Saturday, October 14, 2023

Day 287 - The Ghost Hunter V

 The Ghost Hunter V
Matthew Ryan Fischer
 
Nadia paid close attention to Sophie; there were strange things afoot and Nadia was certain Sophie was lying about what she did and didn’t know. Sophie had a collection of papers, but wasn’t forthcoming as to what was on them. Nadia considered taking them from her. She didn’t like resorting to brute forth, but the night had been full of monstrosities and there was no telling what might come next. If Sophie was withholding answers, then she was putting them all in danger.
There was also the matter of Brother Darius and his infected arm. Sophie seemed to know a lot about that as well. She had been tending to Darius, adding special herbs to the infested parts. Nadia didn’t know her medicines well, but she knew there was something unnatural about this remedy. Whatever the case, his skin was still turning a sickly stone-grey and he was stiff in his movements. Sophie might be able to slow the spread, but she wasn’t able to heal it. Soon they would have to make a very tough decision.
Nadia didn’t know what Abigail’s secret was. She clearly cared much for Brother Darius, but that could have been due to her religious convictions, or perhaps something more. They had been meeting earlier. Abigail seemed calm enough when they were confronted with such terrors as living statues and soldiers returned from the dead. She was calm enough that it seemed as though she had been prepared for such eventualities.
And Nadia had her own dreams and visions to contend with. She had been called to the region to do something to stop this evil from spreading. She wasn’t sure how yet, but she had seen it. Upon arriving in town, she knew they were in the wrong place. Her visions had shown her somewhere else. A place in ruin, with buildings cold and crumbling. There were soldiers there, and a slaughter had occurred. The men had come to kill the natives. The old ones who lived in secret amongst the trees. The soldiers had tried, but the old ones had magic on their side. There had been a slaughter, but it was the men who killed other men, soldier against soldier, friend killing friend. Something was still there. Something evil. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting to return. Nadia had to find this abandoned ruin. It was there that she could confront the dead and put an end to things.
Nadia considered sneaking off from the group. She couldn’t trust any of them, and Darius would soon be a danger to all of them. Nadia was about to slip off into the shadows when she noticed Sophie and Darius huddled close together, a fire between them. There was a half-burned paper in the middle of the flames. Whatever secrets Sophie had, she wasn’t planning on sharing.
Sophie’s cat hissed and out of the shadows emerged a group of women. Three were dressed as servants, and probably arrived from the manors north of town, thought Nadia. The fourth was more like Nadia, dressed like a rider, the look of a fighter in her eyes.
The cat growled, about to pounce, but Sophie made a clicking sound and the cat returned to her side.
“Who are you?” asked Nadia.
“The dead have risen everywhere. We were lucky to make it this far,” answered one of the servant women.
“The dead? You sound insane,” Nadia said, untrusting of the strangers. Even though she had seen many strange things tonight, she wasn’t ready to let her guard down around these newcomers.
“It’s true,” answered the fourth woman. She was more forceful, in charge. “The dead walk the earth again. If you don’t believe me, ask your witch. She can find out the truth.”
“Witch?”
The fourth woman pointed and everyone turned to look.
Slowly Sophie rose up, cat in her arms. Sophie slowly smiled a sinister smile.
“It looks like we’re all full of surprises tonight,” said Nadia.
“You have no idea of the dangers to come,” answered Sophie. “But if any of us are to survive tonight, you will need our help.”
“Our?”
Sophie nodded towards Darius, who was looking bad and worse than before.
“Ours.”

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