by Dani Hoots
Darkness came eventually, but the storm did not let up. Flashes of lightning lit up the common room as we each shivered at the thought of the monster waiting for us outside. None of us seemed to want to sleep, even after riding and walking for so many wasted hours. We just wanted daylight to come so that we could get out of there, as quickly and safely as possible.
An hour passed, each of us continued taking turns cradling the second bottle of whiskey. We kept the fire burning, Duncan bringing us a good chunk of dry wood to keep it going through the night. I didn’t think any of us were going to sleep that night, even though we should have gotten rest so we could travel the next day. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen. Sleep was an elusive thing to find, in the heart of highlands, especially during a storm.
Soon enough, it was near three in the morning, which some called the witching hour. I had to agree with that name, especially when that strangely beautiful, though maleficent voice of the ghostly woman made a reappearance. Her voice was melodious, just like that of a siren. I heard it call my name. I glanced around to find all the other men also looking around, with undisguised fear and incredulity
“What is that?” George questioned.
“It’s her...” I whispered
She kept calling us, her voice hypnotic, though slightly disturbing.. I tried to keep from falling under the creature’s spell again, but it was no use. She was stronger than me and I watched as all my men stood up, blank-faced, and headed towards the door. None of us could stop ourselves from leaving the inn, and heading outside towards her voice
Out in the middle of the unrelenting storm, she stood in the front of a large, blazing fire. I didn’t know how the fire kept going in the storm, but my eyes weren’t lying to me. No, I knew the truth this time and knew that other people could see her. There was a fire and this woman, this creature, was standing by it.
She called us forward with her long sharp fingers, inviting us to join her as she danced around gracefully, wearing a ghostly white dress. Her skin was pale as was her hair. She almost appeared as an angel, if her eyes didn’t have such evil behind them. In my life, I had never seen a more beautiful dance, one so lovely and appearing to follow the chords from the unheard music of the night. My mind shouted at me to stop, to not give into the temptation of going out there and joining her. That was all I ever seemed to want for my life, to dance with that creature and forget all that had happened over the past few months, fighting these senseless wars.
“Henry...”
She sounded like Alice. I felt as if my heart had skipped a beat. My dear Alice. I blinked, my mind bringing me out of this illusion to see the truth. That creature tried to sound like Alice in hopes I would follow her out there. It hadn’t done that before, it must have been resorting to more drastic measures, knowing I could now resist it. It was wrong, though, it couldn’t trick me that way, and she was not my Alice. My Alice would never hurt me and I had to fight this fiend to be with her. I couldn’t let it trick me, not when freedom with Alice and war itself felt so close, almost at arm’s length.
I turned to find that my men appeared to be as lured into the siren’s song as I was, they all stared at her, glassy eyed and not letting anything get in the way from joining her in her dance of death. I had to stop them before they went outside into her terrain. “Men! Wake up!” I shouted. “That creature is what killed the others, we must not go out there!”
They didn’t listen, as they started out the door towards the creature in the long white dress, Their attention was focused only on the alluring woman, while she motioned for them with her long claw-like hands to come join her. I tried to pull them back in, but there were too many of them and they were each too determined to go to this siren. I grabbed at their coats but it was no use. George, Andrew, Thomas, and Michael refused to budge, or listen to reason.
“Stop!” I pulled back the last person that tried to go through the door, Jonathan. I got him to fall back. He blinked and then looked up at me.
“Captain?”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness I was able to knock some sense into at least one of you,” I brought him in and quickly shut the door. The rest were long gone, already making their way up the hill towards the dancing creature. There was no way I could bring them back now. My heart felt like it had sunk into my stomach for leaving them out there, but there wasn’t really anything I could do. I tried to come up with a plan, anything, but I didn’t even know what I was up against. I had tried to snap them out of it as the creature called them, but they wouldn’t budge. Only Jonathan had responded and I had to make sure he didn’t fall for her song again.
“What is that... that thing?” Jonathan asked, looking out the window in disgust.
“I don’t know,” I stared at the window at the creature, watching as my men walked up to her. “I don’t know.”
“They are called the baobhan sith.”
Both Jonathan and I quickly turned around to find Duncan standing there. He looked out the window with us, his eyes tired and weary.
I grabbed him by the collar. “Why didn’t you say anything?! I could have saved them! This is your fault!”
“Would you have believed me?” he choked out. I thought about his answer for a second then let him go. No, I probably wouldn’t have, even though I had seen her as well. I thought my eyes were just playing tricks, I guess I was wrong.
Duncan rubbed his throat. “You saw her earlier, didn’t you? You are the one who didn’t say anything either. Besides, it wouldn’t have mattered. They would have come for you either way.”
I rubbed my face, regretting my decision ten-fold. I could have stopped this a lot sooner if I knew she were real. “I didn’t think she was real. I just thought she was some kind of siren.”
“That is indeed close. She calls men in the night to come dance with her, then she drinks their blood and souls when they are too weak to defend themselves,” he explained as if he had witnessed it time and time again.
