I wanted to finish this story on Halloween, but it ended up being longer than I planned. I'll be alternating between this and 320 State Street, I guess.
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Like any good haunted house, the first night was the easiest. And if being chased from the North Tower by a gurgling screaming voice and seeing her new friend as a skeleton was considered easy, she was terrified by what would happen tonight.
After letting out the gaggle of ghosts from the chapel, Hiccup and Astrid returned to the library to continue reading the journals. After a while, the entries started to blend into one, as it became apparent that Finn was hitting several dead ends. There was talk of people showing interest in the house because it was haunted. And she supposed that's were the idea of renting the castle out came from.
Other than that though, the writings were very dry.
December 8, 1946
With what I know about the castle's architecture and what my ancestors have written in books, this castle wasn't built by the druids at all, rather the Anglo-Saxons. If that's true, then why were druids living here when the Vikings came? Druids were primarily found in nature, why would they take over a castle?
The rest of the entry went on like this, though she wondered why he hadn't put this information in the red book Hiccup was reading. Looking over to him, he was leaning heavily on one side while his eyes drooped. Apparently it wasn't much better.
January 17, 1947
I have been working on a research project involving Druids in Celtic society. I took a photograph the last time I was home of the statue in the North Tower for visual aid. My professor said my paper was good and solid, but the statue was not of a druid. Since druids are depicted with hoods and an oak staff, and my statue has no staff. This concerns me, since the Vikings said it was druids that trapped them there. If it's not a druid, then what is it? Who is lying to me?
Astrid yawned, looking away from the book.
"Are you tired?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah," she glanced at her phone. "It's midnight, I should be."
"You should go to bed, since you didn't get to sleep well last night."
She nodded easily, agreeing with him. "Will you come sit up with me?" She found herself asking. "Just because…well…you guys can phase through doors."
"Oh of course," he consented. He would have even without her explaining herself. He throughly enjoyed her company and decidedly didn't want to part from her.
Astrid prepared for bed in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Hiccup picked up her phone and began to goof around on it.
"You're snooping again," Astrid stated, toweling her hair dry from her shower.
"I'm merely curious."
"Can you even use a smart phone? You don't have fingers. You shouldn't know how to use one."
He continued scrolling, undeterred. "Apparently your phone doesn't care if my fingers aren't solid. And I know how to use one because Eret showed me."
"Eret? Oh, the groundskeeper. He knows about you?"
"Of course. His family has watched over this house for three generations now. Your Uncle hired his grandfather, and then his dad and now him. However, the North Tower is still a mystery to him."
"As it should be." She climbed into bed and pulled the comforter up to her chin. "Goodnight, Hiccup," she stated with finality.
"Goodnight, Mistress Astrid."
She might not have done as much work as she had the day before, but exhaustion still took her swiftly. The last images in her mind were of Hiccup looking at her phone, and then at her.
The Castle atmosphere had an immediate effect on her psyche and influenced her dreams. If she had read the journal a little further, she would have been warned. But for now, she'd find out the hard way. Her dreamscape was unfamiliar and eerie. There was infinite darkness on both sides and behind her, but in front, a full moon casted light among a line of figures. They stood staring up at the moon, and what was silhouetted against it. Up on a hill, a noose sat swinging slowly. Waiting.
It was then that she realized she was in the line heading towards it, that her hands were cuffed, and there was no escape. The chains clinked angrily with each marching step. Her throat felt tight.
There had to be a hundred people in line. No, exactly 100. She didn't like this. She didn't want to be here. Why couldn't see wake up? She just wanted to wake up!
"Hiccup! Come quickly!" A voice cut through her nightmare, as her eyes shot open.
Hiccup stood from his spot on her bed and hurried to the door.
Astrid got up quickly, wide awake and not eager to fall back into line. She snagged her robe from her closet and slipped on her house shoes.
In the stairs, she saw Hiccup and Gobber heading into the East Tower and followed after.
From the East Tower hall, she could hear a grow man screaming and sobbing. She followed the sound to the Ballroom.
In the middle of the floor, a viking was throwing quite a tantrum. A bucket on the floor was knocked over and water surrounded him in a puddle. If she remembered correctly, his name was Bucket, hence the bucket on his head.
"He just started screaming," Gobber explained, "I don't know what happened."
Hiccup knelt nearby and put a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "Talk to me, Bucket. What's wrong?"
The man choked on his breath and did what he could to calm down. "I don't want to clean this floor anymore! I clean and I clean and then it's dirty again! I know every groove in and every chip in the marble. I can't stand it! I don't want to do this anymore!"
