In the guild of Sabertooth Minerva was looking at the very high rank job requests. Her father told her that the only way she didn't have to go on another boring guild master meeting was if she took a high rank job. She personally much rather take a job than go to another meeting. Not too long after looking at the job board, there was a job request that caught her eye.

Job: Go to the Castle of Ashillow, in the land of Sin.

Rank: TS Class

Reward: To be discussed with client.

After reading the job request Minerva raised a brow. She had never seen a TS class of any sort in her life. She shrugged it off then turned to leave for the quest. She went to the train station and left to the land of Foire to head out to the land of Sin.

After a very long ride to the land of Sin, Minerva arrived to where she had to be. On the way to the land of Sin she couldn't help but wonder what the quest she accepted was going to be like. What really got to her was what the client had put as an award. She wondered if the mission was that bad and if they really were desperate about it.

'They were wise to ask a real guild to do this quest for them.'

She smiled to herself at her own thought then she arrived a small village. She wondered if it was a joke but didn't say anything. She saw a large post that had a map of the land of Sin on it and went to it.

As she looked at the map she saw that castle was located on the far left on the map. She saw that she would have to go through a large woods. She nodded then started to head out to the woods that lead to the castle that she had to be.

'At this rate I should start calculating how much this client is going to pay me.'

1 hour later

Minerva was still walking through the woods and she was starting to get annoyed at how far this place was. She soon heard something behind her and looked over her shoulder to see a man riding a chariot coming towards her.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you lost?"

Minerva looked at him.

"Where is the castle of Ashillow?"

Minerva saw the man's eyes widen in fear then he looked away.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have accepted a request that happened there and I am going to do it."

The man gave a nod.

"The place is a mystery to get to, but allow me to give you a ride there."

Minerva nodded then climbed into the wagon. The man went back to riding it to where he had to be. On the way there Minerva looked up at the sky then at the man.

"Is there something about the castle that made you nervous?"

The man tensed a little then he lowered his head.

"Yes but if I were to say a word to you I will be the one to suffer."

Minerva didn't get what he meant by that but she left it alone.

After a while they arrived to the castle of Ashillow. The man looked at Minerva.

"We're here."

Minerva got off the wagon and looked at the castle before her. It was extremely large with black stone walls. Not to mention how the sky looked, it was black with birds circling the tallest tower. Minerva smiled as she spoke.

"Thank you for the-"

She had stopped talking when she saw that the man who had given her a ride was gone without a trace.

Minerva shrugged it off and knocked on the large kingdom door.

It didn't take long for someone to answer. This person was a tall middle aged man that wore a dark brown suit and had gray hair that was combed back.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Yes. I accepted a job request to come here."

The man smiled.

"Ah, yes come right in."

The man ushered her into the castle then they left to an office room. Minerva saw that the room had two large chairs with a table in the center and there was a fire place before it. Minerva looked at the man who was pouring them some tea.

"I am Mr. Ash and you are?"

"Minerva Orlando."

"Well Ms. Orlando, I'll get straight to the point. I am a well known writer and just recently I came across this castle and the people in the village next to it told me that this place was filled with secrets and I wanted to write novel series of it. So far I have written one but I want to write more. I was hoping that you would stay in this castle for a week and when the week is over you would tell me what happened while you are here."

Minerva just looked at him.

"Are you saying this castle is haunted?"

"Well the villagers said it was but nothing happened since I was here."

Minerva gave a nod then Mr. Ash smiled at her.

"Well here's the key to the castle and enjoy yourself. We'll talk about your pay when the mission is over."

Minerva nodded then Mr. Ash left her lone in the castle.

Not too long after he left Minerva left the office room and began to explore the castle. She was impressed of it then she went to a large room and looked out the window. She saw how the sun was still up but she knew that it was late in the day so then she left to the kitchen.

When she got there she looked around to see what to have. As she was looking through the kitchen she blinked when she looked at her reflection that was on a small mirror and saw a figure standing behind her.

She looked aver her shoulder but saw no one there. She wondered what it was about but then she went back to making something for her to eat.

