Chapter Text
|-Tuesday evening, March 19th, 2024. The Cordelia, 4721 Azalea Landing Drive, Room 3G, Wilmington, North Carolina-|
Two days. That's all it's taken. Just. Two. Days. And I'm a paranoid wreck. Funny how that works. How you can be a mentally stable member of society one day and then the next your a complete mess. I always thought I would come out of life unscathed. Boy was I wrong...
cling
cling
The sounds of silverware hitting ceramic plates gets me out of my head. Right, dinner. What was it? Stroganoff? I look down, and sure enough, a plate of beef stroganoff. I get a forkful and bring it to my mouth, taking a bite of the food I have. It's not bad. Enough to take my mind off things, if briefly.
"You went to the Museum of the Bizarre? Why?" I hear Reilly ask, clearly not liking the place going off her tone of voice.
"Is that gonna be a fuss?" Bo responds, annoyed by her lack of respect for the place. Honestly, I'm with Reilly. Place creeped me out.
"What is it about that place? It's creepy and dumb." Reilly says, clearly hurting Bo's pride with the statement. But he doesn't respond. Not the way she wants him to.
"Cam was over yonder lookin' like he was fixin' to lose his ever-lovin' mind. Figured it'd do him a world of good. Gettin' out like that." Is what comes out of Bo's mouth. At least, I think that's what he says. Still trying to decipher this seemingly backwards manner of speech he uses. We continue to eat for a little bit until Maddy speaks up.
"Anyone up for desert?" I see Bo immediately turn his head.
"Y'all think we oughta whip this up ourselves, or just go grab it from somewheres?" Is his response.
I watch as Maddy starts pondering. Clearly she didn't think this idea through. And now she's been put on the spot.
"Uh... Let's head out and get it. Wanna come with?" She finally gets out. And Bo wastes no time. "Well now, ain't that a blessin'! Let's skedaddle on over to Crumbl and git us some cookies, ya hear?" He says as he gets up, heading for his room to grab his jacket. Within a few minutes, he and Maddy are gone, leaving me with Reilly, who then heads into her room. I then start pacing, not really doing much apart from thinking. And I don't like where my mind is going right now. That damn exhibit in the "museum". Him. That little Rumpelstiltskin lookin' fuck. And whatever this "crow" is, that damn golden bird that's now in my dreams, works for Him. What did the sign say? It's one of His "marquises"? The hell does that even mean? I take my phone out of my pocket and head to Wikipedia. Type in 'marquise'. Huh... European nobility. Why does that feel fitting for whatever this crow is? And would that make Him a duke?
...
...
Why am I thinking about this? This is all made-up bullshit. And yet-
"You alright?" I hear someone ask. I turn around and see Reilly.
"Uh... Yeah. I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I respond, not trying to sound suspicious.
"You're pacing. You look like you've been drained of color. You're mumbling to yourself." She starts listing off things she's noticed. Apparently Reilly's just been observing me this entire time. "Oh... I... I guess I've be-"
"Been what? Up in your head?" She interrupts me before I can continue. But she doesn't go any further, instead turning her head to one of the many screen prints on the wall. Specifically, the one of Neuschwanstein Castle. I approach her, wanting to know a bit more.
"That's Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, right?" I ask, prodding only a little.
"No. Heilige Castle. Took the picture while I was studying abroad in Linz." She says. Heilige Castle? I've never heard of it. How though? It certainly sounds important. Important enough to warrant being a heritage site in Austria, as Reilly goes on to say.
"It's been a cultural and heritage center ever since it was turned into a military history museum in the 1960s. Though... that's not why I was interested in going there."
"Then what did interest you?" I ask, not entirely sure I want to know the answer.
"It's haunted. Too many stories for it all to be coincidences. Even someone as rational and logically minded as me has to admit that." Reilly says, her voice solid. Do I even want to know? Who am I kidding? She's gonna say what it is anyway, regardless of what I do. Might as well rip this band-aid off.
"What kind of stories?" I ask, knowing where this will go. And oh boy, does Reilly sprint down that road.
"Demons and ghosts. Guests and security always seeing things. Cameras just stop working at certain hours and no one knows why. Security constantly showing that it's not a hoax to the management staff. I wanted to see it all for myself." She then reaches into her pocket and takes out her phone, at which point she starts showing me pictures she took while in the castle. It's... Well, I don't like where this is going. A lot of little red eyes in corners they shouldn't be in. The occasional glint of gold in some of the videos she shot. It's just... My mind is already fucked from the past few days.
"How long has the place been 'haunted'?" I ask, against my better judgement.
"Ever since Roman Per die Heilige married in the 1850s. Things for the family went downhill from there. Man died a drunkard and almost broke. His sister, Eleonore, had to do a lot of damage control." Reilly knows way more than she's letting on. I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. Probably a bad thing, going purely off the past three days. I gotta get some sleep. Not that it would help me all that much. But something is better than nothing, even if it's risky.
|-Wednesday morning, March 20th-|
Toss and turn.
