I was once known as a man named William Vast. Like any man with a last name worth knowing, I was the son of a land owner. However, my father held a little more prestige than what the title of land owner could convey. He was the wealthy and respected lord of a small, yet prosperous, fief far to the kingdom’s south. And I was his only son, the one who was promised ownership of this tiny world.

Yes, an heir. I was the heir to my father’s domain. He had been preparing this from my conception, you see. And so I was raised carefully by my father and his servants. I was tutored in etiquette and sciences by well-known scholars. I had a sheltered upbringing, growing up not in the fief but in my manor. My mother you ask? She passed soon after I was born. That was, no doubt, the reason why father raised me with such passion. There would be no others, I was to be his entire legacy.

However, there was one small area where my father knew I was lacking. Social aptitude…before I was nine I didn’t know a single child my own age. Father had been brought up in a similar way within our manor’s territory but he’d had siblings to engage with. I had no one but the help. Putting aside his principles, my father found me some playmates. On the afternoon of my ninth birthday I was introduced to two commoners who were to be my friends. There was a boy and a girl; Hal and Eris.

“So, what do you do for fun here?” Hal asked me immediately. He was tall for his age and his natural stance only accentuated our height difference. There were some unsightly freckles on his face and arms. He smelled faintly of soil.

“Well I normally introduce myself before continuing a conversation.” I parroted a line my father had used once. Hal blinked slowly.

“Huh? Your father just introduced us.”

“Yes, but then it is common etiquette to follow a superior’s introduction with your own.”

“I’ve never heard of that.” Already he had questioned me twice, I was taken aback.

“But it’s common etiquette. You must have learned it by your age.”

“…No, I don’t know anyone who learned that.”

“Look, I know that’s how it works. Just, just do it!” My pale face quickly gained some color. Father told me that these people were beneath me and yet he wouldn’t obey like the help would. It was infuriating.

“My name is Eris, pleased to meet you.” The two of us went silent while Eris did a small curtsey. Then she held out her hand and looked up expectantly. Her long, black hair was tied back with an unidentifiable string. Her movements were awkward but passable and her fashionable white dress looked suspiciously new. The maids must have done whatever they could to make these two look presentable. Yet despite knowing this, I couldn’t tear myself away from her clear, blue eyes.

“Oh, uh, pleased to meet you.” I took her hand and kissed it, to the chagrin of Hal. Then Eris stepped back and pushed Hal forward.

“Now you do it, Hal.” Her smile was so radiant that we immediately forgot our argument.

“No way!” Hal stuck his hands behind his back. “I’m not doing that.”

“No, silly.” She giggled. “That’s for girls. Just shake his hand.”

“…Fine.” He took my hand and shook it firmly. It was a lot rougher than hers or my own.

Our awkward meeting became the first of many. My father would set up times when we would be left alone to play. He didn’t force us to stay in the manor, probably because he didn’t want Hal or Eris anywhere near himself. They showed me all the different games they played to amuse themselves and I reciprocated by not forcing my status upon them. Eventually I was even asking father for more time with those two. It was my only escape from the difficult studies and stuffy atmosphere of the manor. The three of us got along surprisingly well. Hal and I would fight frequently but those fights ended the instant Eris stepped in. Of course, I was definitely still the leader of the group. We continued to enjoy this friendship well into our teens. Until one day when Hal came to me with a strange proposition.

“I think we’ll climb some trees today.” I declared, walking away as though it was already decided.

“Wait, Will, I found something interesting yesterday. We should check it out.” Hal called back to me.

“Hmm? It’s my first time hearing about this interesting thing…” Eris leaned in close to Hal. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Hal hastily stepped back. He rummaged through his tattered pants and pulled out a worn copper key. The shape itself was normal but parts of it had turned a sickly green. “This is an old key that I swiped from my mother. You know that abandoned house that’s at the edge of the fief? Apparently that was where my mother’s family lived at one point.”

“What’s the point of visiting a filthy old house?” I asked, still walking towards the trees.

“My father told me to never say this but…my mother’s family used to be associated with sorcery and demons.” I stopped walking and turned back. Hal grinned. “There might be some really cool stuff in that filthy old house.”

“Demons?” I scoffed. “Those are just fairy tales. My tutors have said there hasn’t been a single credible eye witness. The idea of demons came about after fools ate poisonous foods and started seeing illusions.”

