Chapter 6

Castle Ravenloft

It was like old times again. Rebecca had talked everyone into doing something that was probably going to get them all in trouble.

"You're going to get us all in trouble again.", Richard said as they walked up the road to the castle.

"What do you mean by 'again'?", Ireena asked Richard. "You do this often?"

"Every chance she gets, usually.", Richard answered. "Well, not adventuring like this. No. This is new."

Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Hey, it'd do you two nerds some good to get out and do something for a change.", Rebecca snapped back.

The two nerds didn't reply. The group continued up the fog-shrouded road, dead leaves crackling along the trail. The road split in two. The dirt road continued to the northwest while a wider road led east into the heart of the dense forest. Patches of cobblestone showed through the east road, telling that it was once a great road. To the right side of the fork stood a large carriage with two horses. Both horses were black as pitch. They snorted violent puffs of steamy breath into the chill air. The carriage door swung open silently.

"Shit!", Rebecca hissed.

Travis slung his shotgun to a ready position and kept a watch on the surroundings.

"Show yourself, fucker!", Rebecca hissed as she pointed her rifle towards the carriage.

But no one came out.

"Rebecca, when we get home I'm going to make sure your mouth has a date with a bar of soap.", Kevin said as he eyed the horses warily.

Rebecca was stunned. "I can't believe that you just said that.", she replied.

Ireena seemed a little dazed. In a distant voice she said, "We should get inside."

"No way.", Rebecca replied.

Ireena took an unsteady step towards the carriage. Rebecca grabbed her arm.

"No.", Rebecca insisted.

Ireena shook her head as though to clear it. "This is his, Strahd's. I can feel it.", she said.

"Great. He knows we're coming.", Rebecca moaned.

"Black Riders.", Richard said, wondering if anyone would get the reference.

Anthony wondered whether the carriage was somehow connected to the tarot cards and the fortune that he'd been told. He slowly walked around the coach, trying to peer inside without getting too close.

"Is he in there?", Rebecca asked.

Anthony looked in. The inside of the carriage was empty and large enough to comfortably seat all eight of them. The interior upholstery was of a very high quality, and Anthony admired it for just a moment. Then he noticed that at the back of the driver's seat, embedded into the wood of the cabin's exterior was a rather large key. Its handle was shaped like a raven with spread wings.

"So if we got in, what's stopping him from just driving us all off of a cliff?", Rebecca asked no one in particular.

"If he wanted us dead he could probably arrange it without killing his horses.", Richard sneered.

"You sound like that stupid shop-keeper back in town.", Rebecca berated him.

"Shut up!", Richard shot back. "Horses are expensive, and rich or not, he's not likely to be able to replace them easily here."

"You two bicker like siblings.", Ireena said, amused and annoyed at the same time.

Richard and Rebecca both stopped and looked at Ireena, then they looked at each other and went at it some more.

"Then there's the carriage.", Richard continued. "It would be like driving your brand-new Ferrari F40 off a cliff just to kill a hitchhiker."

"Everyone's afraid of him. That's what makes him strong.", Rebecca fired back, almost shouting. "Someone needs to stand up to him and prove that he's just a rich, perverted weakling."

Ireena touched Rebecca's arm. "Please calm down.", she said.

"Okay.", Rebecca said, catching her breath. "It's just that...", she stopped before finishing.

"Just that what?" Ireena asked.

"Never mind.", Rebecca replied, not wanting to admit that she was scared. "I guess that we can get in, if you feel that it's okay."

Ireena looked at the carriage and then back to Rebecca. "We'll walk.", she decided.

"Okay.", Rebecca said smiling.

Anthony took a closer look at the key. It was embedded vertically, not inserted, and the wood around the edges of the key was slightly charred.

"Hey, guys, take a look at this.", Anthony said.

"A bit of an odd decoration.", Ryan said, looking at the key.

Anthony wondered whether Ryan was being droll. "Burning it into place is unusual too.", he said.

"Black on black on black.", Rebecca said humorously as she looked at the carriage. "Like those fu...like those messed-up goths."

