Wraithsong

by E. J. Squires

  Chapter 33

  I wake up in the middle of the night with the unsettling feeling that someone is watching me. When I open my eyes, I see Olaf sitting at the end of my bed, glaring at me, his eyes shining like gold suns in the dark. I snatch the covers, pulling them over my chest, up to my chin and sit up.

  “What are you doing here?” I remember locking my door, so how did he get inside my room?

  “I am sorry, did I startle you?” Olaf says.

  “Please leave,” I say as firmly as I can.

  Olaf’s eyes look hungry, like he wants something from me. “I have to admit; Maureen was right about you.”

  “If you want to talk, you’ll have to wait until our lesson tomorrow.” I try not to think about how his presence makes me feel completely violated. My fearful thoughts aren’t something I want Olaf to hear.

  “You intrigue me, Sonia, being so beautiful and honest, and I love listening to your thoughts and entering your dreams,” he says.

  “I’d prefer you didn’t,” I say. I don’t want to anger him, for if I do, I get the sense that he’ll harm me. He’s calm on the outside, but I sense a raging storm below the surface of his demeanor.

  “You know, usually my students enjoy my interest in them. They show gratitude and appreciation for all the extra time and effort I put into their training.”

  I decide to be firmer with him. “Leave, or I will leave.” My mouth feels dry and my heart is pounding against my ribs.

  He sits closer to me, reaches his hand forward and caresses my arm gently. “You mean you do not like this?”

  I snap my arm away. “You touch me again and I’ll scream. Leave now, and I’ll overlook this one indiscretion of yours.”

  “Sonia…” he says, looking at me with sly puppy dog eyes.

  “Get out before I…!”

  “No need,” he interrupts me. “I’ll leave you to yourself.” He stands up and heads toward the door.

  I make it a point to think idiot.

  Olaf turns around and storms toward me. I think he’s going to assault me, but his face stops an inch away from mine. “You had best remember the fifth charge, or you will never pass the final test,” he seethes.

  My face fills with blood and my heart leaps into my throat. “Get out,” I say feebly. “You had best keep your distance, or I’ll make sure you’re kicked out of here,” I say, hoping I sound fairly sure of myself.

  “I have already conquered the women of this household, and if you bring it up to them, I will deny that this ever happened. Ask yourself, Sonia, who are they going to believe? A man who has worked for and been loyal to Maureen for centuries, or the new, weak Huldra girl who is so confused she cannot even keep her head screwed on straight?” he whispers.

  My mouth puckers. I’m not about to feed his rage anymore. It isn’t worth it. I’ll just have to be more careful of what I say and think around Olaf from now on.

  After he leaves, I can’t fall back asleep. I’m afraid that if I do, he might come into my room again and do something even worse.

  I want to see more of the castle, so I climb out of bed and steal into the hallway. Soon, I reach the main foyer. I haven’t seen anything on the second floor yet. I try to pay attention to every detail of the house so the memory of what just happened doesn’t stay in my mind. The chandelier hovering above has a soft glow to it so it’s not completely dark in the foyer. I climb the stairs to the second floor. There’s a long and wide hallway to the left and I head down it. The hallway has three doors on either side, spaced about a yard apart. At the end of the hallway there’s an open window with sheer white curtains. I feel the air from the outside breezing in, and it smells like fresh earth and leaves. The moonlight sends its blue beams into the hallway.

  Then, to my terror, out of one of the doors at the end, something appears and enters the hallway. The creature is huge and when it approaches me, the beast’s footsteps sound like a thundering stampede. I don’t think the animal has seen me yet, so I open the door closest to me and dash into the room to hide. I briefly register that the room is a bathroom. What’s outside? My heart beats loudly, but I want to get a closer look at the unusual animal. Did it enter through the open window? The window doesn’t seem large enough to fit that beast. I crack open the door and see the beast zooming past the door, noticing how it looks like a concoction of three different animals in one body. The beast’s head looks like a dragon’s head with long, straight horns that resemble those of a goat. As it continues past the door, I see that its tail is a giant snake and that on its back it has something that looks like folded wings. I step back, afraid the snake-head might spot me as it passes the door. As I continue backing a little further into the bathroom, I accidentally knock over a metal wastebasket on the floor. The sound from the wastebasket hitting the tile floor is loud and catches the beast’s attention. It spins around and sniffs at the door.

