Comenius project ‘Listening to the voices of churches and mosques

from Western to Eastern Europe’

Detective short story

WHITE HEART’S

DARK SECRETSDetective short story writen by pupils involved in Comenius project ‘Listening to the voices of churches and mosques

from Western to Eastern Europe’

AUTHORS

• Szkola Podstawowa nr 190 Poland

• 101 Sredno Obshtoobrazovatelno uchilishte„Bacho Kiro‟ Bulgaria

• Scoala cu clasele I-VIII, Sathinez Romania

• Radviliskio dailes mokykla Lithuania

• College Jean Moulin France

• Scuola Secondaria di 1° grado „Fermi -Mannai‟ Italy

• Gimnaziul Europa, Tg Mures Romania

• Gymnasium of Eresos Greece

• Zakladna skola Pri Podlizianke Slovakia

• Mete Has Ilkogretim Okulu Turkey

• It was a beautiful end of the summer. The colours of the autumn started to emerge shyly and the scent of the passing time was in the air.

The group of friends from the local school met in their secret den under the enormous oak in the backyard ofthe school.„Why don‟t we go somewhere during our last holiday weekend?‟ said one ofthe girls. Her hair was pretty dark red and she had a distant smile on her lips.„It‟s a wonderful idea‟ answered the boy with freckles on his face. „Where do you want to go, guys? „ asked Phil. He was handsome and sporty and every girl in the town wanted to be his girlfriend.„I know about the place... „ said Mary, the shiest and the smartest member ofthe group. „ There is a village called The White Heart where people used to believe in god with four faces. We cóuld go there and see an old medieval cathedral, which...‟Booooring! „Phil interrupted her in the middle ofthe sentence. „Is there a lake to swim and the disco to dance in this village?‟Come on, Phil‟ Elisabeth, the red-haired beauty interfered in. „You were swimming and dancing all two months long. Let‟s do something else for a change. Something different, crazy, unlike us...„Yes, yes! Let‟s do it!‟ the eyes ofthe fřeckled guy lighted up. „Hm... it can be great fun actually‟ said well-build Mark, quiet till now.„I can see that everybody likes the idea, so... what can I say‟ Phil teased with friends. „Let‟s meet here at 8 a. m. tomorrow. Take your tents and sleeping bags‟„See you guys!‟„See you‟.Excited friends run to their houses to pack their things. Nobody expected that this weekend will be the most terrifýing experience in their lives. They didn‟t know that the medieval cathedral is told to be haunted and that a series of mysterious accidents have happened there lately...

CHAPTER 1

• The next morning Mary, Phil, Elisabeth, Mark and a freckled guy - David went to the village of The White Heart. They were eager to see the Cathedral. The children quickly put up their tents near the Cathedral and then immediately went to examine it from all sides. To their surprise it was closed. Phil began to knock on the door.‟Locked, ‟ said someone behind.The children were startled. When they turned round they saw a stranger standing just behind them. The kids did not know how and which way the man came. ‟Nobody has entered the Cathedral for a long time. You‟d better go home ‟ he said gloomingly.The children looked at each other puzzled. Elisabeth decided to ask the stranger some questions about the Cathedral, but when she turned back, there was nohody there. The children looked around, but the man had vanished into thin air.‟I did not come here to leave the place without seeing the Cathedral‟ said Phil.‟Do you want to try to go in or not?‟ he asked playfully. ‟Why not?‟ replied David. ‟If only we could go in at least for a little while‟ he added.The kids went round the Cathedral and saw that one window was opened. After they had squeezed themselves throught the window into the Cathedral, they were amazed by its cleanness, as if someone regularly cleaned there.‟Not been visited for a long time? Nonsense!t‟ muttered Phil.They started to look at its mural paintings and stained glass. The Cathedral was beautiful and magnificent, but there was something depressing in that splendour. The children felt that they were not alone there, as if someone was following them with their eyes.‟This place gives cold shivers down my spine‟ said Mary.‟And I think I saw enough ‟ said Elisabeth.‟Okay, enough for today ‟ agreed Phil. ‟Lets go outside‟They went to the window through which they had entered, and saw that it was atready closed, and so were all other windows. Mark tried to open it but failed. ‟How will we get out of here? ‟ quietly asked David, who suddenly felt how fear invaded every cell of his body.‟I wanna get out of here! Wanna get out of here! ‟ began to repeat Elisabeth sobbingly.‟We will sleep here only one night‟ said Mary trying to comfort her.‟In the morning you will be home‟ she added.The children lay down where they could, but they were not able to fall asleep for a long time. And although nobody said a word, everyone knew that the others were awake until fatigue did not prevailed over their fear and they finally went to steep.

