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themightykirin · 3 years

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Chapter 14: The Old 'Castle'

It was only a short while after, that Keiran woke him. The cold winds were growing too hard and fast, and it seemed that, if they didn't find shelter, they might very likely be overtaken by an uprising blizzard. The storm had caught up with them, and it caught up with them quick.

The two trekked together for a while against the wind and snow as it mounted at impossible speeds, not sure what to do or what kind of shelter to hope for... When Keiran spotted a structure in the distance.. something that she recognized to be other than a grove of especially tall trees, already covered in snow: it was the spires of a building.

“Look there! Up ahead!” Snow flew from the front of weary, determined black boots as she shot a finger in the direction of their last hope; shelter to keep them from freezing to death that night:

An abandoned castle.

It was small for a castle, but there was no denying it for what it was. And they did need shelter.

The redhead hesitated.

“Uhh... I ain’t sure about this. I mean...!” He shouted over the wind and snow, and tried to think of some logical explanation besides ‘possibly haunted’, like; “What if people own the place and they call the guards?”

“Good!” Came her reply, continuing on without him. “Then I'll get arrested and sleep in a warm cell.” Serdtse paused, considering the place. If it was vacant, the thought of a nice glowing fire in the hearth, possibly snuggled up to Keiran ‘for warmth’ suddenly outweighed the grey dreary visions he had of whispers from bodies no longer there. With a blink, he cleared his head and realized Keiran was still going on without him.

“O... Oi! Keiran, wait up, I’m coming!” And he hurried along after her.

Once inside, Serdtse’s reservations came back full force. The large, ornate wooden door, mottled with heavy iron, made a loud, groaning creak and then echoed through the foyer as it closed behind them. 'Definitely haunted' -came Serdtse's internal dialogue. And afterward, the absence of that noise was somehow even worse; as if he was sharing a hospital room with someone... and suddenly one less person was breathing.

“K-Keiran...” Serdtse whispered, immediately embarrassed he had stuttered.

“What..!” She hissed, suddenly angry because she didn't want to admit he was making her nervous about spooky things. “Don’t be stupid. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s no one living here.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.“ He answered, and the back of Keiran’s hand smacked him against the chest for that comment. A huff of an awkward chuckle escaped him as he ran a hand through his wild red hair and then he followed after her. Crouched down together as they cautiously explored, pushing tattered, stained drapery out of the way, and making sure not to fall over the dusty furniture; Keiran found the drawing room. With purpose in her steps she approached the hearth and dropped her sack, and then began to knock flint and steel together.

“We need more wood.” She told him.

“Uhh... where am I gonna-...”

“The house is full of furniture; pick something!”

Serdtse looked at an old, sun washed, deteriorated chair, with vines entertwining weakly into it like a lifeline, as if something, some force, was still clinging to this place, and wanted its chair. He shook his head.

“Keiran, I can’t do that. What if it makes the spooks angry? I’d be angry if somebody busted my stuff.”

“Stop being stupid! I told you there’s no one here! There hasn’t been anyone here for years, look at this place! We’re lucky the windows are in tact. Now bust up the chair.” She ordered. Serdtse raised both hands in trepidation, looking around. Finally, he blurted out aimlessly,

“Hey! If this chair b’longs to anybody! I’m gonna use it for firewood, so we don’t freeze, ok?” He paused, listening. His head lifted like a child trying to hear sleigh bells on Christmas Eve. “...Ok??” He asked. Keiran rolled her eyes. She still didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she was nervous. And she renewed her determination not to be. Patience lost, she stood and flipped the chair over, grabbing one of the legs, and using her foot as leverage, she quickly had it off, tossed it into the fire, and began to work on the next one. Serdtse stood looking at her awkwardly.

“Uh... I coulda done that.” He interjected. Keiran just squinted at him briefly before she continued.

Soon they had a decent fire going. Serdtse began looking for a blanket, feeling braver now that they had broken the chair and started a nice warm, glowing fire, -and nothing had tried to steal their souls. Maybe Keiran was right. Maybe there was nothing to be afraid of.

“I’m gonna go look upstairs.” He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, and with a slight hop, he turned and began bounding to the second floor.

Immediately, he regretted this. Serdtse swallowed anxiously. His single green eye looked back down the way he had come, and he was briefly comforted by the image of Keiran, and the resonant glow of the fire. And then he continued on. The first thing he found at the top of the stairs, was a linen closet. His gratitude exploded in his chest and his voice eeked out with childish enthusiasm,

“Luckyyyyyyyy~!” Then, throwing the door open, nothing less than a pile of bones wrapped in tomb-stained winding cloth; skulls and femers and fingers and ankles; all came spilling out onto him. Dust of long-dead things he didn’t ever want to know the origin of splashed everywhere and hung on the air. He flailed in shock, accidentally inhaling the probably cursed ashes and stumbled back and cried out, being further sullied by the contents in his panic.

