Chapter 1: An eerily atmosphere
Chapter Text
Baz
It’s 3am and I’m standing in-front of my fridge, debating with myself, wether I should drink my leftover blood from my last hunt in the wavering woods or to leave it for tomorrow and try to go without any blood for today.
After a little pause, I take the blood bag I’ve left from the ferret I caught just 2 days ago and drink it. It’s already been 3 days without blood, I should probably drink more than that.
Just as I begin to reach back into the fridge, a shimmering blue light hits my from the side next to the kitchen sink and just as quick as I make it out to be a portal, I’m sucked into it.
(Even though portals tend to have a more warm orange-yellow like look to them, this was definitely a portal)
I wake up with a headache. My head throbbing and my sense’s spinning as if I’m floating without any connection to the ground.
That’s than I open my eyes and look around. I’m dizzy with the sudden change of scenery.
It’s completely white. Everything. (Or maybe nothing?)
Where the bloody hell am I?
It looks like nothing. I can see neither walls, a horizon, floor, something or anything above me, nor can I spot anything living or a possibly responsible person for what happened.
Just. White.
This must be a bloody joke, right?
Merlin, how did I get here?
Just as I’m about to contemplate what to do with literally nothing, the white around me changes.
It morphs into colours spreading like acrylic paint on a white canvas and creating my new location with a deafening ring following the whole process until it wallows into a little beep in the back of my mind. An endless hotel corridor with also seemingly nobody in sight appears all around me, air hanging heavy but warm, almost suffocating.(Interesting)
Now is, when I hear them the first time. The sound of distorted giggles, like that of children or something pretending to be human.
Warm orange lighting coming from the lamps hanging from the ceiling, a red carpet under my feet that is stretching through the whole corridor, leaving out the sides of the floor where dark hardwood shows. In the distance, I can make out a faint ticking of a clock joining the ongoing ringing in my mind. It feels surreal. And it smells rotten.
The walls are painted in a mix of dark olive green and teal with court jester masks hanging off of them left and right every few meters, following my every move with their nonexistent eyes, only leaving little room for the pictures that are… Empty?
I look at the little dark wood furniture with flowers in a vase on top. They look alive, which unnerves me. Because nobody seems to have been here for so long, with all the dust everywhere and no water in the vase.
Not only the place surround me, but my pyjamas have changed too with the colours dripping down and around me, forming my new attire. A well fitted suit, like I wore last Christmas Eve during my visit at my aunts apartment. A dark purple and black silk suit with a floral leaf pattern and matching tie. (It’s as if someone knew my measurements by heart)
Merlin, I need to get out of here, I haven’t been able to get much blood into my system, before getting sucked into the portal. It’s unclear when I’ll get my next fill and I don’t wanna encounter any possible danger with only my primal instincts and weakened body left.
I look around, wandering through the halls, when I catch sight of a door opening and a small but fierce and equally confused looking girl with curly coloured hair and a ring, which is probably a magical heirloom, stepping out into the hall. (A mage like me)
Bloody hell, my canines are still out. I quickly school my face and try to regain control of my fangs. They slide back and I suck in my breath in hopes of them staying inside.
She turns, which is when she spots me and abruptly stops, but not for long. She seems to be determined to find answers and I am the next living being here. (Well, as far as a vampire can be alive. Undead would be better fitting. Did the masks just move?)
“Stop right there! Who are you and where are we?” She holds up her arm with the ring, bracing herself in case she needs to fight.
That’s when I realise, I`ve also got my wand out.
I sneer. “I don’t know. Would you be so kind as to lower your ring.” (That wasn’t a question)
“Ooh no, definitely not. Not when you seem to blend in so well, suit and all”. She gestures up and down, waving at me with her stretched out hand. The suit.
I adjust my posture, standing upright, gathering my confidence to conceal my irritation. (My naturally put up front)
“Look who’s talking.” I gesture right back at her.
She looks down and up again.
