Georgia Mansion, Part III - Horrors of the Dark
The orange glow of the fire was not enough to fully illuminate the huge room, though it didn’t really matter. The words on the pages of the Rituul Sata seemed to blur and merge together, the meaning of the text lost on the fatigued reader, whose eyes closed of their own accord and yawns escaped his mouth without warning. He allowed his yellow-flecked eyes to rest for a moment and found himself looking up suddenly just as he drifted off, fighting to stay awake but rest his eyes at the same time. He realised he was fighting a lost cause, placing a receipt from a take-away he’d ordered in between the pages he was reading and closed the thick book.The book itself looked ancient, leather-bound, brass-braced and covered in stains and tears with pages missing and faded. Draeden looked at the book, turning it over in his hands and examining the craftsmanship. This book was designed to last forever. It looked a lot like the book Apocalypticus took from the mansion in Ayreon, the Codex of Darkness, only smaller. There was some kind of inscription on the front, da’Silva had told him it spelt certain doom for anyone foolish enough to open it, but he, and even Apocalypticus himself, had told him that such threats were gobshite and were safe to ignore. Not that fighting evil spirits was impossible to Draeden, the fact that he’d not be having more scuffles in his house pleased him the most. He dropped the book on the floor, it crashed against the floorboards with an almighty thud that made Kaila leap into the air in panic. The cat scowled at Draeden for a moment for disturbing her but wasted no time curling up again and going back to sleep.
Leaving the fire to burn out, Draeden walked out of the room rubbing his sore, tired eyes with his knuckles. When he opened his eyes again he saw Marius da’Silva standing in front of him. Draeden wasn’t sure if it was the arrogant nature of the man that made him think it unnecessary to announce himself when unnoticed or whether he just liked trying to scare Draeden. Were the latter the aim, needless to say, he failed.
Draeden: What?
Marius: Rituul Sata. Useful?
Draeden: I haven’t come across anything helpful yet but I’ll let you know when I do.
Marius: Indeed.
Draeden: Why do you follow me? You’re always there when I turn around or open a door. It’s annoying.
Marius scowled.
Marius: If I had free roam of the house then I’d not have to, fool! As it is, I’m tethered to you and cannot go far.
Draeden: Fine, roam the house, just stop following me. And you can’t go near Alex’s room, that’s off limits. Try and keep your distance from her, she’s not used to you yet.
Marius: Try? For one who may pass through walls, my task is not a difficult one.
He seemed happier. With a nod and a smirk the spirit disappeared.
Draeden: Thank fuck for that.
Scratching his head, Draeden walked up the stairs and yawned. He walked down the long corridor and took a right turn, a few steps along this passage and the third door on the left. His own bedroom was a mission to get to but it wasn’t like he slept often. He found himself awake for days at a time now, going to bed after midnight and lying there until the next morning, wide awake, his mind racing over recent events. It wasn’t like regular sleep deprivation where he was fatigued afterwards, he just didn’t seem to need the sleep. He’d been awake for three days now and was knackered, he’d been pushing himself further every time, curious to see how far he could go without rest. He knew he’d only need around eight hours to be back on track. Odd, considering he’d been awake around 72 hours. Very odd.
He pushed his door open and the cold air, coupled with the urgent sense that something wasn’t right, struck him like sleepwalking into the neighbours’ swimming pool. His eyes opened wider, looking for anything out of place. He saw nothing though the window was open, explaining the coldness in the air. He pulled the old window shut while he considered getting double-glazing, then turned around and scanned the room once more. All appeared well.
The following morning, with much-needed sleep behind him now, Draeden went downstairs to the dining hall feeling refreshed and alert, the haze of exhaustion lifted from his shoulders like a weight off his mind. In the huge room there was a long table with space for thirty-two people. He wasn’t sure why he’d bought such a stupidly long table, probably because a regular four-seater would look more out of place than Lawrence Fishbourne at a White Power rally. Sitting at one end of the table was Alexandra, who cautiously ate some cereal. Draeden looked up the other end of the table where sat Marius. Draeden cocked an eyebrow at Alex.
Draeden: Is he bothering you?
Alex: Huh?
Draeden: Him.
He pointed at Marius, who frowned. Alex’s eyes widened with surprise.
