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The wheels of the sleek black van trudged through mud and rocked over tree roots. The path--yes, path. It could hardly be considered a road--was overgrown. Grassy and flowery, covered in leaves, the whole works. Fog hung low in the sky, blocking the view of the forest outside. It didn't matter much anyway, since the windows of the van were so darkly tinted that you couldn't see much, even from the inside.
It was typical weather for late September considering the usual climate. Not that Letti Hayes knew anything about the usual climate of the area.
Letti sat in the back-most seat of the van, headphones over ears. They weren't wearing their seat belt. The driver of the car hadn't said anything about it. Or anything at all, for the record. There was a glass screen in between the driver seat and the passenger seat, and the rest of the van. Letti felt like she was in a cop car or something.
A particularly rough jolt forced a noise out of something in front of her, and Letti remembered that they weren't alone in the van. A young boy--couldn't have been older than 14--was seated closer to the front. He also hadn't spoken a word (bringing the total to three losers sitting in complete silence), but when he had realized Letti wasn't wearing a seat belt, he took his off, too. Letti couldn't remember his name.
Letti pulled her legs up and crossed them in the seat. Some Arctic Monkeys song was blasting loud in their headphones (which one they couldn't exactly recall; they all sounded the same anyway). How much longer could it be? Letti felt like she'd been in the van for hours. They considered themself a very patient person, but what she wouldn't give to go for a nice walk right about now...
His voice was so loud in Letti's head. They couldn't tune it out if they tried. It was... a jumbled mess of nonsense thoughts. Fragments and broken thoughts. What if-- what's going on--where are we--who's that--what if I--what if they--? Am I sweating? Can she tell? My mom would hate this place.
He was nervous. She didn't need to read his mind to know that. He could hardly sit still, tapping his fingers on the seat or bouncing his leg. She could tell, alright.
"We--I think we're here," the boy's voice out loud finally broke the silence. Letti pulled off her headphones and observed her surroundings. Sure enough, the car came to a stop. The doors unlocked, and Letti quickly climbed out, following short after the boy.
They stared in utter amazement at the legendary piece of architecture in front of them. Letti's eyes trailed up, up, up the dark stone brick walls. Moss and vines spread across the southwest half of the... the castle, was really the best word to describe it. There was a clock tower right at the center, and several tall spires surrounding the main building. Letti was surprised to see that there wasn't a drawbridge guarded by a troll asking riddles three--but there was an immense wooden double door that had to be at least 3 times their height, leading into a gated courtyard.
