Ravenloft Castle

Elizabeth Phillips goes Ravenloft Castle to deliver a letter to Lord Ravenloft as her father's last dying wish. What she encounters may cost her her own life.

Ravenloft Castle

Mist is something I had never seen during my seventeen years of living in England. There were legends that stated the most evil demonic creatures revealed themselves whenever one saw mist around them. For me, I couldn’t see how something as beautiful as mist could bring out demons. I probably never would’ve seen this mist if my father hadn’t begged me to take a letter up to Ravenloft Castle. That’s another place no one ever goes near; Ravenloft Castle. People in my village claimed that Ravenloft himself was a leader in the art of black magic. I’m not sure if that’s an accurate assumption of him, but if you pass by his castle at night, you’re bound to hear the screams of a woman or child. I guess I’m the type of girl who needs to see something to believe it. My father trusted Lord Ravenloft, so why should I have worry about him?

I made my way up to the castle, only because my father, before dying on his bed, had pleaded with me to give Lord Ravenloft a letter of utmost importance. I was usually escorted to a place like Ravenloft castle with my older brother, Jeremy, but since he was drinking away the loss of our father in one of the taverns in town, I decided to go alone. It was that night that I finally saw mist. To me, it looked like I was being surrounded by white cigarette smoke, or like white powder, after it had fallen to the ground, rising up, encircling my legs and waist. It smelled like the salty ocean breeze. It was beautiful to me. I twirled around in it as if I was five years old.

“Get a hold of yourself, Lizzy!” I cleared my throat and straightened my skirt.

I just had to give him the letter and head home. I needed to finish my portrait of my father before they removed the body anyway. I shouldn’t be daydreaming. With a new motivation in mine, I walked through the mist towards the castle.

The castle itself rested on the tip of Ravenloft cliff. Ravenloft, this man owned everything. I used to chase my brother up the cliff towards the castle during the day for fun when I was younger, so walking up to the castle was not that much of a task for me. As I walked up to the unlit castle, I glanced at the surrounding grounds. The moon gave me enough light to see that the land was perishing . . . mercilessly. I gasped loudly as I spotted a small puppy, lying on its legs, only skin and bones. It looked as if it had not eaten in days. Correction . . . months.

I quickly pulled out a small cold cheese sandwich I had sneaked from the kitchen in case I got hungry, and walked over to the poor creature. I knelt down, a little away from the puppy in case it was one of those crazy dogs that looked as if it was dying but suddenly got energy and attacked. I held out the sandwich to it and smiled as he slowly crept up to me and began to eat it out of my hand.

“No one ever does that for him.” A silky, smooth voice echoed behind me.

I dropped the sandwich, stood up and faced the person who had spoken. I couldn’t see his face because he had it lowered to the ground and a wide brimmed hat was settled atop his head. He wore a plain white shirt with gold cufflinks, black gloves, and a simple black loose denim pants. His leather boots seemed to stand out against the rest of his attire.

He was tall, one of the tallest men I had ever seen and muscular. So muscular that his muscles were bulging out against his tight shirt. I would take a guess and say that he had a flat stomach with muscles rippling along it.

“He seemed hungry, and by the way he ate my sandwich, my assumption was correct.” I gave him a sweet smile.

He tilted his head up and I gasped. His face was the statue of perfection. Pitch black wavy hair that hung down to his shoulders and slightly covered his amber colored, almond shaped eyes.  He had a straight nose that accompanied his high cheekbones. His lips were perfect, not too big, but not too thin either. It was his skin that startled me though. It was pale, like milk white and it released a light glow from it.

He pulled off his hat and inclined his head.

“My name is Lord Erik Castillo.” He said in the same velvety voice as before.

“I am Lady Elizabeth Phillips.” I whispered as if my voice had caught in my throat.

“Phillips? Are you Sir Peter Phillips daughter?” his eyes widened as he stared at my face.

“Yes.” I muttered a bit nervous from his staring.