  I slam the door shut and lock it. Swiveling around, I hastily search for a hiding place or an easy exit, but there’s nowhere to hide and no other doors. However, the window at the end of the bathroom looks large enough for me to slip through it and out the castle. I open it, kick out the screen and jump out the window. I reach my arms forward as the ground approaches quickly, knowing the impact of the fall is going to be painful. I feel like I’m falling in slow motion.

  The grass below finally breaks my fall. Instant pain makes me cry out, but instead of lingering on the pain, I leap towards the castle’s exterior wall and hide against it. The beast roars out the window and I cover my ears from the earsplitting sound. It must be coming after me. Quickly, but as quietly as possible, I creep along the castle wall until I reach a corner and skirt to the other side of the castle. My whole body is trembling, but there’s no time to think. Only get away.

  I listen for a moment, and all is silent. The beast seems to have disappeared back inside. Still breathing heavily, I do a quick body scan, feeling for any unusual pain. My right shoulder hurts, but not so bad that I suspect that anything is broken. Maybe a muscle tear or strain. Propped up against the rugged stone wall, I think about the beast. What kind of a beast is it? It literally looks like three animals that were dismembered and sewn together into one creature. Does Maureen know about this animal? Does Olaf or Layla? All our lives are at risk. Where did the beast come from? I need to warn the others.

  Running toward the front of the castle in the moonlight, I notice that my ankle hurts quite a bit. I try to enter through the front door, but of course it’s locked.

  “Sonia?” I hear a woman’s voice behind me. I turn around and see Layla standing on the brick walkway, leading up to the castle’s entrance.

  “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” she asks.

  “I…” I don’t know whether or not it is a good idea to share what I just saw with Layla. “I’m just taking a walk. What are you doing out here?”

  “I went onto the mainland to pick up some supplies. I had just finished loading the last of it into the receiving area when I saw you walking out here.”

  I want to see if I can get Layla to mention the beast I saw without really asking her directly about it. “What types of animals are on the island? Anything I need to be aware of before I start roaming around in the dark? I mean, I wouldn’t want to get eaten alive or anything.” I laugh nervously and hope that will be enough information for Layla to tell me.

  “There are no other animals on the island other than the ones we have brought with us,” Layla says.

  “Which are?” I inquire.

  “Horses, birds, chickens, and our dog,” Layla says.

  “Hmm…” I say. “So nothing…dangerous or potentially life-threatening?”

  Layla laughs. “No, not unless a horse is considered life-threatening. Did you see something?”

  My plan isn’t working. I feel the need to share with Layla as to what I saw. “Yes, I saw something inside the house.”

  “Oh, really?” Layla says, her eyeb
rows rising.

  “It was a…huge beast, and it was on the second floor,” I say.

  Layla shakes her head. “Well, you must have been dreaming for clearly there are no beasts here.”

  I can’t stop talking now. “No, I’m telling you, I know what I saw. It looked like a dragon with horns…and a…”

  “I’m telling you that you are wrong!” Layla yells. “You were dreaming, that’s all. Do I make myself clear?”

  “What?” Why would she say that?

  “Don’t talk about this to anyone else, do you understand?” Layla says.

  “But the beast looks dangerous,” I protest. “Like it could eat us or hurt us or something.”

  “Drop it or you’ll regret it.”

  I huff. What is Layla hiding? “Okay…I get it. I’ll drop it.”

  “You especially don’t want to say anything to Maureen about seeing the beast.” Layla pulls her keys out and unlocks the front door.

  “But you just said that there wasn’t a beast and that I just imagined it,” I object, very angry that Layla won’t just be truthful with me.

  “Just forget that you ever saw it, all right?” Layla’s eyes almost look pleading now.

  “I don’t really want to go back inside the house with that beast in there.”

  “It’s safe, trust me, but we must not mention it to Maureen or she’ll have a fit. Now go back to bed and no more exploring at night, understood?”

  “Sure,” I say, but despite my assurances, I know my exploring nights are far from over.