After she was done with her snack she looked up to see a set of knives that were neatly put in this wooden holder. She went to it and took out the largest knife that was in it. As she held it she saw that the knife had a flower design on it but as for the other knives, they were plain. Minerva just raised a brow then she left back upstairs to pick out her room that she would be staying in.

She went to the king chambers and was impressed on how it looked. She smiled at the sight of it then looked at the nightstand to see a book there. She frowned then sat on the side of the bed and picked up the book.

The Young Man and the Dark Castle

Written by: Ash Cronix

On the front of the book the cover showed a castle but behind was a young man with his face covered by his hair as he was looking at the castle with no expression on his face.

'I wonder if this story is even real.'

Minerva put the book down then left to the patio.

When she came back she blinked when she saw that the book was opened and the large knife was next to it. Minerva frowned as she put the book on the nightstand and took the large knife back to the kitchen. When she got there she saw that there was nothing off a she put the large knife back in it's place. When she was done she left back to the bed chambers to finish getting settled in.

'This is going to be a long week.'

Later...

Minerva was just getting done with learning where everything in the castle was. As she was heading back to the room she was staying in she smiled at a thought that came to her mind.

'A nice hot bath will help with my stress right now.'

She chuckled to herself then left to another hallway. When she got in there she smiled at the sight of the king's tub being more of a large indoor hot spring. She smiled at it then left to take her clothes off. When she was done she went into the hot tub. She moaned in pleasure of her being in the hot water.

"Oh, this is so nice."

She closed her eyes and relaxed in the hot water.

10 minutes later...

As Minerva was still in the hot water she couldn't help but think of how lovely it would be if could get a massage from someone. The next thing she knew was she felt a pair of hands just reach out and began to rub her shoulders.

The moment she felt those hands her eyes widened and she got away to see what it was that touched her.

There was no one.

'What was that just now?'

She stayed in the water for a few more minutes then she got out of the hot tub. She tried herself off then left back into the kings chambers.

When she got back to the chambers she got ready for bed. She saw that the book was still on the nightstand from where she left it before she left the large room before she left again. She climbed into the bed and began to sleep.

Minerva opened her eyes and saw that she was outside but she didn't understand how she got there. She looked behind her and saw that the castle was right behind her. She walked into the castle estate and saw that it looked the same as it did when she first went in. As she was walking through one of the long hallways. She saw that one of the doors was opened then she walked into it. She blinked when she saw that the room was plain with wooden floors and in the very back of it was a black wooden wardrobe. It was very tall and for its handles it had black coated fangs.

Minerva blinked then she went to it and opened it to see that it led to a large dark place. In the very center of it she saw light shining on something. It was a shadow like figure that was on their knees and had their back turned to Minerva. Minerva just looked at it then she heard them mumbling something.

'I told them to stop...they didn't listen, so they earned it...now there is a new person I have to kill.'

Minerva saw the shadow figure lift their head and looked over their shoulder to look at her. Minerva closed the wardrobe doors and used something to tie the doors together then she ran out of the room locking the door behind her.

She ran to another part of the estate that she was in. She hid in a different room in some kind of small hope that the shadow figure wouldn't find her.

'What was that thing?'

Just then she felt a drop on her shoulder then she looked up to see a message written in blood.

Waking up won't save you from me.

Minerva felt her eyes widen.

"I couldn't even tell if this is a nightmare or not."

She ran out of the room and ran to the first floor when she got there she went to make herself something simple to eat. After she ate she wondered about what it was that was looking at her. As she thought about it she soon heard a faint whisper in the air.

'They are all back...they are coming for you...when they find you...they will kill you...'

Minerva ran out of there then ran to the tallest tower to hide from whatever it was that was starting to make her lose her mind when she got to it she ran to the top where an attic was. She hid in there to catch her breath but then she looked to see something. It was a thick black book that had the title written in large letters.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

She just looked at it then she looked away.

"What is going on?"

The next thing Minerva knew she was pinned down to the wooden floor. She looked to see who it was and her eyes widen in horror when she saw that it was the shadow figure that was in the wardrobe. She began to struggle to break free but their grip was too strong for her to even budge then she heard them whisper in her ear.

"Hush now... you're still sleeping..."

With that everything went black for Minerva.

AN: How is that for the first chapter? Let me know what you think and I will update soon! BYE!