I was awakened by the heat of the sun striking my face. It brought me to my feet with a jolt. Silence. I waited in trepidation for the groans to continue but they never. I looked down the street in both directions but could see nothing my from lofty position. I must have stood there silently for a good half hour, dreading that any second the undead would return to finish me. Nothing stirred except the dirt swirled up by the gentle breeze. Finally satisfied that I was alone, I jumped down the broken stairs and moved out onto the street. The silence frightened me almost as much as the wailing voices had the night before. I found myself tiptoeing, breathing through my nose so as to make as little noise as possible. The dead slept and I did not wish to wake them.

I kept to the middle of the dirt road, avoiding any shadows in the fear that they might contain one of the living dead. When I came to the first junction I took a left. The houses along this street, as in all the other streets, were little more than ruins, although an occasional one still stood and looked intact, from the outside at least. I probably should've turned back and left right then, but something inside pulled me deeper into the haunted dereliction. I followed its pull like a blind man would his dog, never once questioning its source. It wasn't a new experience to me. I often felt this way when I sought something and, more often than not, my feelings led me straight there.

I turned another corner to find myself staring up at the wall surrounding what had come to be termed the 'Haunted Cathedral' And behind that stood the structure itself. The whole place seemed to be cast in shadow and it cast a chill on the surrounding area. I kept as far from it as I could whilst following the path of the wall, hoping that I walked towards the cloister gates and not away from them.

The manor came into view before the gates did. It was HUGE. It was also derelict. It stood three stories high with, very probably, a fourth hidden in the rafters of the roof and at least one level beneath the ground as well. It was also in ruins. The front of the house and a side wall still stood, as did a small section of the roof but the rest was gone. I stopped dead in the middle of the path and stared at it in disbelief. I had risked my life for this! I had nearly died for a pile of rubble! I shook head and cursed. There had to be more to it than this, surely? I ran to the heap of stones, clambered over them and looked up. Nothing but a rotten carcass! I kicked at the rubble beneath my feet in disgust. "When I get my hands on Ramirez...." I didn't even realize I had spoken out loud until the walls threw their echoes back at me. I sat on the heap with an angry grunt and stared at my shredded palms. This whole thing had been a big mistake. A cold shadow fell over me as I sat there, drawing me out of my reverie. Looking up I found the sun slowly slipping away behind the Cathedral. Something howled inside its walls. Panicking, I leapt from my feet and started to run. The rubble gave way beneath me and I ended up sliding to its base on my backside. I felt the tares where the stone had opened my flesh as I struggled to stand. Rolling onto my hands and knees I found myself staring at a ragged sheet of vellum. Despite the danger, I picked it up and read it aloud.

"No...!!" The word pounded in my head like thunder. I lay on my back and watched as the thing slowly withdrew. Whatever magic had been placed in the wall to hold back the undead apparently held back the thing too. Not that I cared right then. All I wanted to do was get back home and rest.

***

I was back in my cell. I had told them everything they wanted. It was easy, at last. I had told them what they wanted to hear. I told them that I was a witch, and that I wanted to summon some demons into this world to destroy it. I told them that I had met the Trickster himself and handed him my life, in exchange for some goodies. I told them that my sister, my brother, my father, my mother, my neighbors, my fences were involved into this conspiracy, too. I told them everything to escape from the pain. It did not matter that I had never had a brother and that my entire familiy was dead now. The Hammers didn't know that. And they seemed to be pleased. And they seemed to believe it.

And I believed it, myself, shortly after my arms were almost dislocated.

The light went on, and off, and on.

I stared at it. It went off.

I hit the nails of my left hand into the right arm, and pulled them towards the hand. They left bloody sores. The pain was slightly satisfying. A feeling in the numbness, at least. I continued.

The light went on.

The light went out.

I had mistreated my right arm, until it bled. It hurt. It gave me one feeling in the numbness. One feeling - pain. Better than nothing. Better than the numbness I had felt in the last days. I continued, ignoring the blood. Scratching deeper, and deeper.

I did not even give it a glance.

I had closed my eyes to lock out the cell, and the door, and the chains from my mind. I let my thoughts wander freely. My mind drifted away. I felt my body go limp.

Amidst the wild dancing pictures of the last days, I made my sister's face out. She stood there without a move, beneath the picture of this Inquisitor, beneath the rack where I had lain the last day. Thalia looked straight into my eyes.

I focused her, and tried to step closer. She looked younger, much younger. As young as she had been before the Hammerites had taken her away, three years ago. She smiled at me. But when I did the next step, she turned and ran away. I had so much to ask, so much to say. I followed her. She headed to a sunny valley. I followed her happily.

But when I had reached the valley, all went black. I realized that I was in another area, black as a pit. The valley was away. And also was Thalia away. I was alone in the dark. But I could hear voices in the darkness. Low voices, and shouting. One came directly from behind.

"Why have you betrayed me? Why did you not read the letter I wrote?" That was Thalia's voice. She spoke quietly. I turned.

"No! WHY HasYou Betrayed Usss? LISTEN!" I turned again. The new voice echoed Thalias. But it perverted its contents. And it shouted.

"Wasn't it enough that they had captured me? Why you?" I saw Thalia's face, but it disappeared shortly after I had seen it.

"Wasn't It enough that you left Usss alone when We they Captured Ussss, and WHEN we DIED?!" I saw two old Thalias in front of me. All were dead. They pointed with their cold, dead clawlike hands at me.

"And Now you Think WE should Sympathize with You?!" Their eyes were glassy. Their claws touched my face.

"Ohhhh, My Dear Poooor Lytha!?"

I turned. I tried to move my frozen legs to get out off there. I could not do one single move. I could not even say a word or cry.

"It was odd, but shortly before my death, I could see it clear. I understood. It made sense, at last. I analyzed myself, and understood. I had visions. Visions about the future. And I wanted to protect you." I turned. Thalia again. The younger version. The friendly one.

"SHUT UP!!"

She continued, hasty. I stared at the grotesque caricature of my sister. It tried to push Thalia away.

"I tried to warn you. I knew that you would not read the letter, so I addressed it to a man who might be able to help you now. And I signed with your name, well knowing that my last days had approached."

"Yes, you never LISTEN. But NOW you are Ourssss!" a cold claw touched me again.

Thalia spoke in a greater hurry now. "Take it as a chance. As the small possibility of - hope."

She disappeared. Whilst her vanishing, I could move my feet again. I ran.

I ran.

***