A little OOC, but they're still children, and children don't have that great control over their emotions, so...

This is set a couple days after Halt got a cast. He still has it, so his siblings are trying to cheer him up.

Halt leaned over in his bed, hanging over Caitlyn and Ferris. Caitlyn was clutching a teddy bear to her chest, and Ferris was sitting with his legs crossed.

They were gathered on Halt's bed in the dead of night. Seeing as how none of them could sleep, and both wanted to make sure Halt didn't strain his arm, the three kids had decided that it would be a good idea to tell stories. Ferris and Caitlyn had already gone, telling either a fairytale or a legend, but Halt decided to take it one step further.

He was telling a horror story.

"Gather 'round while I tell the tale of The Dearg Due," Halt said ominously. Caitlyn leaned forward in interest and Ferris rolled his eyes.

"Really? A ghost story?" He said. "Ghosts aren't real, you know."

Halt sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Could you at least play along?" he asked. Caitlyn nodded her head.

"Yeah, Fairness," she pouted. "It's fuuuuuuuunnn!"

Ferris sighed as well, eyes resting on Halt's cast. Biting back a groan, he gestured for Halt to continue.

"Long ago, in a town lost to time, lived a beautiful girl," he said mysteriously. "She fell in love with a poor farmer, who loved her back."

"Aww," Caitlyn cooed. Halt grinned maliciously at her.

"But her father was a cruel and greedy man," he continued. "And he saw nothing he could gain if she married the farmer. So, he went to a terrible, wealthy man, and spoke with him- "

"- She pulled herself out of her grave, angry and seeking revenge," Halt said in a low voice. Caitlyn was now sitting in Ferris's lap, her brother's arms wrapped protectively around her. Their eyes were both wide and fearful, leaning forward to hear Halt better. Caitlyn was clutching her bear like a lifeline.

"She thought about what her father had made her go through," Halt continued. "Forcing her into that marriage… being locked in that room for weeks without end… and she came to a decision.

"She snuck into her old house and stood over her sleeping father. She grabbed his neck…"

Halt wrapped his hands around his own neck. Caitlyn and Ferris leaned forward even more.

"Leaned down…"

Halt bent toward his siblings, hands still wrapped around his neck and voice terrifyingly low and soft.

"Opened her mouth…"

Caitlyn and Ferris were leaning as far forward as they could, Caitlyn having shifted so that she could wrap her arms around Ferris, who refused to let her go.

"And… she…"

Halt slowly rose to his knees, leaning over his siblings. Suddenly, his hands shot forward and grabbed onto his siblings, making them scream.

"DRANK HIS BLOOD!" He exclaimed. He fell backwards in laughter while his siblings screamed their voices hoarse. They tried to stop - they didn't want to wake their parents up, after all - but it was extremely difficult.

When they finally calmed down, Halt got himself under control. It wasn't often that he completely lost his cool and burst out like that.

"H-Halt," Ferris stuttered out. "Why would you DO THAT?"

"Because it's fun," Halt said, grinning at his brother. Ferris opened his mouth to say something but, much like Halt had reflected earlier, he realized that it wasn't very often that their oldest brother was this open. His eyes shifted to the cast again. He elected just to glare at his older brother.

"Fine, whatever," he pouted. "Don't do that again…"

Halt giggled a little bit at this, but he cleared his throat and took a deep breath to try and get himself back under control. He couldn't entirely wipe the smile from his face, but that didn't bother him much. He had enjoyed it, and was still enjoying it, if he was being honest with himself.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed half-heartedly, ignoring the glare. "After drinking her father's blood, she felt unsatisfied and decided that she wanted revenge on her husband, next."

Halt's voice got low and mysterious again.

"She snuck into his house and drank his blood as well. But she was still unsatisfied. Drinking their blood… it filled her with something that she couldn't explain, that she couldn't put into words.

"And she liked it," Halt finished. "No one knows what happened to her after that, but they say that she still wanders the mortal world, sucking the blood out of her chosen victims."

Ferris and Caitlyn were fearfully hugging each other again. Halt suddenly clapped his hands together, making his siblings jump.

"The End," he declared. He then yawned and lied down in his bed, the pillow nice and fluffy beneath his head. "Well, I'm beat. Goodnight, you two."

His siblings were silent for a moment. Halt evened out his breathing, pretending he was asleep.

"Is… is he really…?"

Someone, Ferris he assumed, poked him. He ignored it.

"T-that was, fast," Ferris said with a weak chuckle. His siblings were silent again.

"W-we s-should probably go to b-bed," Caitlyn stuttered.

"Y-yeah," Ferris agreed. Halt didn't feel either of them move from his bed, and he turned over to hide his smile, keeping his breathing even.

It was a cold night outside. Cold nights usually led to noisy castle. Noisy castle meant random popping noises from the wood, and drafts blowing in from small cracks in the stone walls that created a whispering sound. And that led to two terrified children jumping at every sound and eventually curling up beside their unafraid, sleeping older brother.

And Halt was about to explode with the pressure that was building by holding in his laughter.

I didn't do this story justice. It's a real Irish folk tale... or Celtic, I can't remember which one. But it inspired this chapter, so... if you're curious, look it up. I didn't change the name of the creature.