Aquaria: A City of Masks and Wraiths

One

10 years ago

It was so easy to give the wraith his word. Darius hardly thought about it, a boy of only thirteen, eager to tell his friends a good story. He had no idea what his words -that meeting-would do to him years later.

Back then it started with a dare.

The servants had been talking about the wraith for weeks now. Some of them said they saw two, then it became one. The spirit was seen in the lake on their estate, apparently at the same hour over a couple of nights. The story came right after one of the new kitchen women had drowned there.

Though they were called 'wraiths', they weren't exactly ghosts. But there were rumours occasionally that a certain wraith looked identical to someone in town who went missing, presumably dead.

When the story of the wraith reached Darius and his friends it was only a matter of time that the boys would challenge each other to face this being. Titus then upped the stakes. One of them must speak to the wraith, alone, and make the spirit play a trick with its powers. He will part with the Devil Bird quill his father got him from abroad and present it to whoever completed the dare.

The prize was Darius's to take. He wasn't really after the quill, but the creature was found on their estate; it was up to him and his brother to confront. Fitting, for the sons of Lord Ignatus. However, his brother wanted no part in this. He was two years older than Darius but had half the boldness. Darius was the one with the self-assurance of a first-born. Knowing Augustus, he had to step up for his House. If that meant agreeing to do something forbidden, like rendezvousing with a wraith, so be it.

The footmen barely gave the boys a nod when they stepped into the dark, despite it being past midnight. What was it to them if the boys' parents feasting upstairs didn't care.

Darius took confident steps away from the mansion, the golden light from the windows falling behind him along with the majestic domes and pillars of his home. As they crossed the back gardens to the lake, their chatter ceased.

His older brother and the three other boys found a hedge and crouched behind it. Darius continued ahead to the shore of the lake. The boys were much further back from the lake than they would have liked. But Darius had to face the creature alone, and they still had a good view of the lake.

'Hello,' Darius called into the lake. The moonlight cast silver-blue streaks across the gentle water. 'We've been informed that you've taken up residence in this part of the estate. I would like to make your acquaintance.'

The crackle of insect noises and the sound of distant lutes answered him. A splash was added to this medley as one of the lake ducks took flight.

No wraith.

Oh dear, he thought. He expected the most challenging part was going to be confronting the spirit. In his readiness to look heroic he didn't consider that the spirit might not even show up. That would be embarrassing. Maybe the wraith stopped appearing at the lake like the servants said.

That's when he saw it, behind the curtain of willow brushing the water. The wraith, dressed in white.

But the figure just as quickly blinked itself invisible. 'Hello? I would like to speak with you!' Darius rushed closer to the willow.

The boys waited exactly one moment before dashing across to him. Fabien confirmed he saw some light behind the willow. But Titus and Dominicus were sceptical. It could have been some reflection of moonlight.

Darius could swear he saw the wraith. It –she- made eye contact with him. He was sure she was watching them, his eyes scanning the obscure shapes around the lake.