Left with Skulls (Julius X Death!OC)

PART IV - THE INVESTIGATION

Steps on the rocky road echoed through the hollow woods. Julius walked the lone path glancing at his sides ever so often. The closer he was to his destination the more his intuition shivered. Every crack of a branch or shuffle of leaves put him on edge. The rain tapped on the yellow mud growing on trees. Wet air stuck to his clothes taking his comfort away. He neared a town's sign and he stopped in front it. It was an old wooden board with worn-out red paint. With closer inspection, it was easy to see the even older layers of it. 'Savannah' Julius said under his breath, his fingers trailing the old fashioned cursive. He furrowed his eyebrows. What was it about this town that made him feel so uneasy? Was it because of his mission or the stories he heard when he was a child? 
Back in the capital, parents used the local legend to scare children. To prevent them from playing after dark. The tale was about a small girl living in Savannah. She stayed up past her bedtime and the scary creature of the night took her away. Julius never believed the story, nothing could stop his curious mind from exploring. He smiled at the memory, his distant eyes returned to the town's name. What was it that his dear mother used to say? 'a place where even the devil is afraid to walk in the dark' her melodic voice filled his mind. He took a deep breath and continued his walk.

It wasn't long after he reached the main road. There wasn't much to see, a few old buildings on either side of the gravel. The small church at the end and few wooden houses in the far-field. 'Nothing out of the ordinary' he thought and turned his head to the hill, his eyes widening. There stood a red brick castle, hovering over a small town like a predator. It seemed abandoned, stained windows held no life and bolted doors no voices. And yet there was something calling out to him to come closer, to come in. Julius didn't even blink when he moved his body towards the building. Crash. He stopped. Sound of shattering glass snapped Julius out of the trance. He looked towards the pub where the sound came from. The entrance hid in the shadows between two buildings. No one in sight. He stood there for a bit longer, calming his heartbeat and not turning to the hill again.

The smell of alcohol and moisture hit Julius as soon as he closed the pub's door. He took a step to the counter and the voices ceased. It wasn't hard to notice stares from every person in the room. 'Good thing there are no strong mages' he thought and placed his hands on the sticky counter. Barman approached him with hard eyes, 'I've never seen ya face before.' He said pointing a finger at Julius' face to which he laughed. 'It's my first time here,' he looked at the older man wearing worn-out clothes, 'I'm just passing by, stepped in for a drink.' The barman nodded drumming his yellow fingers on the counter. 'What can I get for ya?' Julius looked around the tables and smiled, 'Beer'. He lifted his eyes and saw a big cracked mirror behind the bar. The gold frame didn't fit in the pub. Like the crack itself, straight, smooth, long. '7 years of bad luck as some say' he thought.
Tap on the counter pulled him back. The barman gave him a tall glass, 'Are ya a magic Knight?' Julius nodded and grabbed his beer. He took a sip and winced at watery taste. 'Where is ya heading to? To the Heart Kingdom border?' Julius shook his head 'Oh no, I,' he cleared his throat and put his beer away. 'I travel around. Explore the country.' Barman fell silent, 'No offense but,' he looked to his sides, 'but aren't ya supposed to protect, ya know,' he nodded his head towards clients, 'people?'. Julius smiled at the man and shrugged, 'We live in a peaceful time, there is not much to do.' The barman looked down, 'Not everywhere.' he whispered.
Julius leaned in, 'What was that sorry?' He looked up at the knight, 'Nothing, just,' Man fidgeted with his hands, 'Do ya know the legend of the Cave of Skulls?' Julius raised his eyebrows, 'Cave of Skulls?'. The barman nodded with fear creeping in his eyes. 'The underground cave filled with skulls of Amaretto Dawn's victims.' He said, her name barely whispering. 'When she was still a small child, she fell into a hole and stayed there for a week before they found her.' Julius leaned in on his arms on the counter. 'In this cave many years ago, was a sabbath of witches worshipping Lucifer.' Thunder growled in the distance and heavy rain attacked the pub's roof. Barman wiped sweat from his forehead. 'They all, they all committed suicide, ya know, in that cave to open the gate.' Julius cocked his head to the side, 'Gate?'. The barman nodded, 'The gate to hell'.
He fell silent, listening to his heart pumping in his chest. 'People say they didn't succeed but since that day the cave is the darkest place in the whole damn kingdom.' A drop of water fell on the counter, followed by next and next. The barman took an empty glass and placed it under the leak. 'When a local farmer rescued small Amaretto, she was sickly pale and absent. For weeks she wasn't talking. As she grew up she was becoming more and more distant, cold. Dead cold. When someone died in the village she was there, creeping behind a corner. She was always there.' Pub's doors opened and a small elderly man entered. He nodded to the barman and took place with his friends. 'Excuse me.' the barman said and took a glass of beer to the table. Julius played with the napkin and frowned. 'Later on,' Capitan looked up and noticed barman back behind the counter. 'people discovered that everyone, who died after that accident, was missing heads from their graves. When authorities decided to investigate, they found them all. Stuffed in the same cave where witches committed suicide. Where little Amaretto was found.' 
The pub started to disappear in the darkness. 'It's so late already?' Julius thought and looked out of the window. Black clouds seemed to have no end. 'Then she disappeared,' Barman continued, 'vanished into thin air. Gone. And it was long long time ago. But now, now she's back. Not a day older. And she is angry, people who saw her died in less than a day, all heads missing.' His hands trembled as he reached for a cigarette. Silver lighter came into Julius' view, he watched the older man trying to spark the fire. The weak light illuminated his wrinkles. He took a deep inhale and let out an ashy cloud, 'At this rate, she will kill off the whole town.'
Silence fell over the whole pub. People gripped their glasses and stared at the floor. Rain drummed on the leaking roof and thunders got louder. The light from candles died down and white flashes invaded the pub. Julius sighed and smiled at the barman, 'Do you know the place where I could spend the night?'