Life of the Strange

Having some Beef with Monsters

Duke felt himself drowsily become awake. He couldn't sleep well that night. He turned on the lamp next to him and got out of bed to get a start on his patrols. Siren should be up around the castle too, she usually wakes up this early. He thought about the light he saw the other day, glimmering outside the building. Duke knew he had to talk about it with her, a small of a deal as it was.

Siren was one of the "leaders" of the castle (regardless that no one in the castle had an official title or job) and she was a very capable one at that, in fact it's safe to say that a lot of people around the grounds wouldn't be where they are now without her guidance. She was very analytical and was the first to make the tough decisions. So talking to her was probably the best course of action about the all-so-mysterious light.
He yawned and stepped out into the halls.

After wandering around the castle making sure the monsters stalking outside the building didn't get overzealous, he found Siren around the back outskirts of the castle doing the same.

The halls here were more cramped and the fluorescent lights seemed to flicker more in this area, worn out by time. She looked tired too.

Siren was averaged size in height, and had long dark hair and an oval face. Half of her hair color was red at the base, making it have a neat fiery feel that matched the tone of her eyes–which were highlighted be the bags under them. She was around thirty-ish, a bit younger than Duke. She was good at singing and was leaderly but in a different way than him, which he was more like a worried parent and she was leaning towards something like a diplomat.

"I already checked the library around the corner, and the industrial-half of the castle." Siren said, voice fatigued.

"You must've been up for quite a while then." Duke observed.

"Couldn't sleep."

"I know the feeling," Duke was tired himself.

"Were you kept up all night?"

"Just about. I ran into Grit a bit before morning, she wasn't very chatty though. Must've caught a human-like monster or something. Nobody really likes killing those..." Siren yawned.

"What made you not want to try to go back to sleep?"

She paused before she spoke. Finally she rubbed her eyes and said, "I've been getting a bunch of nightmares this past week, and I just didn't feel like going through another one again–so I decided to be useful instead."

"Nightmares? What kind?" Duke asked.

"...I don't remember. Just the regular kind of nightmares, I guess."

"Are you ok?"

Her hand moved a dark strand of hair out of her face. "Oh I'm fine. Anything new on your side of the castle?"

Now it was time for Duke to pause before saying something. Siren already had something bothering her from what he was getting...

But he begrudgingly decided she ought to know, since it probably was nothing anyway.
"Well...a very peculiar thing happened yesterday morning."

"What was it?" Siren sensed his hesitation.

"Oh it's just when I was checking the front of the castle, I saw something in the distance in the trees. It looked like...a light. I think it may of been a fire, but I haven't seen it again as of late. It flickered kind of like a flashlight or a fire anyway. I thought I saw smoke above it, but it was early and dark at the time. So I couldn't tell. It looked to be a far ways a way, near the mountains." He summarized what he saw and left it to her to make a conclusion.