What Are You Afraid Of?

The Wheel stood before the Baron of Brennenburg and his apprentice. Alexander had secured the alleged murderer's limbs to the rim and spokes, stretching the man across the wheel's round face. He placed a hammer in Daniel's hands.

Daniel hesitated. The cloth gag and the burlap sack covering the murderer's face did not muffle the man's cries nearly enough. This was not the first time Daniel had helped Alexander, and it would not be the last, but surely even a criminal did not deserve something as cruel as this.

"Well, Daniel," Alexander beckoned, "what are you afraid of?"

Daniel paled. His lips parted, and his tongue flicked out to wet them. He studied Alexander, gripping the handle of the hammer in one hand, and palming the head of it in the other.

The baron's expression was indiscernible. Alexander stared coolly at his apprentice, his hands clasped behind his back, and waited. Daniel must have kept him too long. The baron's brow creased deeper the longer they stood, his patience wearing thin. "You're wasting time."

Daniel nodded. He took a deep breath, and drew back the hammer to strike.

The crack of thunder echoed so near it rattled the windows. Daniel's eyes shot open at the sound. He watched the shadows in his room from the sanctity of the green comforter atop him. They disappeared as white light flashed in the sky, and then returned again as it faded. Thunder followed this strike of lightning so closely, Daniel had to cover his ears. The whole room shook.

He was too high here in the guest room. Even the back hall was not ground level. He wondered if descending a floor or two would reduce the hellish rumbling, and drew back the bed sheets. No sooner had he set his bare toes on the stone floor did lightning strike again. He reached for a tinderbox in his bedside table and lit the nearest candles. He pulled his day clothes atop his sleep wear, and headed out of the bedroom.

Daniel made his way through the guest room's other chambers and to the door that led to the back hall. Perhaps he should have brought the oil lantern with him to bed, he thought, but it was far too late to concern himself with it now. Daniel rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he reached for the door, and pulled it open to enter the back hall.

A pale, wrinkled visage peered back at him, illuminated by lantern light.

Daniel jumped back and slammed the door. He stood against it. As the seconds passed, he thought of the lightning, the chilly air, and the control he had had since the thunder had roused him. This was no dream; the figure on the other side of the door was no nightmare. He turned back and sheepishly opened the door.

"Good evening, Alexander," he greeted.

"Forgive me, Daniel," the man calmly replied, "I did not mean to startle you."

If the man was offended, it did not show, so Daniel let himself be at ease. "It's all right," he said, "but why are you here?"

"I could not sleep," Alexander admitted. "I thought I would find myself a drink, and it occurred to me that you might also have been roused by the storm. I came to ask if you would join me."

Daniel nodded eagerly. "That would be delightful," he agreed. "Even were I not afraid, the noise alone would be enough to keep me awake."

"You are afraid of storms?"

"Yes," Daniel replied. When the baron seemed to frown, he added, "Well, not like I was as a child."

Alexander turned from the guest rooms and proceeded downstairs. Disregarding how quickly the baron had dismissed him, Daniel rushed to keep in step. As they proceeded into the cellar, he thought to ask for the lantern, but he was still unfamiliar with the halls of Brennenburg, and if he was the one to carry the lantern he might also be expected to lead the way. He followed dutifully, his eyes darting from corner to obscured corner. As Alexander passed through rooms and around bends with ease, the shadows grew around Daniel. He shuffled faster after the baron.

The nightmare had not yet breached the walls of Brennenburg, but it would only be a matter of time. He shuddered at the thought. The red, pulsing tissues looked alive, much like the skin of a man as it was from the inside. It was like a gaping maw slowly devouring everything in its path.

No, Daniel chided himself. He could not think like that now. Alexander would put an end to the nightmare; the baron had promised him as much. With any luck, he would never have to come so near to the dreadful thing pursuing him.

"Daniel."

Daniel turned his gaze upon the baron as they stepped from the cellar and into the entrance hall. "Yes?"

"Carry this," Alexander commanded, holding out the lantern.

Daniel was more than happy to take it from the baron's hands. "Thank you," he said.

Alexander regarded him curiously before smiling a knowing smile. "You're afraid of the dark, too."

Author's Note

I apologize for my lame sense of humor. Feedback of any kind would be appreciated, but is not necessary. Thank you for reading. :3