Synopsis: ... "Do you ever get that feeling...? Where the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and a chill runs down your spine like rats crawling on your skin...?" Who and what is this shadow haunting Hyrule Castle?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Legend of Zelda. The characters and settings are strictly used for storytelling only. Legend of Zelda is copyrighted by Nintendo, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: This is my first horror/suspense fan fiction, so BE NICE. This is a completely new genre for me. It may have a little romance too. Well, hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 1: The Touch of a Shadow
The night was dark and dreary as the moon faded into nothingness behind the black clouds. No light remained and the sinister chill of the wind whistled through the air as it whispered... whispered as if it were beckoning death... Link sat up in his room of Hyrule Castle shivering from the coldness as his breath could be seen in the air. Every time that Link drew a breath, it could be heard that he was shaking. Slowly, he lifted his hands to the sides of his arms in a pitiful attempt to keep himself warm.
Link still remained sitting on his chair in front of the oak desk staring down at the small strings of wood scattered along its surface. After being cold for so long, no longer could he stand, he stood up to get a quilt Zelda had made for him to drape over his own shoulders and resume sitting in his chair. The candle lit flame next to him, which was his only light source, was dimmed and it eventually blew out into the cold air, leaving a stream of remaining smoke behind. Link's gaze was fixed upon the partially melted candle stick. At last he lifted himself to the mirror in front of him and began to stare as if frightened.
The air was getting so close around him; he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the skin between his eyebrows contracted. He clenched tighter around the neatly sewed quilt and jolted his head downward again, once again focusing his gaze upon the desk. A burst of relief hit him, as the chill seized in his spine. With ease, he lifted his head toward the mirror once more... Red eyes... that is what he saw, staring at him from over his shoulder. Once again, he tensed, breathing heavily as his heart pounded underneath his chest. However, it seemed his breathing was not his own, he could hear the hoarse gasps of the shadow that loomed behind him.
Sweat broke on Link's forehead as he let out a few stutters and lowered his head to the desk once more, blood rushed through his arms as if it was being held back before and he wrapped his arms around his head with his left hand clinging onto his golden blonde hair. In desperation to be rid of the horrible thing, he fell asleep with a pounding pain in his forehead.
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Zelda knocked on the door to Link's chamber lightly, being sure not to rush him. It was morning and Zelda had found it the proper time for breakfast, and was calling upon Link to join her. However, he would not answer the door. With a little more desperation, Zelda knocked a little harder, even more determined to get his attention. She had no choice, she turned the golden plated doorknob slowly before pushing it open. For some reason, she feared something had happened to him. Her heart began to pound and each breath she took was uneasy.
Eventually, she managed to fully open the door and reveal the inside of Link's chambers. There he was sleeping on his bed clinging tightly to her handmade quilt she had given him. His lower lip twitched here and there as his eyebrows were arched upward. Clearly he was having a nightmare of some sort. She gracefully walked over to him and went by his bed side, with the back of her white nightgown flowing behind her.
Zelda had gone so close to him her warm and gentle breath was barely brushing against his cold cheeks. Still, he was uneasy though, and the young princess noticed that his free hand was shivering. Gently, she gracefully placed her hand over his and stroked his fingers with her thumb, in an attempt to comfort him. Link shifted uneasily and groaned slightly. Zelda had to wake him up. She began to say in a slow and sweet voice,
"Link... wake up..."
Her thumb had seized stroking his fingers and now her palm was brushing the side of his forehead and brushing his bangs away from his gently closed eyes. Eventually, his closed eyes had turned into blue slits before opening completely and seeing the princess. He stared for a while, with his breath still. Link fluttered his eyes as Zelda removed her milk white hand from him.
"Did you have a nightmare?" She started, "Are you all right?"
Link sat up slowly, still clinging onto her quilt and placed his hand over his chest and sighing deeply. A bit of sweat ran down his face, but he had wiped it away before it had reached his neck. Link closed his eyes for a short while and breathed slowly to try to calm himself down before turning his gaze to Zelda once again. A slight smile crept across his face.
"Yes... I'm fine..."
