Music is "He's Here for Us" by Michael Giacchino.
A shadowy form stood near the end of the small room, its back turned to Eliza. It was garbed entirely in black, with spiral horns pointing toward her. The creature made no move toward her. It didn't seem to notice her arrival. In the darkened room, illuminated by a single candle, it seemed to Eliza that she could see through the monster's body...but no, her eyes were playing tricks on her.
She took another step closer and froze. At last, the monster turned to face her. Its face was more hideous than she imagined. Fangs jutted out from between its cracked and dry lips, and its face was covered in matted black fur. It wore a tattered black cloak that covered most of its body, but through the dim light, she noted its chest and arms were black as soot too. A ripped and shredded pair of pants covered its legs...barely, as if someone had forced them onto the monster, not caring if the monster was even meant to wear such things. But...she couldn't see its eyes, for a black ribbon was tied over them, blinding it...or so she thought.
Can it see me? Can I still run?
"Who...who are you and what are you doing here?" the creature spoke in a low voice. The voice was kind, but had a slight edge to it. It stirred, moved away from the barren fireplace, and faced Eliza. She did not expect such a voice to come from a creature who had murdered thousands.
Then again, the most unlikely of men are capable of such deeds.
She remained silent. If I keep quiet...
"I know you're there. I can still see through this blindfold."
Darn.
She sighed, relaxed her position, but crouched ever so slightly to retrieve her small throwing knife from her boot. "I've come to rescue my parents." That was true enough. This thing didn't need to know the rest. She tucked the knife inside her cloak, waiting for the right moment.
"And you are?"
"I...I'm Eliza."
"Just Eliza? No family name?"
She nodded her head.
"Well, Eliza, you need to get out of here. This place...is cursed. Who knows how long it will be until the next time I..." it paused, "Wait, did you say you came to rescue someone? Your parents?"
Eliza nodded again, wondering where on earth this conversation was going. What kind of monster is this? It's so scatterbrained...
It lowered its head and turned away to face the cold hearth at the end of the room. "What made you think you'd find anyone in this cursed place? No one who comes to this mansion survives. No one." It fell silent, with its back still turned to Eliza.
Her jaw fell open in shock. Was it all a lie? Did the king trick her into coming just to trap her and finish off one of the few remaining Manwarings?
No. No. They had to be here. Otherwise she was trapped with no way to escape back home to her niece. That was not a possibility.
"I...was told they were still alive in here," she said, sighing. It was a long shot, but she usually had success hitting the difficult targets. If providence willed it, she would find her parents.
The monster paused, cocking its head at her. "Who...who told you that? I can guarantee..."
"His Royal Highness Joshua Remus Severus II."
The monster froze. Although she could not see its eyes, Eliza had seen enough animals in the forest to recognize the signs...of fear. The frozen stature, the inward racing of the mind to find a way out, before finally regaining enough composure to back away from the source of terror just before her arrow...
Before she realized what had happened, the monster was at Eliza's side. She couldn't figure out how it reached her so fast...it would need to have flown to reach her before she had time to even think about using her hunting knife...
"What...did that man...say to you?" Its voice was shaking, trembling with the few words it whispered into her ear. "Please, I'm not trying to hurt you, far from it, I want to help you. But if you're in league with him..." The monster's voice trailed off as it backed away from Eliza. "That man took everything away from me."
She stared at him. What on earth was going on? She wanted to believe that the monster was working against the king, oh the heavens knew she did. But what if this was a trap? Were there spies about, reporting her every movement back to the king? She couldn't take that chance. She had to fulfill her end of the bargain quickly. Feeling the knife between her fingers, she faced the monster.
"I...I...can't. I'm so sorry..."
With a single motion, she brought her throwing knife up and released it, aiming for the monster's heart. The knife flew straight and true in a beautiful arc that, had this been any other beast, would have killed it instantly for certain, a true shot to the monster's heart.
Instead the knife flew straight through the monster and hit the wall, burying itself up to the hilt in the wooden planks.
Eliza stared at her knife in shock. "What...what...that should have hit..." Then, realizing she had just jeopardized her own life in return, she whipped around and fled the room, ignoring the wild shouts of the monster, her cape flowing behind her...
Until the door slammed suddenly, catching the tail end of her cloak in the door, trapping her.
"No, no, no, no, no..." She tried to open the door again, but it was locked. Before she could unfasten her cloak to free herself, a shadowy paw emerged from the wall. The rest of the monster followed seconds later, passing through the wall as if the stones were made of air.
What...on earth...
"Eliza, please. Tell me the truth. As long as I'm in control, I will not harm you." The low voice had a tinge of a growl behind it, but the words it spoke...oh how she longed to believe them.
"You trapped me in the door."
"You tried to stab me through the heart."
"You killed hundreds of my people...I think that's only fair."
The monster sighed. It lowered itself to the floor beside Eliza and looked at her. "Well, that's not entirely true. I'm incapable of murder. I don't even have a body."
"What?" She turned to face the monster and truly looked at its body this time. What she had thought was a trick of her eyes was the reality of its situation. The monster...was merely a shadow. A ghost? Phantom?
"What...are you?" she asked, reaching out as if to try and touch its shredded coat.
"I'm...a shadow...a phantom that haunts this mansion, if you will." It stretched out its paws and gazed at the state of his existence. "With no physical body, I can't feel anything, taste anything, smell anything..." It stared at its paw. "I take that back; I can feel sometimes, but only if I'm concentrating hard enough." With a grunt, the monster held out its paw to her. "See?"
She backed away from it, stopping only when her back hit the door. A phantom? This mansion truly is haunted. The king lied to me but...I wasn't expecting to meet...him.
"I...I'm sorry for throwing the knife at you." She drew her knees to her chest and looked away. "I...I'm glad you're not hurt."
"Well, not having a body does have its perks sometimes. It's fairly easy to get around the mansion, although...if I forget my body isn't solid..." His legs began to disappear into the floor below them. "It's rather inconvenient."
Stifling a laugh, she covered her face with her hands. When the monster tilted its head toward her, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh...it's just been a very strange day, and to end it all with this..." She stood up and yanked on the edge of her cloak again, trying to dislodge it. I need to get out of here, out of this mansion, just to clear my head.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, allow me." The monster reached its hand into the lock and played with the mechanisms inside. The lock clicked and the door opened, freeing Eliza.
An awkward silence reigned in the room for a few seconds. Both Eliza and the creature...unsure of what to say...simply stared at each other, waiting for the other to break the silence.
Then, out of nowhere, a bell chimed. Eliza looked around, but could not discover the source of the bell.
The monster startled, then turned to Eliza, his voice frantic. "You need to go. Now. Find a room and lock yourself in."
"How?" she said, "They're all locked! I tried them earlier! Can't you unlock one for me?"
"No, no, no. I can't. He would find you too easily." He paused, looking around. "Try the second floor. Hurry!" He gestured frantically towards the stairs, then turned around and passed through the wall again to the room in which they'd met.
Running up both flights of steps, Eliza barely had time to process this new twist in her tale. Who...who is "he"? And why is a phantom, of all things, afraid of him?
Mwahahaha.
It's so much fun, knowing where the story's going, but also knowing I'm not skilled enough of a writer to convey it like it is in my brain. It's a constant battle, I'm telling you. Sigh.
And...I just realized now that I didn't publish this on Thursday like I meant to...sigh. My lack of sleep is catching up with me at last. 😜
Here's your meme!