eiahmon | Inheritance Chapter 3

Title: Inheritance
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its settings and characters belong to Frictional Games. I’m only borrowing them for a while.
Summary: When Alexander Kesler gets a letter, which claims that she is the only descendant of Alexander of Brennenburg, she is compelled to go investigate. She soon wishes that she hadn’t.

3.
A Discovery

I was woken in the afternoon by Walther knocking on my door. "Ms. Kesler, are you alright?"

I fumbled for my cell phone that was on the bedside table and looked at the time; nearly three in the afternoon. I hadn't fallen asleep until nearly 8 in the morning after what had seen in the mirror, and I had spent a good chunk of time trying to convince myself it had all been a dream.

Walther knocked again. "Ms. Kesler?"

"I'm alright." I called back as I sat up. My eyes were full of sand, and I could feel the headache that was clawing at my temples. It wasn't going to be a good day, I just knew it.

"Would you like to have an early dinner or maybe a late lunch, Ms. Kesler?"

"That would be fine, Walther." I responded, not caring one way or another. My only concern was popping some pain pills and dragging my throbbing head into the shower, along with the rest of me.

"As you wish, Ms. Kesler." Walther said, and I heard him walking away. I groaned and flopped back down for a moment, before I figured that I had better get up. I threw the blankets back and dragged myself to the closet to get to my suitcase. The thought occurred to me as I opened it that I had better unpack later. I dug around until I found the clothes that I wanted as well as my small bottle of aspirin. I dry swallowed a couple tablets on the spot and then hauled myself to the bathroom.

A quick scrub down in the shower did wonders for my mood, which only improved even more as the aspirin kicked in and my headache melted away. Once I was dried, dressed, and feeling human again, I had almost forgotten about my experiences the day before. I picked up the map that Walther had given me, and as I turned to leave the room, I glanced back into the bedroom to see my cell phone lying on the end table and suddenly felt chilled.

Because I had lost it in that room the previous day, and it hadn't been on the night stand when I had gone to bed.

I shivered hard and left the room at just below a run.

******

After I had eaten, Walther informed me that he needed to go into the nearby village of Altstadt to pick up a few things. I was about to ask if I could accompany him when he said that the weather was supposed to turn sour soon, so he would go alone. I was curious about the village, but since, as a lifelong resident of Tornado Alley, I was fully aware the threat that severe weather carried. I simply nodded in understanding and asked him to be careful. He gave me a smile and said that he would be back in a few hours.

"Walther?" I asked as he was turning to leave the room "Is this castle.... haunted by chance?"

Walther paused for an endless moment, and then he turned and walked back to the table, where I was still sitting. He pulled up a chair beside me and looked me in the eye.

"Yes," he said simply "but you mustn't let them frighten you. They are harmless, and scaring visitors to the castle is apparently how they entertain themselves. Have you experienced something already?"

I told him of what had happened in the storage room, but I didn't mention my phone's reappearance. That was just too weird to explain, even though I had seen it with my own eyes. I also told him of the old man that had appeared in my bedroom the previous night.

"An old man, you say?" Walther asked "Can you describe him?"

"I didn't see him too well, but he had white hair just past his shoulders, and he was wearing a red jacket or coat that seemed to go past his waist. After that, I can't tell you." As I spoke, I noticed Walther getting paler and paler, and when I finished, he just stared at me silently for a moment as I resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze.

"Walther?" I asked hesitantly "How did this place come to be haunted?" I'd had encounters with a few haunted houses in my life, including one that had become so after a murder suicide had taken place in its walls, so I really wanted to know how my castle came to be inhabited by ghosts.

He blinked and shook his head. "This castle's history is a bit... dark, if you will, Ms. Kesler. Many people disappeared in this area without a trace, and the last Alexander was believed to be responsible for many atrocities, though no one was able to prove it." A cold blast of air roared through the dining room them, rattling the chains of the lights hanging from the ceiling above. I shivered, and Walther's eyes darted back and forth for a moment before he refocused on me. "Some insist that that is why Alexander vanished; he fled before the king's men could reach him and see him punished for his crimes."