“Augh! AUGHH!!” He continued to flail, scrambling to get up off the ground; dust flying everywhere. Keiran heard this and was immediately up the stairs after him.

Backing up away from the bones, Serdtse bumped into her and cried out again, but she caught him and shook him a bit.

“Stop! Stop it! What’s wrong with you!!” She shouted, not so much angrily as urgently. The further they got from the fire, the harder it was to see clearly, and at the very top of the stairs there wasn’t much moon light coming in from the stained glass windows. Serdtse grabbed onto her arms in turn, trying to collect himself.

“In-... in the closet!” He started. “Sk- skelletons! Look!” But when he turned to point them out to her, they were gone. Completely gone. Only the open linen closet stood, with clean, neatly folded towels. Serdtse was beside himself. Surely Keiran would think he was insane. Dust was gone. “No! No, wait! They were here! I swear they were! They fell out, all over me! I was coughing, I-... couldn’t breathe!”

Keiran squinted at the closet, arms folded. Then she looked at Serdtse. Not sure what to make of this, she didn’t say anything, reserving her judgement for a later time. Instead, she continued on into one of the bedrooms, and began to pull with determination on a blanket covering the bed there. Serdtse followed after her, bewildered, worried what she must think.

“This will do.” She told him, tossing it into his arms, and then she began to make her way back down toward the fire.

“K-Keiran...” He said, not understanding why she hadn’t spoken one way or the other. She must think he was nuts, 'of course she does', -he convinced himself. “The... closet-...” He spoke, almost in a whine. Why did her opinion matter so much? He knew what he saw. And still...

“What about it?” She asked, hardly making eye contact.

“The skelletons!” He cried out, exasperated, looking briefly back up the stairs as he followed her back down.

“Well they’re gone now, what do you want me to do about it!” She shot back. Serdtse paused on the stairs, still holding the comforter in his arms. So... she didn’t think he was crazy? Or she did, and she was humoring him. -Oh gods, she must be humoring me and not want to argue about it. He convinced himself. His shoulders slumped, defeated as they went back to the hearth.

As he sat there though, with the blanket around his shoulders, brows raised in hope, almost pleadingly, he opened his arms to her, inviting her to come in when she was done fixing the fire. They were both exhausted and nipped with frost. So she did so, without making eye contact. But that was enough for Serdtse. Under the guise (however legitimate) of keeping her warm, he tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek against her lovely raven hair, watching the fire grow and ebb, and dance, playing shadows on the wall.

And then one shadow moved deliberately against the actions of the fire.

Serdtse froze solid. Had he seen that right? Only his bright green eye followed the movement. He lifted his eyepatch, blinking with both eyes a moment... And after a minute or two, all seemed as it should be again, and he started to doubt himself... he let it go, trying to settle in and enjoy this moment with Keiran at his side.

But it wasn't over. It was then it emerged; the shape of a head out of the light, cast against the wall, and before he knew it, it leaped at him!

Serdtse choked and his vision went immediately black. He couldn't move. It was as if someone had taken the use of his limbs. He tried to cry out to Keiran, but while, in his head, the screams were clear, he was aware they made it out as nothing but urgent muttering whispers. He sounded asleep, no matter how hard he tried to call for help. His chest arched in twitches, his head turned, eye still closed and vision black. He continued to cry out to her, desperate, and feverish.

Keiran was aware of nothing save for the fact that Serdtse seemed to have fallen asleep at some point, and was now either having a nightmare or a seizure. Thinking maybe the scare upstairs, whatever it was, had compromised his nervous system, she rolled him to his side to prevent him from choking. And she had no sooner done so, then he opened his eye and gasped... and then, overwhelmed, a quiet sob left him. What did all his strength, all his knowledge matter, against something he couldn’t show anyone? Or against something that could take his own body if it wanted to?

Confused and scared for him, and for herself, Keiran gathered him into her arms.

“Ok, I’ve got to get you out of here.” She said, looking around. And then suddenly, the fire went out and everything was still. Keiran’s sharp eyes widened slightly, half in panic, and half to be intensely aware of her surroundings. She clutched Serdtse tightly to her as her focus flew to one side of the room like a cat. The rustling of something like tracks of small animals, running through the walls echoed. Then something emitted a low growling sound. 'This is not good.' She thought, making the familiar click sound of her sword being drawn from its sheath.

“Iron..!” Serdtse blurted out, pointing at the fireplace tools as he got up and grabbed a shovel for himself, and handing her handle of the poker. And then they stood together, back to back, looking around, and hearing the sounds of the racing animalistic scuffling all along the walls, growing heavier. His voice was subdued. “It’s just... superstition a' course, but...” He swallowed; his green eye wide and busy, trying to focus everywhere at once. “Iron should rend the apparitions. Y'know, disperse their energy. It'll give us time.”

