The Haunting of Castle Dune - A Novella: Book 10.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series

by Bethany Claire

  “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’d rather spend the night in the boat.”

  There was another crash of thunder as the lights went out.

  Jerry felt me jump and did his best to comfort me by pulling me closer.

  “Doona worry, lass. ’Tis no wonder the power has gone out during such a storm. At least ’tis still daylight.”

  That didn’t comfort me in the least.

  For daylight wouldn’t last forever. Then what were we going to do?

  Chapter 6

  By the time dusk settled over the castle, all of my nerves were fried. I was now nearing thirty-six hours without sleep, and I could feel the toll it was taking on my psyche. I knew all too well the effects of sleep deprivation—how it shifted hormone levels, how anxiety and paranoia could set in. I was afraid I was already there.

  “Well, lass, I think Jerry and I will find a room to retire in before the castle is enveloped in darkness. Ye best find yerself a room, too, while ye can still see in front of ye.”

  “What?” I jumped up as they both stood. “We’re going to separate?”

  “Jerry and I will hardly get any sleep slouched over on these couches, dear. We are too old to go without a night’s rest.”

  I looked over at Roby hoping he would say something to ease the terror I felt at the thought of going to bed in a room all alone in this place.

  “I’m staying right here, lass. I’ve a lighter in my back pocket. I doona know if the wood will light, but I shall try to start a fire. I’ll sleep more next to some light on a couch than I will anywhere else in the castle. Ye are welcome to stay here. I will treat ye with nothing but respect, I assure ye.”

  I smiled as relief washed over me. I wasn’t worried about Roby in the least. I just didn’t want to be all alone, even for a minute, in this place.

  “Yeah…I’m definitely staying here. Do you want me to help you up to a room?”

  Morna shook her head as she reached for Jerry’s hand.

  “No, lass. There is no need. We shall be fine.”

  I cheered when Roby managed to get a proper fire going in the fireplace, and I could see the relief Roby felt at knowing we would at least have some light as he stepped away from the fire.

  “At least we will see the ghosts coming for us this way, lass. Now, we should both try to get some rest. Ye look as if ye are in need of it.”

  I was sure that was true. Lack of sleep, mixed with the rain we’d encountered on our walk up to the castle, plus the fear I’d felt nonstop since entering the castle probably had me looking ghastly.

  “Okay, you’re right.”

  Unsure that I would be able to sleep even with a fire to light the room, I moved to hunker down in the armchair closest to the fire.

  Roby walked over and shrugged out of his coat and extended it to me with a smile.

  “Best ye cover up with this, lass. ’Twill help ye stay safe.”

  “Thank you.”

  Grateful for anything that might give me the illusion of safety, I took the coat from his hands.

  He winked and made his way over to the couch.

  “Goodnight, lass. With any luck, the storm will clear and we’ll be out of here come daybreak.”

  The feeling of frantic hands grabbing and shaking me from my stupor caused me to jolt awake in the dead of night. I didn’t remember drifting, but the feeling of being suddenly awakened was unmistakable.

  The fire was out, but the sleep had allowed my eyes to adjust. As I started to wake, I could see the expanse of the room covered in the hazy blue of the moonlight. It took a moment for fear to set in. My first thought was that daylight was here and Roby was waking me so we could leave, but the sun was still hours away from rising, and no one that I could see stood near me.

  My heart sped up quickly then as I thought back on how palpable the sensation had been. I shrugged Roby’s jacket off my shoulders and reached up to rub my eyes, but jumped at the chill in the air around me.

  “Roby…Roby...” I was terrified. I couldn’t bring myself to feel guilty about waking him.

  Eager to not be alone, I said his name again more loudly.

  “Roby, can you wake up?”

  I looked over at the couch and strained to see him, but as my eyes registered what was before me, my hands began to shake.

  Roby was gone.

  Shakily, I rose from the chair, gripping Roby’s coat tightly to my chest as I ventured further into the room to look for him.

  I heard footsteps behind me and spun into nothingness.

  With my fear building, I moved back to the chair and pinched the side of my face, hoping that if this was a dream, it would wake me.

  Nothing within the room changed, but as I shook in my chair, music and laughter began to reach my ears as bile rose in my throat.

  I would be sick, I was sure of it.

  The chill was back. Ice cold air drifted through the room so quickly that it took my breath away.

  Something near the window caught my eye. Although I wanted to close my eyes, my body wouldn’t obey.

  I looked toward the movement and saw him, tall and broad, his hair wild and unkempt. All I could see in his eyes was anger.

  He faced me, but there was nothing to connect with in his eyes.

  The figure shifted as it rushed toward me, his mouth gaping as he screamed loud enough to shake the windows, “LEAVE! LEAVE! LEAVE!”

  I covered my head with Roby’s coat like a child as I screamed. I screamed without end—over and over and over again as I willed the night to end.

  I wasn’t sure it ever would.

  “Enough of this, lass! Ye have allowed this to go on past the point of belief. I can hear the terror in her screams. If ye doona go and see to her this instant, I swear to ye I will never support ye in another one of these schemes again.”