"And the Englishman?" I asked nervously.

"He vanished as well. No one was able to find him, and if it hadn't been for the fact that villagers in Altstadt saw him arrive in town and watched him depart for the castle, it would have been impossible to tell that he had been here at all."

"With Alexander gone, why wasn't the property auctioned off or something?" I asked "Surely someone would have wanted it and claimed lordship over the region."

"No one wanted to be associated with the Vampire of Brennenburg. My family was appointed to care for the castle, and we have lived here ever since." He stood up from his chair. "And now, I must head into the village. I hope to be back for the storm, but if it breaks, I will stay in the village to wait it out. If the electricity fails, use the candles and torches. There are oil lamps around as well, and if you are curious about the history of the castle, there are books and manuscripts in the Archives. Your map will show you how to get there from here. I will return as soon as I can."

I walked with him to the Entrance Hall and watched from the massive front steps as he climbed into a smaller, newer car - a silver Mercedes-Benz B Class - for the drive to the village. As he drove away, I walked back inside and closes the doors, surprised at how easy they were to move despite their size. I then pulled my map out of my pocket and looked at it for the location of the Archives. My map led me to the second level of the entrance hall and right, down a short corridor, though a fancy red metal door, into the Archives. My map was just a general layout of the castle, so it took me a bit of wandering to find the Recent History room, which had the books I was looking for. It took me even longer to find one that I could read, since just about everything was in German, and I had taken French in high school instead. To my luck, I was able to find a book written by a French visitor to the area, and though the language was a bit archaic compared to what I had learned, I was still able to read and understand it. I found a comfy chair outside the room, and after lighting the nearby lamp, I settled down to read.

Soon I was lost in tales of the Immortal Baron (Alexander, one of them anyway) and the tales of the mysterious Gatherers. believed to the be deserters from the Thirty Years' War that were forever damned to roam the forests. Horribly mutated by their taint (Only in Europe can abandoning your post get you cursed for eternity.) they stalk the forest around the castle, dragging burlap sacks behind them. The shy away from people for the most part, but they had captured people, as well as animals, stuffed them in their sack, and hauled them off to who knows where, never to be seen again. After the last Alexander disappeared, the Gatherers also mysteriously vanished, which to many was the final proof that he had been responsible for the loss of so many people.

A distant rumble of thunder made me look up from the book, and a few seconds later, a flash of lightning outside the sole window in a little private study off the main room let me know that another storm was rolling in. I put the book back on the shelf and returned to my room to begin unpacking. As I walked through the castle, I noted the many tinderboxes lying about, which confirmed my earlier suspicion that the power wasn't reliable. Thankfully, the power back home wasn't reliable during bad weather either, so I knew how to use the damn things to light fire, candles, and oil lamps, though I preferred the simplicity of a box of matches. I had often wondered why my parents and grandparents had kept them around, but I was grateful for that now, since I had a sinking feeling that there were few, if any, matches in the castle.

A half hour or so later, once I had everything put away, my stomach began to rumble, and I looked at my cell phone to see that nearly five hours had gone by since I had eaten last. Taking up my map, I wandered off in search of the kitchen and a quick snack. I found it quickly, and it was a fairly modern kitchen, though the appliances looked a couple decades old. Everything was electric, so I figured I had better grab something fast. There was a large stone fireplace against one wall, with the hook and spit necessary for cooking over an open fire, and many camping trips with my dad as a kid had ensured I could cook that way, but I preferred using just a regular stove. I rummaged in the cabinets and fridge , noticing as I did so that there were no signs of the massive feast that Walther had made the day of my arrival, and made myself a bowl of soup and a sandwich, which I then ate at the simple wooden table in the center of the room. As I was washing up afterward, the lights flickered, and I could hear the wind roaring outside.

