Chapter Two
Icaught up to Andy at the edge of the festival garden but didn’t tell him about the strange wolf howl. He must have heard it, though. The music and chatter from the festival was a lot quieter over here, and only dimmed as we slowly walked down the gravel pathway to the tour’s meeting place. A few other people were dotted around the path—other tour ticket holders taking a pause, I assumed—but it was much calmer here. Soon, the only sounds were our footsteps.
I glanced up at Andy; his mouth was set in a hard, straight line. I wondered why he agreed to come tonight when he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. Maybe it was an obligation for him at this point. That sucked to think about.
“Are you looking forward to the tour?”
I asked, hoping to at least get some awkward small talk out of him. “I haven’t been inside here since I was a kid, but it was during the day, so I’m sure this’ll be a different experience.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I like history and stuff from just before the industrial revolution, so it’ll be interesting to see the house. But I guess we won’t see much of it in the dark.”
“Might see some ghosts instead?”
I offered. “You could ask them history questions and try to explain what the internet is.”
“Do you really believe in ghosts?”
I shrugged, thinking for a moment. “Sure, why not? It’s not like I know how life and the afterlife work in the grand scheme of things. So who’s to say there aren’t ghosts? It would make things more interesting, that’s for sure.”
His eyes flicked down to me, but he didn’t say anything. I guess he really wasn’t on board with anything spooky.
As we continued down the path in a painful silence, I suddenly felt an odd warmth at my back. I glanced at Andy, but both of his hands were tucked in his pockets, so it wasn’t him putting an arm around me. And I couldn’t hear any footsteps besides ours.
Curious, I turned around and screamed, nearly jumping out of my skin as the harlequin man from earlier swiftly swerved between me and Andy, barely an inch away from my face.
“Holy shit!”
I yelled, my fist swinging before I could think to stop it.
The harlequin was fast, though. He dodged the blow with a graceful backbend, leaving my fist to continue flying right into my date’s nose. Where it landed with a bloody crunch.
“Jesus, FUCK!”
Andy yelled, cupping his nose and recoiling from me. “What the fuck is wrong with you, you psycho cunt?!”
I gaped at his sudden outburst. Not because I thought it was unjustified, I just hadn’t expected him to know about the word cunt.
The harlequin stepped back as blood poured from Andy’s broken nose, but his eyes weren’t on the man groaning in pain. For some reason, they were on me. Well, I guess I had just tried to punch him in the face. That was probably worth a few stares.
Unsure of what to do, but knowing I had to do something, I carefully stepped towards Andy. He was still hunched over and groaning in pain, but his eyes flew up to mine as I approached.
“Stay the fuck away, bitch!”
he yelled, frantically backing away from me before turning and running.
Part of me wanted to go after him and check he wasn’t about to do something stupid. A bigger part of me wanted to do a joyful little bounce that my date was over.
As I mentally debated what I should do, the harlequin carefully led me to a bench at the side of the path, beneath a flickering lantern. Guess he was afraid I’d try to deck him again.
“You okay? You’re shaking. Here, sit down.”
I laughed nervously, unable to contain it. “I’ve never hit anyone before.”
“Really? You have a natural talent.”
He chuckled, then gently picked up the hand I was planning to nickname ‘Nose-Breaker’ and inspected my red knuckles. They were sore, but I tried not to let it show on my face. “Wait here a minute, okay?”
Before I could reply, he ran towards the festival grounds, returning a few minutes later with a towel in one hand and a plastic cup of ice in the other.
“This should help prevent swelling,”
he explained as he tipped the ice into the towel, wrapped it tightly, and pressed it against my hand.
I couldn’t help the pained gasp that escaped me then. So much for being brave.
The harlequin lifted his eyes to mine. It was hard to read his expression beneath the makeup, but the angle gave him a puppy-dog vibe. A slightly scary, clown-esque puppy. “I’m sorry about ruining your date, uh… I just realised I don’t know your name.”
“Hazel.”
“Like the flower? Suits your costume. Witch Hazel.”