"Well, you don't have to clean the floor anymore. No one is making you do that. What would you rather do?"
"I don't want to clean this damn castle!" He screamed. "Not anymore! I'm done! I can't!"
Hiccup hushed him gently, rubbing his shoulder. "It's okay, Bucket. Do you want to go play chess with me? Or we can read a book." He suggested.
"I want to go with Mulch."
The chief was quiet for a moment before saying, "well, Mulch isn't here right now. He's in the North Tower."
"I'm tired! I want to go with Mulch." Fat, non-existent tears rolled down his face, and disappeared before they hit the nice clean floor. "Mulch!"
Hiccup looked at Gobber, helpless.
Gobber only shrugged in return, a look of pain on his face.
"If you really want to go, Bucket, I'll take you." Hiccup promised. "We'll go see Mulch, and if you don't want to stay with him, you don't have to."
Bucket nodded, and stood.
It wasn't until then that Hiccup realized that Astrid had followed. He spared a sad smile. "Do you have the keys with you?"
She held them up in her hand. "I never go anywhere without them."
"Good, come with us."
Astrid, Hiccup, and Bucket proceeded through the castle, back to the North Tower. Bucket sniffed heavily the whole way. Once in the East Tower, Hiccup and Bucket began to solidify, and they both took Astrid's hands. Hiccup, to keep her safe, and Bucket, because he was scared.
Astrid slid open the lock on the door, and then stepped into the abandoned hall. "Should I stay in here? It is nighttime after all."
Hiccup pondered for a moment, and then confessed, "I wanted to hide this from you, but I think it's best if you knew what lies down there. And more importantly, where everyone is going to end up." He took her hand again. "Hold onto my hand, and never let go. And don't make a sound."
Astrid nodded once, squeezing his hand, and unlocked the North Tower.
During the day, the Tower was quite nice. Sunlight filtered in through the broken stain glass windows at the top, like the sun peaking through clouds. The empty stone walls looked more like a cave then a cursed tower. But at night, it looked like a staircase to hell. There was no light but the faint red glow deep deep down. And the faint fading light of the moon from above.
The trio walked in silence down the winding stairs. Astrid tried to keep her steps as light at possible, lest anyone hear her. She held her breath and clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering.
As they walked, Astrid could make out the shapes of huge iron doors along the walls. Cell doors.
They were in the dungeon.
Hiccup tugged her along quickly past a door, training his eyes forward in determination. However, it seemed what ever he was trying to avoid saw him anyway, and the door creaked open behind them.
"Don't turn around," he whispered. "Keep very still."
A voice, sickly and gurgling spoke up to him, "Hiccup…" it whispered.
He breathed quickly, not turning to face it. "Yes, Mildew."
"Mortal's are not allowed to pass." It hissed, getting louder. Getting closer.
"I am aware. She is only helping me escort Bucket. She will ever be out of my sight."
Astrid felt long spindly sticks wrap around her shoulder, and as she glanced down, she saw they were fingers. White, bony, sharp fingers. She clenched her eyes shut.
"And who is she that the gargoyle would allow in?" The voice spoke, right in her ear. A damp appendage swiped against her neck.
"She's a Hofferson. The current Master of the Castle."
A huff of rancid air caressed her nose, and she fought not to choke.
"My chief," the monster spoke, beginning to retreat. "If what you say is true, I will allow her to pass. But I can not say the same for my brothers." With that, the door creaked again, and shut softly.
Astrid looked over to Bucket, who was still holding her other hand. He was crying. "I don't like him." He shook his head in fear, "I don't like him at all."
She opened her mouth to comfort him, but then shut it again, remembering Hiccup's warning. She only squeezed his hand in reassurance. They traveled another two floors down, and came to stop at another iron door.
Hiccup knocked gently, "Mulch? Are you in here?"
The door opened slowly, and inside stood a short stocky viking. The same one that dealt her a hand of cards the first night she met them in the chapel. He looked extremely tired and hopeless. And older, like he had aged ten years in two days. He beckoned them inside, wordlessly.
Hiccup closed the door behind them. "Hi Mulch, Bucket was getting lonely without you."
"I was lonely too," Mulch supplied. "After over a thousand years of helping him, I don't really know what do to without him."
Astrid looked around the modest room. The walls were dark stone, but a few personal items hung among them, like weapons and furs. As if they had tried to make their cells a little more like home. In the two far corners, two beds sat adjacent to each other. Mulch sat down on his.
