A crusty old book, mysterious woods, and a hike to the abandoned castle
Short Story | Fantasy Vibes
âWho did you say used to live there?â I asked as I pushed yet another branch out of the way.
âSome monarch from like 1100, but thatâs not important,â Till called over his shoulder.
âNot important! Then why did you drag me out of bed before sunrise to hike through the woods?â
âBecause sunrise is when it happens, so we need to be there before that.â
âIt? Stop being so cryptic and just tell me what weâre doing.â
âYouâll see.â
âNo!â I stopped in my tracks, stomped my foot just a little, and crossed my arms over my chest. âYouâre being weird, and Iâm not taking another step until you stop and tell me whatâs going on.â
Till sighed and turned to me, blinding me with his flashlight as he worked his way back down the hill to where I was standing.
âEmme, come on,â he said sweetly, taking my hand and giving my fingers a light squeeze. âI wanted to do something special. A little surprise.â
âYou know I donât like surprises, or spontaneous adventures,â I said, but the fire had left my voice. He was being thoughtful, and even though he wasnât necessarily doing a good job of it, the knowledge calmed me down anyway.
âI know, I know, but this is different,â he said, swinging his backpack off his shoulder. Even in the dark I could see the excitement glistening in his eyes. For some reason it scared me, just a little.
He unzipped his pack and pulled out a book. In the beam of our flashlights, it looked to be worn out leather on the cover, but I couldnât see a title anywhere.
âAll this for a book?â
âNot for a book, because of the book. I found this in the Ascheurâs attic, and itâs incredible. It looks like an old journal, but the more I read the more it became clear that this journal isnât from here. The paper isnât quite right. The ink either. The stories in these pages describe worlds beyond imagination,â he said with a wondrous sigh.
âYou broke into the Ascheurâs attic and stole a book of fairytales? Thatâs what this is about?â I snatched the book from his hand and flipped through it quickly. There were equal amounts of drawing and words on the pages, all of which looked like some rip off of the Brothers Grimm. The book also kind of smelled like the Brothers Grimm, if you, you know, dug up their graves.
âNo one knows I broke in, and they arenât fairytales. Look,â he said, taking the book back and flipping to the back few pages, âthere are instructions here: A trek through exotic woods. The toll of a bell at the first ray of light. A backdrop of words to complete the spell. But only once every four years.â
He held the book out for me to see. I skimmed the words and focused instead on the picture at the bottom of the page. The swirls of ink could only be one thing. A portal. I looked from the book to Till. His eyes were sparkling and he was practically bouncing in place. He believed that this was real.
I took a step back and held my hands out in exasperation. âAre you trying to impress me or something? Because seriously, a crusty old book, mysterious woods, and a hike to the abandoned castle is not the way to do that. You do know what this sounds like, right?â
âA ton of fun.â
âDonât make fun of me, Till. It sounds exactly like the makings of a horror movie, or maybe a demon summoning, or quite possibly a terribly violent death for both of us, and I for one do not feel like dying today.â
âYou watch too much tv,â he said, closing the book and slipping it back into his pack.
âNot as much as you, apparently,â I whispered.
He either heard my whisper and didnât care, or he really was too caught up in his own delusions to even hear me because his next words were, âCome on, Emme, we have to hurry if weâre going to make it to the castle on time.â
He started back up the hill immediately, leaving me standing there with no good options. I wasnât the treasure hunting, riddle solving, portal opening sort, but I also didnât want to hike all the way back down the hill in the dark by myself.Â
Internally screaming, I stomped after Till. As I followed him, I tried to decide who I was more mad at, him or me. He was always pulling stunts like this, though not usually to this extent, so the blame had to be on me for being stupid enough to follow him out here. It seemed like I was being more and more stupid, or maybe intentionally blind, where Till was concerned. Letting little things about our relationship slide that I know I shouldnât. It was hard to want to trust him, but not entirely being able to. The boy was a little bit of a flight risk these days.
I finally caught up to him (had he run up the hill?) at the castle. He was standing at the front door, and much to my surprise he had company. When I realized who they were, the surprise quickly wore off.
âYou invited me to Boyâs Club,â I said sardonically.
âYou know we love you, Emme,â Alvin said, giving me a quick hug. Erik nodded his approval, then we all turned to Till.
âI want everyone I care about to be there when I open this portal,â he said in way of explanation.