“I didn’t wear that before”
“I know, neither did I”
She huffs, but doesn’t lower her ring. Right. My wand. “So you… don’t know where we are.”
“No.”
“Ok, but.. who are you?Wait…” she looks at my wand. “Where did you go to school?”
“I’m Basil and it should have been Watford, but I got homeschooled, old family and all”. I say, quietly cursing myself, for using my actual middle name and social status. The masks still seem to be watching us. I instinctively grip my wand tighter.
“Now, how about you lower your ring, I don’t really wanna taste test it” I sneer at her and swat her ring out of my face.
“Penelope” she states, lowering her hand, which makes me breath out the air, I forgot I held in. I lower my wand too, though warily because of the masks. Her determination to find answers still going strong, she takes in her surroundings.
“Well, how do we-“ Penelope starts but gets cut off.
“SHUT UP! Who the hell are you?!”
We turn. The scream however isn’t directed at us. It’s coming from around the corner.
Penelope and I hurry down the corridor, stopping just before the corner, in case we need to leave without the voices noticing us.
We peak around the corner, spotting four figures and two on the side, whom I can’t really see.
Penelope gasps. “Is that Trixie?”
That’s when they spot us.
Even so, they don’t get to get near us, something holds them back. I turn to Penelope.
“The masks shouldn’t move”
“What?” She huffs out confused and looks at them.
I know they shouldn’t move. Just. Out of the corner of my eye, something shifts— just slightly, just enough to make my stomach churn. A tilted head that wasn’t tilted before. A sneer that seems sharper. The giggles slithering through the corridor, crawling into my ears like insects. Invading my thoughts, my memory. Then the world starts melting.
Sinister giggles come and go, erupting, seemingly coming from nowhere.At first i feel trapped. The dark colours and remainders of the walls of the corridor closing in on me, the walls cracked open, the warm glow of the lamps twisting, bleeding down the walls like ink, nearly burning me. The red carpet frays, unraveling in long, curling threads that wither into earth and dust. then it’s as if there is too much space beneath my feet. The floor lurches under my feet, and before I catch my balance, I’m falling— or rather being swallowed until my (now) boots land on something damp.
The wavering woods.
A small figure is hovering over us, eerily similar to one of those creepy little dolls the twins have at home. It’s wearing a jester mask like those hanging from the walls at the hotel, but this time it has a pair of mismatched eyes.
Penelope and I take our wand and ring and hold it out, ready to cast any spell that might help, but the puppet just laughs and with one jerked movement, our magical objects are gone. They’re gone.Bloody hell.
“Fools~”
It circles us, eyeing down a few of us in particular, while completely ignoring others. As it comes closer to me, I step back, but the ground shifts beneath me, trapping me in place. I hear Penelope mumble an almost silent “What is that thing?”.
“You did something bad, something very very bad~ and you’ll pay for it, yes~” The puppet (Jester?) whispers to me, lifting it’s finger in a scolding manner. Then, it floats right back up, turning to us.
“So you are the one`s lurking around our territory, hmm~? None of you look like you seem very trustworthy, should have known, should have known~.”
(What)
“Do you know just how much damage each of you has caused us and our precious home?!”
It shrieks out but gets eerily calm.
“Oh, but don’t worry~ you might not be able to repair what you’ve done, however… you can very well give us a little reason to smile~. A show? NO! A game! Why don’t we play a game?”
It tilts its head. Looking gleefully down at us, it’s mask rapidly changing emotions like a slot machine in Casinos.
Then it jerks in all directions, the body moving in multiple directions at once, without any coordination. “Oooh, hehe sorry, the body parts still wanna escape~, seems like they don’t quite believe their dead yet.”
The emotions flicker by too quickly. A weeping face, a hollow stare, a wide grin.
Click-click-click is all you hear from it for a moment, as it gets yanked forward like a puppet.
And it’s eyes— Merlin — those eyes are stolen. Not theirs. Not anymore. They are at different stages of decay. Is if they got picked out straight from corpses.
