A clock chimed in the distance, a chill breeze danced across my face and the darkness began to lift from my eyes to reveal the room I had fallen asleep in. After sounding off three times, the clock went silent. I wanted to go back to sleep but in the back of my mind a voice called me to leave the room and traverse the mansion. My feet hit the ground and were met with the chill of the stone floor so I searched blindly for my shoes that I was sure must be nearby. As my eyes began to adjust to the blackness I noticed a series of symbols carved into the stonework beneath my bed. This intrigued me enough to distract my search for my shoes so I sat beneath my bed and began to examine them closely. From what I could gather, the symbols were a perfect match for the ones grandmother had scribbled in her journal. I made a mental note to show them to grandfather when the sun came up and quickly found my shoes and slipped them on my feet.
The servant’s quarters linked onto a kitchen that ran off the main hall at the front of the manor and the large hall ran down the center of the sprawling building. Many doors, hallways and staircases branched off it, which gave to place the illusion of a massive labyrinth in the dark. Toward the back of the house lay an enormous sunroom with dusty windows looking over vast overgrown gardens that went for as far as my eyes could see without the aid of light.
As I tripped down the hall I noticed the manor was still completely furnished. I suspected that the furniture I was looking at were all heirlooms of our family from a forgotten era. It struck me as odd that the place had been left in such a hurry that nothing had been taken with them when they had gone. It also struck me as peculiar that for a place that had been abandoned for shy of one hundred years it was in such little disrepair. Technically it should have been falling apart and rather unsafe to be sleeping in on the first night here.
My thoughts were interrupted by a sweet melody being sung by a haunting female voice, it was almost painful in its beauty. The song seemed to originate from the back of the manor near the sunroom… or perhaps it was coming from the gardens. I couldn’t be too sure so I crept forward slowly so as not to give myself away.
I wish I was on yonder hill
Tis there I'd sit and cry my fill
Till every tear would turn a mill
Is go dte tu mo mhuirnin slan.
Edging ever closer I could feel the song sliding across my skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake.
Siuil, siuil, siuil a ruin
Siuil go sochair agus siuil go ciuin
Siuil go doras agus ealaigh liom
Is go dte tu mo mhuirnin slan
I was now standing in the entrance of the sunroom and the song was floating through the air and lulling me forward.
I'll sell my rock, I'll sell my reel
I'll sell my only spinning wheel
to buy my love a sword of steel
Is go dte tu mo mhuirnin slan
By the large glass window sat an impossibly beautiful figure clothed in silken moonlight, tight auburn curls falling listlessly across her back as she gazed across the garden and sang.
Siuil, siuil, siuil a ruin
Siuil go sochair agus siuil go ciuin
Siuil go doras agus ealaigh liom
Is go dte tu mo mhuirnin slan…
At this point she turned to me and ceased singing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you….” I began as she placed a slender finger to her lips to shush me. A cooling sensation seemed to flow over me and was shortly followed by a wispy female voice inside my mind.
“You have returned to us Olivia. You who have gazed beyond the glass and heeded the call. Return to the river and pass beyond the bridge for the answers you seek may be found there. However, pass not into the tallest spire of this place for if you do, you will ne’er return.”
With that she disappeared in a splash of silver moonlight and darkness overtook me as I fell to the ground in a sudden sleep.
