Dullahan 2: The Lady in White
Dullahan was based on 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and the mythology of the Dullahan. The sequel story will be based on the legends and myths of the specter known as the White Lady.
This is the much-requested sequel that everyone has been waiting for.
Happy Halloween everybody! Enjoy!
Prologue
Vinland, October 1022
It was the dead of the night and only a few torches burned in the village. Most of the illumination came from the moon which was now hiding behind the clouds. Using the covers of darkness a lean figure slipped past several guards and approached one of the huts near the harbor. The hut was small but the man residing inside was by no means a fool. The figure worked swiftly and struck from behind, clamping a hand over the man's mouth and tilting his head downwards before slashing his neck.
Blood spurted and also coated the floor as the victim bled out. His eyes widened as to who was the assailant and the man croaked "Argr!"
"Even when dying you would say that to your own kin," The man tutted before reaching a hand under the bed and grabbing an ornate wooden chest. He then leaned closer to the dying Viking and whispered "Don't you worry brother. This which has plagued our line for generations, I shall put it to good use, our ancestors were fools to not use what we were blessed with."
"C-Cu-Cur…." The man gurgled as he tried to say something but only more blood flowed out. The assailant then patted the man's cheek only to discover that he had left this world. Without a second thought, the cloaked figure left the murder weapon behind, a Dorset dagger.
Somewhere in upstate New York, 29 October 2022
Snotlout was on the phone with his supplier when a scream tore through the area. In fact, there were multiple screams which caused Snotlout to tell the person on the other end of the line that he would call them back.
"What in blazes is going on?!" Snotlout yelled as he stomped out of the trailer. It was already nighttime and his face was harshly lit in the glare of the light towers his crew had put up during the day.
He looked at the would-be construction site, an old and abandoned Victorian mansion that was long past its glory days. His night crew was supposed to be breaking ground but instead, they were all fleeing past him.
"What's going on?!" Snotlout asked again as he grabbed one of the workers that nearly barreled into him.
"G-GH-GHOST!" The man stuttered out before ripping himself out of Snotlout's grip and getting the hell out of dodge.
"Ghost?!" Snotlout uttered looking completely disbelieving but by then it was too late. The site had been abandoned, the equipment was strewn about, his night crew had fled and he had been left alone at the construction site. They were now behind schedule and Snotlout cursed. They could not afford to be behind schedule.
He looked back towards the rusted gates of the estate where his workers had fled towards and cursed. It seemed that they were not coming back and that this wasn't some elaborate joke. "Ghost, they said," Snotlout muttered a bit disbelieving. "Even if there was a ghost they aren't paying your salaries," he exclaimed before more muttering followed as Snotlout grabbed a flashlight from inside the trailer and made his way towards the dilapidated mansion. "I'll show them there are no ghosts!" He was talking more to himself and nearly jumped as an owl hooted nearby. "Get a grip Snot, this isn't like five years ago," was said as he made his way up the rotting rickety stairs towards the front door. "Yeah, nothing like five years ago," He reached out towards the doorknob and jiggled it, only to frown as the door wouldn't give and seemed to be locked. He was sure that the door locks had been broken even before he was hired as vandals had left their unflattering graffiti both outside and inside the once luxurious mansion. "Come on," Snotlout tried to force the door but it still wouldn't budge. He then walked towards one of the broken windows and peered inside before stopping any movement and gulping. There in the broken mosaic glass of the window, he could see his reflection but also that of another. He swallowed loudly as he stared at the reflection of a floating woman draped in white behind him. Slowly Snotlout turned and looked behind him, goosebumps prickled his skin. But there was no one there and he let out a small breath of elation as this entire thing may have been a fiction of his overactive imagination. He turned his head back towards the window and screamed as the ghostly specter was standing between him and the window now.
Snotlout backed away from the entity with the grace of a Looney Tunes Tazmanian Devil, his back hitting the rotting wood of the balustrade and falling backwards on the damp grass. He kept scooting away, no momentum lost as the ghost just stood there watching. Finally, Snotlout couldn't scoot backwards anymore and took off towards the rusted gates in a sprint just like the rest of his crew.