CHAPTER 2

• About midnight Mary was awakened by some strange sounds, doors opening, footsteps and people whispering. She was so sleepy that, at the beginning, she thought she was in her bed, at home, and her parents were making all that noise. But some unfamiliar music made her open her eyes, and also close them immediately. She thought she was dreaming, but when she saw Elisabeth, Phil and Mark sleeping and David staring with his mouth wide open, she remembered where they were and what had happened.

The cathedral was lightened by hundreds of candles and it was full of people looking kind of funny. There were also some men wearing brown robes and hoods and a choir singing. Mary didn‟t know what to believe. The light, the people, the music, everything seemed so unreal.‟Hey, wake up! ‟, whispered Mary, wanting to wake the others up, but, when she turned around, all of them were already awake, staring, just like David.‟When did all these people get in here? ‟, asked Phil, obviously very confused.‟What‟s going on here? ‟ asked Mark.‟Aaa…I…er…can see… through them‟ said Elisabeth terrified.‟Me too.. ‟ whispered Phil.And then, they all realized it was true, they could all really see through them.‟They must be… ggghosts…‟ said Mary ‟But maybe they can not see us‟” she added, trying to comfort her and the others.‟Look! there‟s a bride‟ said Mark, ‟It must be a wedding ceremony…‟.And, yes, there was a bride, a dark-haired beautiful young girl who seemed very scared and rather unhappy.‟But I can not see the groom‟ murmured Phil.‟Maybe they are all waiting for him‟, added David.And, indeed, everybody there was waiting for the groom, but their faces looked as if they had been attending a funeral.‟Shut up! ‟ said Mary ‟Let‟s try to make out something of what they are whispering‟.

And as they all listened carefully, they could hear the words ‟curse ‟, ‟cruel ‟, ‟secret key‟ and even a whole sentence, whispered by a woman standing nearby, ‟Princess White Heart shouldn‟t marry that monster…‟

CHAPTER 3

• The children started to make a plan. 'We should have stayed at home! ' said David.'What? Are you scared ??? We have the chance of a real adventure for the first time in my lives!„ said Mark. 'You had better watch what you say' said Mary 'Let‟s try making a plan!' 'Have you anything to offer?' asked David. 'We need to know the curse and how to make it inactive!' said Mark.'Is that monster friendly or should we run now?' asked Elizabeth. 'Aaaa I am scared!!!' - shouted Phil and everybody turned back looking at him.One girl was so scared that she hit the wall and opened the secret chamber absolutely unexpectedly.When they came into the chamber they found few strange looking crystals and Mary took them all. Suddenly, the floor started to shake and the wind blew all the candles out leaving them in blind darkness. The guys were standing together and kept on moving by holding their hands, further away from the place where they felt the shaking.While walking in the darkness, suddenly, they fell down into other level and found themselves in a secret laboratory. There they found people trapped in cages like animals or experimental rabbits, who were crying for help.'Aliens are controlling our souls and if the wedding doesn‟t succeed we will remain ghosts forever!' quickly said the caged woman.The children understood that the monster was not evil but that he was cursed by the aliens. Suddenly, one of the ghosts came over and said : 'We were attending the wedding when the aliens came and scared the groom and all the people who were there. The alien„s prince had changed his appearance and he been trying to marry the princess, and if he succeeded we would be trapped here for eternity. You must save us pleaaaase!'The children rushed into toward the hall and realized that they had been lost in a maze. The group of the children split all over the maze's ways but they were all caught by the green alien who had stopped them by using his magic powers, stealing their souls and imprisoning them into the secret laboratory. Mary was the only one who hid somehow herself in a dark corner of the maze and the creature was then desperately looking for her. The atmosphere calmed down. It seemed then to be the right moment for Mary to move through the maze and get out of the cathedral. She made some steps in the darkness and her ears heard some creepy sound coming up from her back. She turned back suddenly and she was petrified. The scary monster was right behind her back. Then she started screaming and she ran away from him. Then she decided to give up and took the thing she loved most, her iPod. She wanted to bring it with her when she would turn into a ghost. But something strange happened when she turned it on. The monster started screaming and his body was shaking. He looked disturbed by the iPod. Afterwards she threw it at him and could finally run away. Five minutes later, she found the exit.

