In Their Domain

Chapter 10

Strange, elongated figures crept and watched them from the very edge of their view. The smell of wet soil and rock filled the cool air between them, and it was as quiet as a graveyard. The absolute silence made their own stuttered breaths and heartbeats unnervingly evident along with any movements they made.

Yet, there was another sound, distant and weak, but distinctly melodic. It was music. And it seemed to be coming from the same direction as the only source of light—the castle.

Arlo was too frightened to think straight. Were they dead? Caught in some kind of purgatory? What in the hell was going on? Were they even still conscious? He swallowed thickly once he'd finally mustered up the courage to move. Chris squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. It was the one thing Arlo felt like he could take any comfort in whatsoever at the moment. At least they weren't separated anymore.

Annie started forward, towards the stone castle looming ahead of them; dressed in harsh shadows anywhere that the light from within its walls didn't reach.

"W-Woah. Woah," Chris whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Someone or something wants us here... SO, I'm gonna go find out why," Annie said, as she dusted off her skintight jeans and then kept walking.

Dean shot both Chris and Arlo a leery look before shifting the weight on his back and following Annie. It was only then that Chris even noticed that Dean only had his own bag now, and Annie, hers. But where the extra shit was, wasn't even close to being a concern as they moved towards the cobbled steps leading to what looked to be an entrance to the castle.

Arlo paused, stopping Chris as well when he crouched down to get a closer look at something laying near the base of one of the steps. Time had apparently triumphed over the stone's integrity, but despite its crumbling shape having nearly merged with the cavern floor, Arlo had spotted a dog collar among the loose rocks and what looked like bones. He gingerly lifted it, certain that the familiar worn, studded, and now half-mildew-covered collar belonged to Charlie. But the name on the tag, as well as the information on it, was all in Romanian.

Chris gazed down at Arlo with a tight frown on his face. He didn't know what to say. What could he say, really? It felt like they were prisoners in the longest nightmare of all time.

The protest of heavy, wooden doors startled Arlo back into a standing position, and more light, along with the music poured into the space. Annie had apparently pushed open the doors.

"Let's go, guys," Dean said, his mouth twitching to hide what looked like the smallest hint of a smile. "They're waiting."

But what lay inside the castle was not at all what any of them had expected. Inside, most of the corridors were dark, dimly lit by candles whose flames were too weak to provide adequate light at the long intervals between them, but enough that they could see just well enough to not stumble over anything, and there was plenty to stumble over.

Items, décor, and trinkets from what seemed like every era were piled in the rooms and halls. The mass of hoarded items was erratic; medieval helmets alongside bikes from the fifties, picnic baskets alongside giant gilded statuettes. Silver coins, gems, and a mid-century spyglass, alongside iPhones, and an old Walkman, and thousands upon thousands of other random items.

Annie's fingers paused in the trail it had been drawing in the dust upon one of the tables as she came to a purse and wallet. She was about to touch it when she heard one of the boys say something and nearly jumped out of her own skin.

"Fecker..." she cursed and continued on.

Chris huffed at Annie's unappreciated response to his question about some kind of dragon living down here, before turning his attention to Dean. "Who were you talking about?" he asked under his breath.

"Me?" Dean replied, raising his brows. "What do you mean?"

"You said 'They're waiting'," Arlo clarified, immediately reminded of how Sara had reacted to being told about her creepy laughter. She had said something about 'they' too... Hadn't she?

Dean looked bewildered. "When?"

"Seriously? Just before we walked in here, dude," Chris replied, stepping over piles of objects.

"I didn't say anything," Dean asserted.

"Don't worry about it," Arlo said, giving Chris a pleading look to drop the subject. "This place has all of us messed up."

"Yeah...you're right," Chris said, pulling Arlo closer. Once Dean's back was to them again. He supposed they were going to figure out soon enough anyway if they kept following the music drifting through the stagnant, humid air.

The source of the music was coming from the most well-lit room, some sort of dining or throne room, and it was filled with people. Or at least they looked like people at first.

As they got closer it became much more apparent that the giant horns and antlers that these people all possessed were actually part of their heads, and they most certainly weren't dressed in jeans and T-shirts.

The moment the four of them set foot into the room, the musicians stopped playing and the entire mass of strange faces fell silent and stared at them.

At the far end, a figure rose. He had a mess of black, twisted antlers that were adorned with thin golden chains; the same color as his eyes which resembled a cat's. A predator.

His pale lips pulled back as the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile, revealing two sets of elongated, menacing-looking canines. "Ah! Our guests have finally arrived!" he said, through a thick accent as he stretched out his hand to beacon them forward.

Each finger was tipped with long, black claw-like points. "Come! Sit! Eat!" the king encouraged.

As if Arlo's stomach had ears of its own, it growled loudly enough that he was pretty sure the entire room heard.

"Don't drink their food," Chris reminded, his voice barely a breath against Arlo's ear. "I mean—you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Arlo whispered.

Dean twisted to look back at them. "You're both being awfully rude," he said with a thin frown before moving towards one of the creatures holding a glimmering tray lined with mismatched goblets and flutes. Each one was overflowing with liquid.

"Dean!" Chris snapped as his free hand flew out to reach for Dean's arm, only a second too slow. "Don't!"

But their friend didn't hesitate in the slightest, picking up one of the cups and raising it to his lips to quench his incredible thirst.

Across the room, the horned king turned to a figure standing beside his throne, and it didn't take any of them long to recognize Sara. She was dressed in different clothing that closely matched the king's, but it was her. The two of them exchanged words, most certainly not English, before they both turned their attention to Dean, Annie, Arlo, and Chris.

"We mean you no harm," the king insisted, "But if you continue to be difficult, I cannot say that there will not be consequences for your actions..." He snapped his fingers, and like a switch being flipped, Dean and Annie turned towards Chris and Arlo.

Dean dropped his cup as if he had completely forgotten that he'd even had it. He didn't even flinch when it clanged on the floor. Annie, still nearest to Arlo, seized his bicep with a strength that seemed disproportionate to her form, while Dean closed the distance between himself and Chris.

"OW! Let go!" Arlo threw his weight in the opposite direction, but the girl's hold didn't falter at all. "The fuck?!"

Chris's free hand balled into a fist, and he swung it with all of his might at Annie, but Dean caught his wrist in a painful hold. Arlo was ripped away from Chris as a slew of swears left his mouth. "The fuck are you doing, Dean?! Get a fucking hold of yourself!" Chris growled as they were dragged along, between the parting of the other creatures, to where the king sat.

"You have something of mine," the king said. "I would like you to return it."

"We don't have anything," Arlo replied, voice trembling from a nauseating swirl of fear and anxiety. "We just wanna leave."

"No? Then you have a problem. For without the bell, there is no winner, and only a winner can leave the forest. Where is the bell?"