Kevin smiled at Rebecca's restraint.

Rebecca glanced at Kevin. "Anyone who wears all black all the time is like...", she said smiling.

"Priests aren't known for their fashion expertise.", Kevin replied in good humor.

The door of the carriage slowly began to close.

"Anthony, the door!", Richard called out.

Anthony stuck his foot between door and frame, stopping it from closing. The horses began to get agitated. They seemed eager to be off.

"Do you reckon I should take the key out?", Anthony asked.

Ryan shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Anthony pulled out the hammer that he'd taken from the tool box and tentatively grabbed the door frame with his left hand while trying to find a good purchase point on the shaft of the key for the hammer's claws. Finding one, he applied steadily building pressure to the key which popped loose from the wood of the coach. The key, about six inches long and made of silver, landed on the cushions of the driver's seat. Anthony reached into the carriage and picked up the key quickly. It felt heavy in his hand, much more than he would have expected from an object made of silver. Anthony wondered if it was silver plated iron.

The horses were growing more and more upset, breathing great plumes of misty breath and stamping their hoofed feet.
 
Ismark stepped clear of the horses. "Let's get moving, then.", he said, looking up at the sky.

Anthony stepped back from the coach. As he did so the door of the carriage slammed shut and the horses suddenly bolted down the road toward the castle. The carriage quickly disappeared into the mist.

Ismark looked at the key. "It is a mystery.", he said, scratching his chin. "Ravens are associated with the Von Zarovich family but I'm at a loss as to why that key was on the carriage."

No one else had any idea either.

"So like, is anyone good with a bow?", Rebecca asked, holding up the bow and arrows that she'd bought.

"Kolyan taught me a little.", Ireena spoke up. "May I hold it?"

Rebecca handed Ireena the bow and arrows. Ireena tested the bow and was surprisingly able to make a full draw. She relaxed the bowstring.

"You don't want to use it?", Ireena asked.

"I have this.", Rebecca said, nodding to her rifle.

"A club?", Ireena looked at Rebecca oddly.

"A deer rifle.", Rebecca replied. "I can drop a deer at three-hundred yards.", she said proudly.

"Three-hundred?", Ireena exclaimed. "That's quite impressive!"

"So nobody better mess with us.", Rebecca said with a smile.

Ireena smiled and fell into step with the rest of the group.

"You know how to start a fight with a redhead?", Richard said to Ryan.

"How?", Ryan replied.

"Say something.", Richard said laughing.

Ryan groaned. Rebecca gave them a dirty look. "What's the punch line?", she said mockingly.

"Say something.", Richard repeated, laughing.

"Okay, Richard needs a hooker.", Rebecca sighed.

"You always say that.", Richard shot back.

"Well now it's really important.", Rebecca replied. "Because vampires only attack virgins."

"Do not!", Richard shouted. Then he calmed himself. "Er, I mean, you should be safe, then."

Anthony snickered.

"Richard's never, you know.", Rebecca explained to Ireena.

Richard sulked as he walked along.

"So like, does the perv show up at your door every night?", Rebecca asked, happy that Richard didn't have a comeback.

Ireena answered quietly. "His...visits...are always preceded by the howling of wolves.", she began, the fear returning to her voice. "The markings you saw on the building are from them. He would speak to me through them. I couldn't so much as hear his voice as feel it in my head. I felt compelled to go to him but Ismark and my father were there. Having the relic that Brother Donovan lent us helped me to resist."

"The wolves talked to you?", Rebecca said with a hushed voice.

Ireena simply nodded. Rebecca decided to change the subject before things got to creepy. She started telling Irene stories about when they were kids growing up in Kansas. Ireena smiled and listened intently to Rebecca's stories, but she couldn't remember doing anything that Rebecca said. Anthony noticed that Kevin was staring at Ireena, the priest-to-be's face revealing non-priestly emotions bubbling up from inside. When he realized that he was being watched, Kevin diverted his attention elsewhere. Anthony smiled slightly at Kevin's embarrassment, but said nothing.

