This story was written in the spirit of Halloween and will be nine chapters long, posted on Mondays and Thursdays throughout October with the final chapter posted on Halloween and the Epilogue posted on the following Tuesday. I will warn you now that this will be a dark story and you should pay attention to every word because if you don't, you might miss a vital clue. Very little of what is written was not written without the intentions of deception, redirection or subterfuge in mind. And so, without further ado, I present my story ... Sweet Night, Die Of Fright.
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground between light and shadow
-- between man's grasp and his reach;
between science and superstition;
between the pit of his fears and the sunlight of his knowledge.
This is the dimension of imagination.
It is an area that might be called -
The Twilight Zone.
Chapter One
A Dark and Stormy Night
This night was a rare night, and the one night of the year when the veil between the unseen world and the world of the living was at its thinnest, when there was the greatest chance of seeing shadows move when nobody was about, hearing noises where there ought not to be any and maybe - just maybe - witnessing what ought not to be witnessed. Sanity could be strained and nerves could be stretched and played on by unseen fingers that heard beautiful music in the shrieks that resulted from nocturnal journeys.
It was a rare night, indeed, this night in Imladris, for on this night something was happening that had not happened in an age and which could very well spell the doom of the beautiful elven realm and all who dwelt there. The three sons of Elrond, Anayah and the Mirkwood Prince were under one roof - all at the same time - and that fact alone, could very well lead to the end of all things.
Elladan, Elrohir, Aragorn, Anayah and Legolas had planned an evening of entertainment for themselves. They planned a night in front of a blazing fire, roasting and eating different varieties of nuts and drinking fruit drinks while telling stories, and seeing who could scare whom the best.
The adults, Elrond, Thranduil, Glorfindel and Gandalf were in Elrond's sitting room sipping on fine wine and generally relaxing from their duties in the various elven realms and in Gandalf's case, anywhere he happened to be at the moment.
Greyfell was home for a short holiday before he met with some new young Rangers who were to begin training with him, and he and the Guards were sitting in the common area, exchanging stories, laughing and generally enjoying a pleasant evening.
Suddenly, everything got deathly quiet. Outside the Last Homely House the wind quieted, not gradually, but all at once. The rain stopped beating at the windows and the beautiful full moon hid itself behind a thick cloud, stealing the light from the landscape below until everything was shrouded in darkness.
Everyone paused in what they were doing, voices stilled and all movement ceased. The room's candle light began to flicker as if moved by a breeze and in the other rooms, papers lifted off tables and swirled away as the ethereal breeze made its way through the house.
Then the silence in the family's sitting area was broken by the sound of a sarcastic voice.
"Ok. That was not funny ... Gandalf!"
With the speaking of the last word, the name of the grey wizard, Anayah had turned her head toward the doorway and had raised her voice. From the general direction of Elrond's sitting room, a faint voice replied.
"It wasn't me, young one."
"Of course not." Anayah said much more quietly as she turned back to the others and winked.
"Elladan, I think it was your turn to tell a story."
Aragorn threw a roasted nut at his oldest brother to encourage him to get on with the telling of his story. Elladan made himself more comfortable then began.
8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)
"A millennia ago, right in this very house, a human man disappeared and was never seen again although some say that they have seen his spirit roaming the halls while trying to open every door he passes.
There was a time, before the race of man began to look upon the race of Eldar with suspicion, when humans would come to Imladris to work. Their company was enjoyable and it offered the elves a different perspective on the world outside of elven territory. The humans enjoyed working with the elves for they learned many things from them that they would normally never be exposed to. The arts - poetry, metal working, gardening - they loved to learn and the elves loved to teach. It was a wonderful time in our lives and we look upon the memory with much fondness.
There was this one human who had this outstanding capacity for getting lost in the most common places. When we would finally find him, he would tell these fanciful tales about a huge house that had hundreds of rooms. He claimed that he never knew how he got to this place, only that he would blink and there he was. He said he could hear other peoples' voices as if from far off but he could never tell just what they were saying. Apparently, some of the voices were crying sadly but even though he would try to find them so he could try to give aid, he was never able to find where these sad voices were coming from.
Once in awhile he would see a light shining out from underneath one of the doors but the doors to these rooms were always locked and try as he may, he could never get them opened. After a time, he would come to this long hallway and at the far end he could see a large, dark door. This door was much larger than any of the other doors that he had encountered whenever he was there and he knew with great certainty, that that particular door led back home - at least he thought it did.
The human would walk as quickly as he could toward the door but could never get any closer to it. Then, just when he found himself out of breath from his efforts, and on the brink of despair, thinking he would never reach his goal, he would suddenly find himself standing in front of the door. His hand would reach toward the latch and as it did, he would suddenly get this overwhelming feeling of danger, that something horrible and hideous stood on the other side. He trembled and sweat would run down his face as his hand got closer and closer to the latch.
Then, just as his hand touched the latch, and he started to turn it ... he would blink and find himself back at Imladris, with elves standing around, looking at him with concern. This would happen every once in awhile and the elves tried to keep track of him while he was working for they had no explanation for what was happening to the man. Then one day, he was just gone ... nobody could explain it. They never saw him alive again although over the centuries, elves would claim that they would occasionally see him walking the hallways of this very house.
So if you hear footsteps or see a shadow moving from door to door, just point to the front door and hope that if he walks through it, he will finally find his way back home."
