Rumor's Depths

Tierney swallowed as he neared the castle's entrance. Or rather, neared the entrance to what most people assumed was a castle; truth was, no one knew for sure. Though most people in the city knew where it was, it had been long forgotten by the history books. And Tierney should know, considering he'd checked them for a hint every time he sorted one back into the library shelves.

The water pressed against his body from all sides, slowing the steady movement of his tail fin. He was deeper than merpeople usually dove, the water around him dark wherever his flashlight didn't shine.

He hesitated when he reached the doors, dark stone looming above him. No sounds came from inside, though tale had it that the castle was haunted, and something had to have caused those rumors.

With a deep breath, Tierney pushed against the heavy doors. They didn't budge at first, but then slowly, bit by bit, they moved inwards. Once they were wide enough to allow Tierney through, he backed off.

The opening was a gaping hole, swallowing what little light Tierney had. Only an illusion, he told himself, a trick of the mind. It was only natural that such a small opening wouldn't let much light through, that it'd be dark inside.

That was the only reason, right?

It had to be.

But he'd never find out if he stayed out here. Carefully, moving so slowly his little siblings would've compared him to a coral, he poked his head through the gap.

Nothing so far.

Two strokes of his fin, and Tierney had crossed from open sea into the depths of this lost place. While his light had shone in an even sphere around him outside, now old furniture blocked its shine, creating dark chasms throughout the room.

It was still quiet, though.

Some of Tierney's friends had called him crazy for coming here, but he just had to know if there was a base to any of the rumors. Maybe some loose rocks scraping against each other in an underwater stream, or rotting tables crashing down every now and then. Or maybe...

Tierney paused by the door for a while, waiting for something, anything in the castle to react to his presence, to him disturbing its rest. But nothing stirred, not as far as he could see.

So he moved in further. When he'd first planned this dive, he'd been worried about how he should deal with weird sounds while he explored, but as it turned out, the silence was much worse. No whale song in the distance, no chatter from outdoors, nothing.

Most of furniture was still intact, though a few barnacles had made their home on one of the tables, and algae covered the walls and floor. At least that meant something lived here, even if it made no sounds.

Tierney had expected a type of entrance hall, but this looked more like a dining room, filled with several long rows of tables and benches, and the occasional chair at the tables' ends. It looked a little out of place; most people assumed the castle, or whatever it was, had been made by merpeople, but seats were rare in people's homes down here. But if not merpeople, then who?

A rasping sound cut through the silence, and Tierney flinched, his breath jagged, until he realized his bag had scraped against one of the tables. Now that he was holding still, no other noise came, so he positioned the bag on his other side and continued.

Two paths greeted him at the far end of the dining hall, one a stairway going up, and the other a steep slope leading further down. Tierney hesitated. Heading down might be dangerous; while he didn't need to worry about drowning the way a surfacedweller might, getting trapped could still be an issue if he got lost. Up would be the safer option, especially since the castle had windows that Tierney had passed on his way here. But windows also meant that people at least had some idea of what the inside looked like, even if no one had dared to enter.