  Pulling the mild spell of sedation from her bag, Morna walked over to kiss her husband’s brow.

  “Calm down, Jerry. This lass, more than any of the others before, clings to all things rational. I have allowed her to experience no more than ’twas necessary for her to believe. I will ease the fear she feels now. She will remember it, but it willna harm her.”

  Jerry pulled away from her and pointed to the door.

  “Doona tell me, lass. Go and see to her this instant.”

  When hands touched me again, I truly thought I would die of fright, but as Morna’s voice coaxed me to stop my screaming, I calmed.

  “Lass, ’tis all right. Look and see. Daylight has broken.”

  It was impossible. Only moments before, sunrise had been hours away.

  Hesitantly, I peeked over the top of Roby’s jacket.

  The electricity was restored and sunlight streamed through the windows.

  Had it all been a dream after all?

  “I…” I shook my head, not understanding. “Was I dreaming?”

  Jerry stood behind Morna as she gently rubbed her hands up and down my arms.

  “No, lass. Ye werena dreaming.”

  Morna leaned back just far enough to reach for something in her pocket. Gripping it, she extended it in my direction.

  “Drink this, dear. ’Twill help. Then we shall have a talk, aye?”

  Chapter 7

  I had no idea what she’d given me. In all honesty, I probably would’ve taken anything that I was told would help my fractured nerves. And help it did. I was still keenly aware of all that I’d witnessed, but the pure terror I’d felt before drifted away in an instant, making my mind clear and easing the muscles I’d tightened in fear.

  “Where is Roby?”

  “He’s gone, lass. I sent him back to the inn just after ye fell asleep.”

  “What?” I jumped up from the chair as I looked across at her in horror. “He took the boat out in the middle of the storm?”

  “He dinna travel via boat, lass, although I returned that to the inn, as well. And before ye ask yer next question, no, Marilyn and Roby willna be worried about us.
They willna remember that we were ever there.”

  I frowned as I pinched myself just as I’d done the night before. If I wasn’t dreaming then, surely I was now.

  “I’m sorry…what?”

  My head was beginning to ache dreadfully. It always did when stress came at me hard and fast.

  “I’m sorry I left ye to contend with all that haunts this place alone, lass. I needed ye to be certain of what ye saw. I knew if ye dinna see it with yer own eyes, ye wouldna believe what I need to tell you now.”

  I hated riddles.

  “Which is?”

  “The ghost that haunts this castle needs ye, lass. He needs ye verra much.”

  Frustrated, I collapsed into the seat I’d just jumped out of. Perhaps Morna was ill.

  I looked at Jerry apologetically.

  “Forgive me but is everything okay with her? Is there anything I can do to help her?”

  He leaned back and laughed. “Ach, if only ye could, lass. There is much wrong with her, but there is nothing to be done about it.”

  Her eyes shot daggers at him before returning her attention to me.

  “I can see it will be best if I get on with it. I’m a witch, lass. Before ye argue the fact, allow me to prove it to ye right away.”

  I watched as she turned toward the extinguished fire.

  She whispered one word under her breath and fresh wood filled it as flames ignited.

  I jumped backwards, nearly knocking the chair over. With the jerk of her head, my chair righted itself, stabilizing on all four legs.

  I sat, speechless, as I tried to comprehend what I’d just witnessed.

  There were documented cases in psychiatry—albeit rare—where humans had been able to do extraordinary things with their minds alone. Clearly, Morna was one such case. It didn’t mean she was a witch. It meant that she’d been able to tap into more of her brain power than the average human.

  “Whoa.” It was all I could think of to say.

  “Whoa, is right, lass. And while I may have access to more of my brain, I am indeed a witch.”

  “Did you?” I faltered as shock coursed through me. “Did you just…?”

  “Aye, I read yer mind. Doona worry, as I doona do it often. ’Tis a dreadful invasion of privacy. I’ve found it only brings misery to the one who listens in, as well.”

  Jerry chuckled once again. “As if privacy has ever mattered to ye.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Jerry, if ye continue to be such a curmudgeon in yer old age, I swear to ye I shall break my promise and restore us both to youth.”

  He blanched for just a moment. “Ye wouldna.”

  She sighed. “Ye’re right, but there are worse things I could do.”

  He stayed silent until she faced me again.

  “Lass, here is the situation. This castle is set to be demolished in a few weeks. Some moron believes that shall solve the ghostly situation that inhabits this isle. It willna work, and ’twould be a tragedy for such a place to be wiped from history. There are too few structures such as this anymore.”

  I had to agree with her. Even despite the fact that I was now a definite believer of the castle’s haunting, I couldn’t imagine anyone ever wanting to tear it down.

  “That’s terrible, but what am I supposed to do about it?”

  “Allow me to teach ye something new about witches, Eleanor.”

  I said nothing—anything she told me about witches would be something new to me.

  “While we all have a wide realm of talents, each of us has something in particular in which we truly excel. Mine is time travel. I was born in the year 1601. I even met my husband in the past, though he was born in this time, not my own.”