Bucket took off his shoes and his bucket and dropped them on the floor. He lied down in his bed. "Hiccup?" He whispered.
"Yes, Bucket."
"Can you and Astrid tuck me into bed like me mum and dad used to, when I was just a lad?"
Hiccup nodded sagely and pulled the blanket up to his chin. "Goodnight my boy," he whispered. "Sleep tight."
Astrid squeezed his hand warmly, then leaned over and kissed his forehead. "We love you."
Bucket closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.
Astrid looked over to Mulch, to see he was also curled up in his bed, his back to them.
Hiccup took her hand and led her out of the room. She looked at him expectantly, but he held a finger over his lips. As they walked, Astrid could hear quiet murmuring. They moved to another room and knocked.
"Gustof? Are you awake?"
"Go away," said a young voice, half-hearted.
Hiccup ignored him and entered. "Close the door," he whispered to Astrid.
"What do you want?" A teenage boy sat on his bed, his hands over his face.
"Just to talk," Hiccup supplied. "I wasn't there when you left. How are you feeling?"
Astrid shrunk into a corner, not knowing if she was supposed to intrude.
Gustof shuddered, his breathing harsh. "I'm scared. I've always been afraid, but I can't hide it anymore. It's too dark here. I hate the dark. I hate the silence."
"Then why did you come down here? This is the darkest and quietest part of the castle."
"Not always."
It wasn't until then that Astrid could hear the murmuring as a real voice. There was a loud clatter from the room next door, before shouting commenced. "Shame! Guilt! You loved to see me like this. Damn you. Damn you! I only did what was best. He's here, he's watching me. He knows my name. He knows my NAME!"
Astrid pressed her back to the wall, cupping her hand over her mouth.
"Spitelout keeps things interesting." Gustof provided, his hands still covering his face.
"Astrid opened the door to the North Tower, we're all out in the castle. Don't you want to come out with us?"
"She's here, isn't she?" The boy asked, "I can hear her heart beating."
Hiccup beckoned her forward, and she knelt on the floor in front of the Gustof. "If you're afraid, I can leave the TV on at night. You don't need to be scared." She whispered.
"I'm not a child," he stated with malice. "Try being the youngest out of everyone you know for a thousand years. Never growing, never being able to join in on adult conversations. Let's see how you like it!" He hissed.
"She's just trying to be helpful, Gustof. It's alright."
"I said, go away." He lifted his head and showed his gruesome face. His bottom eye lids drooped low and bared his blood shot eyes. "GO AWAY!"
Astrid stood quickly, backing away.
"Alright Gustof, we'll go."
"GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He gripped his scalp and started screaming. "LEAVE ME ALOOONE!"
Hiccup tugged Astrid out the door quickly.
From out here, they could hear Spitelout more clearly, "You did this to me, didn't you? I can't sleep. Where did you go? Snotlout? Snotlout! Where are you? My son! My son is dead!"
Hiccup pulled Astrid closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It's alright," he whispered, "we're leaving."
She nodded, putting an arm around his waist in return.
Together, they climbed the stairs and headed back out into the hall. As Hiccup closed the door, Astrid pulled away from him, her eyes screwed shut in fear. "Is that what you mean then, when they 'leave'…?"
"Yes…" Hiccup rested a hand on the now-locked door. "First they leave our company, then they lose their minds. You see, Astrid, even in this solid form, we can't eat or drink, and sleep is impossible. And a thousand years without sleep…it's being conscience of every second that goes by."
"So, what Mulch and Bucket were doing…?"
"They were just pretending. If they can block out the world for a few hours, that's better then sitting in solitude." He came back over to her, and urged her away from the tower, "however, the silence can be maddening, and my father and I would do our best to convince them not to stay in their rooms. Most of them we are unable to save. And even the ones we saved would leave again not long after."
"Then your father…" Astrid took one last look at the ancient black door, before Hiccup closed the hall door.
"Has also gone mad." He stated this as a fact, and nothing more.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's alright. I've been preparing for it." He started up the stairs and into her room.
"How long ago?"
Hiccup sighed, "three days ago."
She paused in her doorway. "What?"
"When I met you, I had just come back from trying to reason with him…but he had gotten violent."
Astrid just stared at him, unable to say anything. Finally, she held her arms open at her sides.
In a few steps, he was upon her, his form phasing into her and leaving a pleasant warmth in her bones. "That must have been frightening." He consoled.
"Terrifying. But thank you for taking me down there. I will break the curse. Somehow. I promise."
Hiccup didn't say anything, because he had been promised the same thing 19 times before.