The House on the Hill

“Don’t you think we should get out of here?” I call after Lorelei as she blissfully walks through the woods toward danger. “At the very least, you should let the townsfolk know you’re okay, so they don’t send a search party after us. And you could use the rest! You can always come back after.”

“No way! I’ve been graced by something genuinely supernatural, if I leave now I might never get to experience this again!” She replies. 

Well, it isn’t as though I’m confident I could get out of the warped space anyway. But something about this makes me very uncomfortable. We’ve changed direction three times already, yet we’re still heading toward the source of the presence. I can sense the wraiths too, stalking us. If we were to be attacked again, I’d have no choice but to fight them off in front of Lorelei. But if this spirit wants us to head in a certain direction, then there is certainly something dangerous waiting for us there. 

I bring my grimoire back as I follow Lorelei’s lead and flip through the pages. This elaborate square-shaped magic array should help–the spell is a ward that protects from spirits. It isn’t powerful enough to deal with the being haunting the forest, but it can at least scare away the wraiths. The array lights up for a moment with a pink glow, and then I close the grimoire and make it disappear again. 

A bigger concern right now is Lorelei’s arm. The cursed mark on her could be dangerous if left untreated.

“How does that cut feel?” I ask. 

She rubs her arm. “It feels kind of numb and burny. I think it’s infected, but I can get some antibiotics when we’re done here. It’s no big deal.” 

It is a big deal. “Look, I know you want to stay out here, but why don’t we get that looked at in town and come back?” 

“I’ll be okay!” She chirps. 

As we continue hiking, I sense the wraiths surrounding us, and my instincts tell me they’re going to pounce soon. I need a way to use my power without being seen by Lorelei, so I can deal with it when they come. 

An unnatural fog starts to roll in, obscuring the woods. It is so dense that I can only see a few feet ahead. 

“This is what happened last time, when I got cut,” Lorelei says. 

The wraiths advance. “Lorelei, hide!” 

I run behind a tree and bring my grimoire back. I force all three of them to step into the light just in time for a wraith to appear right in front of me, screaming. The ward activates as the creature swings, and its hand bounces off of an invisible barrier that causes it to combust spontaneously. I raise my hand, and a whirlwind of icy wind forms in my hand, creating a dozen little ice darts. I fire them all at the wraith, piercing it. 

From behind, tendrils wrap around my body and bind me to the tree. The first monster shrugs off my attack and draws close. It raises its arm to slash me, but the branches of the tree come alive and bat them both away, freeing me. 

Lorelei lets out a scream. I turn to the two wraiths in front of me. “I have no time to waste on the likes of you!” I raise my hand and manipulate the pull of gravity, dragging them to the earth, then, with a quick motion of my hand, a pool of ice forms beneath them, and from it dozens of spikes impale the monsters from random directions, destroying them. 

I head in the direction of Lorelei’s shrieks and try to catch up to her, but as I sprint, something comes at me from within the fog. It leaps out, but it’s fast and I can’t catch a good look. Something jagged cuts my left side and thigh. The cuts burn intensely, and I can feel the curse taking root in my skin. 

This one is different. 

From my hand, I release a gale that blasts the fog away so I can get a proper look at this creature. 

It looks like a dog, but it is the size of a black bear, with a face devoid of features aside from its huge mouth, and tight, sinewy skin. I count three very long barbed tails with spikes at the end of each. The dog-wraith charges, and I respond by using a spell from my grimore to launch a bolt of fire toward it. The monster dodges and leaps past me, whipping at me with its barbed tails as it goes. I spin on my heels, ignoring the little cuts all over the right side of my body.

I try to catch it with several more firebolts, but it’s quick and jumps around faster than I can react. It leaps past me again, then all of a sudden I feel it jump on my back and sink its teeth into my right shoulder. 

The barbed tails coil around me as I howl in pain and flail, trying to throw the monster off. I throw myself backward into a tree and form an ice claw on my left hand. Reaching over my shoulder, I grab the beast by the mouth and yank it off, throwing it away from me and screaming in pain as the barbs shred my skin in the process. The monster starts to recover, but I rush over and throw my whole body at it, pushing it on its side. Before the tails can attack, I stab my claws into the monster’s head, destroying it. As its body fades away, I dismiss my claws. 