CHAPTER 4

• Mary hurried to the closed window, totally scared. She was shocked and panic stricken. The frightened girl wanted to cry but she was too scared and too shocked. She was desperately trying to open it when, suddenly, she was surprised by a familiar voice : „Mary, come on, we have found the exit!‟

It was Phil with the other friends who nodded to follow them. She wanted to ask them how they were going to escape but she was too shocked to speak.

A few minutes later, they stopped abruptly in front of the altar. Mary, disconcerted, looked at her friends questioningly. They smiled maliciously. She turned around to go to the window, but jumped, frightened – the Alien was in front of her. Her gaze darted back and forth between her friends and the Alien. They had set a trap for her! How could they do that? She was their friend!!! It seemed the Alien guessed what Mary was thinking because he said devilishly : „Don‟t be upset with them, they‟re not themselves. I have hypnotized them.‟Mary rushed to them, shaking Mark, begging him to wake up. But he remained immobile, with lacklustre eyes. She turned back to the Alien, and shouted hopelessly : „WHY???!‟„You‟re exactly like her…‟ he said lovingly to himself. „What are you talking about?‟ She asked the question because she did not understand what he meant.

„You look like my princess, the woman who was supposed to marry me. But now she‟s dead, so I‟ll marry you instead…‟

CHAPTER 5

• „Why? Why me?‟ Mary asked herself.There was only a long cry of a young girl in pain. The moon-light, reflecting in the bright eyes of the alien, lightened up that awful night. She felt something crawling up her back; all those odd, strange words about the wedding said by the Alien, made her feel miserable.“Shall I ran away? Or shall I stay here and fight him, once for all? Damn! That…” She thought.She turned round to keep an eye on the Alien just to be sure he wasn‟t reaching her. She was looking for him when, suddenly, a strange light softly spread through the church. She turned towards the direction of the light, moving, thus, her long hair. Quickly, she found herself before the Alien and she ran to catch that ugly creature but he disappeared in a whirl; she wanted to understand that story. Mary soon became accustomed to face dangers, above all when her friends found themselves in trouble. But now the Alien had vanished and the whirl closed away. Mary stopped, looked down and clenched her fists in anger. “How? How could … I … lose him?!” she whispered. She came back disappointed where, only few minutes earlier, she had seen her friends in a terrible state. But nobody was there. Tears suddenly came to her eyes. All hope that she and her friends would live was lost. Then, she heard some footsteps approaching her. She knew that her life depended on her next move. Something should be done. Her heart was beating faster and faster, all the same she took her courage in both hands, breathed deeply and started running again.- BAAANG – a terrible noise echoed in the air.„Ouch..!‟ she shouted. She hit something cold and hard, a stone column as she discovered later. She looked around. Everything was silent and peaceful. „And those footsteps ...? It was only my imagination, thanks God‟ she thought.“Where are you?” Mary cried loudly. There was no answer.She leaned against the nearest column and a strange object fell down just behind her back. She bent and took it in her hands. “What‟s … that??? This is…an amulet!” she said with a shaking voice. She realized she was talking to herself and that was of good comfort to her. She stood up and looked at the amulet carefully. There was a very strange drawing on it; she passed her fingers across it, once, twice, three times but nothing happened. Then, she put it around her neck because she didn‟t want to lose it. She was completely fascinated by it.Once on her neck, the amulet changed into a bright golden colour and began to move forwards and backwards.In a while Mary was trapped in a huge black hole.