A sudden stench fills out the night air, something decayed and damp, like.. human flesh. I force my fangs to stop coming out. This smell of blood is already affecting me way too much, but it’s all wrong, all rotten.
Then the laughters pick back up again- high-pitched, sharp and all wrong, scattered like pieces of a shattered mirror. They’re mixed with helpless please, screams and a faint “Where the hell am I?”
Penelope turns to this voice, even tough there is nobody there. She still speaks into the woods.
“Simon?”
Chapter Text
Penny
I thought I heard his voice.
I just saw him a week ago, putting way too much butter on his sour cherry scones, grinning at me with his mouth full.
It was the first time seeing him so happy after a long time and it can’t be the last. Please be ok, please be ok. He has to be. But I can’t just stand still, i have to stay in the present to be able to help him.
The others might not know why we’re here.
But I do.
And I need to find Simon. An escape plan comes afterwards.
I hope it’s not too late. (No. He’s strong, he’s faced multiple other dark creatures.He’s alive.)
I redirect my attention back to the puppet above us. Well, where it used to be, but it’s gone.
Warily, I look back at Baz. I might not trust him, but he’s a mage, that has to be worth something in claims of trust, right?
He’s looking right at me, asking “Who’s Simon?”, cocking up an eyebrow as if I’d gone insane. Maybe I have. Honestly wouldn’t blame one soul for going insane in a place like this.
Baz is in control of his emotions. Or at least, he looks like he is. Still, I catch the flicker of something—uncertainty?—in his gaze. He’s not as unaffected as he wants me to think. At least a little. I have to admit he’s not that easy to read, like Simon (Crowley where are you?) who’s wearing his emotions for everyone to see.
I sigh “My friend. Haven’t seen him for a while. I’m starting to think he wasn’t just attacked by any goblin”
I swear, if that brown of his could go any higher, It would be competing with the highest tree branches and probably win too.
“Who exactly is that Simon?” He presses further. Not seeming satisfied with my answer at all.
“Hey! You two!” Someone calls out in our direction. We turn to him.
“Yes, you!” He waves us over, gesturing with his hands.
The others, right. We’re not alone. And thinking back to the masks in the corridor of the hotel, we’re probably also in company of what I assume are ‘the eyes’ of the puppet.
“Alright. I think to survive, we should probably learn to trust each other. My name is Gareth, and who are you?” I huff out a laugh. He comes closer.
Surely he can’t be that dense. Who in their right mind would willingly give their name to strangers (granted, I told Baz mine, but I was in shock and desperate need of answers)
“Why would you wanna know?” I lift my chin a little higher. “You could easily be a muppet from this—this entity—spying on us”
He’s taken aback by that, stopping in his tracks. “…What? No.”
That’s when Baz steps in, scowling “And we’re supposed to believe you just like that?”
“No…wait. How do you know you can trust each other?”
Gareth takes a step back, his eyes darting to the shifting shadows between the trees.
“What if you’re the spies?”
That leaves me second guessing. How DO I know Baz is not a threat? He may have brought up Watford, but that’s not exactly prove enough to trust him.
Not only that makes my head spin, I walked out of that hotel room, suddenly wearing new clothes. And not just any clothes. They were mine. Well, they certainly looked like it.
Crowley, this is getting complicated. I need to find out what’s going on, what that entity was so that we can get out of here. But not before I find Simon.
“Hey, we’re talking to you!” A voice, this time a high-pitched female voice calls out to us.
I turn to them again, looking back up from being deep in thought.
“Penny?!” The voice squeaks.
“Trixie-“ is all I get out until I’m trapped in a hug.
Trixie and I have been roommates in school. Even though I’ve always considered Trixie a nuisance, it’s kind of great to see a familiar face.
All of a sudden, it hits me again. That stench. Where does that stench come from?
We might be in the wavering woods, but this part of it doesn’t ring a bell with me and I’ve been practically living in it for most of my life at Watford.
