The Wraith Master's Chronicles - 1

Chapter 1: The Curse of the Wraith.

 

Castle Glenburg was neither a popular place nor was it featured in many tourist handbooks however on this particular day a small group of tourists had planned a small visit to it.

It was a summer day in the Scottish mountainside. Bobby Mehra and a few friends had been invited by their mutual friend Daniel to visit the beautiful Castle of Glenburg located in the beautiful northern mountains of Scotland. Bobby, Daniel, Cecily and John were four friends that pursued different interests in life but were good friends since the time they first met in their common boarding school in England.

Bobby was a twenty seven year old professional photographer and a traveler who resided in India. He had a good reputation amongst the community of professional photographers and used to make money selling good pictures. However, he adored the adventure in visiting new places rather than taking pictures of them. He had always wanted to visit Scotland since his friend Daniel would constantly tell him about the beautiful and picturesque mountains all over the country while they were in school. 

Daniel was a twenty eight year old executive who worked for a big pharmaceutical company in Scotland. He was financially stable and his fat paychecks would literally allow him to enjoy expensive vacations many times in the year.

Cecily was a twenty seven year old travel columnist who was quite renowned and wrote weekly for a newspaper in Britain. Her trips to little known places were often sponsored by her employer since those were the places she often wrote about.

John Cheung was a twenty nine year old businessman from Hong Kong who had made a sizable fortune for himself by exporting traditional Chinese consumer products around the world.

For Bobby and John, this was their first trip to Scotland. Cecily had visited a few places in the southern part of the country before. Daniel drove the car up the mountain road. It was quite misty for a summer day and the sunlight was really poor. They finally arrived at their destination, the Glenburg castle. The mists made it hard to see anything beyond the castle and the castle appeared like a mere shadow followed by mountains of mists. Bobby took a picture of the castle; it was not a good one with the mist playing spoil sport.

Cecily seemed to be the most excited one in the lot.” This place gives me the spooks, I think it would make an exciting story for my next week’s column,” she looked at Bobby with an aggressive smile, “Won’t you share that picture with me? “

Daniel surveyed the surroundings and rubbed his hair with one hand, “I swear the place looked better in the travel catalog.” 

John laughed and said,”Did you pick up a B movie catalog instead of a traveling one?”

All the friends laughed at this and moved towards the gate of the castle. There seemed to be another group of travelers there. It was a group of three men and three women who were probably Americans. They were jesting about how the “Ghost” of the castle would kill them one after another just like in a slasher movie. The ten tourists were greeted by a uniformed man who thanked them for their patronage in form of the tourist fee and informed them that their fees will be used for castle restoration purposes. He asked the group of people to follow him as he led them inside the castle. Castle on plains would usually have moats around them but this castle’s defense was its location. In the past, soldiers would shoot down invaders and intruders from the higher vantage positions of the castle. 

The castle looked better inside. The first room was furnished into a cozy lobby with a map of the entire castle. There was a reception desk with an old man who was asleep. The uniformed man told them that they are free to visit castle areas that have not been locked and are well lit. He also told the people to avoid venturing into areas that are improperly lit. There were two sets of ways from the lobby leading to the different parts of the castle. The other group took the way leading to the top of the castle. Bobby’s group took the other way. They walked through a corridor adorned with the decor of medieval times. Bobby was a disappointed a bit. Photography was not allowed within the castle. He would require a license from the Scottish Government to take pictures in here. He savored the sights of the castle with his eyes nonetheless. Cecilia had a notepad in her hand and was eager to jot down details about the castle’s interior. John kept asking Daniel about various things and structures that he encountered.

They walked across several rooms enjoying the beauty of the castle. One thing however was odd; all of the castles windows had been sealed with perforated metal sheets. This allowed air to get in but hardly allowed sunlight to get in. Though, there wasn’t much sunlight outside due to mists anyway. 

Cecilia chuckled and commented, “Maybe they sealed the windows because people would jump out and commit suicides.”

“Jeez, could you stop making it sound like a spooky story, Ceci?” replied Daniel.

Cecily laughed out loudly as she jotted more things on her notepad which already had several pages full of details. They could hear sounds of people laughing and talking on the floor above. It was probably the other group of tourists. After walking for some time across the castle’s lower floor, they came across a corridor which was lit by flaming torches.

Bobby raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, “Now that’s an authentic castle feel!”

John showed apprehension in entering the corridor. “Hmm, this corridor is not well lit. The castle staff guy told us to not enter improperly lit areas. We can’t even see the other end of the corridor.”

Cecily laughed and looked at John with a mean stare, “Are you afraid, John?

“I am not afraid but something in this corridor gives me the creeps.”

“Improperly lit often means unlit. This corridor has flaming torches. This has to be the star attraction of the castle. If we don’t go in there, we are missing out this castle’s true offering.”

Daniel expressed support in the idea and said, “I agree, let’s explore this area.”