When he felt that he was a safe distance away he fished out his phone and dialed a familiar number. It rang twice before a gruff voice answered. "Daddy I need your help!" Snotlout nearly shouted into the speaker.
Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 October 2022, 5:28 AM
Hiccup groaned as there was an incessant knocking at his apartment door. He had pulled the covers over his head but that didn't drown out the knocking. Bleary eyes looked at the digital clock on the nightstand that showed him that it was only 5:28 AM. Whoever was knocking probably had a deathwish.
The knocking however didn't stop and only grew more persistent after a while. Hiccup groaned because if he didn't answer the door then his neighbour, the very irate Mr. Hausen, would get the cops involved again and he'd have more of a headache. With a sigh he slipped out of bed, wearing some fuzzy dragon slippers and padded over to the door which he unlocked and ripped open yelling "WHAT?!" If they were going to bother him before 7 AM and without a decent pot of coffee in him then they will have to deal with his grumpy self.
"Hiya cuz!" Snotlout said as he stood in front of Hiccup's apartment while giving a slight wave. The latter blinked before shutting the door in his face while thinking 'Oh, heck no. I'm not doing this today!'.
"CUZ COME ON! IT'S ME SNOTLOUT!" The shorter man continued to bang on Hiccup's door until Hiccup gave in and opened it once more.
"How did you even find out where I lived?" Hiccup asked with a frown.
"My dad, duh! He put me through to this guy called Gobber," Snotlout rolled his eyes as he strode into Hiccup's apartment. "So where is your violent girlfriend? I need her to do some hacking and slashing."
"Astrid is not violent!" Hiccup defended. "Well not so violent to humans," He amended. "Besides we're not together anymore,"
This caused Snotlout to blink and gape at Hiccup. "You can't be serious! Do you not remember what she did to the doors of my house the first time we met?!" Snotlout waved his arms rather wildly. "You, Mr. Commitment, and her, Ms. I'll-slash-anyone-that-hurts-my-Hiccy, are not together anymore?! Did I step into the Twilight Zone?!"
"It had nothing to do with that and you did steal her head!" Hiccup groaned while rubbing his forehead. "We had disagreements about work."
"Disagreements…. Right…" Snotlout stated. "So I came all the way here for nothing. Great…."
"Why did you even want to see Astrid?" Hiccup now questioned. "Spitelout told me you didn't take the whole thing…" He gestured with his hand to indicate the Halloween 5 years ago "...very well."
"Headless horsewoman, demonic possession, magic, human sacrifice, and finding out your cousin isn't exactly your cousin but some weird ancestor that started a secret organization to combat supernatural threats and being the mastermind behind most of that night…" Snotlout summed it all up and then lifted a brow. "Who in their right mind would take that well!" He then sighed and said "Look, I need yours or Astrid's help. My livelihood depends on it."
"Right… uhm…. If you really need Astrid and the others then I'll make a call. She's in Massachusetts right now with the twins." He mumbled. "I'm assuming this thing you're dealing with is supernatural….."
"No, I need your violent not-headless-girlfriend to lob a truck full of watermelons in half. Of course, it's supernatural!" Snotlout grumbled.
"Wow, you've become somewhat sassy," Hiccup deadpanned.
"If you see the clients I sometimes have to deal with….." Snotlout muttered.
"So where exactly are we going?" Hiccup asked with a frown.
"Upstate New York,"
Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 October 2022, 9:00 AM
"YOU GUYS HAVE A JET!" Snotlout exclaimed as he stood on the tarmac and gaped at the business jet Hiccup, Fishlegs and Heather were boarding. The man Snotlout had spoken to, Gobber, appeared to be the pilot.
"The organization Astrid and I set up is surprisingly well funded." Hiccup stated. "We were in the employ of General Washington at the time. We're still government-funded to this day."
"Then why did I have to fly Economy?!" Snotlout groaned.
"Where to lad?" Gobber asked as he clapped Hiccup on the shoulder while the others got seated.
"Salem, Massachusetts and then upstate New York." Hiccup told the man with a smile.
"Ah, getting the missus and gang back together," Gobber smiled back before giving a mock salute. "Aye Aye Mon Capitan. It will be good seeing the lass again."
