Key after midnight

On Halloween, Maja and Olek find a strange key and end up in the clockmaker's quiet shop. When the clocks start counting to thirteen, things get really restless.

The night on Halloween was foggy and chilly. Maja was counting the candy in her canvas bag and mending her cardboard cape. Suddenly, something sounded under her shoe. She picked up a small brass key in the shape of a bat. Attached to the ring was a label with cursive writing: AFTERNOON. A shudder ran through her, but curiosity was stronger. Olek, Mai's cousin, approached with a pumpkin lantern.

• 'He must have lost it, Mr Cyk,' Olek said. His clock shop stood just around the corner. The signboard creaked like an old fiddle. The door was ajar, although it should have been locked. - We'll give it back and go back for the cake,' he added. They entered carefully and the pumpkin flame danced on the windows. Inside, it smelled of dust and oil. Hundreds of clocks hung and stood in silence.

Maja placed the key on the counter. Then her backpack started ticking quietly. She took out a pocket watch she hadn't had before. The hands retreated quickly and the numbers flashed. On the tabletop was a note: Don't open anything when the clocks are silent. Next to it was a drawing: a keyhole with a lightning bolt. - 'That sounds like a warning,' whispered Olek. Maja nodded and looked at the largest dark wood clock.

At the same moment, all the clocks moved at once. The shop was filled with an even clatter until their hair stood on end. Then the ticking fell silent as if cut off by a knife. Somewhere from the depths a single, low thump sounded. The first. Followed by a second. A third. - Count to thirteen - whispered Maja. The hole in the great clock shone with a pale light, and the key in her hand grew warm. Someone, very quietly, whispered their names from behind the door. The thump of the twelfth drowned out their breaths, and then there was a brief silence, just before the next