The four walked into the corridor. What they had failed to notice was a board that had apparently fallen down flat on the floor and was thus hard to notice. The board read, “Prohibited area. Please do not enter.” The corridor was a long one and the room beyond it had a few windows which were all sealed. This room had no artificial light and there was no other room beyond it. It seemed like some kind of an armory with cannons placed near the sealed windows and a lot of old rifles stacked in the corners. There were a lot of crates on the floor and too many obstructions. The room looked a ruin with little to no restoration. It resembled a room in an old rock fort. Something was bothering Daniel and he appeared to be in thought. Bobby saw an odd expression on Daniel’s face and asked, “Something wrong Dan?”

“It is probably nothing but I recall that no other castle I know has had flaming torches in it. I mean it is against fire safety or something.”

Cecily jumped in the conversation, “Maybe they took special permission from the Government or the fire authority. This does add a bit of an unique touch to the castle.”

“I don’t know Ceci, just feels odd.”

John’s apprehensions grew stronger than before. There was definitely something wrong in the room and here they were chatting and talking in a room that barely had any light.

There was a loud commotion at the reception desk of the castle. The old man who happened to be the castle’s caretaker was extremely angry. Two of his subordinates in their uniforms stood before him as he reprimanded them.

“Are you two fools? I explicitly told you to lock that corridor before any tourists visit the castle. What would happen if a tourist were to enter the armory accidentally?”

“We put up a board, Sir. It clearly says that the room is off limits and that entry is prohibited.”

“And since when do tourists ever read boards? You boys should have known better than that. Go and lock up that corridor right now.”

“Yes Sir.”

The two rushed off fearing their jobs. The caretaker would ensure that this part of the castle was always off limits. It was opened the last morning for some renovation work but his employees did not bother to close the corridor. They simply put a board there.

As the four explored the armory they felt as if the temperature dipped. Bobby felt a bit uneasy.

“It is getting cold. Aren’t we in summer? Does it get this cold usually?” He looked at Daniel for an answer.

Daniel shrugged and responded, “It doesn’t get this cold in summer but maybe they turned the air conditioning up.”

“That’s odd,” said Cecilia “There seem to be no air conditioning ducts in this room or in the castle for that matter. They would not try to install something like that in an old heritage structure like this.”

John’s face had gone pale and he shouted out frantically, “We should go back…NOW.”

This is when the other three realized something, the room was getting darker and they could not hear any sounds from outside the castle. No birds, no crickets, nothing but an absolute dreadful silence. And for some reason the other end of the room connecting to the corridor seemed to be slowly drifting away from them. The four stopped talking and focused on the one sound that they could now hear. It was not a pleasant sound. It sounded like a snake’s hissing or someone whispering. The sound was getting louder and menacing. It seemed to be coming from above them on the ceiling.

The light of the torches in the corridor seemed to dim and blur and the four friends were now extremely frightened. Suddenly, Bobby spotted a rather large shadowy figure hanging over them. He felt his heart race. He had never seen anything like this before. What in the world was that thing?

“Guys, out of this room, now.” He said in a tone indicating urgency.

The four of them turned towards the door to be greeted by a ghastly sight. One that no one would consider to even exist in today’s times. The shadowy figure had moved from the ceiling to right in front of them. This figure seemed to resemble a man but it floated in the air and had a tattered cloak over it. Its eyes glowed in a manner that brought terror in the hearts of the four. The thing was whispering words in an incomprehensible language. Daniel felt that it resembled an ancient Gaelic dialect, once used in this land.

John started panicking, “What is that? What is that? Is that a Ghost? “

Cecilia shouted, “Forget about what that is, just run!”

The four friends ran across the room towards the torch lit passage. The apparition came after them whispering incoherently. As it moved, wisps of darkness leaked from its body and dissolved into the air. It was the most unpleasant sight. As the four entered the corridor, John’s panic got the better of him and he fell on the ground screaming. He started reading some Buddhist verses in hopes that it would keep the thing away. Cecily tried to get him up but he could not even move. Cecily continued to run out. Daniel and Bobby stopped at the entrance facing the specter in a bid to defend John who would otherwise be a prey to it. Daniel shouted out” What do you want? Go away, leave us.”

Cecily spotted the two staff men who had come to seal the corridor. They could hear the screaming and voices on the other side of the corridor. One of them looked at Cecily grimly and asked, “Please tell me, you did not go in there. Did you not read the board?”

Cecily grew angry and frustrated.“What board?” 

The men then noticed that the board had fallen down and looked at each other in alarm. One of them told to the other.

“Tell Mr. Sutherland, immediately. I will try and get the people out.”

As the other man ran away to the caretaker’s desk, this man ran inside the corridor bravely with Cecily frozen in fear staring into the long corridor.

The spirit moved towards Bobby, Daniel and John as John cowered on the floor in fear. Out of instinct, Bobby grabbed a torch on the corridor’s walls and thrust it forward towards the specter. The apparition stopped advancing and retreated. It was afraid of fire. Bobby was both frightened and angry. He charged at the specter with the torch in his hand. 

