PRESENT
"Try to keep up. We only have to get rid of a few pests here, okay?" Dagran said.
The mercenaries—Dagran's mercenaries—were there only to investigate and exterminate the thing, or things, that had been tormenting the old manor's inhabitants. In the house, someone's moans and screams of could be heard very faintly, but were definitely there. Upon clearing the first floor, they had moved upstairs, searching thoroughly for any disturbances, and moved on. Everything seemed to be fine and in perfectly working order, aside from the sounds.
The man of the manor, , seemed almost angry that they hadn't found a thing.
"Are you sure you've been everywhere?" He grumbled. "Looked at everything? My wife and I couldn't pinpoint the source of those awful sounds. Can you check again?"
Promised double the pay, the mercenaries grudgingly re-started their search in the foyer. Yurick picked out a spellbook in the old library, but it didn't come off of the shelf completely. Metal and stone shifted beneath his feet, revealing an ancient stairwell in the floor. It sunk too deep and was too dark to tell where it flattened out. Everyone was stunned, To think, of all the books in the entire library...
"I guess we didn't check everything, huh?" Lowell chuckled. "I thought you checked the library, Syrenne." He nudged her. "Guess not."
"You didn't really expect me to check out all the books, did you?" she snapped. "Idiot...". She had no interest in magic, so why should she have seen it?
"Wow. Look's like a nice home for all kinds of ghosts, right Yurick?"
"We should—" Yurick began, glancing at the dark opening in the floor. He cleared his throat. "This might not be such a good idea."
"Why not?" Mirania piped up. "We're all here, together."
"Ladies first." Lowell motioned for Yurick to enter first. He scowled.
Zael shifted from one foot to the next, nervously. One more job. Then we can go to Lazulis Island and look for work there. He thought.
During the long descent they would hear the sound every so often, which grew louder every time.
Yurick lit the way with flames on his fingertips, not at all happy about having to lead. He would light every sconce they came across, but the path was never bright enough. He hated the dark. No matter how much he tried to convince himself he wasn't afraid, the shadows scared him more than anything. Dark places suggested ghosts. Ghosts meant for an extremely unpleasant time.
"I bet you've never seen anything like this before, hey Dagran?" said Lowell, attempting to make conversation for the ump-teenth time.
"No, I can't say I have." Dagran said. "You know, it's okay if you stop talking for once. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you could take Syrenne as an example. She's been perfectly quiet this whole time.
The cobblestone stairs were steep and wound around corners in some places, getting slimier with moss or mold. After some time, the stairs became flat ground and the descent became a corridor-made visible only with Yurick's help-that stretched down past at least twenty wooden doors on either side and one large set of double doors.
"Looks like a prison." Dagran commented, noting the metal bars on each door. "Well, let's get this over with, shall we? Room by room."
"This is so... creepy." Mirania added. She gagged. There was a certain smell to the place.
"Yurick, you go with Lowell. Syrenne, you go with Zael. Mirania, you're with me."
They split up and began in the first three rooms. Zael had nearly had to force Syrenne through the door with him. The room, upon inspection, looked clean. Well, it was far from sanitary-there was mold and dust and rot and... blood. Across the walls. It was very old, brown in colour, but creepy nonetheless.
"Hey,take a look at this." he whispered. "Syrenne?"
She was shaking, skin paler than usual, which was saying something. Come to think of it, she'd stopped talking the minute the stairway had been discovered. Not even Lowell could get her to speak. He lit the sconce on the wall, lighting up the tiny cell, and sat down with her on the rotten hay in the corner.
"Look, we just need to search these rooms. Then we can—"
"They're clean." She said simply.
"What?" He asked, shocked. She couldn't just be assuming things like that again.
"All of them. They're all clean. It's the one at the end." She whispered. Then she turned to face him, her eyes red, tears ready to spill over, and grabbed his shoulders. Her voice was shaky, like her hands. "I want to get out of 'ere. Please, Zael. It's the last one."
Zael's stomach turned to ice. Syrenne was rarely serious. She was hardly ever scared, for real, and she never cried. To see that kind of solid, raw fear from her set him off. It sent shudders down his spine. A Red flag, he thought. He helped get her on her feet and they unsteadily returned to the corridor, where Mirania and Dagran whispered. Probably more business talk.
"Dagran, I think—" He called. He crossed over to Dagran, and Syrenne slumped down on the nearest wall and lay her head on top of her knees. She made no coherent sound. Mirania dropped her arms to her sides and squinted at Syrenne.
"She's gone blank. It's weird to see her like that. She... she says the rooms are all clean. It's that one..." Zael whispered, and pointed to the end of the hall. "...right there."
"Are you sure?" Dagran scratched the back of his head. "Syrenne!" he called. She didn't speak, or even look up. If anything, she shrank further into the wall. "Well, it could be nothing. Maybe it's just the Claustrophobia." he suggested, but Zael shook his head.
Dagran glanced at the swordswoman, then to Mirania, who nodded.
"Lowell! Yurick! Change of plans. We're going to that door, all together, at the end of the hall." He shouted. Then came the disgruntled groans of the two boys. They exited their current cell, and joined the rest of the team.
"I don't like this place. I don't want to go in there." Yurick scoffed.
"Keep that up, and they might posess you, Yurick. You've got to be careful. Ghosts are pretty sneaky!" Lowell teased, which earned him a vicious glare from the fire mage. He continued, more formally. "Yeah, I know this place could use a makeover, but it's still a job. And we need to get the job done. When it's done? We can leave. Happy?"
Dagran, Yurick, and Zael moved on. They began toward the large doors, Yurick grudgingly lighting the candles on the wall along the way. Mirania stood patiently beside Syrenne, ready to help.
"Do you need help?" Mirania asked. "You don't seem like yourself."
"I... it's just this place. I'm fine."
Mirania's eyes shone with that motherly expression that Syrenne knew and hated. She didn't want sympathy, and she definitely shouldn't have been acting so weak in front of the others. Lowell'd tease her for it later. Syrenne stood up on her own, attempted to smile at Mirania, and silently followed the boys with Mirania's hand resting on her shoulder.
"Try to keep up. We only have to get rid of a few pests here, understood?" Dagran said. He hid from the unknown enemy, his back pressed against the corner of the end of the hallway, ready to charge through the door. "Be prepared for anything."
Lowell leaned in closer to Yurick, a grin plastered across his face. "Sssssneaky... " He whispered. Yurick hissed. Dagran shot both of them a glare.
"Good. Now let's get in there." He announced. they entered the room, blades at the ready.
Mirania gasped.
"Now, what's this?" Lowell gasped. "Of all the things..."
"I can't believe it. These are illegal." Dagran said. Mirania looked away.
"I've read about them. Apparently they were used frequently in some wars, mostly to question enemy soldiers. Hostages were held in some of these, tortured just for fun..." She bowed her head. "There's good reason for them to be illegal, too."
They had discovered a torture chamber.
Lowell held his scarf over his nose and gagged. "It stinks in here. All of that blood. It doesn't look it's been used for a while, thank god."
Yurick sighed with relief. He lit the sconces on the walls. The room was clear-no bodies, no monsters. Nothing. The team split up to investigate, but Syrenne couldn't move.
There came that sound again. It was loud, so bloody loud, invading her ears and head and mind. Syrenne hunched over, all the while her team mates went about their search. It's right here! Don't they hear it? Don't they hear it screaming?"
"Ugh, what is that? Is that... is that a hand?" Lowell said, appalled.
He turned and saw Syrenne clenching her head, "Are you—"
She collapsed.