By Sanjaya Nathavitharana
It was a cold and blustery late evening, darkness would flourish soon. A raven city van followed up the uneven path into the silent woods, as the surroundings got darker by the minute. The vehicle’s journey then made a stop, reversed about a metre and that’s where it ended... It was time.
Two young adults got down with parcels in their hands, taking a moment to observe their environment skeptically. A dark violet ancient fortress stood behind the compact, mushy graveyard that was surrounded by a clump of naked, dehydrated trees .
“James, are you certain this is the right place? Looks pretty questionable to me… what kind of poor family would want to live in such a… a… castle of nightmares?!” questioned Zain anxiously.
“I don’t know Zain, but people do say… never judge a book by its cover. We just need to read a few more pages to be sure. According to the map, this should be the right location… Let's move! Driver, wait here” James responded; followed by Zain’s reluctant sigh. James and Zain proceeded silently towards the huge antique wooden door, ignoring their unpleasant surroundings. Zain tried his best to take no notice of the bare, ghost white bones that rose from the moist soil. Consequently, with that being said - Zain abruptly felt his leg was caught. Zain slowly tilted his head downwards…
“Gaaahhh!” Zain yelped out as he desperately grabbed his foot away, cuffed by a bony arm, pulling the broken cortical structure out of its ground. Zain backed away quickly and bumped into his partner.“Hey, be careful!” James exclaimed.
The two, at first, hesitated to alert the unaware residents of their presence but James stood firm as he knocked on the door…
No response.
James repeated but this time - louder.
No response.
Zain’s impatience overwhelmed him as he notices a pilot’s grave.
“Well, we looked… no one’s here. Let’s skedaddle before something bad happens!” Zain whispered, sweating in the face and attempting to dash off.
“No, we’re not going to leave until we get these daily essentials to them,” James declared before noticing the door wasn’t hundred percent closed. James, with the support of Zain, pushed the barrier aside. Their eyes followed the wide violet interior - surrounded by cobwebbed paintings on the unfinished walls - a disastrous state, pitch black as far as their eyes could see. The paintings themselves visualised the main concepts behind battle fields… illness, misery and death. Zain’s argument and forewarning echoed back into James’s mind.
Something wasn’t right.
The two nodded in agreement to leave the mysterious fortress and report this immediately, but the very moment they turned around to face the entrance…
ROAR!
Light flashed right behind the duo as the mechanical beast echoed. James and Zain stood frozen as they slowly turned back to witness the kind of evil that was arising from the darkness.
“RUN!” James screamed, as the two dashed out into the open as they ducked. The grey object soared above them with a propeller coated in scarlet red. It took a turn in the gloomy atmosphere and opened fire.
“Toxic heroism without judging books, huh? Hope that’s working for you James! Now what do we do to get away from… whatever that ghost plane is?!” Zain screamed with fear, while running the marathon for his life. James desperately thought of an escape to this predicament and then remembered a trick up his sleeve. James suddenly stopped to face the charging demon. Zain stared at him dumbfounded and shocked. When the fateful blades of the incoming propeller was about to hit James, he pulled out a charm and held it up sky high.
The menacing aircraft disappeared into thin air, leaving the duo alone again. The two then rushed off towards the path but noticed the van was missing.
“Hey, where in the-?!” Zain blurted out bewildered, “we should inform everyone about this”. James nodded. With no time to waste, the duo left the castle’s grounds, forced to walk the long way back. The mysterious castle and its grave were silent once again.
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