  How was one supposed to argue with something so completely impossible?

  “Okay…”

  “Doona ask another question yet. Allow me to finish.”

  I nodded and waited for her to continue.

  “The only way to keep the current owners from tearing this place to the ground and wiping away the history Laird Dune has spent so many centuries trying to protect is to make sure the opportunity for such a haunting never presents itself.

  “We can do that by changing history. By sending someone back to solve the mystery of precisely what happened here and stopping it from ever happening.”

  Deciding to roll with it, I finally interjected.

  “And you want me to go back and do this?”

  She smiled. “Precisely.”

  “You’re the time traveling witch. Why don’t you go back and change history?”

  “For one verra specific reason, lass. Laird Dune and I existed at the same time. I canna go back to a time in which I lived—the danger would be too great.”

  “Because you might see yourself, and it would upend your whole life—it would change the way things are now for you?”

  She nodded, clearly pleased that I was following.

  “Aye. Too many lives are just as they should be because of the way my life is now. As much as I want to help save this castle, I canna risk doing so myself.”

  “So why me instead of someone else?”

  “Ye are trained in healing heartbreak, are ye not?”

  While that was a lovely thought—I hoped that I’d been able to help many of my patients through difficult times—it wasn’t a very accurate description for what I did.

  “I heal nothing. I facilitate healing. I give people the space and the support they need to heal themselves.”

  “That is exactly what Monroe needs, lass.”

  I said nothing as I tried to replay the past day’s events in my mind.

  This is what I knew for sure: I was awake. What I’d experienced last night had not been a figment of my imagination. Roby was gone, and I didn’t believe he would’ve left us on his own. I just witnessed Morna light a fire and right my chair with her mind.

  Was it possible she was serious? Did she really intend to send me back in time to fix some ancient hurt that had happened in this place?

  If she was, was it something I wanted to do?

  Who was I kidding? I entered my profession because my curiosity about the human mind, other’s lives, and the world was insatiable. Any strange experience and I was up for it. And this was beyond strange.

  “So, is this a request or a demand? If I say no, can we go back to the inn?”

  Jerry cleared his throat, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was some sort of silent warning to his wife.

  “It is a request, though I truly doona believe ye will ever regret embarking on such an adventure. Ye’ve gone too long without it, lass.”

  She was so right about that. I knew that if one of my patient’s minds was traveling down the same path as my own right now, I would have considered them perilously close to the edge of insanity, but for some reason I couldn’t explain, this all felt totally sane.

  “Fine, but you need to tell me everything you know for sure.”

  “I think ’twould be easier if I showed ye.”

  Chapter 8

  Moving to the couch where Roby had been before Morna “sent him back to the inn,” she motioned for me to join her as she held both of her palms out on her lap. Walking the distance between us in just a few steps, I sat down next to her and intuitively reached out and laid my hands upon her own.

  “I have spent much time over the past days using spells to look back as I tried to learn what I could about the castle. The magic of another witch lies heavily over this place, keeping much of it a mystery. No matter how often I look, no matter how many spells I try, I can only see one day—his last.”

  “So, how do you mean to show me?”

  In that instant, my palms warmed and my eyelids grew heavy.

  “Just close yer eyes and relax. The images should begin to effortlessly appear before yer eyes.”

  They did more than appear. I was in these visions.

  As I closed my eyes and surrendered to Morna’s spell, I couldn’t help but fe
el like Ebenezer Scrooge when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to show him his childhood. I could see everything so vividly, but I was no more than a fly on the wall to the scenes that danced before my eyes.

  The ghost that had frightened me so horribly the night before was now nothing more than a man.

  At least, I knew there was a man somewhere beneath his distracting state of dishevelment. His long hair was somewhere squarely between blond and brown and looked as if it hadn’t been combed in months. His beard was so full, coarse, and long that it covered up most of his face. I couldn’t even see his lips.

  The only thing that made him look more man than beast were his piercing blue eyes—eyes that made men want to weep.

  This was a man broken and undoubtedly very, very ill.

  I stood in the corner of his room, but he couldn’t see me. While I wanted to run over and help him as he struggled to rise from his bed, my feet wouldn’t move.

  Slowly, he moved toward a mirror, groaning as he raised his shirt just high enough to reveal a festering, deep wound in his side.

  I’d never seen such blatant infection before, outside of the movies. I was no doctor of medicine, but there was no way such an infection hadn’t spread to his blood.

  Laird Dune was dying, and he knew it.

  In an instant, the scene before me changed. I was behind him in a small boat watching him row and row for what felt like hours. Each pull of the oars drained him as his breath grew ragged and dry.

  Everything moved again as I sat at the end of a long bar, watching as he reached for the hands of the beautiful woman standing across from him. Sorcha—it had to be her. Even ill and pained as I knew he was, he took special care with her hands, and the look of yearning in his eyes was unmistakable.

  I couldn’t make out his words, but I knew I was witnessing part of the story Roby had told me before. He was begging, pleading with her to keep the promise she’d made to him.