Ireena told a few stories of her own about life in Barovia. Surprisingly, given recent events and the current surroundings, the tales were happy ones. As they walked along the long and winding road further into the mountains the midday sun was further shrouded by dark clouds, heavy with rain.

"Oh crap.", Rebecca moaned. "More rain."

Ryan looked up at the storm clouds. "Maybe.", he said hopefully.

After passing through the craggy peaks of the mountains, the road took a sudden turn to the east and Ismark called for a halt. The startling, awesome presence of Castle Ravenloft towered before the group. Twin guardhouses of turreted stone, broken from years of use and exposure, stood before the group. Beyond these, a fifty-foot-wide precipice gaped between the cliffs and the walls of Castle Ravenloft, a chasm of dizzying depth that disappeared into the fog-shrouded distance far below.

The lowered drawbridge of old, shorn-up wooden beams hung precariously between the group and the arched entrance to the courtyard. The chains of the drawbridge creaked in the wind, their rusty iron straining with the weight. From atop the high walls, stone gargoyles seemed to stare at the visitors from their hollow sockets and grinned hideously. A rotting wooden portcullis, green with growth, hung in the entry tunnel. Beyond it, the main doors of Castle Ravenloft stood open. A rich, warm light spilled from them into the courtyard. Torches fluttered sadly in sconces on both sides of the open doors.

"Wow.", Rebecca gasped. She looked at one of the towers high above. "Oh crap.", she said absently.

"What a dump.", Richard said sarcastically.

Travis looked on in awe at the fortress ahead. "Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea.", he mumbled.

Anthony thought that Travis was right. Richard thought about the machete at his waist, then looked at the arrow-slits and battlements. He knew that the didn't stand a chance. He wanted to turn around and go home.

"I have to go up into one of those towers.", Rebecca said boldly. "Madame Eva said it was my density."

"Density, McFly?", Richard sneered.

"Shut up.", Rebecca shot back.

"You're a hell of a debater.", Richard added. "You should run for office."

Rebecca let it go. "I have to defeat evil there, or something.", she said looking way up high.

Richard looked up, up, up, and felt only dizziness. "I can't go up there.", he said, and wished that he could talk to his doctor right then.

Kevin glanced at Ireena. He was scared, but the idea of doing something for Ireena gave him strength. "We're going. All of us.", he said firmly.

"Where's the chapel?", Rebecca asked no one in particular.

"I don't know.", Ismark replied.

Kevin picked up the thought. "But there's only one way to find it.", he nodded towards the drawbridge.

"Let's go.", Rebecca said confidently.

"Paladins and heroes go first.", Richard said, more than a little afraid to go inside.

Ryan began reciting something to himself, but loud enough so that the others could hear, "Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon ye who enter here."

"Dante?", Richard guessed.

"Who else?", Ryan replied.

Ireena and Ismark were quite unnerved by Ryan's speech.

Rebecca started walking toward the castle. "Come on.", she said.

"This looks like something Peter Straub would write.", Richard noted. "I'll...bring up the rear."

Kevin and Ryan fell in behind Rebecca. Ismark and Ireena shared a glance before doing the same. Travis looked up again at the towering structure and sighed before heading on. Thick, cold fog swirled in the darkened courtyard. Sporadic flashes of lightning lanced the angry clouds overhead and thunder pounded the mountains around them. Then a light drizzle began to fall. Ahead, torch flames fluttered in the wind on each side of the keep's open main doors. Warm light spilled from the doors into the courtyard. A howling wind rushed through the courtyard and flickering lights shone from a short round tower on the southeast side of the keep.

Ryan tried to speak over the howling wind. "So much for the advantage of daylight!", he shouted.

Rebecca walked boldly towards the main gate. She was determined to do what she had come to do. Richard looked for murder holes in the ceiling of the tunnel. He found some, though they were black and empty.

"I wish I'd joined the SCA.", Richard said, pointing out the murder holes. "In a siege, hot oil, stones, or whatever would be poured down through those on anyone in here."

