Astrid hastily pulled out her phone and dialed the non-emergency number Mala had given her. She moved quickly from the library back up to the South Tower.
"Conwy Police department." A male voice responded on the other end of the line.
"Hello, yes, my name is Astrid Hofferson. I just moved into my Uncle's castle on the hill, I think there are squatters living here."
"Hofferson you said? As in Castle Hofferson?"
"Yes sir," Astrid responded. She climbed the main stairs in the lobby to the dining hall, and opened the curtains a crack. From there, she could see the North Tower again, and the light was still on.
"Alright ma'am, I just dispatched an officer to you. He should be there softly."
"Thank you so much!"
"Call back if anything changes."
Astrid hung up the phone, but kept her eyes trained on the windows across the way. Shadows of people seemed to move about, but she couldn't tell if it was just the trick of the light.
Soon enough though, she heard the ring of the doorbell and hurried from her spot.
At the door stood a policeman with a not so pleasant look on his face. "Astrid Hofferson?"
"Yes, thank you for coming." She beckoned him inside.
"I'm officer Ryker, you called about a home intruder?"
"Yes, if you'll follow me." She lead him back up the stairs into the dining room and pointed at the North Tower. "I'm the only one supposed to be here. I was in the library when I noticed, but the light couldn't have been on long before I called."
"Is there any outside entrances to that tower?"
"Not that I'm aware of. The only entrance is in the East Tower, and it's locked."
The officer looked skeptically at the tower. "Do you mind if I look around the outside?"
"Please, be my guest."
The duo walked out of the castle and walked around the back. The North Tower was surrounded by the lake, the water lapping at the stones. Officer Ryker stood on the dock and dragged his torch light over the cold wet stone. Wordlessly, he left the dock and walked all the way around to the other side of the Castle. From this side, the tower was still sitting in water, but there was a section in the wall that looked different then the rest, as if it had been repaired. Still, the stone looked smooth, and unclimbable. Even if the windows at the top were broken, there was no way to get to them.
"What are you trying to pull, huh?" The man accused, looking at her.
"I'm sorry?"
"I'm sure all the businesses in town appreciate the traffic from your so called 'Haunted Castle' but whatever publicity stunt you're trying to pull…it's a waste of time and resources."
Astrid was aghast. "I'm not trying to pull anything! I just moved in today!"
"Yeah, well, it's probably some special effects left over from the last owner. Now if you'll excuse me." The officer sharply walked away and back to his squad car. Astrid followed shortly after, after looking over the tower once again.
"I've never met such a rude cop before." She huffed, going inside. She flicked the switch on the lobby wall, and suddenly remembered, with horror, that the power was still off.
"Maybe Uncle had some sort of generator over there…and it's just a timed light. Yeah, that's it." Astrid repeated this to herself as she returned to the East Tower and prepared for bed. She slipped on her pajamas and threw on a pair of house slippers to keep her feet warm on the cold hardwood floor. All the while, she kept her eyes trained on the light in the North Tower.
"Ugh!" She threw her arms up in the air, "there's no way I'm going to get any peace of mind unless I go over there and see for myself that there's nothing to be afraid of."
Such things were easier said then done. She slipped a small blanket over her shoulders and grabbed her flashlight. The ring of keys sat heavily in her hand.
Down the stairs she traveled, down to the main floor where she found the door with the slide lock on the north wall. A small sign read 'Do Not Enter' upon the face.
She lifted the bolt and unlocked the door. It opened with a loud creak.
"Note to self, find out if they sell WD-40 in Wales."
A gust of cold dusty air hit her face. Inside, the hall was unrecognizable, like her Uncle had written. There were huge cracks in the walls, and barely any glass in the windows. Even parts of the floor were missing. Cobwebs danced in the drafty air. A huge, black door stood waiting for her. So she stepped carefully over the debris covered floor, and slid the black key into the lock.
As she turned the key, it got stuck for a moment, and then it unlocked with an echoing clang. She pushed it open, only to find it extremely heavy. Finally it gave way to inky blackness.
The stairwell was similar to the East and West wings, but the railings were rusting away and crumbling. A huge statue of a man stood in the middle of the room. He wore robes with his arms crossed in front of him and his hood covered his face. No paintings or any decorations of any kind but spiderwebs hung on the walls. The stairs travelled up three flights, to a broken stained glass ceiling, but as she glanced down the other way…
The light of the flashlight never hit the bottom. The robes of the statue continued down into the darkness. Astrid picked a bit of debris from the floor and dropped it down the center of the stairwell. After a good ten seconds, it finally splashed at the bottom.