Baz seems to be smelling it as well. In fact, he’s been holding his hand up to cover his nose since we got over the shock of seeing a flying puppet, talking, wearing stolen, rotting eyes.
“Penelope, I think we should go.” he’s moving foot from foot, trying to mask his anxiousness but failing.
That doesn’t seem right. He looks like the type to control his emotions and have a strong grip on his appearance towards others. And I’m normally right with my assumptions. (I’m always right)
“Why’s that?”
Baz
I heard it. It was faint, but unmistakable. A scream splits through the trees, jagged and wrong— too human to be an animal, but too distorted to be real. Then another joins it. And another. It’s not one voice. It’s a chorus of hunger , growing closer.
The others don’t know that yet (vampire hearing and all), but if we don’t go right now, we’re gonna have a bigger problem than spies. I turn to the others.
“We need to run. Now.”
The others turn in the direction, clearly having heard the screams too now.
Penny
“We need to run. Now.” Is all I hear from Basil when I spot them.
They’re still distant spots in my vision, but rapidly bigger, running right at us.
Wendigos.
There’s no time left wondering what to do.
Trixie shrieks “What is that?!” I grab her and Baz and start to run.
“Wendigos. They’re said to be the embodiment of insatiable greed and hunger...” I press out, trying to refill my lungs with as much air as possible.
Baz cuts in “They most likely used to be human, but these things have nothing left but their greed and hunger. They’re cannibals”
We run blindly, splitting into different directions as the screams scatter through the trees. Two noises are growing especially louder by the second. It feels as if their breath is already touching my neck.
No.
Only one is behind us.
Baz
I came out of my freeze, when I felt Penelopes hand grab my wrist tightly.
Only then did I start running.
My feet carrying me away.
Everything is in a hace. The woods blurring before my eyes as we run deeper into the woods.
The moment a Wendigo appears infront of us is when I snap back to reality.
The Wendigo’s head jerked upward. Its nostrils flared, inhaling deeply. Then it twisted towards us with a shuttering, unnatural speed, lips peeling back from jagged teeth. It caught our scent.
It’s mouth wide open, the Wendigo lunges at us. Right at Pen. The shock reaches Penny and she lets go off Trixies hand, dodging the attack of the Wendigo.
This splits us form Trixie as we run further into the woods. Trixie running into another direction.
“Trixie!” Penny screams, but I take over and pull her along with me.
“She’s out of reach” I say, gripping Penny’s arm. “We need to save ourselves now and hope she escapes” is all I can say to try and keep her calm. I’ve never been good at that.
One of the two Wendigos is still following us, though it has lost track of where we are.
Penny and I hide behind a stone wall. A ruin that was abandoned long ago.
We hold your breath, simultaneously trying to fill our lungs with air.
“Cover yourself with mud”
Penny and I turn in shock and I have to hold my hand over Penny’s mouth before she screams.
“Sorry” the boy next to us, covered in mud utters. “Didn’t wanna scare you, I swear. Wouldn’t want the attention from the Wendigo”
“Who are you” are the first words leaving Penny’s mouth.
“Niall, and now cover yourself!” He whisper shouted. “They can smell us”.
He doesn’t need to tell us twice as we roll around in the mud. (I’ll take this moment to my grave. May anybody, who sees me roll around in the mud drop dead if they tell)
Covered in mud, we sit behind the stone walls. The Wendigo paused, turning its head from side to side, its sharp breath rattling. Its nostrils flared, and for one terrifying second, I think it caught us. Caught my scent. But then it let out a low, guttural growl, shaking its head as if confused, and slunk into the darkness of the woods.
I take in one more deep breath.
Niall. Have I heard that name before? I think I have, but I can’t seem to figure out where I heard it before.
The woods grow quiet. After five minutes, Penny collected enough courage to speak.
“How the bloody hell did Wendigos manage to get into the wavering woods?! They don’t even originate from anywehere near here. It shouldn’t be possible”
I look at her.
