As the ghostly population grew, I found myself being pushed back closer and closer to the massive glass windows behind where the orchestra would've sat, until finally I was pressed up against the cool panes, the long-dead musician beside me with a victorious smirk carved into his opaque features.
"Can you play the violin?" the musician rasped, his lifeless eyes boring holes into mine.
"Yes."
"Then play." Vaguely, I felt the cool touch of ebony in my palms, freezing fingers closing my hands over the bow and violin, and the cold whisper of a barely-audible threat in German.
"Play like your life depends on it- which it does, of course, but remember this: you are entertaining my guests. My guests will decide your fate, which would vary greatly, depending on how much they appreciate your music. Do not make the same mistake I did- do not turn around and say that you have finished, for they will poison your drink- or you."
The time was 23:59 on October 31, and as numb fingers set horsehair onto strings of deer intestine, Der Erlkönig became the melody to my nightmares.
YOU ARE READING
Der Erlkönig
ParanormalAn abandoned mansion. A musician's disappearance. Ghostly music playing where it shouldn't be. Totally not suspicious, right? Dared by his friends to enter and stay 12 hours in the ancient property of a long-dead performer, Jaidyn sets off to explor...