"Oh boy." She dreaded the climb down and back up.
Looking at the top floor, she noticed there was a door closed, but a yellow light was pouring out from around it. Muffled voices echoed from there as well. She had finally found her intruders. Climbing the stairs, the voices became clearer. There were more people than she expected.
This door didn't creak, thankfully. The room appeared to have been a chapel at one point, but unlike any chapel she had ever seen. It was a wide room, taking up at least half of the floor. The stain glass windows were mostly intact, and that's all that gave away the nature of the room. Dozens of mismatched tables and chairs were scattered about, only a few occupied. Big torches hung on the wall, and a few candles, wax spilling over the tables, were gleaming. Other than that, the room was empty.
She stood in the doorway for only a moment before she was noticed and the room grew quiet.
"Oi! 'o the 'ell are you?"
Astrid straighten up. "I could ask you all the same thing. You're trespassing."
"We're trespassing?"
The assembled crowd laughed like they had just heard the funniest joke of their lives.
"Yes!" Astrid tried to seem intimidating, but it was hard in her Batman pajamas and matching house slippers.
A heavy man, missing an arm and a leg, stood and sauntered over to her. "Fearless Finn Hofferson is the owner of this Castle. Now, I'll ask you again, who are you?" He shut the door behind her, leaning against it to prevent her escape. Astrid was too stunned to answer.
"Hey Gobber, why don't you relax? I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm." A younger voice spoke. He stood, and joined them.
Astrid shook out of her trance, "My name is Astrid Hofferson, Finn was my Uncle. I just inherited the Castle."
The armless man, Gobber, seemed saddened, "so Finn has died then. Not so surprising, he was old."
"90 years old," Astrid clarified.
"Alright," the man stated, becoming much more pleasant. "My name is Gobber. I'm sorry for scaring you." He stuck a hook out to her.
She shook it carefully. "It's nice to meet you." She glanced at the young man, who smiled at her. He was as wide as he was tall, with sandy blonde hair, and seemed very nice indeed.
"But I am serious, you guys are trespassing. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. If you knew my Uncle, then know that his wishes were this Tower to be off limits to anyone except the owner of the house."
Gobber waved her off and headed back to his seat. "Just like every Hofferson before him."
The other younger man echoed. "It's best that way, after all."
"What?" Astrid questioned.
The door suddenly flew open, and then was slammed shut in the same breath. Yet another young man, seemingly familiar, with one leg, leaned against the wood and panted.
"Any luck?" Asked Gobber, fazing Astrid out.
"Not an pinch," said the boy. "He's gone for good."
"Just give him some time, and he'll come around."
He combed his amber hair away from his face. "You say that about everyone who goes, but here we are, with 75 open chairs." He gestured to the room around them.
"76," Gobber corrected.
The young man scowled at him. Then he seemed to notice the new presence in the room. "Uh, hi."
"Hi…" she responded.
"She's Finn's niece," Gobber provided, "her name is Astrid."
Another man called out, "she says we're trespassing and need to leave. You should put her in her place!"
"Me? Why me?" Said the young man.
"Because Stoick's not here to do it." Gobber provided.
After careful consideration, he held his arm out to her. "We can't leave, I'm afraid, so why don't we explain things to you?"
She hesitantly took his arm, studying him all the while. "I know you…"
He seemed baffled by this, "you do?"
"There's a painting of you in my room. It says Hiccup on the back."
He smiled, embarrassed. "I told him not to hang that up. Hiccup is my name."
"Oh…I see." She nodded.
He guided her to the table where Gobber was sitting, and had her sit at the head. A few others gathered around to listen in.
A short stocky man started dealing cards around the table.
"So…" began Astrid. "what does the number 1953 mean to you?" She asked Hiccup.
"Huh?"
"On the painting, it read 1953, I assumed it was a year…but that can't be right."
Hiccup looked upward in thought, "no, I think that would be about right. It was about 60 years ago."
"60…" she stared at him. "Then…you must be over 80 years old!"
Gobber laughed, "oh lass, we're much older than that. Much older."
She looked across the faces of those assembled, they were all smiling pleasantly at her, but she could see it was fake. There was a hopelessness that clung to them.
"How…much older?"
Hiccup leaned back, "let's see. It started with Axel, then there was Braig, then Edmund, Udo, Alen, Wren…" he trailed off, "Bucket, are you still keeping track of the years?"
A man, with a bucket on his head, spoke up from his hand of cards, "1,228 years and now 19 generations of Hofferson's."
"A thousand years…" she breathed. "Then…that would take us back to at least 800 AD, you're all from the Viking Age!"