“You know the wavering woods?”
“We’ll yes… do you?”
“Yes, I’ve been in the wavering woods multiple times”
(I don’t bother mentioning why. Draining rats and deer to survive isn’t a good look. Certainly doesn’t make me trustworthy. Vampires are hated among the mages. It’s a miracle the mages haven’t found out about my turning. Otherwise my wand would have been snapped and my fangs would have been pulled out)
“Soo” Niall starts. “All of this could have to do with with the wavering woods?”. Penny’s head turns to Niall. “This could be our starting point! All of us have been to the wavering woods. And didn’t the entity say something about their ‘precious home’? What if the wavering woods is their home? Oh that’s brilliant!”
“Besides” she adds. “The wavering woods is a place for multiple magical creatures. The mages haven’t even been able to get information of most of these creatures. And as deep as we are in the wavering woods right now. Probably none of the former mages have been here.”
With the situation we’re in right now, I’d call this misplaced excitement.
I shush her.
Merlin, she may be clever, but she doesn’t have any perception for her surroundings right now.
She doesn’t even look at me. She just hushes her voice a little before continuing.
“I’ve been in the woods to-. Well…I always go out into the woods if the library gets to crowded. It gets too loud there. But I have never seen this. Thing. This entity.”
She’s not telling us everything.
“After my last visit. A portal showed up in my room and sucked me in. But.” Now she really looks at us. “It was blue. Not yellow. So it’s not necessarily a normal portal for transportation”
“I’ve noticed the colour too” I think back to my kitchen, with the portal suddenly appearing next to me.
“It was similar with me” Niall chimes in.
“Every time I wanted to just take a walk. Practice my spells for uni. I went to the wavering woods.”
So he’s a mage too. Is every captured person a mage? Or do we have other magical creatures with us? Or even normals.
“So we’ve all been to the wavering woods. All three of us? Alone?”
Penny and Niall give a short nod.
The voices come back. Chatter and broken laughter filling the air.
I take in a sharp breath of air.
We’ve all gone quiet. A low, hungry moan drifted through the air, growing closer with each breath. Their cries and distorted voices coming back to life.
Shit. They’re back.
“Wait” Penny calls out. “Aren’t Wendigos supposed to be solitary creatures?This seems wrong, doesn’t it?”
She’s right. They should be alone. Not in groups…
I don’t have time to think further about this as the Wendigos approach. There’s three of them.
Everything blurs together in a whirlwind of panic. One second, we’re together, the next, we’re scattered like leaves in the wind, each of us running in a different direction. Trying to escape.
But it’s gotten quiet again. After a five minute hunt down. Crowley, I’m going insane.
“Oh boy~ you sure can run fast~”
I’m really going insane. If there’s a god, please strike me down. With me as a mage and a vampire, I should have been struck down as soon as I was turned.
I look up at the entity that appeared above me. It’s smell of death reaching Form my nostrils and marking me step back, covering my nose with my hand as I try to get as far as I can without this thing getting the need to come closer.
Why am I, out of all of them, the one this thing chooses.
It grins, jerking and hoovering closer. One of it’s eyes fixating in me. It’s speech sounds layered- broken even.
“Oooh. You’re not the only one~. Not the only one. I’m with everyone”
The grin turns bigger the more it speaks. It’s wooden head cracking and blood pooling out of the cracks, dripping down onto my feet.
Can he read my mind?
My fangs drop. Merlin and Morgana, if I don’t get any fresh blood, controlling my fangs will get more and more difficult.
I school my expression, managing to look confident. But I’m scared. Scared the puppet won’t just creep me out, but actually attack me.
“Ooh, don’t worry. I won’t be here for long~. Others will do the work. I’ll watch.”
I shutter.
“Good luck. You’ll need it~”
With this, the entity disappears again. Leaving a trail of blood behind.
I can hear a flute playing a calming song, then chirping. Chirping?
The song is followed by sinister giggles from the entity, sweeping through the tree branches like a cold, biting breeze.