Snotlout was seated in one of the plush seats and Hiccup joined him by sitting next to him as Gobber announced their take off. Fishlegs and Heather who appeared to be an engaged couple, judging by the rings they were wearing, peered at Snotlout curiously.
"Snot, you already know them but Fishlegs here is our data expert and Heather is our magic specialist." Heather blushed here and muttered "Though I'm not so good as the twins,"
"Don't sell yourself short, honey," Fishlegs told her. "Not just anyone could open up a rift between dimensions to send the Wendigo home," Heather blushed while Snotlout blinked owlishly.
"Right so let me set up the link to the twins," Fishlegs stated as he brought out a tablet and connected it to the plane's wifi. The Skype call was answered swiftly but all the group could see was a nose.
"Oye lard brain, you aren't supposed to be so close to the camera!" A female voice said and then they could see Ruffnut drag Tuffnut back a few steps. "How's it going guys?!"
"Good, how are you three?" Hiccup asked.
"Us two are good," Ruffnut stated. "Astrid….. Well… she's taking her anger out on several townspeople."
"Should I ask why?" Here Hiccup groaned as if it was a regular occurrence. Snotlout shot his cousin a look that spoke volumes, 'Not-violent heh?'
"The mission was a bust," Ruffnut stated and then elaborated things for Snotlout who must have sported a very confused expression. "We were sent here to check out reports of ghostly witches. You know, the ones that grew spiteful and kept haunting the place and its descendants."
"Isn't that a lot?" Snotlout asked. "With them being burned at the stake by their families and friends?"
"Surprisingly there were fewer witch burnings than there were hangings and drownings," Tuffnut stated. "History embellished the burning at the stake thing."
"But that wasn't the problem here," Ruffnut shoved her brother aside as she leaned closer to the camera. "Several townspeople used the witch trials as a hoax to get tourists to come. They even got others to blame this teenage girl that was into herbal medicine."
"I can see that setting Astrid off big time," Hiccup said. "You guys just make sure she doesn't kill anyone alright." The twins saluted while Hiccup continued "We may have a case of a ghost sighting. Snotlout was very adamant in what he saw."
"I'm not lying!" Snotlout defended. "That thing was right in my face!"
"This close to Halloween anything is possible," Fishlegs stated. "In some cases, it turned out to be nothing more than superstition in several instances."
"We do get called a lot more during this month," Heather nodded. "As paranormal investigators, we also have to have a good degree of skepticism."
"I know what I saw," Snotlout insisted. "I'm not making this up."
"Then tell us the whole story," Hiccup stated as he eyed Snotlout. "You only said you saw a ghost but we still need to determine what type."
"There are types?!"
"There are types," Hiccup acknowledged.
"Right… uhm… I guess I have to start at the beginning." Snotlout said as he took a deep breath. "After Highschool, I started up a small construction company. Alexi broke up with me afterwards since she was going to University in Europe. The company was good for a while. We did a lot of restoration work and other small projects while expanding slowly. I have a good dayshift and night shift crew now that is more than capable of getting the job done. After the pandemic of 2020 we sorta took a hit. Revenue was down and I was about to declare bankruptcy when I got the job of a lifetime." Here Snotlout looked a bit wary. "Frankly I thought it was too good to be true,"
"The offer?" Hiccup asked as the others were listening intently. Even the twins were silent.
"A man named Mr. Grisly called. Said he wanted to hire us. When I first saw the pictures of the Victorian mansion I thought it was a restoration job but it seems the man wanted to demolish the house and set up a resort. The mansion grounds are extensive and our employer oozed rich. I'm talking Vanderbilt rich here Hiccup. The very definition of Blue Blood." Snotlout gestured with his hands while Fishlegs wrote down some notes.
"It was his family's mansion or did he buy the land?" Fish asked.
"Family mansion. He wanted it gone," Snotlout nodded. "Said there was too much….. Bad blood floating around. He even offered to pay us double if we could work through Halloween."
"And you didn't find that suspicious?" Heather asked with a frown. "Halloween is when the veil between worlds is the thinnest."
"Look, I'm not one to judge the rich and eccentric. The job commission was a lifesaver for my company and employees." Snotlout shot back. "If we had to demolish a house on Halloween then by Thor we'd do it!"
