Castle in Twilight

The sun’s setting over the horizon. The camels are tired and so am I. If only Beni would call camp. An hour of rest is just what we need. But it is not to be. Beni is determined to run us to the grave. Us and the animals. Poor things. They’ve been galloping on since morning. Only once did he allow them any respite - at midday for lunch. The way things are looking, I wouldn’t be surprised if we ride through the night. This place we’re going to, Beni says it can only be entered at night. Twilight to be precise. Well, it’s twilight now, and I don’t see any place to enter. In every direction, it’s all sand as far as the eye can see. Maybe we’ve missed our window tonight and will have to wait till tomorrow - I think hopefully. A warm meal would be most welcome. I will sleep till noon tomorrow, maybe take a long bath after, if I can find a water body nearby.

“We’re here” - Beni’s voice floats back to me, halting my happy reminiscence. Finally! I canter to his side just in time to see a doorway materialize, seemingly out of nowhere. Walls and towers follow until a castle stands before us - ominous in its derelict state. A shiver runs through me as I look on.

“This is the place?” - I ask needlessly, the awe-inspiring sight has stolen my mental faculties for the moment.

“This is the place.” - Beni confirms, equally needlessly.

He starts towards the gate and I follow unwillingly. It is an evil place we’re about to enter, and I can’t help but feel a foreboding that, of the five going in, none might come out. As we near them, the gates open of their own accord. No one is visible on the other side. That should have given any sane man pause, but Beni leads his animal through without any hesitation. The other three follow just as confidently. Fearful of being left behind, I hasten to join them, the ominous feeling increasing as I cross the threshold. It seemed to leach out all hope from me.

We slow to a walk once inside. The silhouette of a once majestic castle is just visible against the rapidly approaching darkness of night. It had none of its old glory now. With ivy covering what remained of the walls, it was a grotesque and ghastly sight to behold under the circumstances. My imagination fills the gaps in the horrors inspired by this scene, and as a result, I see, hear and feel the presence of unearthly entities weighing on me from every direction. The air itself feels evil and burns in my lungs. I turn back towards the gate in a desperate bid to escape this hellhole, no longer caring if I appear weak to my comrades, but the gate isn’t there. It has vanished with the twilight. 

“It will return tomorrow at twilight.” - Beni whispers, making me jump at the proximity. I had not heard him come up to me. 

“This is an evil place Beni. We shouldn’t have come here.” - I whisper back, making no attempt to mask the fear in my voice. 

“I know. But there’s treasure’s to be had in evil places. Don’t forget why we’re here. Even if we don’t find anything here, we can still claim the prize when we get back.” - he pats my shoulder encouragingly.

“If we get back.” - I shoot back, turning my camel towards the castle again. Some anonymous rich man had offered Beni a sizable sum for making this journey. I’m beginning to think they knew they wouldn’t have to pay. The professor has already reached the front door and is examining something with his magnifying glass. The other two are wearily scanning the darkness for signs of danger, with their guns drawn. I too pull out my gun and join them. So does Beni.

“Kill anything that moves. I don’t care if it looks human or otherwise. Nothing and no one here is our friend.” - Beni orders. 

“Should we look around a bit?” - Ronan asks.

“No. It’s too dark. Let’s get inside and wait for morning.” - Beni answers decisively. None of us has the courage to suggest otherwise. 

“Enough skulking professor. We don’t have time for this. Just get the door open before fear kills us all” - Beni yells as we near the professor. Professor Maximof frowns. Over the course of our journey here, I have noticed that Beni and the Professor don’t like each other very much. They’re constantly disagreeing with each other and making the rest of us uncomfortable in the process. The look on the professor’s face made it clear that this time would not be any different. 

“Fear might kill us, but if there’s a curse on that door - as I suspect there is - it will definitely kill us.” - professor Maximof scoffed - “If you want to take your chances with a curse, then by all means break the door down. You’re very good at breaking things are you not?” - he taunts.

“I am professor. And I will do just that.” - Beni responds in kind and proceeds to kick down the door. Curse or no curse, Beni is being reckless just to win one over the professor. They’ll kill themselves and the rest of us if they keep this up.

The door crashes to the floor, along with its rotten frame and we all enter the castle cautiously. “See, no curses” - I can hear Beni say to the professor and add to myself - “for now”. 