The man who was running into the corridor to help them could now spot all of them. He saw what Bobby was doing. He had a bewildered look on his face and shouted out, “Hey you! Don’t do that! Drop the torch, DROP THAT TORCH NOW!”

But it was too late; in frenzy Bobby charged ahead and pierced the apparition with the torch. The apparition let out a loud scream that literally shook the whole castle. John and Daniel closed their ears to shield them from the loud scream. IT lasted for quite a few seconds. The staff man looked on with horror. A strong wind then blew out of the armory into the corridor. It had the power of a hurricane. The apparition glowed brightly for a brief second and then vanished into thin air. Before vanishing it released a cloud of dark mist that flew towards Bobby and went inside him. Bobby felt very cold in his heart, his skin became pale and he somehow could not feel any positive emotions. He fell down on the floor and fainted.

The darkness vanished and the air felt easier but Bobby had fallen to the ground, overwhelmed by the things that had transpired. His friends looked at him in horror while the man from the castle’s staff grabbed his head with both hands and exclaimed, “What has he done!”

A few minutes later, the American tourists had apparently left the castle. They had heard the screaming and were spooked. Bobby woke up and had a severe headache. Cecilia, Daniel and John were standing around him looking at him. There was an old man with grey hair and a mustache with a pair of glasses looking at him with an odd expression.

Bobby rubbed his eyes and said, “What happened?”

The old man took off his glasses and grabbed Bobby’s hand and pushed Bobby’s sleeve up and said, “That happened.”

Bobby looked at his arm. There was a somewhat of a black spot around the size of a small cookie on his upper arm near the elbow. It was not pitch black and appeared to resemble a rain cloud or a birth mark. Bobby rubbed it, he felt no pain but he could not remove the mark.

“What is this?”

The old man looked at him sympathetically and then said, “Are you sure you want to know?”

Bobby nodded.

The old man then continued, “Firstly, I would like to thank you. Even in your ignorance, you still managed to defeat the old wraith infesting this castle for centuries.” 

Daniel intervened “Did you say wraith? Do they really exist?”

“You just faced one. Wraiths can be destroyed with fire by a human with a good heart. However, there is a price to be paid.”

Bobby was still rubbing the mark on his hand.

“One who defeats a wraith is in turn cursed by it, a curse that ensures a fate worse than even death. The mark of the wraith on his hand can never go away.”

Bobby looked up and asked, “What do you mean?” 

“When people die, they either wander as spirits or go into afterlife. You however will get neither. After you die, your spirit will become a wraith full of darkness and madness. You will forget your memories, your life, everything. You will become very much like the evil you just defeated and become a violent spirit that will attack and even kill the living. You will walk in this world till the end of time or until someone burns your wraith form and takes on your curse.”

Daniel was really upset. “How could you allow tourists in a castle that had a problem of this magnitude?”

The old man replied apologetically, “We had bounded the spirit in a room with sealed windows and the torch lit corridor prevented it from leaving the armory. We would keep the room sealed and work on it during days when there was plenty of sunlight outside. We made a mistake yesterday; we left the door open after the restoration work yesterday.”

Cecily thundered, “Do you know who I am? I was supposed to write a piece on your castle in the next week’s “The Times of the World”. Now should I mention about wraiths in your castle?”

“Young lady, this castle no longer has anything out of the ordinary. Your friend just ensured that. While we are sorry for what has happened. We would appreciate that you do not write an article on our castle. And frankly, no one would believe your story even if you did.”

He was right, it left Cecilia fuming.

The four left the castle with their fees refunded. Bobby sat in the back of the car and calmly looked at his mark. He remembered the old man’s words, “A fate worse than even death.” Back at their hotel, Cecily announced that she must get back to London. She would have to write another piece on another place since could not write about the Glenburg place. John immediately left for Hong Kong. Daniel consoled Bobby and told him that he will find someone who could help him. The day passed. Bobby did not feel anything good within him. He tried to imagine the whole ordeal as a dream but the mark on his arm reminded him that it was real. He was to leave for India in a day’s time. Early morning the next day, his phone rang.It was Daniel. 

“What do you want, Dan? “, asked Bobby.

“Bobby, I may have found a lady in the city who can help you. She is a paranormal investigator and an expert on such things. Maybe she will have an answer to your condition.”

“Well, fine, not like I have anything more to lose.”

“Good, I will mail you her address. Do visit her before you leave.”

Bobby tried to think of all the happy memories in his life but he seemed to only remember the bad ones. Not just his afterlife but also his present life had been corrupted by the wraith. He hoped this woman that Daniel mentioned would be able to help him. He put on his coat and went out. He looked at the address and took a taxi. What his fate had in store for him, no one knew. He was a man marked by a wraith, doomed to lurk in the darkness for eternity.

Rishabh Mittal