"And this… ghost.. Just showed up?" Hiccup asked with a raised brow.
"Pretty much." Snotlout stated. "My night crew is dedicated. They wouldn't run away in mass if there wasn't some danger. Even I ran once I saw her!"
"So the ghost is female," Ruffnut commented as she leaned on her brother. "Anything else that was distinctive?"
Snotlout frowned for a moment as he thought. He thought hard and still frowned before saying "She wore all white. You know like those long nightgowns. And now that I think about it she had bruises around her neck."
The group as a whole was silent and Snotlout thought he might have said something wrong so he asked "What? What is it?"
"What you saw was the spectre of a White Lady," Heather muttered. "It's difficult to ascertain what their true goal is."
"Why is that? Are they that rare?" Snotlout asked now while looking perplexed.
"The opposite actually." Hiccup answered. "The White Lady is well documented. Each culture has their own version of it. The motivations of the entity differ per culture so this makes it all the more difficult to pinpoint."
"So what now?" Snotlout asked.
"Now we do research until we get to our destination."
Salem, Massachusetts, 30 October 2022, 12:17 PM
To say that Snotlout had been bored the entire flight would be an understatement. Snotlout was beyond bored. He'd taken a nap since there was no more information he could supply to Hiccup and his friends. The trio had been working the entire flight while he finally caught up on some sleep. He'd called his dad around midnight, had been whisked to the airport and caught a 5 hour plane ride to see his cousin-not-cousin who apparently was an expert in the occult. All of it seemed so surreal.
He cracked open an eye when the door of the jet opened to allow the twins and Astrid entry. The twins looked like they did on the Skype call but Astrid looked….. Like she'd fallen into a swamp. Her clothes were dirty with mud, her hair was all over the place, sticking up in odd directions with twigs and leaves still caught in it. She had an axe strapped to her back and a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
"Hiccup," She said as she caught sight of him.
"Astrid," Hiccup said, equally stifled.
The whole plane oozed tension as the two looked at each other. Snotlout didn't know if it was the bad or good kind of tension so for once he wisely kept his mouth shut. He certainly didn't want to have an axe thrown at him again.
Astrid went to clean up in the plane's restroom after Gobber took off again and when she came back she looked a lot more presentable.
"So what do we have?" She asked as she took a seat with the twins.
"A lot and not much really," Fishlegs stated which only caused Snotlout to frown. How could they have a lot and not much at the same time? It seemed like such a contradiction.
"I did some digging into the mansion itself." Fishlegs stated. "On record it's as Snotlout said. It belonged to the Grisly family. A very prominent family that died out during or slightly after the Civil war. The mansion was completed close to 1854. Not a lot of records exist about it after that time."
"The Civil war was from 1861 to 1865," Hiccup thought aloud. "Is it possible they gave most of their assets to the war effort?"
"Can't say for sure. There aren't any records about the mansion after 1871." Fishlegs stated. "The last known owner was one Elias Grisly, he died shortly after his wife, leaving no known heirs. Snotlout's client might be a distant relative."
"Something is still troubling you Fish," Hiccup muttered.
"Aye," Fishlegs nodded. "The Grisly family should have supposedly come over on the Mayflower when it set sail from Holland yet I can't find any mention of their names. I even checked other ship manifests from around that time."
"But they could have come over on other ships still," Heather stated. "There were already well established outposts belonging to the French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russians. We also can't know for sure if they changed their name."
"That's true," Ruffnut stated. "New York was a Dutch colony before the English took over."
"We'd have better luck looking into things locally," Tuffnut added. "Who knows,"
"Now we come to the business of the ghost itself." Heather stated. "We have about 38 minutes left of our flight so I will try to make this as short as I can."
All eyes turned to her at that moment. "The specter of the White Lady is a type of female ghost which is typically dressed in a white dress or a similar white garment," Snotlout nodded along as this seemed to match his description. "This ghost's legend is often associated with tragedy. An accidental death, murder, or suicide. The theme of loss, betrayal by a husband or fiance, and unrequited love is heavily prevalent."