Inside the castle is no better than the outside. The roof has long since caved and the elements have done plenty of damage. Brush and creepers have taken over most of the surface, giving it an apocalyptic look. I don’t see any insects, which troubles me. Vegetation like this should be prime habitat for them. Maybe the insects have better sense than we do. The castle is smaller than it looked on the outside. The room we stood in resembled a small living room. A corridor to the left is lined with what I later found out to be bedrooms. A doorway directly opposite to the entrance led into the dining room and to the kitchen from there. The staircase had collapsed midway, cutting off access to the top floors. Ronan rushes over to the fireplace and sets about building a fire, while Richard peaks into each of the bedrooms in turn. Professor Maximof and Beni are still staring daggers at each other. 

I wander aimlessly into the dining room. It is comparatively larger than the living room, with a fire place to one side and a side board on the other. To my surprise, the dining table is set for five people. And when I walk into the kitchen through a small door next to the fireplace, there is just enough food to make up a meal for five. A shiver runs down my spine as the feeling of being watched increases. I hurry back to the living room and report my findings to the rest of the company. They’re just as disturbed by it as I am. We debate whether we should eat the food but ultimately decide it’s safer to stick to our supplies. 

We setup camp around the living room fire, ignoring the bedrooms. Ronan takes first watch and promises to wake me up in 2 hours. But when I awake some time later, everyone, including Ronan is fast asleep. The room in which we’d set up camp is no longer dilapidated. The furniture is brand new and velvet curtains hung from the windows. There isn’t a brush or creeper in sight anywhere. Instead, the floor is lined with carpets depicting some adventurous tale or other. All the braziers are lit, flooding the room with bright white light. I walk to a window and peak outside. Still dark. Still night. 

When I wake him up, Ronan is confused. He does not remember falling asleep. His mouth falls open as he takes in the changes. In the next moment, his entire face twists with terror. He points to the fire place where a piece of paper is nailed to the wall. 

“The doors close permanently for those who enter uninvited” - it read. I glance at the front door, still on the floor where it had crashed. Not trapped - I thought with some relief. I wake the rest of them, and after debating the appearance of the note, we decide to check the rooms again. One thing is beyond a doubt, we are not alone.

We walk into the dining room - guns drawn. Like the living room, all the furniture here is brand new. There isn’t a speck of dust anywhere. The dishes I had spied in the kitchen are now arranged on the table, eerie in candlelight. The five places are still set on the table. A folded card has appeared on each of the plates, which, when opened said - “Refuse me again and you’ll starve”.

“I think it wants us to eat the food.” - Beni states doubtfully.

“What is it?” - the Professor questions.

“Is the food safe then?” - Ronan adds.

“Doesn’t look like it matters whether it’s safe or not” - Richard comments.

“We have to eat it.” - I agree. Silence follows as we consider the implications. Beni is the first to break it. He pulls out a chair, sits down and starts piling food onto his plate. We follow after a moment’s hesitation. 

Luckily for us, the food is not poisoned. It’s warm and delicious, a complete contrast to the dangerous vibe of the place. Needless to say, we spent a sleepless night huddled around the living room fire. 

It’s impossible to estimate the time here. When daylight starts pouring through the windows, we return to the dining room. The dishes from before have been cleared away and replaced with fresh food and a fresh card. 

“Good.” - it said. 

“It’s not breakfast” - Richard pointed out. 

“This is the same food we ate last night. Baked beans, turkey, cake, everything is exactly the same” - Professor Maximof observed.

“It’s phantom food in a phantom place. Does it matter if it’s the same?” - Beni whines. A thought strikes me and I peak out of the window. It’s dark. Pitch dark. Although the room is lighted to mimic daytime, and the windows carry the illusion of letting in sunlight when seen from afar, it is still night outside. The moon, which had hung over the gates of the keep when we walked through them, still hung above where the gates of the keep had been, as if it hadn’t moved at all. That’s not possible - I thought to myself. 

“How long have we been here?” - I ask the room in general. 

“Not long. About ten hours, give or take. It's just after sunrise I expect” - the Professor guessed. 

“The moon’s all wrong.” - I whisper to myself. 

“Moon?” - Beni walks over and peaks out over my shoulder. 

“It can’t be!” - he exclaims - ”we haven’t been here that long. It can’t be night again. Can it?”

A shuffle of legs follow as everyone crowds around me to look out the window. I move out of the way to let them, and walk back to the dining table. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is the same night we’d entered through the gates. In my heart and mind, I am sure that time had stopped the moment we broke down the front door. This is the curse the professor had been talking about. This is what the note meant. We entered without invitation, so we can never leave. The clock would never tick again in this place and we would live and die in this castle, in this frozen moment. As long as our host is happy, the meals will come. The lights in the room will change. We’ll build fires and they’ll go out. 

But the night outside will never turn to day. The twilight that opens the gate will never come and we will never leave. Knowing all this, I have only one hope left to me.

I hope we never meet our host. 

THE END