travel? That’s totally bogus science fiction.”

“Oh yeah? Watch this.” Salina read the spell, her lips moving silently as she tried to decipher the Latin text. For a moment, nothing happened. We all stood there, holding our breath, waiting for something to happen. But then Salina looked up, disappointment etched on her face.

"I don't think it worked," she said, closing the book with a soft thud.

I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that we hadn't just caused a catastrophic event. "Thank goodness," I said. "Let's put this book away and get out of here. Who knows what else we might-”

The room shook violently, throwing me off balance. I stumbled and fell to the ground, grabbing onto the dusty bookshelf for support. Salina and Kevin looked just as scared as I was, their eyes wide with terror. The sound of thunder roared through the walls, and I felt like the entire castle was going to collapse on top of us.

Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the back wall of the room, where a blue swirling vortex had appeared. The vortex was like the eye of a storm, and I could feel the energy emanating from it. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. As the portal grew in size, it began to suck everything in its path towards it. Occult items and studies flew past us, being pulled into the vortex like a magnet.

"Run!" I cried out, but it was too late. The portal had already sucked us in. Everything around us spun, and I felt like I was in a washing machine. My friends were screaming, and I joined them, unsure if we would make it out alive.