“Tell your father he has a very beautiful daughter.” He stared at me longingly.

“Thank you, Lord Castillo.”

I didn’t know who he was staring at, but if he was seeing something beautiful, it wasn’t me. I’m far from beautiful, at least that’s what I believe. I was short and slim with black straight hair that had a hint of blue in it. I have no idea how I got blue in my hair. My eyes were big and velvet. I hated them because I knew no one else with purple eyes, and it made me a freak among my friends. My skin was tanned, it had always been tanned, and it wasn’t from the sun, because it was always overcast and raining in England.

“Please, call me Erik. Lord Castillo is so formal, and he’s my father.” He gave me a little wink that sent my face red with blush. “Where are you off to?”

“I need to speak to Mr. Ravenloft as a matter of importance for my father.” I blurted out.

“Funny, I was on my way up to his castle now, may I escort you?” he stepped aside and outstretched his hand for me to walk ahead.

I lowered my head and walked on towards the castle. The remainder of the walk was silent. My thoughts occupied me more than I wanted. I couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous Erik looked, and how sweet he seemed to be. It was guys like him you had to watch out for. They were the ones who were sure to break your heart.

As we approached the doors of the castle, I began to get an eerie feeling about going into the castle. I raised my hand to knock, but Erik grabbed it quickly with his now bare hand. I never even knew he had removed his gloves. His touch was cold and refreshing. It sent instant shivers down my spine and he felt it too. He gave me a curious look and I quickly turned my head away and cleared my throat.

“We don’t have to knock. Ravenloft and I go way back.” He grumbled as he turned the knob and stepped into the dark castle.

The darkness engulfed me and I felt vulnerable. I pressed my back against the now closed front door as one by one, each of the lights in the hallway came on. I glanced around the castle and covered my nose as the scent of dead decaying bodies swarmed around me. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I looked up to see the heads of people. Some of the heads I recognized from the village; the baker, that old cat lady, and even little Timmy who we thought had runaway.

Erik looked up to see what was causing me to scream. He growled loudly and pulled my head to his chest. The warmth from the body calmed me down instantly. It was an odd contradiction from his previously cold hands. I looked up at the heads again and began to choke as I noticed one of the heads was so fresh that blood was still dripping down from its throat. I pulled away and stared at the odd symbols that covered the walls in the hallway, each symbol was drawn underneath each head. The symbol looked like a circle with a straight line cutting across it and the letter ‘V’ covering it.

“It’s the devil house . . .” I murmured more to myself.

“Well that isn’t a very nice thing to say.” A cold drawling voice echoed in front of me.

I looked up into the eyes of Satan himself.  His blood red eyes stood out against his pale skin, just as pale as Erik’s. He was a taller though, but not as buff, more lean than Erik. His hair was blond and curly. His smile was crooked and evil . . . pure evil.

I backed up further into the door as my breathing began to increase rapidly. I held onto the doorknob with my hand behind my back. Erik was growling at the man.

“Damien! Stop this! You’re scaring her!” Erik took a step toward the man.

“Oh fine. You always ruin my fun whenever you’re here. By the way, why are you here?” Damien asked. “And why is this vision of beauty in my castle. You brought me a gift?”

“Touch her and I will kill you.” Erik snapped possessively.

Damien smirked and walked up to me, pushing Erik aside lightly as if he was a rag doll.

“How can I help you?” he asked me, his breath made me feel to throw up. The scent was like old garbage.

“I’m looking for Lord Ravenloft.” I choked out.

“That’s me.” He grinned widely.

I held out the letter with shaking hands. He snatched it quickly and began to read it. I watched as his expression went from one of scrutiny to happiness. He folded the letter and gave me a one over look before handing the letter to Erik. I stared at Erik as his face became contorted with pure rage.

“Lady Elizabeth, did your father tell you why he sent you here with this letter?” Damien asked.

“No, I did it as his last dying wish.” I admitted.

“So you never even read the letter?” he grinned widely at me.