It sounded like a ghost story, some fable. I shook my head as I watched as she comforted my men, making them feel safe before their deaths came. How was she keeping them under the thrall of her terrifying powers? How many had she killed previously? How many innocent lives were taken by that beast? It couldn’t be real, none of this could have been real. Creatures like this just didn’t exist in the real world, they were all myths and legends, nothing to be taken seriously.
At least, that’s what I had always thought.
“Why?” I asked as I turned to Duncan. “Why do they do this?”
Duncan shrugged. “That is just the story of the baobhan sith.”
Jonathan watched the men in horror as well, his eyes moving back and forth rapidly. “Why aren’t you affected by her call? Why was it just us?”
“That’s a long story.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder, in a threatening demeanor. “Well, it looks like we have all night, so tell us.”
He let out a sigh. “My brother and father were both killed by those creatures when I was younger. They spared my life and had me promise not to tell a soul what had happened, or that they even existed. I also had to stay at the inn and let them take whoever they please if need be.”
I grabbed him by the collar again and slammed him against the wall. I didn’t want to put up with his selfishness. “So you just make sure they are fed. You kill your own kind to save your own skin. That is why you didn’t tell us or warn us. You didn’t want them coming for you instead. So you kept your mouth shut. It is because of you that they are dead!”
He shook his head. “No, they rarely come. I haven’t seen them in years. They travel throughout the Highlands. They don’t come here often.”
“But when they do, you just sit back and let them take what they want! Then you just clean up the rest once they are done killing people!” I exclaimed.
“What choice did I have? They would kill my wife and I if I did anything to betray them. Do you have a wife or som
eone you love, Captain? Because if you do, then you know you would do the same as I to protect her.”
His words resonated in my mind. Yes, I would have done the same for my Alice. She meant the world to me. With the thoughts of what evil I would do to ensure her safety, I let him go and he coughed a bit as I had put pressure against his windpipe.
I looked back out at my men. They danced around the fire, the woman making them follow her. “What about the other men in the Royal Army? Were any of them killed?”
“No, they didn’t come until you showed up.”
I looked back outside to find my men dancing and laughing in the storm with that creature. “Why do you keep saying ‘they’? There is only the one.”
“No, there are four of them,” he whispered.
I watched as two more of the creatures came down from the hill, scaling the rocks as if they were no problem. Part of their long medieval dress drew up from their leg and I could see their legs being that of a goat’s leg. I covered my mouth. Those were the same hooved feet that left footprints, directly near Ralph’s corpse, when we discovered him that morning. They had hooves so they could scale the rocks faster. It all made sense now.
“Oh, dear Lord,” I said aloud.
But that only accounted for three of them. There was still one more creature out there that I did not see. Where was she?
I turned around to look out the other window to find her staring in at us. Her eyes were bright, almost all white like that of a blind person’s eyes. Her dress was like that of a bride’s, all white and pure, even with the rain coming down. It was how I imagined Alice to be in her dress when we would wed. Her hair was a golden blonde, like that of a wheat field. I had never seen anything so beautiful. I wanted to look away, to not make eye contact with her, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“Henry...” I heard her call.
“Can they get in?” I questioned as I stopped Jonathan from going outside again. He wasn’t as strong as I was, or at least not as determined, which made it harder for this creature to lull me into her trap. The difference probably being my hope to go home to Alice. He didn’t have a love awaiting him at home, at least not one that I knew of. Love was the most powerful weapon against these beings. It had to be.
Duncan shook his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea. Usually they get men to come out to them. No one has resisted their call before, until you showed up here.”
“Lucky for me then that I have an angel waiting for me back home,” I muttered. “Jonathan, grab any spare guns you can find. We are going to end this once and for all.”
“You can’t kill them,” Duncan said as we started down the hallway.
I turned to him. “Excuse me?”
“Guns don’t work on them. I’ve seen men try before.”
My heart dropped. If that were true, then we were ruined. That was all I needed to hear. “Then how do we kill them?”
“You don’t.”
That’s when the screaming began. The screams carried through the Highlands as the beasts began to attack my men. One by one, the creatures grabbed each of my men, slicing each of their throats open with their claws and slowly indulged in drinking their blood. First George, then Andrew, Thomas, and then Michael. They all screamed as the creatures licked at the red liquid that was pouring out of each of them. It was so revolting that I almost threw up. It took everything in my power not to.
“Henry...” the one woman at the window whispered. I looked at her, her light eyes staring straight back at me. The rain didn’t seem to stick to her for her hair was as beautiful as ever. It appeared silky soft and I could only imagine what it smelled like. A longing made me want to know. I shook the thoughts out of my head. I only needed Alice and the sweet memory of her scent. I didn’t need these creatures trying to trick me.
While being distracted by her alluring gaze, I didn’t see Jonathan had gone out the door and into the death trap. The door clattered shut, as the wind-sheared rains pelted the door, sounding like the awful din of the battlefields I had fought in far too many battles way too many times. The screams, the rain, and this soft, comforting voice, promising to take it all away, were threatening to make me forget the task at hand. Bringing my men home safely.
