The Ossuary: Soul and Bone

Chapter 8

“What are you doing here?”, Ciaran shouted. “You were meant to wait in the dining hall.”

He gestured wildly as he stepped toward Ingrid.

“I am not your servant”, she sneered back. “And I don’t take kindly to being ordered around!”.

With that she turned heel and ran out the door. Ingrid ran down the dark hallway to a small wooden door. She flung open the door realizing quickly that it led outside. Pausing for a moment, she stood in awe as she stepped into the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. It was dim outside, but not dark, as if the sun were perpetually setting. The sky was ablaze with orange and pink.

“How odd, she thought to herself”.

The garden around her was green and lush. Dark vines twisted around everything sprouted with beautiful white flowers. Dark red roses filled the air with a sweet scent. Ingrid stepped forward, her bare feet onto the dirt path. She walked at a slow pace now, taking in the beauty around her.

“How can a place of death be so beautiful?”, she thought.

“There is much beauty in death”, a voice from behind her buzzed in her ears.

Her cheeks burned, she turned, meeting Ciaran’s green eyes once again. She tried to look away from his gaze, only to be met with the rest of him. He was tall and dark like a shadow. His long black hair had been pinned halfway up. He was dressed very proper, probably for the meeting, she decided. He looked steely and firm. Ingrid's body tingled as she scanned down the length of his body. She paused lingering on the bulge in his pants.

“Did he feel this pull to her the same way she did him?”, she wondered.

Her body ignited with electricity. She felt her n*****s perk in the cool breeze.

“Ahem”, Ciaran cleared his throat.

She was startled from her thoughts, and her cheeks blushed a deep red.

“Stay out of my thoughts,” she said.

“Quit making them so tempting,” he teased stepping forward.

“I thought you didn’t even like me, why chase me down?”, Ingrid said.

“I never said I didn’t like you,” he retorted.

“Then what was that in there?”, she gestured.

“That was... complicated.”, he said, taking another step toward her.

The air was so filled with electricity that it burned. Ingrid felt her arousal moisten.

“What is this place?” she turned, attempting to distract herself, and keep her distance from whatever hold he had on her.

“We are in the Shadow Realm, '' he explained. "But more specifically, this is Mor, my home, and the home of all Withers."

“What is a Wither?”, she asked.

“I am a Wither, and so now are you, '' he stated.

For probably the hundredth time today Ingrid felt a wave of shock hit her core. So she wasn’t just some ghost destined to wander the afterlife? She had a purpose. But what had this purpose destined her to? Had she been turned into a monster? What had become of her family? The dozens of questions made her head swim.

“Come, I will explain,” Ciaran said, extending his hand to her.

Begrudgingly, she took his hand in hers and followed him back inside.