A white bird comes flying right at me.
A letter in it’s claws. As soon as it’s close enough to let the letter fall in-front of my feet. But far enough so I don’t get to her. (Clever) The bird lets go of the letter. Letting it drop to the ground and flies off into the night.
I cautiously pick the letter off of the ground and open it.
Written in the letter in cursive it say’s:
”The rules are simple. Survive my games and search and choose your fighter during the first few games. Somewhere hidden along the way are your possible companions/ fighters which you can identify with this signature batch.”
A picture appears- as if drawn by a ghost - showing the batch with a golden boarder and dark blue background on which a crescent moon behind a cloud is depicted.
“But be careful. They could be weak. Or fake.”
“Each fighter has the status of a card in a regular deck. King, Queen, jack, ten…. You know how it goes~. This person will be the one fighting alongside you, for you… or if you want~ You can use them as bait for your own tricks to get out of here~.
Who you choose will be important for later, but you’ll only find out if you have chosen wisely when you get to the last game~. Be careful who you choose. Be careful~”.
With this, the letter snatches itself away. As if it had a mind of its own, or was being pulled by an invisible string upwards. Floating through the air until it suddenly combusted into thin air.
A portal that’s blue, not yellow. An entity that is made out of rotten flesh and a puppet. Everyone involved seemingly having made a pact with said entity (though I wouldn’t be able to remember, ever making a pact, even if I could).
And then there is the constant switching of places. Penelope also seems to know more than she likes to share.
No matter how much I try to piece it together, nothing makes sense.
I should better look into this some more before we switch scenery again.
As I walk through the quiet woods, no traces left from the Wendigos, (That just doesn’t make sense. I can’t even smell them.) I cant help, but think about what was written in the letter.
“Choose your Fighter”, “choose wisely” and “..be careful. They could be weak. Or fake.” are pacing back and forth through my head.
Should I really choose a fighter. Or would it be better if I fended for my own.
Just, if the entity was able to take our wands and magical artefacts so quickly, I should probably go along with the rules, until I find out what’s going on and how to escape.
“Do you agree?”
I stop right in my tracks.
A few feet away are two people. I recognise one that was with us. With the group Penny- Penelope and I encountered. The other one is new. Though the batch on his Jacket tells me that he is one of those “fighters”.
“Yes, better make the deal sooner than later”
“Alright! So we’ve got a deal. Can I know who I’ll fight for?” The newcomer asks curiously.
“Lamb”
“Splendid!” He grins, holding out his hand. “Well, lets seal the deal, shall we?”
Lamb takes his hand and a bright light begins to form between them, shinning bright until I can only vaguely make out their silhouettes.
As quickly as it materialised, it vanishes again.
“Now. Don’t you wanna know my name?” The fighter states.
“No need. We’ll part as soon as this is over” he remarks harshly.
“Rude” is the only recognition the man gives to Lamb, but with no real anger behind them.
Merlin, what is all this.
The ringing from the back of my mind begins to creep back into my head and forms into- Music? Not only that. It’s the kind of music you hear, when you’re in an amusement park. The kind of songs, that played the time I went to the park with my twin-step-sisters. I follow the music- and the bloody path, the entity left behind- ´till I’m standing at the entrance of an amusement park. Clearly abandoned.
Morgana help me.
Notes:
Hear ye! Hear ye!
Chapter two has arrived! I hope it’s to your liking!
I apologise for the late updates from this and my other work „Take my Heart“. Writing stories is still new to me.
Feel free to leave comments and to tell me if you liked the story :)
I’m happy for every comment and hope you’ll stop by next time for future chapters!
Have a wonderful day/ night and enjoy.Your town crier :)
Zooeyluna on Chapter 2 Wed 12 Feb 2025 05:25PM UTC
Comment Actions
TimetoShinewhybecauseIcan on Chapter 2 Wed 12 Feb 2025 06:02PM UTC
Comment Actions