Just as Elladan finished his story, every light in the room went out. There was silence and an occasional giggle - and not just from Anayah.
"We are not amused." Anayah said sarcastically from somewhere in the darkness.
Legolas grabbed a poker from beside the fireplace and rearranged the wood until it was once again adding some light to the darkened room. Both twins and Aragorn went from candle to candle in the room but try as they may, the candles refused to burn as they had before they had guttered and died out although they did provide a small amount of subdued lighting.
"I'm going to get some different candles." Aragorn said as he started for the door. "There seems to be something wrong with these."
Elladan frowned.
"Then why were they working fine earlier?"
"Uh ... brothers ... Legolas … Anayah ... anyone ... I can't get the door open."
Aragorn tugged on the door which was refusing to open.
"Do you want me to blast it with a fireball?"
Aragorn's eyes showed his irritation as he turned toward his sister.
"Only if you want to spend the next two centuries locked in your room, Anayah - Ada would have a heart attack. Perhaps less sarcasm and more help would serve our cause better."
He turned back to the door then together with the twins and Legolas, continued to try and open it, looking closely at all parts to try and determine why it would not open.
Then without any warning whatsoever, it swung open and they all jumped backwards, screaming like a group of females.
Holding his hand over his wildly beating heart, Aragorn sat down on a nearby chair.
"Anayah, that was not even remotely funny."
Anayah gave her brother her best imitation of an innocent smile as she walked into the room.
"You wanted help, dear brother, and since none of you 'males' remembered that the balcony's walkway eventually comes out beside the house and hence to the front door and etcetera, I thought I would just take advantage of the moment and lend a hand before you three got a hangnail. By-the-way, there was nothing wrong with the door from that side." She motioned toward the common room with her head.
She was walking over to her seat by the fire when all of a sudden the balcony door and the door leading to the rest of the house suddenly slammed shut. All five of them froze, their eyes wide. Not a breeze stirred inside the room, while outside, the moon still hid behind the clouds and no rain touched the earth even though lightning split the sky and thunder rocked the heavens.
"Ok. Now I am getting wierded out by all this." She lowered her voice and started peering into the shadows. When she turned back to her brothers and Legolas, she took a few steps toward them and whispered ominously. "I think we are not alone."
Suddenly the door to the family room swung open so hard that its momentum forced it into the wall where it bounced back and would have closed again, if Rahan had not caught it and stopped further movement.
Anayah screamed and jumped up on the couch and grabbed Legolas around the neck with one of her arms and held on tight. Legolas screamed and grabbed onto Anayah around the waist for now that she was standing on the couch, she was a little taller than he was. Elladan and Elrohir screamed and grabbed onto each other with Aragorn somewhere in the middle of the two, desperately trying to breathe.
Rahan stood in the doorway looking at the five frightened beings in front of him while behind him, the other three Guards and Greyfell stood watching as well. Finally, the Captain walked fully into the room followed by the others. He spent a moment looking at Anayah who finally realized what she was doing and let go of Legolas who blushed and did the same.
"We heard screams." Was all Rahan said.
The other three Guards were looking around the room while Greyfell looked out the balcony doors.
"The only screams you heard, Rahan, came from us just before we took our last breath and expired … FROM YOU SCARING US TO DEATH!" The glare she sent her Captain's way was quite withering.
Again Rahan frowned.
"No, the screams we heard were not from the five of you. I know what elleths sound like when they scream and that is definitely not what we heard."
The glares the twins, Aragorn and Legolas were sending his way were quite withering but Rahan dutifully ignored them as well.
Anayah realized she was still standing on the couch and after Legolas extended a hand to her, she climbed down.
"Rahan, has anything strange been happening out in the common room?"
"Not that I have noticed." He frowned a moment. "Well, except for this man that keeps walking from one end of the house to the other. I fully intend to ask Lord Elrond about this person when I see him later."
The five young ones looked at each other knowingly.
"There is something else."
Everyone looked at Greyfell who was still standing by the balcony doors.
"It is not raining on this side of the house."
There were a few moments of silence before everyone quickly moved to the balcony doors and after looking outside immediately turned and left the family room, walked quickly through the common room to the other side of the house where they each peered through the glass. Truly, the rain was pouring down while overhead the moon was shining - out of a clear sky - lighting the landscape below.
"Ok. I think the creep factor just went up a notch." Anayah said quietly. "The moon shines down, the rain falls from a cloudless sky, the wind blows while at the same moment on the other side of the building, there is no rain, no wind and no moonlight. And …"
When she didn't finish her sentence and stared over their shoulders, they all turned to see what it was she was looking at. Not one of them spoke as they saw a human man walking through the middle of the room. As he began to climb the stairs to the family's living quarters, Anayah finally came out of her surprised trance and after shoving her way through the crowd of elves and Estel, began to follow the man.
"Anayah, stop." Hissed Aragorn.
"Estel?" Rahan queried.
"That isn't a man, Rahan. It's a ghost."
The heads of all four Guards and Greyfell turned in unison toward a disappearing Anayah. There was only a momentary pause then the entire group ran toward the stairs and began to climb. They were all shocked, for when they reached the floor where the bedrooms were, there was nobody there, not the alleged ghost and not Anayah. The two had disappeared.
TBC