A Lich to Scratch - A Ghost Hunt Fanfic

Prologue and Chapter 1 - Psychic Research Investigators

Prologue

The darkness ate at her like a carnivorous being, with elongated fangs and tapered sharp talons. The cold it provided biting in it's own way. It made her shiver as if the water in the air molecules themselves were frozen. She could see nothing surrounding her but an ethereal bluish white light in the distance that painted a glow against the cave wall behind it.

She pushed herself up from the position she had awoken in. Her legs had been folded beneath her and she felt herself in a weakened state. She felt her teeth clang together as she shuddered against both the deep sense of dread and the crisp bitter cold. Her body felt heavy and shaky almost as if she had a frail constitution.

She hobbled awkwardly towards the light. The trepidation she felt in the dark needed to be vanquished by the light, or at least that is what she had inwardly speculated. She hoped that her conclusion was accurate, the hope itself a placebo that was casting a flicker of warmth in her veins.

When she got close enough to the light she became puzzled. Before her was what looked to be an ancient burial urn. But it was casting it's own light as if it were a lamp.

She tried to reach out to touch it, awed by it's complexity and improbability. The light the urn gave off flickered momentarily and suddenly she found herself propelled away from it. Her body crashing into a wall behind her. She fell limp to the ground. The light now a good ten feet away from her.

"You shall not desecrate that which is mine to covet. You shall not unearth this location. Your inward compass will become askew and you will only falter in all endeavors to discover this space. If you quest for this relic you will only find yourself and those you hold dear in eternal pain and suffering."

Several pairs of skeletal hands grasped her body sharply. The tapered boney fingers stabbing painfully into her flesh. Her eyes roamed over the darkness, seeking out to visually discern what was assaulting her. What her eyes could not see her touch and ultra awareness detected. She momentarily caught sight of a skull in her peripheral vision. She truly was being mauled by aggressive animated bodies of bones. Why were they animated? What caused these skeletal beings to awaken from their deathly slumber?

Then a larger entity pushed it's way into her sight. He was the greatest skeletal creature of all both in size and presence. But where the others had vacant dark hollowed eyes. This one's eyes were aglow with a spectral light within. The glow a similar bluish white to the one that the urn projected.

"You shall not desecrate that which is mine to covet. Remember this insignificant whelp. For if you were to pursue it my skeletal army will come after you all. This pain you may feel now, it is but a grain of sand compared to what would be in store for you."

The figure pointed back to the urn. "Remember that you and your friends lives are trivial in the grand scheme of things. You shall not become ambitious enough to search for this object. If you do there will be dire consequences." The sinister voice echoed against the dimensional space of the bleak yawning cavern.

Mai's body propelled from her state of slumber. Her skin saturated in sweat, and her nightgown sticking to her due to the dampness. She shivered at the chill of the room. "First I dream of ghosts, now I dream of skeletons? Although skeletons is definitely better then zombies..."

She briefly remembered the case of the cursed house and the drowned victims that were reanimated. Whatever was warning her in her dreams was probably just as dangerous as that case. If she searched out this relic then she was sure someone close to her would probably die...