His painted smile widened. “I’m Nox.”
“Nice to meet you. And it’s cool about the date thing. You were doing your job, and honestly, it was a lost cause way before you snuck up on me. If anything, you saved it by giving me another scare he couldn’t ruin.”
“Well then, in that case, you’re welcome.”
He chuckled. “That was a wicked punch you gave him, by the way. I know it was meant for me, so I shouldn’t enjoy it too much, but it was still impressive.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I think it was some kind of gut-instinct thing.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He winked at me, then lifted the ice pack to check on my knuckles. “Not the first time someone’s swung for me and missed.”
“Guess I’ll have to try harder next time,” I joked.
Nox reapplied the ice, sandwiching my hand and the pack firmly between his warm hands and squeezing my fingers a little. “Maybe practise on a pillow or something first. Something squishy.”
“Good advice. Not nearly as much fun, though.”
A laugh bubbled out of him. Not a creepy I’m going to chase you with a chainsaw laugh that I’d heard the other actors make tonight. This laugh seemed genuinely joyful, and it warmed something in my heart to hear it.
“You’re not what I expected, Witch Hazel,”
he admitted as his laughter died down. “Tell me, what do you know about Treglyn Manor?”
“Only what I remember from school.”
Nox raised a black eyebrow and waved his hand for me to continue. Suddenly under pressure, I quickly racked my brain for lingering knowledge and blurted out what I could remember.
“The pirate captain William Treglyn received a pardon, thanks to his pals in court, and became a lord—lucky guy—then he bought the land with his leftover fortune from piracy, built the house, started ritualistic demon summoning, and died a gruesome death. His family kept the house through the generations until the line died out around a century ago.”
He let out a low whistle as he removed the ice pack, setting down beside him on the bench. “Very good. But the family didn’t just keep the house, you know. They also kept the demons.”
His painted smile widened, eerie in the dim light. “And even without their master present, they remain here, waiting for the souls foolish enough to seek them out.”
A cool wind blew around us, rustling the autumn leaves still clinging to the trees and swirling my cloak around my ankles. I pulled it tighter around myself with my good hand, grateful Lena had insisted I wear it tonight.
As the wind died down, a thought occurred to me, “If the demons have no master, why are they still here?”
Nox leaned in, picking out a leaf caught in my hair. “Know a lot about demons, do you? Well, Lord Treglyn was eccentric, not stupid. He made sure they couldn’t leave the grounds. Not without powerful help.”
“That’s kind of sad.”
“You think so? How interesting…”
Chatter from up the path caught my attention, as a group of a dozen or so people walked towards us from the manor house. No way. Was that the tour group I was supposed to be in? I fucking missed it?!
“That was amazing!”
“No way was that ghost real, babe.”
“I think I peed a little.”
“I’ve never run so hard in my life!”
Pieces of their conversations floated over to me on the wind, my heart sinking further into my stomach with every word.
“Shit. I totally forgot about the tour.”
I frowned, not bothering to hide the disappointment. “Guess there’s always next year.”
At least Lena could join me next time. No way would I risk bringing a virtual stranger with me again. I’d kidnap her from that stupid manager of hers if he tried to make her work on her day off two years in a row.
“You haven’t been on the haunted manor tour?”
he asked, mischief sparkling in his dark eyes. “Wait right here. Seriously, don’t go anywhere.”
For the second time that night, Nox left me sitting alone, but this time I was hopeful. Whatever he was plotting had my adrenaline pumping, and my knees bounced as I sat there, waiting. Minutes ticked by, and just as I started worrying he wasn’t coming back, Nox reappeared from behind the bench.
He leaned over the back, resting his chin on my cloaked shoulder, and held a set of keys in front of me, jingling them from one outstretched finger. “Tell me, Witch Hazel, how do you feel about meeting some of my friends for a little adventure?”
My options were simple: go home and watch a movie until Lena got home and we could rant about our nights, or take a chance on mystery door number two. Trust a group of strangers and see what lay beyond the rabbit hole.
If there was ever a night to do it…