Zelda smiled at this. It seemed she had nothing to worry about after all. We all have nightmares time to time don't we? She rose to her feet and headed for the door, before turning her head back toward Link again. Her hand was now on the side of the door frame and her other hand gracefully placed over her chest.
"If you would... please join us for breakfast, Link. My little brother and I would be most delighted by your presence as usual."
Then Zelda disappeared before Link's gaze by walking away and down the ivory halls. Link positioned his legs over the side of his bed and he looked toward the window nearly covered by the crimson curtains. Link then stood to his feet and slipped on his boots at least, so his feet wouldn't be banged up from taking harsh steps upon the hard castle floors. He followed Zelda's same path and walked down the hallway toward the royal dining room.
When there, one of the servants had escorted him to his seat on one of the ends of the table, which was directly across from where Zelda was sitting, with her little brother sitting to her right. Her little brother, Zared, was only about eight years of age, but a delightful little fellow. He had blonde hair just as his elder sister's and always seemed to have a smile on his face. However, as of late, it seemed that smile was absent whenever one would lay eyes on him. Now it seemed he had seen a ghost, or was greatly troubled.
Even though Link had come to the table like Zelda had asked, they usually didn't have their normal conversations like they did in the past. Now it was silent, so only the clinging of silverware and scraping of the knives along the china plates could be heard. Only a little light shown on the table, which barely crept passed the deep red, velvet drapes. Slowly the three ate, barely eyeing each other.
'Well...' Zelda thought, 'At least he's with me...'
Zelda's thoughts were interrupted by her little brother's voice, "Sister, I saw him again. I tried to talk to him, but I couldn't because I feared him."
"Now, now Zared... the next time you see him, perhaps you may have the courage to."
Link quietly listened to their conversation. Every morning now, Zared would say he saw "him" and that he didn't have the courage to speak. Link would expect that he was trying to talk to his friend that he had not seen in a while. Link sipped from his usual cup of milk before Zelda had turned her words to him.
"Link... I tried knocking on your door early in the night, but you wouldn't answer... was something wrong?"
Link's eyes shot open when he saw the same shadow from last night, standing directly behind Zelda, touching her shoulder and staring strait at him with his two red piercing eyes. He did not blink, only shift a little bit when the shadow moved his index finger along the front of Zelda's neck, and licking his finger afterward.
Link slouched over as the muscles in his arms were tensed up and he could not move let alone breath. However, he had at last found the strength to alarm her. He pointed with a shaking finger and yelled nearly at the top of his lungs. His eyes were sqeezed tight as sweat was running down his face.
"There he is! Zelda, run!!!"
Link waited for a while waiting for an answer with a darkened gaze expecting a scream coming from either her or her brother. However, to his surprise neither screamed, he only heard Zelda's sweet voice replying to him,
"Link... there's no one there..."
Opening his eyes, Link peeked behind Zelda once more and found no one there. He let out a few sharp exhales and sat down slowly in his chair as he lowered his finger. Link couldn't bare lift his eyes anymore... he couldn't lift them in fear of seeing that shadow again and with the red gaze. Link remained frozen at the table with a lost appetite and tensed up muscles. He just stared, lingering on in what he saw, remembering the terrible red gaze and the hoarse breathing.
After breakfast, he had gone outside Hyrule Castle to sit upon the soft green grass in an attempt to relax himself, hoping that his tense muscles would relax. Link began his empty gaze at the sky, trying to bring away all fears and thoughts of the dreadful shadow.
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Author's note: There you have it, my first try at a horror/suspense LOZ fan fiction. Did I do well? Please review! I will accept fires because I know in my eyes, they are not true with my fan fictions. Oh, yeah... I just recently had my first day of highschool, and for you other freshmen out there who thought you stunk on your first day... wait 'till you hear what happened with me! Okay, I had absolutely NO clue where I was going... I was carrying my map and a schedule all around... and at the end of the day, I couldn't find my bus, so I ended up missing it... the next day I made it though because my brother picked me up from my last hour classroom...he didn't pick me up the next day so I barely made it the day after that... after running a marathon around the school carrying a mellophone and a backpack on my back. ANYWAY... please review!