Alex: Holy shit! How long has he been there?
Draeden: He was there when I came in. You looked a bit nervous.
Alex: I kept hearing footsteps but I didn’t know where from, I had no idea he was even in the room!
Marius had crept closer while they spoke.
Draeden: You! Just last night I told you to leave Alex alone, can’t you manage one simple request?
The ghost looked furious.
Marius: Believe it or not, idiot mortal, I am here with the best intentions. I also heard the footsteps.
Draeden: You mean it wasn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me there were other ghosts here?
Marius shrugged.
Marius: You didn’t ask.
Draeden: Twat. Can you see them? Speak to them?
Marius: I can see some of them, their forms are... missing.
Draeden: What do you mean by “missing”?
Marius: Gone. Forgotten. They look like they have pieces missing, though they do not appear to be dismembered. Just gone.
Draeden: And can you speak to them?
Marius: Oh, I can speak to them. As can you! But whether they understand or listen is another matter as I’m sure you can imagine, mortal.
Draeden: Why wouldn’t they understand?
The spirit smiled.
Marius: Many years of being dead but sent to walk the Earth for all eternity has an impact on the soul that the living could never hope to comprehend. Only the finest of minds and quickest of wits could even think of spending hundreds of years in solitude, unable to touch, feel or communicate with the outside world. I can’t tell how long these spirits have been here, but they’re totally insane. They probably won’t cause any trouble.
Draeden: “Probably”?
Marius: They can barely see each other, let alone the living. You walk on another plane of existence to the dead.
Draeden: How can we get rid of them?
Marius: You can’t.
Draeden: What? Why?
Marius: How should I know, idiot? All I know is they’re kind of one with this place, without them Georgia Mansion would not be what it is.
Draeden stared at him in silence for a moment. Alex looked from da’Silva to Darksky, her expression one of nervousness.
Draeden: “Not what it is”? What the fuck does that mean?
Marius shrugged. By now he was standing beside Alex, he had been slowly walking along the length of the room as he spoke, taking long but slow strides, both hands behind his back. He passed the two mortals and rocked on the heels of his shoes.
Draeden: This place is well and truly fucked up isn’t it?
Marius said nothing, though he did nod.
Marius: Think of them as the creaks in the floorboards, the whisper in the wind, the groaning of a building centuries old. They make Georgia Mansion what it is.
Draeden: That’s bullshit. That’s like saying Foshan wouldn’t be Foshan without the rats. It’s not rat city, that’s for fucking sure, and this isn’t the House on Haunted Hill either.
Marius: Still, there’s nothing you can do about it so you may as well get used to it, mortal. There are millions of spirits loose in the world. Billions, even. Someone as stupid as you could never comprehend that.
Draeden: You’ve got an awfully smart mouth for someone stupid enough to become enslaved for all eternity.
Marius just scowled and marched off, disappearing through a wall. Alex looked up at Draeden.
Alex: I hate this house. I really really fucking hate this house.
Draeden smiled.
Draeden: It’s quirky.
Alex: Quirky? QUIRKY? It has fucking insane ghosts in every room that don’t even know who the fuck they are, where the fuck they are, or what the fuck to do with themselves for the rest of forever! What if they cut our throats in our sleep? You’ll not be fucking smiling then, will you?
Draeden: Depends if I was having a good dream.
He knew he wouldn’t be, but it was worth saying for the look on Alexandra’s face, which now looked like a space hopper full of blood.
Alex: This is fucking serious! You can’t possibly live here with mad ghosts!
Draeden: Of course I can!
Alex: Yeah YOU can.
Draeden sighed and the pair of them held their breath while distant footsteps seemed to draw nearer. Alex stared at Draeden in horror as the steps were almost on top of them before trailing off somewhere behind them. Their eyes followed the path of the ghostly wanderings but saw nothing, the footsteps eventually faded into the distance and the pair started breathing again.
Alex: I wish Styx was here.
Draeden: What’s he doing anyway?
Alex: Dunno, said he had family problems.
Draeden: That’s all he told me.
Alex: Just he could scare all the ghosts away.
Draeden sighed. It was looking more and more like he’d have to consult Apocalypticus for advice, to go back to Ayreon.