"There are multiple legends of these specters ranging from the Dama Branca in Brazil to ghostly sightings in Canada, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland and Hungary to name a few." Heather recounted. "There is always a tragic story attached to them and some say they lure men away to join them as their ghostly followers."
"So we're dealing with another malevolent ghost," Astrid grumbled. "We should just start the exorcisms when we get there."
"Astrid no!" Hiccup replied rather forcefully. "We talked about this, remember. You can't just go exorcising every ghost you come across. Some can be made to naturally cross over."
"And some don't change Hiccup," Astrid shot back as the two now glared at each other. "Not every ghost will change its tune. The best way is to get rid of them early on. Whether it be force or not!"
"All you resort to is force!" Hiccup shot back. "You don't even give them a chance!"
"You would have been minced meat if I gave them a chance or don't you remember!" Astrid replied as she crossed her arms.
"I told you I had it handled!" Hiccup muttered.
"Suuure you did…." Was Astrid's only statement.
"I'm guessing there is some history here?" Snotlout whispered. Tuffnut who was seated beside him nodded rather solemnly.
"It happened about two years ago," The other whispered back as everyone kept an eye on the glaring duo. "We were clearing an old asylum in Europe and came across a really spiteful ghost. A woman that was sent there by her relatives after her husband died. She suffered unimaginable torture there and thought we were staff at the asylum. Hiccup got her to calm down and boy was that a feat on itself. He was talking her through it, trying to get her to cross over when Astrid exorcised her. It's been a sore point for them ever since. They quarreled about the whole thing. Hiccup told Astrid that not all ghosts needed to be forcefully removed. Some crossover once they realize that there is nothing left for them to bind them there. Astrid countered by saying that ghosts don't change their obsession so easily and that the woman was just lulling Hiccup into a false sense of security. We still don't know which one was right but the team split in two afterwards."
Snotlout nodded as he now knew what Hiccup meant with work disagreements. "Will you two stop it," Heather broke the stare-off and glared at the two. "I wasn't done yet!"
Heather had her arms crossed as she watched both Hiccup and Astrid settle back down. "In the Netherlands they are known as the Vrouw in Wit and there there are legends where they can be as benevolent as they are malevolent. Frankly we don't know which we are dealing with here so yes, caution is advised but I don't recommend immediately exorcising the specter. At least not until we have a firmer grip on the situation. Fishlegs and I will investigate the local community while the rest of you guys visit the site. I'm pretty sure Snotlout has a good lay of the land."
"ME?!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Why do I have to go back there?!"
"Because you actually saw the ghost and you are going to give us a tour of the area." Hiccup raised a brow. "There is a lot we can tell just by the area alone."
Somewhere in upstate New York, 30 October 2022, 2:00 PM
To say that Snotlout was less than enthused to be back at the construction site would be the right description. Snotlout was wary to even get out of the SUV the group had rented. They had dropped Fishlegs and Heather off at the nearest town before heading up to the mansion.
"Ah crap," Snotlout exclaimed as he took notice of a shiny black BMW parked near the gates.
As the group made its way onto the construction site itself they all took notice of a well dressed blonde man and a woman with her dark hair in a bun. The man wore a bespoke suit while the woman wore high heels and casual business attire. Snotlout was mentally saying every curse he knew. "Mr. Grisly," Snot greeted as he extended a hand. The man didn't take it however and looked down his nose at Snot.
"Mr. Jorgenson, I was assured you were punctual. The mansion still stands." Grisly muttered while looking unimpressed.
"The crew is just taking a lunch break," Snotlout quickly thought of an excuse and then assured, "Work is on schedule. It really is."
"And these people are?" Grisly then asked.
"We're ground inspectors," Hiccup stepped forward and casually flipped out a business card from his wallet which he held out to the man. "H&H inspections. We are here to make sure the foundation is solid. Scott here contacted us. The plans for the resort you are planning to build on this site will take up a lot more space than this old mansion. Therefore soil consistency and its capacity should be re-assessed. We wouldn't want any sinkholes or other nasty surprises to crop up now do we. It would mean a lot of lawsuits."
"Indeed it would," Grisly narrowed his eyes as he took the card before handing it to the woman who seemed to be acting as his personal assistant.