CHAPTER 6

• While Mary was walking confused in the black hole the amulet started to get brighter and brighter and it showed Mary the way to a secret room. On the door of the room it was written with red big letters: ‟Forbidden ‟ where all the secrets of the Cathedral were hidden. Secrets forgotten which nobody knew. She found a very old parchment on a small wooden table. It was the family tree of the Princess. When she unwrapped it she found out that she really looked like Princess White Heart. ‟That‟s why the Alien said I look just like her‟ she thought, being very confused. ‟What should I do now? ‟ Mary asked herself. When looking closer, she recognized the man who warned them when they came into the Cathedral. He was Princess White Heart‟s elder brother. She was puzzled and nothing made sense for her anymore. In the next moment she heard a familiar voice… It was that man. She looked back at the parchment, and under his picture it was written: Arthur the White Heart. ‟I can‟t believe my eyes! You!‟ Arthur, the old man, said ‟I told you, you shouldn‟t have come here. Now, your friends are in danger, they are all trapped, like all of us. ‟ Mary was frightened, her hands were trembling like leaves in autumn and her face became pale. She couldn‟t utter a word. ‟Now, only you can save us all‟, said Arthur with a scared voice. We can set a trap „Mary listened carefully. After that she thought for a while and decided to listen to Arthur. She started to set him a trap but when she wanted to tell Arthur about the plan, he was gone. She looked around but nobody was there. He disappeared in the darkness of the room.On her way out of the room, she stopped in front of a mirror. It was all covered with spider webs. When she looked into the mirror, the amulet opened and reflected the image of the graceful Princess. She was dressed in a wonderful long white silk dress and the soft sounds of the wedding were heard like silver bells. Mary, being impressed, touched the mirror and in an instant the Princess spoke to her. ‟Please help me, help us! My soul, our souls are trapped in here by the green Alien! Help us! ‟ said the Princess, with a voice that expressed fear and despair. But when Mary took her hand from the mirror, it broke. Everything started to shake. She stepped out of the room. As she was walking carefully, the amulet faded away. Now she found herself in complete darkness . She made a step, with her eyes on the floor and the amulet started shaking, being covered by a green light. And when she looked up, she saw the alien looking at her. He had a fierce, devilish look. He grabbed Mary and…

CHAPTER 7

• He grabbed Mary and they transported in to the room with the hidden secrets. Mary was crying and she felt that it was the last moment of het life. The Alien announced to her that het friends will come to prepare her for the wedding. Straight away he left the room and left behind him an electrical field which wouldn't let Mary leave the room.

Suddenly her amulet shon showing the pieces of the broken mirror.The Princess voice was heard from the pieces saying to her:‟To save your friends use the thing you have on you... ‟‟What thing is that? ‟ asked Mary questioned.

‟It's... ‟ the Princess didn't have time to finish her sentence because Mary's friends entered the room. Elisabeth was holding a beautiful white long dress, behind her Phil was holding a thin laced wedding vale. next to them Mark had in his hands o big bouquet with white tulips, while David was bringing a pair of wedding shoes.

Her friends programmed like robots with expressionless faces started dressing her while she was analyzing the words that the Princess had said to her. She tried to think what the thing was to help her to escape, the moment Elisabeth was taking of her jacket and she remembered the crystals she had found. She touched one of them and held it tight and straight away memories of the Princess's life rushed through her mind. She saw her touching the crystal....

CHAPTER 8

• …Mary imagined the princess raising the crystal so she raised the one she had in her pocket above her head and prepared to stab it into her own heart. She was following the Princess„s example hoping it would save her own soul from the tragic fate that had befallen the Princess.

‟No, don‟t kill yourself Mary, ‟ someone behind her said.

Mary looked around and glimpsed Arthur, the princess‟s brother.

‟Mary, If you kill yourself, you won‟t save anyone! ‟ he added.