“It won’t kill them??” Asked Keiran, somewhat exasperated. Serdtse, scared and tired and his face still wet with tears, his patience was about gone. He shot back accidentally comical,

“Of course it won’t kill them! They’re already dead, Keiran!!” And something else took a leap at him from the walls. Keiran shoved him aside and slashed through it with so little effort it looked like she hadn't done it at all.

“Run!” She cried out, taking a defensive stance to cover him as he did, facing the dark, empty hearth, and the shadows now obviously moving and swirling as they regained their stamina. “Run!” She shouted again, staggering her feet and ready to make another blow.

Serdtse hesitated only a moment, still holding his shovel. He quickly grabbed their bags, and looked behind him to make sure she was still there. Keiran was following him, walking backward as she fought them off. With urgency, he pulled the heavy door open, and this time, the loud groaning noise that accompanied it was a welcome sound. The snow was the answer to their prayers. Serdtse made it outside, throwing their bags several yards from the door, to safety. And he paused. Anxiousness seized him. Was she still coming?

“Keiran!” He cried out, beginning to head back toward the open door.

And it slammed shut.

'No!' He thought. Then, racing to the entrance, he attempted to open it again, in vain. It wouldn’t budge. He pounded on the door.

“Keiran! Keiran come out! Keiran, open the door! What’s going on!!” He kept shouting, doing whatever he could to pry at the ancient and swollen wood of the door. How had they ever opened it in the first place? It seemed like the doors had been weathered shut for ages. His voice broke a little.

“Keiran!!” He called, hearing nothing. Silence in the snow: there was nothing from the other side of the door that looked like it had ever been opened. He was doubting his senses. His vision circled about at his surroundings. Had she come out with him? No, he was still very much alone..

Not sure what to do with himself, and doubting all of his faculties in the deafening snow, he couldn’t let go the possibility that Keiran was still stuck inside somewhere. Sure he could be hallucinating again, but he had to do the best he could with what he had. The ex-pirate rounded the corner, noticing the window to the drawing room was inconveniently tall. He backed up and took a running leap toward it anyway, scraping the wall with his big green boot, and just barely catching the windowsill. Then he pulled himself up and stood on it only a moment, before he wrapped his large knitted scarf loosely around his face, and with his shoulder, he made a strong charge against the stained glass. It shattered and he fell inside with a loud thud against the floor.

“Ow.” He expressed absently, climbing up off the floor.

“GRrAUGHHH!!” Keiran came at him swinging the poker, and stopped, just centimeters short of his 'good' eye. Her focus widened. “Serdtse!” She blinked. And when her guard was down, some dark shadow flew at her and she dropped the poker and fell to the floor. Serdtse cried out and caught her.

Internally, she struggled against an unknown force while in his arms. Her brow furrowed, angry inside, and she continued to fight. 'MY BODY IS MINE AND YOU WILL GET THE HELL OUT OF IT!!' She roared from her heart, and then she startled awake. The energy and determination had forced it out. She looked up at Serdtse and shouted at him accusingly. “What the hell are you doing in here! I told you to get out!!” And she shoved him toward the window. Without trying to argue, Serdtse scrambled in the direction he had come. Keiran followed quickly, one hand on the redhead’s back as he knocked out the lower bits of remaining glass with his boot, with Keiran looking behind them, and making preemtive strokes at nothing for good measure. And once he had taken a leap out and tumbled into the snow, Keiran followed and rolled once, landing crouched on her feet.

When they were safe outside again, Serdtse pounced her for joy and snow splattered every which way unceremoniously.

“Keiran! Oh gods I was so worried!” He drew back to look her over. “Are ya alright? Gods, I didn’t know what ta think! The door closed, an’ you were still in there, an’ I was thinking I was goin’ crazy, I didn’t know what ta do! Hey lookit me, look it me! Lemme see ya. Ya ok??”

Embarrassed, Keiran jerked her head away.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She answered... then, more pensively, her shoulders relaxed, her focus veered off at nothing, her mind full... and she sighed. “What the hell was that...” She asked, looking to him for answers. She knew Serdtse was the reading type. He blinked at her. Wasn't the answer obvious?

“Keiran they were ghosts. Bad ones too.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts.” She responded, confused. And with a huff, she picked up her backpack, and continued on up the trail. Serdtse stood dumbfounded, pointing absently to the castle they had just narrowly escaped with their lives. How could she say that after what they just witnessed?? He stuttered out meekly,

“B-... but-...the-...”

“Are you coming or not??” She called over her shoulder, not wanting to argue about it.

“Uh-... yeah!” And he took his pack, slung it over one shoulder and followed, confused, and fascinated.

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