âAfter you guys,â I said, gesturing to the door.
They didnât need to be told twice. The rush of three excited sets of teenage boy feet echoed through the stairwell, and I almost smiled.
The bell tower was barely big enough to fit all four of us, but luckily our little trek through the woods had taken a while and the sun was about to rise. In the last few minutes of night, Till broke out the book and began to explain.
âThe instructions are quite clear. âA trek through exotic woodsâ was the hike through Exotenwald1. âToll of a bell at the first ray of lightâ is self-explanatory. I have the âbackdrop of words to complete the spellâ in this book. And the tricky part was âonce every four yearsâ, but I think I figured it out. Whatâs todayâs date?â
Erik, Alvin, and I looked at each other with equally questioning faces, until suddenly it dawned on me. February 29. Leap day.
âA leap through time and space that only happens on leap day. Seems fitting, doesnât it,â Till said proudly, like heâd been waiting a long time to make this declaration. How long had he been planning this?
There was no time left to wonder about that though because the sun was officially rising. Till rapidly flipped the pages in his book, then stuck a finger on the one he wanted and held it there while his eyes tracked the sun. Being so high up, it didnât take long for the light to reach the top of the bell, and the moment it did, Till struck the bell full force.
I clamped my hands over my ears as the big bell rang out across the valley and through my bones. The sound and vibrations of the bell overwhelmed everything, so I couldnât hear the words that Till was supposed to be speaking. But somehow I felt them. Weightlessness overcame me, followed quickly by a most terrible bout of lightheadedness, and through it all I could feel the ringing of the bell and taste metal on my tongue. Something was seriously wrong.
Or seriously right. As the bell fell still and the last echo of its ring ended, a black swirl split the sky. The swirl made no noise as it twisted, turned, and widened to the size of the bell tower we were standing in. It was inky black, impossible to tell if something truly laid in wait behind it.
Till climbed onto the stone wall that served as a safety rail, triumph lighting up his face. Erik and Alvin were close behind him. They all looked down at me, expectantly.
âAre you crazy!? You canât just go jumping into random portals!â
âOf course we can. Donât worry, I have the book. Thereâs nothing to be afraid of!â Till said, reaching out a hand to me.
I refused to take it. âNo thanks. Iâm going to stay right here in my world where things make sense. Sort of. And you guys should too.â
They were beyond listening to me, I knew that, but I couldnât in good conscience let them go through with their insane plan without at least trying to talk them down.
âItâs time to go home. Our parents are probably freaking out right now about us being missing,â I said. The parent card fell on deaf ears. In fact, none of them were even looking at me anymore. The portal had enraptured them.
Before I knew what was happening, Till had taken a flying leap from the bell tower, straight to the portal. A scream lodged itself in my throat as he floated instead of falling to his death. The portal dragged him into its depths, and once it had its first taste of human flesh, it wanted more. Tendrils of black shot outward, catching Erik and Alvin before they had a chance to jump. It sucked them in.
I had the benefit of being partially hidden by the bell. I scrambled for the trap door that lead to the stairs and ripped it open. But it was a useless fight. The portal was giving off its own gravity now in conjunction with the tendrils. My feet, so close to the liberation of the stairs, left the stone, and I tumbled around in the low gravity like an astronaut with no training.
The tendrils were ice cold as they wrapped themselves around my middle. I tried to pry them off, but the cold made it impossible to get a grip without giving myself immediate hypothermia.
My scream echoed nearly as loud as the bell off the surrounding mountains, but it did more harm than good because a tendril snaked its way across my mouth, cutting off the sound and causing a chill to flood my brain.
Completely secured by the tendrils, and almost unconscious from the cold, there was nothing I could do but watch with tears in my eyes as the world I knew disappeared from view, replaced by all black.
I vowed at that moment that if we lived through this portal fiasco, I would kill Till for getting me into it. It was that vengeful thought that kept me company on my journey through the dark.
Thanks for reading! This one is about three times longer than my usual fiction length, so bravo to anyone who stuck it out to the end.
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See you next Thursday!
The real name of the forest in the city in Germany from whence the stock photo hails
LOVE this! Watch out, Stranger Things!
This hooked me from the beginning and didnât let go! The narration is really strong, and the dialogue and interactions between the two friends are perfect. I hope you come back to this someday because it feels like the beginning of a wild adventure. One of my favorites of yours! Great job, Claire!