“Well, there’s a lot of different stories.” Eris chimed in. “They can’t all be caused by hallucinations.”

“…That’s true. Even if there’s no truth to these rumors, there must be a reason why they started.” I compromised. “Let’s investigate the house!”

The instant we arrived I began to regret this decision. As we approached the area, the grass changed from a spring green to a faded yellow. Looking at it up close, it was much more than a simple house. With three floors and a basement it could even be called a manor. How did they ever afford such a thing? It must have looked magnificent at one point but now it was in a state of disrepair. Most of the outer walls had been stripped of their daub, exposing the wooden lattice underneath like muscles beneath the skin. Even in the midday light this building seemed to draw out a dark atmosphere.

“Ooh, it’s pretty scary.” Despite her words, Eris’s eyes were gleaming. “I’m glad we’re doing this during the day.”

“Me too…” I said under my breath.

Hal inserted the key but the door refused to budge. We had no choice but to push until the hinges finally turned with a groan. The inside was just as off-putting as the outside, the only difference was the smell. The instant the door opened I was assaulted with a gust of decrepit air. It only got worse when we stepped inside.

“What is that?”

“It’s just an old building.” Eris answered while covering her mouth. “When the wood has been rotting for a while it smells like this.”

“It’s just wood?”

“I heard that a rotting smell means demons are nearby.” Hal grimaced. “Maybe some of them are still here.”

“Ugh, Hal! I was thinking that but I didn’t want to mention it. That’s too scary.” Eris suddenly clung to his arm. Hal staggered for a second but quickly accepted it.

“We haven’t seen anything yet. Let’s start exploring.”

The first floor was uneventful. Creaking floorboards and somewhat dark rooms were the only things that made us flinch. Even so, Eris continued to stay at Hal’s side. Unimpressed with this expedition, I was about to call it quits. Until Hal made another proposal.

“We still have the upper floors and basement to search. There won’t be enough time if we stay together so how about we split up?”

This place was scary enough with the three of us, I wasn’t about to…

“No way, it’ll be too scary by myself.” Eris cried out. “How about we split into two groups, that’s enough right?” She looked at me with pleading eyes.

“That’s fine.” I replied.

They took the two remaining floors while I was left with the basement. It took another key to access, which we fortunately found in a nearby room. I glanced back at those two and they waved goodbye. Then I travelled down the frail wooden steps into the darkness. There was almost no light. I didn’t have the foresight to bring a candle and even if I had it might have started a fire from the ever-present mess of cobwebs. The rotting smell was even worse than before.

What am I doing here? I wondered. As the son of a lord, this was clearly far more filth than I was ever expected to experience. And for what? I couldn’t understand why I gave up so quickly after Hal suggested this, but it was clearly the wrong decision. When I reached the basement floor, it all I could do to grope around for a wall. I found one and sighed with relief. However, that only made me remember how pointless this was. There was nothing here and even if there was I wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Light…” A frail voice called out in the darkness. It was so faint that I could have dismissed it in a heartbeat. However, the lack of sight made me all the more sensitive to sound. I heard that voice and froze.

“Light?” Repeated a different voice, it spoke like the first.

“Light!”

“Light.”

“Light?”

“Light!”

“Light!!!”

“Light!!!”

“Someone brought it…light.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Just seeing it makes me hungry.”

“No good, can’t eat anything anymore.”

“Worthless.”

“Garbage like us.”

“Can’t even eat such a small light.”

“Shameful.”

I reeled backwards and brushed past something in the darkness. I reached out and felt it; I had found the stairs again. Carefully, like a rabbit moving under the eyes of a fox, I began to ascend. I took a deep breath, readying myself to sprint the rest of the way.

“You.”

The voice was much closer this time. I whirled around and hastily scanned through the darkness. In the very corner of the room I noticed something white. With just one look my breath became ragged while my legs threatened to fail me. It was an eyeball. No body, no stalk. A solitary eyeball stared back at me.

“You should leave, light.”

I tore past the rest of the stairs and didn’t stop there. Only the thick pride in my blood prevented me from crying or yelling. I made it up to the second floor before catching my breath. Exhausted beyond words, I searched desperately for Hal and Eris. Though, I didn’t have to look very far because they had barely progressed. I found them with their hands intertwined and their lips pressed together. Fortunately, they were far too engrossed in their kiss to notice me. I slipped out of the house and silently returned home.