“Jonathan!” I called out the door, fighting to keep it open against the wind. I turned to Duncan. “Why didn’t you do anything?”
“I...” he began. I punched him in the jaw before he could answer. I didn’t need to hear his lies. He fell down to the ground, his lip bloody. It was the least I could do to punish his silence, which had brought this living nightmare upon my comrades and I.
I grabbed my pistol. “If I make it out of this alive, I’m coming back for you.”
“Don’t go out there! If you want to live, don’t go out there!” he called after me, but I ignored him. I had to help Jonathan, I had to at least save one of my men.
The storm had gotten stronger. I tried to shield the water from my eyes, but nothing seemed to help. Water pelted me, obscuring my sight, and prevented me from seeing where I needed to go. I coughed up the water as the rain got into my both mouth and nostrils, creating a sensation of suffocating. Of course, I might also be panicking about whether or not I’d be able to rescue Jonathan in time.
“Jonathan!” I called out, but there was no response. I kept moving forward, towards where the fire had been. I could see it now in the distance, still burning as it remained undisturbed by the sheet of rain pouring down on it. What magic was being used to create this kind of unnatural effect? I had no idea, it probably had something to do with the baobhan sith, though, and their mysterious, otherworldly abilities.
Mud had begun to accumulate more and more as the rain came down, softening the terrain and making it almost impossible to travel on. I slipped, falling to my knees, the mud covering my new clothes in the brown, sticky substance. I cursed at this night and this land. I just wanted to go home: was that too much to ask?
Gathering my strength, I pulled myself up and started climbing the hill towards the fire. I had to get there in time to save Jonathan. I could see a figure near the fire, it had to have been him.
Lightning crashed into the hillside and I could hear the eerie laughter of the baobhan sith in the near distance. Their laughter sounded hysterical, like an inhuman cackle produced only by some legion of mad beings. Only things from hell could make such a sound like that. It sent a cold shiver down my spine, but I kept pressing forward, knowing I couldn’t turn back at this point. There was only moving forward into what seemed like the pits of hell itself.
I reached the fire, but saw no sign of the baobhan sith as they had retreated back into the fog. I peered around to find my men lying motionlessly around the fire, each of them as white as ghosts. I felt like stopping and sobbing for all of them, for not being a good leader, but I couldn’t. I had to find Jonathan. I could have sworn he was here.
“Henry...”
I turned to find the female creature standing directly behind me, the same one who had deceived me with the voice of my betrothed. She had Jonathan’s prone form in her arms, drinking the blood out of a gash on his throat until his skin was as white as her dress. Dropping him, she let him collapse to the ground with the rest of the dead bodies of my men. I stared at him, petrified that I had been too late.
He didn’t move, for he was just a lifeless body now. His soul had gone off to another place, as did the rest of my men. Why did these creatures played with life like this? I didn’t know. It was inhuman, evil. It made no sense and I wished to destroy them all, showing them what it was like to be on the other edge of the sword.
I should have run for my life at that point, but I didn’t move an inch due to fear trapping me in this spot. I didn’t want to die, not when Alice waited for me back at home, but I couldn’t look away. The creature’s beauty was astonishing and the fear she caused was even more powerful and beguiling.
She stepped closer and placed her hand on my chest. Her hand brought on a warmnes
s that almost made me calm, but the thought of everything going on kept me from submitting to her completely. She leaned in closer. “What are you holding onto, dear Henry? How are you fighting this?”
Her voice wasn’t as melodious as it was before, but more normal as a human’s voice would have been. It caught me off guard for a moment before I was able to speak coherently.
“Because... Because I have someone waiting for me in Nottingham. I can’t let her down. I survived this war, and I can finally be with her. Nothing will stop me from being with the one I love.”
The creature leaned in closer, her mouth only inches from mine. Her claws dug into my chest, but they didn’t break the skin. “But I could give you so much more pleasure.”
She brought her lips to mine, but I pushed back. “No, I can’t.”
She let out a laugh. “You are a strong one, aren’t you?” she brought her finger to my cheek, and gently sliced along it with her nail. I tried not to flinch from the bite of pain. “Not many can resist me, Henry.”
“How do you know my name?” I asked. If this was going to be my last moment of being alive, I wanted to know the truth as to how they did all of this.
“It’s simple, I can read all of your thoughts,” she brought her bloody nail to her mouth and licked it. “Every last one of them.”
They could read minds. I couldn’t believe that was how they were so successful. They could say exactly what we wanted to hear to get us to submit to them. They were powerful, more powerful than anything I had ever known in my life.
I knelt down to my knees and looked up at the darkened sky, drops of rain falling on every inch of my face. It ran through my hair, then it dripped onto the wet, muddy ground beneath my trembling feet. I could barely see her, the fire, or my comrade’s motionless bodies. But it didn’t matter, this was going to be my last moment anyways. I didn’t need to see with my own eyes what was going to happen to me, I just needed to accept it with resignation. “What are you going to do with me?”