With a last "Don't disappoint me Jorgenson," the man made his way back to his car. Snotlout let out a relieved breath before rounding on Hiccup. "What was that?!"
"What?" Hiccup questioned.
"That! With the card!" Snotlout gestured wildly.
"Oh that," Hiccup shrugged. "Just our cover. We've been at this for a couple of years now Snotlout. Sometimes we needed to go undercover."
"But if he looks you guys up online he'll find that it's a fake!" Snotlout exclaimed as he realized the trouble this could cause.
"Nah he won't." Tuffnut shrugged. "The websites for our covers look legit and we have paper trails. I mean I had to go undercover as a Russian ballet dancer a year ago and no one questioned my credentials."
Snotlout goggled at the group before muttering "Why in blazes did you need to pose as a Russian ballet dancer?!"
"It's a long story. A very long story," Astrid muttered while Ruffnut smacked her brother on the head for apparently bringing up that particular case. Either it went spectacularly wrong or it was spectacularly hilarious.
"But anyway, did none of you feel that?" Ruffnut frowned. "There's an evil aura on these grounds."
"I thought that that was just that Grisly guy," Tuffnut shrugged.
"No you idiot. I sense something ancient. Something far older than this mansion." Ruffnut muttered.
"I'm telling you it was that guy sis!" Tuffnut gestured.
"I'm telling you it's the land!" Ruffnut insisted.
The twins were frowning at each other before they ended up duking it out on the ground while calling each other names. Astrid ripped them apart and chastised them with efficiency as she had been paired with them before and had thus known how to deal with it.
"Why don't the twins look around outside while Astrid, Snot and I take a look inside?" Hiccup suggested once the twins had calmed down somewhat.
"You aren't serious are you?! I have to go inside!" Snotlout nearly whined. He was however outvoted and that was how the trio found themselves standing in front of a wooden door which surprisingly swung open with ease.
"Huh….." Snotlout was perplexed as that hadn't been the case last night.
"Let's split up," Astrid suggested as she looked around the dilapidated room.
"Split up?! Split up?! Are you serious?! That's how we die!" Snotlout shouted. "Do none of you guys watch horror movies?! It's always the pretty ones that get killed first when the group splits up and I'm too beautiful to die!"
"Snotlout let go of my leg!" Astrid growled as her eyes narrowed. Snotlout, in his dramatic exclamation, had latched onto Astrid much like a koala. He didn't want to split up and he wasn't about to let them either. Astrid was ready to clobber him when the room turned chilly.
"There!" Hiccup said, getting both Astrid and Snotlout's attention, as he pointed towards the rotting staircase that had once been beautiful. Traces of the mahogany finish could still be seen but the rotting wood wasn't what drew their attention. There, floating where the fourth step should have been was a translucent entity. A woman with sunken eyes and bruises on her neck. Decked out in a white sleeping gown. Her hair was long and floated behind her as she looked at the trio rather calmly.
Beside Hiccup Astrid gritted her teeth while Snotlout let out a whimper. "It doesn't look like she wants to hurt us," Hiccup murmured. The stare-off continued for at least a few more seconds and when the ghost didn't vanish or do anything considered dangerous Hiccup asked it "Why are you here? What is tying you to this place?"
The woman stayed still, not betraying anything but Hiccup continued "We could help you. Maybe you could show us."
The White Lady floated to the right and out of the foyer. Hiccup followed after her with Astrid hot on his heels while dragging a whimpering Snotlout along. "It's just a ghost, it's just a ghost," Snotlout could be heard muttering as the floorboard creaked as they made their way further inside.
The specter stopped before a nondescript door and then disappeared. Hiccup frowned as the chill of the room gave way to warmth once more.
"Hiccup look at this," Astrid said as she pointed to the doorframe. "Those are Norse runes."
"What are Norse runes doing in a Victorian mansion?" Hiccup frowned as he jingled the doorknob. The door didn't open but there was a slight glow to the runes. A magic glow. "This should lead to the basement. At least from the blueprints Fishlegs showed me."
"AH HELL NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" Snotlout shouted. "We are not going into the basement of a haunted house! I am putting my foot down!"