Toss and turn.
Just stare at the popcorn ceiling above me before...
Toss and turn.
Toss and turn.
Still can't sleep. It's running. Fast. And I can't catch up. Even if my life depended on it, I wouldn't be able to match that pace. I really, really fucking hate insomnia. It's the worst thing to get hit with on a good day. But when you're exhausted and sick with dealing with the world's bullshit? It's infuriating. The sweet release of sleep, denied because the brain simply will not rest. I reach over and grab my phone to check the time: two thirty in the morning. I've been awake for almost twenty-four hours now. Can't be good. I sit up, grab my shoes and walk out of Bo's room, taking care to not wake him. I step out and head for the door. I need some fresh air.
I probably shouldn't be out on the streets in the early hours of the morning, but do I have a choice? So here I am, driving to a park. Greenfield seems like a good idea. I pull into the lot and park, stepping out of my car and taking in the early morning air. Still dark. Still... uneasy. Not exactly the most welcoming of atmospheres, but fuck it. I start walking, phone used as a flashlight just in case anyone is out here with me. Don't want to get jumped. But as I walk, I see them. Those god damn eyes. At this point, i need to accept that they're there. It's just a fixture of my life now. Better get used to it. So I ignore them and just keep walking. I go past another parking lot and keep going. I eventually come to a fishing dock, and linger for a bit. It's not bad here. But I keep moving. I don't want to stay in the same place for too long. Not with those eyes still on me. I'm not taking anymore risks than I already have so far.
I keep walking, eventually coming to a boathouse. I go down the dock and just stand at the end, looking out across Greenfield Lake. At least, what I can see from here through the dark. I take my phone out just to check the time, and see that it reads 3:30. Great. That stupid 'Witching Hour' again. I wonder what kind of bullshit will happen this time. As I think about it, I spot the eyes again. On the opposite bank in the trees. They're taunting me again. So I start running. Running to find that damn "bird" and ring it's little neck. I'm booking it down the trail, dippin' into the bushes when I get to the other side of the crick and start lookin'. Where's the little jagoff? Where is he?! I start bashin' some of the bushes to flush the bum out, and I hear somethin' that's wicked familiar...
"You'll never find me."
Fuck, fuck, fuck. It's yappin' again. Why's it yappin'? And why's it talkin' so proper? It's tryin' to get my goat. And goddammit, it's workin'. Just gotta figure out where the voice is comin' from.
"I'm right here. No. I'm over here. Over here. Wait, in the opposite direction."
It's movin', constant. I can't get a read on where it IS. One second, I'm thinkin' it's to my right. Then I hear some rustlin' behind me, only for it to be back on the right again. This little, golden jagoff thinks he's being funny. I manage to get a glimpse of it with my cell's flashlight, the golden feathers and red eyes shinin' like a freakin' spotlight. I go to grab it, but flies off, makin' fun of me as it leaves.
"You'll need to be quicker than that, Cameron." I'm gettin' real fuckin' bugged by this damn thing.
Just.
Stay.
STILL!
I see it again an' go to jump for it. It flies off. I'm lookin' all over, find it, then bam, I eat tree. Now I got a nose bleed. Aw, this is jawn is fuckin' fantastic. All the while, that jagoff "bird" is crackin' up at me.
"Try again, Cameron. You can catch me." I hear it say.
"When I get my mits on you, you little golden jagoff..." I get my lamp on it again and go to snatch it, and I think I finally got it. I feel somethin' heavy in my hands, then a whole bunch of cawin'. I look down at my mits and see just a regular crow. Aw, jeez! Just when I thought I collared that little dirtbag. With a sigh, I let the bird go, ain't tryna get it mixed up in none of this nonsense. I get up and start walkin' away. I just hope nobody saw or heard none of this. That would... not be a good look.
I make it back to my car and start driving back to Maddy's apartment, taking every stopped opportunity I can to clean my face of blood. I'm not gonna give anyone any concerns about what I was up to. Just play it off as a nasty fall. Perfectly plausible. No one would think it suspicious. Not one bit. Within a few minutes I'm back, but I don't exit my car immediately. I just... I need a few minutes. I need to process this. All of it. That damn "bird"... Constantly out of reach and taunting me... I swear, I will pluck that little fucker bare. Not a single golden feather is gonna be left when I'm done with it. But for now... I feel my eyes drooping. Oh great, I'm gonna fall asleep in my car. How fun. Maddy's gonna come out in a few hours and see me like this. But at this point, I can't really stop it. My eyelids start closing, and I resist, but that resistance grows thinner by the second. My head starts nodding, getting lower and lower with each passing moment. I can't fight it. Sleep is too powerful to resist. Eventually, my eyes shut, and I fall asleep. Let's hope there aren't any nightmares this time.