Chapter 12

“It looks so lovely…” I step into the cool, soft grass and squat down to touch it a little before walking across it to the other side. I look back at it once more before I continue onto another path to a wooded area with oversized crisscrossing thorns blocking my way. “This is troublesome,” I mutter, lightly touching them as I try to think of a way through.

I look around for another way but the only way through is this way. I didn’t want to summon the fairy for this kind of task nor did I want to ask Neo where to go.

Am I stuck here?

No, I can’t be. There has to be a way through if the residence is on the other side of this.

I look around again, observing any tiny details in the thorns before my gaze falls on a small gap below the thorns, just barely enough to fit a small kid.

I’m not small enough to fit through there and I don’t want the dress to be ripped so I need to try to expand the space enough for me to fit through safely.

“This’ll do.” I push a boulder that is behind me on the path and manage to fit it through the gap barely but make it work to stretch the opening enough to fit me. I lay flat on my stomach, feeling guilty that the dress is going to get dirt on it, but I continue to crawl through the opening I made, pressing myself flat against the ground to prevent tearing the dress, and once I’m fully out, I slowly stand to my feet and look to see another boulder on this side so I push the other one out of the opening, almost pricking myself by a centimeter.

I check the dress, expecting to see it filthy, but surprisingly, it’s clean, spotless, not a single thread snagged out. I sigh a breath of relief and check to make sure I still have the medal before walking out of the woods to another meadow. It feels warmer here with less of a… intimidating aura surrounding it, to say the least.

I cautiously walk across the meadow, ignoring the elegant sound of birds chirping and the whispers of people that aren’t visible. I make it across to a hill and loll my head in frustration. Why is the journey to the house so far away?

I stride down the hill and see another path with trees. There is fog suffused everywhere, giving the area a dull feel to it. I feel my body tense up as I plunge myself into the fog, letting it enclose around me to find a way out of it.

Branches break underneath my feet from each step I take. I stalk through the silent, fog-covered path until something slowly comes into view from behind the thick fog. A castle. Not a house.

“It definitely looks haunted and those voices I heard earlier adds to that fact.” I mumble, walking up to the castle gate that’s taller than I am. Almost as tall as the castle itself. Is it to keep intruders out? Or to keep something in?

“Um―” I stop myself from calling out. It didn’t feel right to do so. It almost feels like I have to be as quiet as possible. “What’s even in here?” I whisper, climbing the gate to prevent the chance of it creaking open to alert any possible people living in the castle.

When I make it to the top, I try to catch a glance of anyone inside but I didn’t see anyone so I take the chance to slide down the gate, landing safely on the soles of my feet. My lips twitch up to smile but they soon drop when I hear a faint noise of something creaking. I look around me but fail to find the source of the noise. I take a deep breath and walk to the huge door to enter the castle.

Instinctively, I raise my fist to knock on the door but I stop myself in time, still thinking making any kind of noise will awaken something inside of it. I grab the door handle and push it open, feeling grateful that it’s unlocked and it doesn’t creak loudly as it opens, revealing the entrance part of the castle. I almost gasp in astonishment at how fancy everything looks.

There is a staircase that goes up to the second floor and two hallways that go to different ends of the castle. I stand there wordlessly admiring the beauty of everything before walking closer to the staircase, wondering what’s up there before I feel something slither around my ankle. I quickly look down to see a black cobra making its way up my leg.

I reach down and carefully remove it off of me, placing it on the ground to step away from it to the staircase, but once I turn my back to go up the stairs, I hear a voice say, “Where are you going, Miss?”

I turn to see a six-foot-tall man with jet black hair, wearing a casual outfit that would’ve been worn years ago, while his black eyes, which seem calm, yet threatening to look into, stare at me as he smiles. “Um, I was going―”

“Up there?” He points up the staircase and shakes his head. “That’s not possible. You can’t go up there.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone lived here. A man named Felix sent me here.”

“Felix?” The man cocks his head to the side in confusion. “Who’s that?”

“An old man that knew I should be here to stay out of the storm.”

“What storm? Storms don’t happen here, ma’am? Are you sure a storm is coming this way?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Well, as far I know, storms don’t happen here.” He places a hand on his hip. “Where are you from?”

“Um…” I never did ask where I was walking from by anyone. I thought that didn’t matter since I didn’t belong there. “Up the mountain.”

“Up the mountain?” He looks outside and looks back at me. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure. It took a long time to get here on foot.”

“Impossible.” He says. “People who manage to get here don’t get here on foot. They fly, teleport, warp, or whatever term you want to use, but in other words, getting here means you’re pretty unique to make it without dying. I’ve never seen the world beyond the mountain but the one who has tells me that only stupid people come here to reach their deaths, though the ones that come here are also unique since the places are hard to pass by.”

He leans down to my level. “You don’t look stupid but hey, maybe it’s because I haven’t seen anyone to tell who’s stupid or not.”

“I got help on the way here so I was able to reach the castle quickly.” I say, looking down to prevent looking into his eyes.

“Hey, look up at me, I won’t bite.”

I look up at him, feeling nervous. He’s so intimidating that it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking. “Sorry, I just―”

“It’s alright to feel scared of me. I’m not someone you want to get too friendly with anyway. My kind isn’t exactly safe to be around.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, you never seen shapeshifters before?”

“Um, not on the way here, no.”

“Well, I’m a shapeshifter. A snake to be precise. I lived in this part of the world my whole life so I’ve never really seen humans, well, except one, but he’s a quiet guy, always to himself in the study.”

“So someone made it here too?”

“Yeah, well, I call him stupid since he didn’t have a purpose for coming here.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I keep forgetting there’s another world out there and when people like you show up, it’s a real pain throwing you out.”

“But… Felix said―”

“Felix is not the owner of this house, someone else is. And if Felix knew of this place then he must’ve came here years before me.”

“I-I can’t just turn around and leave… I have no home to return to.”

“Miss, you can’t stay here. I’m sorry but a place like this is too dangerous for you, especially with a snake like me.”

“You don’t look dangerous―”

He looms over me with a malicious smirk on his lips. “Not dangerous? Are you sure?” His eyes turn into slits and I gasp, accidentally falling on the step behind me. “I’m a poisonous snake, Miss. I can kill you if I wanted to but I’m not a killer so run along before he shows up.”

“Before who shows up?”

He places his hands on either side of me on the step. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t need to be here because living here only will cause misery for you. I’m saying this for your own benefit. I’m not trying to be mean but humans don’t deserve to cross worlds just to see how merciless us creatures are.”

“I’ve seen creatures. Lots of them. I’ve seen entities, another snake like yourself, and nymphs that were waiting to get their revenge for years. I saw them all.”

“But have you seen a chimera?”

“A be―” A loud thud cuts me off, followed by stomps ascending the stairs to where I am. I flinch when I hear something growl in a baritone behind me. I slowly look behind me to see a seven-foot ominous figure stalk down the stairs, looking down at me with a scowl. It has the semblance of a shaitan on several parts of its physique, a few traits of an entity, and the facial structure of a dhampir. Its eyes, so filled with hatred and irritation, seem to stare and penetrate my soul just by a single, mere glance that feels forbidden to look at.

“What are you doing here?”