There is blood trickling from dozens of shallow cuts, but the worst of it all is my shoulder. Those sharp teeth sank deep inside my skin, and now that the adrenaline of the fight is wearing off, I’m starting to feel the pain. The bite bleeds profusely, dripping off of my body. 

I flip through the grimoire to a healing spell, and use that to close all my cuts, but the cursed marks remain, spreading from everywhere I was hurt. 

Dealing with that will have to wait, though. 

I’ve lost track of Lorelei. She must have run during the fight. Due to the nature of the forest being twisted, if I head in any direction, the magic at work here will direct me to the same place she is, or so I presume. 

Even with my injuries closed, they still hurt, especially when I walk. I’m forced to go slow as I trudge along through the woods, my right leg dragging with every step. 

The fog starts to settle back in, and it carries a disembodied voice that says, “Why have you come to my home, Wolf of the Full Moon?” 

I ignore it and try to push forward. A cold wind blows from the direction I’m headed in. 

“In the grove beyond lies the manor of Stormcrest, home to liars, murderers, and betrayers. Which are you?” 

The woods lead me to a steep hill, almost treacherously so, forcing me to go slow. 

“You will die here, Wolf. Come forth and bear witness to your grave.” 

 As I reach the crest of the hill, the wind and the fog both stop, and I find myself bumping up against a stately fence of old stone and wrought iron, and beyond it is a large estate, four floors high, in a deeply dilapidated state.

I follow the fence to the front gate, which has long since collapsed, and just through it, I see Lorelei observing the grand entrance. 

She turns as she hears my footsteps. “Oh, it’s you! What happened to you? Are you okay?” 

“No worse for wear. What about you? Are you hurt?” 

She shakes her head. “No, but I lost you, and then out of nowhere there were these monsters, and they were really scary. I thought for sure I was going to die, this giant dog thingy with three tails lunged at me, but then something happened and it bounced back, so I took off running.” 

The ward probably saved her life. “I couldn’t see anything in the fog, but -” 

“You’re limping,” She notes, examining me up and down. “They attacked you too, didn’t they?” 

“It was probably just a scared animal,” I lie, trying to play off the supernatural happenings around us. 

She looks unconvinced. “That was no animal I’ve ever heard of. It must have been some kind of angry ghost or something! Maybe it’s a poltergeist, like the movie.”

I stand beside her and eye the house up. From the outside it looks fine, just old and run down. But I can sense something dark and powerful inside. The source of the voice. The puppet master of the wraiths. The master of the woods. The ghost of Stormcrest. 

“What do you make of this?” She asks. 

I stroke my beard for a moment in thought. “It doesn’t look like much, but I don’t see anywhere else to take shelter.” 

“Oh come on!” She replies, her lips curling into a big dorky smile. “A house in the middle of a forest plagued by ghosts? It’s a haunted mansion! I’ve dreamed of discovering something like this ever since I was a little girl, and I’ve finally found it! This place is for real, look!” She holds up her hands. “They’re shaking just from me reaching for the door handle earlier, this place is amazing!” 

“And that makes you happy?” 

“This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I’m in a real-life ghost story! Of course I’m happy! Oh, I wonder if it’s like a spurned lover betrayed by their betrothed, or an old general who can’t let go of the war? Oh! Oh! Or maybe it’s the victim of a terrible murder!” 

“It’s probably just infested with cobwebs and spiders,” I remark. 

That doesn’t dampen her spirit, though. “That’s still pretty cool.” 

“I can’t talk you out of walking into that house, but I can insist that you stay with me and let me protect you, is that fair?” 

Lorelei nods with the energy of a puppy anticipating a walk. “Okay, but I need to call you something other than ‘hey you.’”

“I’m Seath Faolan.” 

“Well, Seath, I’m Lorelei Morgana.” 

I can’t help but smirk. “You know, I think I figured that one out for myself.” 

She playfully slaps my arm. “Come on, let’s get to it. Adventure awaits!”

“Death awaits, if previous events are anything to go by,” I quip. “But hey, far be it from me to dissuade an intrepid young lady from a very stupid decision.” 

“That’s the spirit!” 

We approach the mansion together, and I reach out and grasp the brass handle, turning it and pulling it open.