“I hope Walther made it back.” I said to myself as I finished washing my dishes and dried my hands on a nearby towel. I had no desire to stay in the castle alone during a power outage. By then it was nearly 9pm, and I was still tired from my sleepless night, so I opted to go back to my room and hit the sack. The power flickered again, so to be safe, I grabbed an oil lamp that was seated on a nearby countertop, and after making sure the wick was trimmed, the vents were clear, and that the reservoir was filled and ready, I used a tinderbox that had been sitting next to it to light it. Once it was going, I put the chimney back on and adjusted the wick to get the desired brightness. It wasn’t bright enough to read by, but it was more than enough light to get me back to my rooms in case the power failed. I just had to make sure not to drop it or bad things could happen.

Picking up the lamp by its conveniently shaped reservoir, I made sure to grab the tinderbox as well and stuff it in a pocket, and then I walked out of the kitchen, once again using my map to get where I needed to go. I had barely made it out of the kitchen, when the power flickered again, and a second later, a blinding flash of lightning that was a accompanied by a deafening roar of thunder plunged the castle into darkness as the power failed. I stood still for a second while I waited for my eyes to adjust, and then I continued on my way, holding my map close to the lamp so I could see it. I couldn’t see it very well, but it was enough to get me back to my rooms in short order. I put the map down on the desk in the main room and went to the bathroom to take care of a few things and change into my night clothes. Once that was done, I went back to the bedroom, set the lamp down on the nightstand, blew it out, and climbed into bed. My last though before falling asleep was that I hoped that I wouldn’t have any more nightly visitors.

******

Wake up, Alexandra!

The loud voice startled me from a deep sleep, and I sat straight up in bed. Two things became apparent to me quickly: one, the storm was still raging outside, and two: something was moving around in the main room. The bedroom door, which I had left open when I had gone to bed, was now closed, and I could hear something shuffling around on the other side.

“Walther?” I called out uncertainly, and my call was answered by the strangest sounding growl I had ever heard, followed by something body slamming the wooden door in an attempt to get in.

You must hide! Now!

I didn’t know where the voice was coming from, but it didn’t have to tell me twice. As the whatever it was slammed against the door a second time, I dove off the bed and shimmied on my stomach under it. I was thankful that it was such a large bed as I tried to lay on the floor exactly in the middle, so I would hopefully not be seen from either side. I heard the door being slammed into a third time, and then, on the fourth time, I heard it splinter into pieces, followed by that strange, terrifying growl. I could hear my blood roaring through my ears and feel my heart pounding, and I hoped that whatever was in the room with me wouldn’t hear it either, as I held my breath as the unknown thing came into the room.

I could hear its feet on the wood floor, and a flash of lightning allowed me to get a brief glimpse of them, which forced me to clamp my hand over my mouth to stop the scream that wanted to come out. The toes looked human, and from what I could see that wasn’t covered by the bandages, the feet appeared human as well, but that is where the similarities ended. The bandages ended at just above the ankle, and the height of the bed allowed me to see that entire chunks of skin and muscle were missing above those, allowing the bone to be plainly visible. Above that, a rough patchwork of stitches held other part of the skin closed, though whoever had done it had done a seriously half-assed job. Its shuffling gait was also nothing like I had seen a human walk with, even a disabled one.

The creature shuffled around the bed, making all sorts of strange noises, which forced me to swallow a whimper lest it hear me when it stopped only a couple feet from my face. I could smell decay and rot, yet strangely, under that, I could detect a slight hint of spiced wine. Despite my circumstances, hiding under my bed from who knows what, I was able to think how strange that was and actually had to resist the urge to laugh hysterically at the absurdity of it all.

A second later, I was abruptly yanked back to reality when the thing began to make some kind of sound; it sounded like it was trying to hack up a hair ball to be honest, and then it began to walk away. I tracked its shuffling footsteps as it walked back into the main room, and then I heard the door to the hallway open and shut. I released the breath that I had been holding, but I still didn’t move from under the bed for the next several minutes. I had visions of it waiting in the other room, waiting for me to creep out, and I wanted to give it a chance to get good and gone before I budged an inch.

