Demons, Witches, and Toads (BoyxBoy)

Something is in the Walls

The Vivok twins led the trio throughout the castle's winding corridors, the estate seeming to grow more unsettling the deeper they traveled. Room after room was dark and desolate, once lovely furniture worn and threadbare with thick layers of dust resting on nearly every surface.

They stood in the dining room now. It was a massive room, a large crystal chandelier drooping down above a long mahogany table.

"This is where we will take our supper each night," Lenox was saying.

Lilith smiled, lacing her fingers together. "Our cook, Gertrude, has been in the family for nearly three generations."

"A bit of advice, though. Never eat that woman's desserts."

"Why?" Wheeler asked. "Because they're just too darn good?"

Lilith offered him a tight smile. "No, because they'll make you violently ill."

"Oh."

While the twins continued on about the dining room, Priscilla leaned over to Wheeler, lowering her voice. "The food's not even good? This really is hell."

"Just the dessert," Wheeler pointed out. "Maybe she makes, uh...really good casserole or something?"

"Wait..." Priscilla's eyes widened. "What if they don't eat at all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," she said slowly. "Everyone is super pale. All the townspeople seem terrified. The Count is conveniently indisposed during the day. Put the pieces together."

"You think he's a vampire?" Wheeler gasped.

"Maybe," Priscilla said, perking up for the first time since they'd arrived. She sighed, almost wistfully. "Ohmygosh, what if the Count is actually a gorgeous vampire longing for his lost love, just like Count Auberon!"

"This is our father's favorite room," Lilith was saying. "He built it himself. That's his portrait, right over there."

She gestured to a large painting at the other end of the dining room. Depicted in it was a withered old man, a twisted white beard falling to his chest.

Priscilla's shoulders instantly sagged. "Okay. So he's not a hot vampire."

"I think he has very kind eyes..." Wheeler said. The boy was about to continue his defense of the poor man's appearance, but he stopped, suddenly hearing the sound of something scurrying through the thin wall behind him.

"Um, excuse me," Wheeler said, raising his hand.

"Yes?" Lenox replied.

"Do you still have a rat problem? I think I heard something in the walls."

The moment he said it, both twins froze, their faces going ashen.

"Yes," Lilith said, a little too quickly. "It's just the rats."

"You might hear them from time to time," Lenox continued, his voice strangely tight. "Just ignore them."

"The tour is almost over," Lilith said abruptly. "Please, why don't you follow me and we'll take you to the final destination." Quickly she turned, Lenox at her heels.

The trio scrambled to keep up with them as they made their way down a long hallway, finally coming to a stop in front of a massive door.

The siblings exchanged a glance, something dark flickering across their features.

"This is father's room," Lilith said.

"We're showing it to you for one purpose, and one purpose alone," Lenox continued.

"Under absolutely no circumstance should you ever go near it."