‟My sister didn‟t know about that and look how it ended up.Not only did she not save anyone, but her soul stayed locked up forever inside the crystal. ‟

‟But, what locked her up? ‟ Mary asked.

‟The crystals have the power to take your soul and lock it when you put them close to your heart‟ Arthur replied. ‟But, if you put the crystal in a body that doesn‟t have a soul, you give the body the soul that is inside the crystal‟ he continued. Then, suddenly something came to Mary‟s mind - the memory of the Alien. She remembered when the Alien started to shake as it was looking at her iPod. Mary realised that he wasn‟t afraid of the iPod, but its light, because it reminded him of the magic crystals. It seemed that the only way to lock up the Alien was using the crystals.

‟But what am I supposed to do with Alien‟s soul? ‟ she asked out loud. However, no one replied to what she‟d been asking, Arthur got off, again.

Thinking about what to do with Alien‟s soul she didn‟t realize she was juggling the talisman. Suddenly, she dropped it and it opened itself. It was then she realised what she was supposed to do – his soul could not be kept inside the talisman…

CHAPTER 9

• - ‟but inside the crystal. I need to put the crystal close to the Alien‟s heart. How can I manage that? ‟ Mary thought.She had no much time to think. She had to make up her mind quickly about what to do. At last, she decided to pretend as if she wanted to marry the Alien. So she would be bale to come close to the Alien. Nonetheless, she was good at acting in the department of theatre at school. There was no other chance. At that time, the Alien appeared suddenly. It was a good opportunity for Mary to carry out her plan.‟I have to be calm down and make him not to understand anything‟ thought Mary. ‟You‟ll be my little princess. We‟ll marry tonight and I‟ll have the power to order the whole humanbeings‟ said the Alien.‟I want to marry youand order the world with as your wife. ‟ said Marry and smiled to the Alien. The Alien was surprised but glad to hear that.‟Tonight only three hours later I will be able to become immortal and have the endless power. ‟ The Alien shouted in the room callously.‟Be ready in three hours my little princess. ‟ The Alien added and then disappeared.As the time was approaching for wedding ceremony as if Marry could hear the voices of souls suffering. But stil marry didn‟t know how she would make the crystals come close to the Alien‟s cruel heart. She was alone in the middle of such a big matter.‟If I could be with my friends, we could find a solution to this problem together easily‟ thought Marry desperately.Maybe her friends had helped her unconsciously. Marry remembered the preparations for the wedding that her friends brought to her.While she was thinking these, the time for wedding ceremony had come. She wore wedding dress and shoes. Mary‟s friends had come to her room again to take her to the place where the music came from. Finally, she took the white tulips.The Alien was waiting for his little princess. Maybe Mary‟s friends were taking her to the end which had no turning to live freely again. ‟I will manage‟ Mary encouraged herself. They were passing between the hundreds of candles. Mary‟s frinds were walking unreactively. At last they had come to the end. Mary smiled to the Alien and so did the Alien.‟You looked so beautiful in white, my beautiful princess‟ said Alien. Mary put on all her encouragement and said:‟Thank you, my handsome prince. Can I attach one of these beautiful tulips to your jacket, please? ‟‟Of course. You‟ll be also my tulip forever‟ said the Alien.

CHAPTER 10

• When Marry attached the tulip to the Alien‟s heart, the Alien started to cry: ‟No, no.. ‟Mary had hidden the crystals inside the tulip. So the Alien‟s soul was locked inside the crystals. Then the whole crystals were broken into pieces forever. All of the souls were free and Mary‟s friends gained their consciousness. Arthur and the princess White Heart thanked Mary. Suddenly the cathedral started to shake. All the doors opened. Mary, her friends and the others left the cathedrals. It was ruined. There was nothing left from the church. Outside Mary looked at the sky and saw a star which was the last smiling of the Princess White Heart.Mary heard a voice-a soft voice- from far away.

‟Mary, Mary‟. It was Mary‟s mother‟s voice.‟Come on darling. Wake up or you will be late for your school‟

CHAPTER 10

Comenius project ‘Listening to the voices of churches and mosques

from Western to Eastern Europe’

Detective short story