10. Boo!
Boo!
Rumor Malefic
Dust tickled my throat and I coughed, the sound echoing off the rafters and darting down the halls. Soot disappeared into the shadows, leaving me alone, or at least more alone than I had felt I was.
Straightening, I continued, jumping as the heavy doors shuddered shut behind me with a bang.
Clutching my sea glass necklace at my collar, my eyes fought to take everything in; every passageway, the glimpse of a spiral staircase I made out ahead of me, the heavy iron beams high above, and the small trickles of light that cut through the gloom.
I was trespassing on enemy land, and the place was so big, I realized it may take me days to even find them.
What happened when I did find them?
Paranoia pricked the back of my neck and I spun around, sure I had sensed eyes on me.
Nothing. Only specks of floating dust in the low light. Clearly the old, crotchety, miserable Blackthorne lords didn’t believe in dusting. Housekeeping was beneath them. They were too busy ignoring their obligations to protect Willowspire to pick up a mop.
Something creaked over my shoulder.
I spun.
Nothing there.
Glaring into the darkness for half a moment, I turned to continue my way into the dreary castle.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and a flash of white. Something large landed in front of me, startling my senses. I jumped backward, stumbling and landing on my backside.
A tall, muscular man with long white hair and eyes too pale to be human, crouched. “Boo!”
His lips upturned in an unnerving smile as he stalked forward and lunged.
A scream fled my throat as he grabbed me, picking me up as if I weighed nothing. My last thought was of my sister Prism, as the harsh hold of my ghostly captor plunged me deeper into the expanse of what would be my newest, living nightmare.