“Why . . . no . . . that would be rude and very out of place on my part.” I stared at him appalled at the idea of my reading a personal letter addressed to someone other than myself.

“What do I have to do?” Erik interrupted.

“What do you mean?” Damien turned to look at Erik in shock. “You mean . . . you like her?”

“Yes.” Erik said unwillingly.

“Oh Erik, what has happened to my brother? You used to be ruthless.” Damien shook his head and faced me. “Your father and I made an agreement many years ago. I was not to kill his family as long as he gave me his oldest daughter when he died. Guess what? He’s dead, and now your mine. Now, if you behave and listen, you won’t end up on wall.”

My head was spinning by then. Was he telling the truth? How could my father do this to me? I couldn’t believe it. My father was the only person who cared about me. He would never have given me up to this monster.

“Would you like to see the letter?” Damien grabbed the letter from Erik and tried to hand it to me.

What could I do? I ran. I threw open the door and ran away from the castle.

“Why do they always f*****g run!” I heard Damien scream before he released a shrill whistle.

I screamed again as I was suddenly encircled by the most vicious looking wolves I had ever seen. The puppy I had been previously feeding was among them. I slowly backed up from them as I heard Erik’s voice echo around me. The wolves looked up at Erik behind me, lowered their heads, and snarled at me before walking away slowly.

“Listen to me, Lizzy. Running away is not going to save you. Let me deal with him.” Erik grabbed my shoulders from behind and whispered into my ear.

I nodded my head slowly as tears began to fall. He grabbed my hand and led me into the castle. I stood behind him in the hallway as Damien stared at us.

“You can’t be serious. You’re going to fight me for that?” Damien released a maddening laugh. “Very well, bring it on.”

Damien threw off his shirt and flexed his muscles. He ran towards Erik with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. He knocked Erik back into the ground and began to grip his head as if he was trying to tear it off. I stared at them in disbelief as Erik wrapped both legs around Damien and turned him over quickly, pinning him down to the ground. Damien’s eyes began to glow as he opened his mouth in anger, revealing a pair of sharp long fangs. His nails grew three inches as he reached up and slashed Erik’s neck. Erik bellowed in pain, held his neck that was now smoking and rolled off.

“Don’t make me kill you, brother.” Damien spat out before standing up and dusting his clothes off.

He looked over to me and smiled with his fangs fully exposed. I began to back up as he stepped up towards me. He frowned at my backing up and glared at me.

“Stop moving and come here!” he ordered.

My mind told me to not move, but my body was paralyzed to his words as it moved itself towards him. He smiled at me sweetly, bent my neck to the right and ran his nail along my jugular vein. He licked his fangs before bending his head towards my neck. I felt his teeth graze my neck before his fangs punctured my skin. He bit down harder as he began to suck my blood from the puncture wounds. I screamed in pain as my neck began to heat up. My entire body began to writhe and shake, but I couldn’t push him away.

As fast as he had bitten me, he had pulled away. I stared, still paralyzed as Damien’s body was thrown out of the castle, into the barren land. I blinked in shock as I watched Erik, his own nails grown to four inches in length, as he ripped off Damien’s head by the throat.

I threw up then, from all the blood and gore. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My body instantly came out of its paralyzed state as Damien’s limp body fell to the ground. I dropped to my knees, holding my neck in pain, feeling the blood gush out fast.

“Erik . . .” I whispered breathlessly.

Erik slowly turned to me, his face showing pure sympathy. He slowly stepped up to me and smiled down at me. His hand was outstretched as his palm touched my cheek.

“I’m sorry I allowed him to touch you.” His velvety voice breathed into my ear. “But I’m afraid I don’t touch things that have already been tainted.”

My eyes widened as both his hands cupped my cheeks. He pressed his hands to my face harder as he twisted hard . . . snapping my neck off.

 

Reviews

[Dutch Jr.]

Wow, awesome story. Your style was made for this type of writing. I love your descriptions and your emotion you drove the action with. nice work.