When I finally gathered the courage to pull myself out of my hiding place, I cautiously crept out of the bedroom into the main room, using the by then nearly continuous lightning to see. The main room was empty, and I carefully made my way over to the bathroom to check it as well. The door was shut, and I spent a few minutes working up the nerve before I reached out with one shaking hand and touched the knob. I turned it but didn’t pull the door open, and when I didn’t hear anything on the side, I slowly pulled it open. The bathroom was also empty, and I allowed myself to let out a sigh of relief.

Run! Flee! Get out of the castle!

I tried to ignore the voice, which I could tell was a man’s, and ran back to the bedroom. Still using the lightning for light, I hurriedly dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a flannel, before I hastily pulled my socks and shoes on. I stuffed my cell phone in one pocket and stuffed my house keys in the other. I left the rest of my luggage. My only concern was getting out of the castle and to the nearest town. Then I could worry about getting home. A quick check on the nearest light switch confirmed that the power was still out, which while disappointing, wasn’t surprising, so I grabbed the tinderbox and lamp and cautiously crept to the door that led into the hallway. I also made sure to grab the map on the way.

I eased the door open and peeked my head out. Seeing nothing, I lit the lamp and ventured out into the dark corridors. My nerves were in shattered pieces by then, and the hand holding the lantern shook as I practically tip toed down the hallway, trying to stick to the shadows, so that a stray lightning flash wouldn’t light me up for everything to see. It didn’t help that every time my eyes would adjust to the dim light of the lamp, a flash of lightning would destroy my night vision, which forced my eyes to adjust all over again. I held the lamp to my side to help that a bit, and I scarcely dared to breath as I made my way back to the entrance hall.

A tense ten minutes later, I extinguished the lamp, so it wouldn’t announce my presence to anything, and carefully pushed open the door that led to the entrance hall. The hinges creaked loudly in the large room, and I ran back to the a large wardrobe that had randomly sitting there and climbed inside and shut the doors in case anything had heard that. I tried to control my wheezing breath while I waited, and after several minutes, I decided that it was as safe as it was going to get and crept out of the wardrobe and back to the door. There were only a few small windows in the large two story room, so lightning did not illuminate it well enough to tell if there was anything in there. I decided to just go for it, and I ran hell bent for election down the stairs and into the short hallway that led to the front doors. All the while the lightning and thunder kept up a constant assault, making it impossible to see and hear at times.

I yanked the front doors open and ran through the freezing downpour and howling wind down the steps to find an unpleasant surprise.

The limo that Walther had picked me up from the airport in, and which had been parked there earlier in the day, was gone. So was Walther’s other car. I stood at the bottom of the steps and felt my hope for escape wither and die. With such a violent storm, going out into the forest was a dangerous prospect, and the chances of getting struck, directly or indirectly, by lightning, was high.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of that all too familiar growl behind me in the entrance hall, and I ran around the steps and huddled down on the ground where they met the castle wall. No sooner had I done that, than the front door slammed shut. I was already soaked by the rain, and I realized that, if I were to stay outside, the weather would see me dead of hypothermia before sunrise. I had to go back inside.

Why had Tornado Season, with its temperature plummeting supercell thunderstorms, decided to follow me to Germany of all places?

I huddled against the steps - thankfully I was on the leeward side - soaked and shivering and weighed my chances. On one hand, I could brave the storm, try to find a town, and likely ending up freezing to death on the road, if the lightning didn’t get me first, or I could go back inside where it was warm and dry and maybe find a place to hide until dawn. There was a chance that I could run across whatever had been in my bedroom, but hopefully, it was the only one, and with the castle being so large, it would hopefully be easy to avoid it. I thought about briefly calling for help, but I didn‘t know any emergency numbers for the area, and I knew that it was unlikely that I would have cell phone signal in such weather anyway.

Decision made, I hauled myself to my feet and walked up the steps, towards the front doors.

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Inheritance Chapter 3

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