"Correction," added the large young man from earlier, "we are vikings."
She stared, skeptical and amazed, before she reached out and touched Hiccup. "But, you aren't ghosts. I don't understand…this has to be a joke. Is this a prank from my Uncle? Did he set this up from the beginning? That has to be…this doesn't make any…sense…" Despite saying this all out loud, there was just something that felt odd to the whole situation.
Hiccup shook his head, "We're not ghosts…not in here, at least."
"Once we leave the tower, we turn into specters." Provided the other boy. "We can come back and forth, but leaving the castle is out of the question."
Astrid considered this information for a moment. "Okay, so the castle is haunted by some Vikings. At least you all are nice, and there's nothing to be afraid of."
Hiccup winced, "well, I wouldn't say that..."
Suddenly, the door blew open with a huge gust and the cards on the table went flying. The candles blew out. Most of the vikings looked unfazed.
"HOFFERSON!" A thundering voice called.
"And that's your cue to get out." Hiccup stood, taking her arm. "I'll escort you. Now, come quickly."
Hiccup dragged her around down the stairs, and she hurriedly kept up with him. From the depths, she could hear water boiling and air pulsing…like a deep breath.
"HOFFERSON!" Screamed the voice again, blowing her hair and clothes every which way.
"Calm down! She's leaving!" Hiccup shouted over the railing.
Whatever malevolent beast was down there did not appreciate Hiccup's remark, and the dark gave way to a red glow.
"Mmmm not good, hurry." Hiccup wrapped an arm around her back and bid her out the black door, into the hallway, closing it behind him. He threw himself against it. "Lock it! Quick!"
She thrust the key in the lock and turned it, just in time for it to shutter with excessive force.
"Okay, you're safe now." Hiccup breathed.
"Are you sure that door will hold up?"
He nodded, "this door is stronger than it looks. We can't get through it when it's locked." As he spoke, he seemed to flicker. A white glowing haze moved around his body, like his soul was lagging around him. He looked at the door, "he's probably still lurking, so it's best if I stay out here for now."
She nodded silently, backing away from the door.
Hiccup caught up to her, flickering more and more as they travelled. "A rule of thumb I would use, is to not go in this tower when the sun is set. That's when they are awake."
"They?"
"The others. You didn't think it was just the 19 of us in that room, did you?"
She shrugged, "I didn't know how many to expect…it didn't seem like 19 either…"
They reached the other door and he pulled it open, "after you."
"Thanks," she stepped back into the East Tower while he lingered in the door. "Aren't you coming?"
"Yes, but…once I pass through this door, my appearance will change drastically. Just…don't be scared."
"Okay." She confirmed.
He stepped through and his skin melted away, leaving a white skeleton clothed in a white hazy form. The image reminded her of nightmares long forgotten.
"OKAY." She said a little loudly. "Drastic is definitely the word I would use…"
"It's late," he urged her to the stairs, "you should go to bed."
She heeded him, walking up towards her room, but avoiding looking at him. "Can I confess something?"
"Of course, we are housemates, after all."
"I ventured to the North Tower because I wanted to prove to myself there was nothing to be afraid of. But now…I'm more terrified than I was before. Whatever is down there in that stairwell…"
"Just don't go into the North Tower at night, and all will be well." He consoled.
She opened the door to her room and his form changed again. Just the white haze remained, and it was the same form she had seen in the chapel, just fuzzier. His eyes glowed a solid green. "Better," she concluded.
He looked around the room, a fond look on his face. "It's been a while since I was in here." His voice turned slightly ashy and whispers surrounded his words. "I've known every Hofferson that lived in this Castle. My father did too."
"Your father?" Astrid climbed into her bed and pulled the comforter up.
"The chief, Stoick the Vast."
"Oh…he's the one that hangs in the Library."
"Yes, I did know about that one."
"But I thought Gobber said…"
He glanced away, "I didn't realize you heard that." He sat upon the edge of the bed, not disrupting the sheets. "I'm the chief now, unfortunately. My father has gone away with the others."
"Oh," was her modest reply. She didn't know how to respond, since he seemed to avoid the subject of these 'others'.
"Rest, Astrid," he commanded again, standing.
"Where are you going?"
He smiled at her, "not far." He moved about her room, observing and moving things around.
"You're snooping," she accused.
"Only a little," he admitted, taking some books from a box and setting them on a shelf. "I'll stay with you all night. There's nothing to be afraid of. Now rest…"
She was exhausted. She had been all day, since arriving here. The bed was awfully soft, despite the smell of dust and mothballs. Soon she felt her eyelids close.
The relaxation didn't last long as a door downstairs banged open.