13 Good Ghostly Nigh (1/2)

Heavy footsteps resounded in the attic. There was no way that it could be an animal unless a Grizzly had managed to sneak in. Moreover, the only way for the attic was in his room, if there was to be someone, he was a madman, or he had the brainpower of an oyster. Without thinking for a second more, Hector took his chair and removed the false ceiling that led to the attic, he jumped effortlessly pushed by his adrenaline.

The young man opened carefully his eyes. There was no sound, no movement at all. He walked around the attic as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead. But nothing.

[Balam, it's weird, I feel uncomfortable here… really… I don't really want to believe it, but it could be a ghost or something like that…?] he waited for an answer, but only silence was present. [Balam?]

\”Is there anyone there?!\” he asked in a loud voice, hoping that his anxiety would not be felt by the presence.

There was no answer yet; he went around the attic again, but nothing.

There seemed to be no animals either, not even a rodent. Hector decided to go back to his room, moreover, Balam was not there, or at least he was not talking. Usually, in this kind of situation he is more talkative than normal, so not hearing him talk at that very moment was weird, as if something was blurring the communications between him and the demon.

However, just before he left, a thumping noise resounded in the attic and made the floor tremble. A large book had fallen from an old dirty table, releasing a suffocating cloud of dust. Hector's face immediately tightened as he squinted.

\”Who are you?\” he continued, by squinting his eyes.

A noise of slippage came to the ears of Hector. The book slipped towards him, gently. He simply decided to get it back, but a second after holding it in his hand, he felt like a kind of cold touch on his neck. He managed to control his fear and remained motionless in the hope of understanding what this spirit wanted from him. He looked at the title of the book: \”Give back\”.

Hector looked up at the table where the book had fallen, then stood up to put it back in its place.

\”I think I understand-\” Hector was cut off by a noise one floor down, someone was knocking on his bedroom door.

\”Are you all right?\” Selena's voice asked. \”I heard some suspicious noises, I'm going in.\”

\”No, wait! Wait!\” he exclaimed, rushing towards the hole that allowed him to go down to his room.

When Selena entered, she just saw Hector fall from the ceiling in a heavy crash as dust fell from the attic into his room. Despite the fact that the situation was unusual, she leaned over to him to see if he had anything broken without a word, before raising an eyebrow. Her long ears moved slightly, then they stopped moving.

The elf pulled out the sword from the sheath she had with her at all times and kept it in her hand for a moment before swinging it with all her might towards the ceiling, the blade crossed all the way through it, leaving only the handle of the sword still visible. Immediately afterward, she stood in front of Hector, staring at the hole in the ceiling, put her arm forward, before a rune appeared in the air in front of her hand. A fraction of a second later, a ball of electricity illuminated the room with a blue light.

\”Who are you?\” Selena asked in an authoritative tone. \”I wouldn't have done so if your energy wasn't so obviously evil.\” she paused before continuing to speak alone. \”You have the same energy signature as those crazy old Andras… don't make me think you don't have anything bad.\”

Selena decided to throw the ball of electricity while reducing its size, it left at high speed for a space that Hector saw empty; the ball seemed to hit something before it was as if it were sucked in, then sent back in the opposite direction towards Selena. The elf had time to take out a small dagger that she had at her waist to put it in the direction of the electric ball. The ball hit the knife but did not electrify Selena thanks to the leather handle of the weapon. She raised her hand in the air and pointed her sword still stuck in the ceiling with her finger and pronounced a spell that Hector could not understand. The blade illuminated with a faint light before lighting the attic with a strong white light, so bright that the light could be seen from the outside escaping between the roof tiles.

The young man thought he heard a distant cry, a female moaning coming out of the attic. The young man's discomfort stopped immediately as if the presence that had made him uncomfortable all that time had suddenly evaporated. Selena turned to Hector, her eyes wide open.

\”Is everything all right? Didn't my magic touch you?\” she asked in an urgent tone.

\”Y-Yes, everything's fine, thank you…\” replied Hector, a little lost. \”I couldn't see it, but I guess it was some kind of ghost… right?\”

\”A Banshee, she looked weakened by something… as if another entity was trying to fight her.\” she gave up her squatting position, to get up and take a quick look in the attic. \”Couldn't it be the spirit that accompanies you?\”