"It would seem the master of the keep doesn't have a garrison here anymore.", Ryan added. "I don't know whether that's good or bad. I bet this was a beautiful place once."

"Why does he need any guards?", Rebecca replied. "Everyone's afraid of him."

Richard noted the mold growing on the damp walls and pulled his handkerchief out to cover his nose and mouth. They approach the main entrance of the castle, its ornate, massive doors standing wide open. Fluttering torches cast dim yellow flickers of light out from the entry way. Twenty feet into the castle, a second set of doors suddenly swung open effortlessly and the sounds of organ music flowed out. Overhead, in the entryway, four statues of horned and winged monstrosities glared down, their eyes flickering in the torchlight. Upon spotting the gargoyles, Ismark put his hand on his sword, ready to draw. Ireena tensed up as well.

"I'd be scared...", Rebecca began. "...if this wasn't all so corny."

Richard saw Ismark reaching for his sword and belatedly reached for his machete. "I hope we don't need to swordfight.", he whispered to Ryan. "I don't have my lucky dice on me."

"This is like every B vampire movie ever made.", Rebecca added.

"Maybe they were all inspired by this.", Richard wondered out loud. "If the guy looks like Bela Lugosi I'm gonna laugh my ass off."

Travis looked around. "You remember how in "The Wizard of Oz", the wizard looked all powerful but turned out to be just a little guy behind the curtain?", he asked no one in particular.

"Yeah, amazing how things like that happen in fiction.", Anthony mused. "While in reality sickos abduct kids and kill them."

Rebecca could see into the adjoining room from where she was. Cobwebs hung from the dust-covered columns of the great hall, illuminated by torches sputtering in iron sconces. The dust and webs cast strange, moving shadows across the faces of stone gargoyles squatting motionlessly around the rim of the domed ceiling. Cracked and faded ceiling frescoes displayed centuries of decay. Two doors of bronze stood closed to the east. To the north, a wide staircase climbed into darkness. The sounds of the growing storm outside were subdued inside. Sad and majestic organ tones floated in from a lit hallway to the south.

"The chapel is where the organ would be, right?", Rebecca said.

"I guess.", Kevin agreed.

Ryan thought for a moment. "Possibly, but it can vary from castle to castle.", he postulated.

"Sounds like a funeral home in here.", Richard observed. He wished that he had some Metallica and a really loud boom box.

Rebecca walked towards the organ music and the others followed. They made their way down a vaulted hallway. Torchlight flickered against the walls along their way. To the east, a dark and forbidding hallway ran into darkness. Beside the opening, a suit of armor, oiled and glistening, stood at attention in a shallow alcove. To the west, large double doors stood slightly open, a steady bright light escaping through the crack. Swells of organ music came from behind the doors, spilling their melody of power and defeat into the hall.

Ryan peered at the suit of armor. "Wow.", he breathed.

"Cooooool!", Richard exclaimed as the two marveled at what they'd never seen in person but had worn hundreds of times in their role-playing games.

Anthony tapped the suit with a dagger handle. "Anybody home?", he asked.  The tapping sound echoed within.

From what Anthony could tell the suit appeared to be nothing more than a normal set of plate armor, though very well cared for. Suddenly a voice seemed to come out of it.

"Luke. I am your father, you knob.", Richard said in his Bob McKenzie-as-Darth-Vader voice.

Anthony was startled and yanked his head back. "Don't do that.", he hissed at Richard, who kept doing it.

"Join me, and together we can rule the Galaxy as Father and Son.", Richard added, breathing in and out loudly. "And I need a good mechanic."

Ireena raised an eyebrow at the guys and leaned towards Rebecca. "Are they always like this?", she whispered.

"Only around women.", Rebecca answered.

Ireena smiled and tried to keep from laughing.

"Irene. Do you remember this?", Rebecca asked. Then she started singing. "Oh Ricky you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Ricky! Hey Ricky!"

"Don't call me Ricky.", Richard hissed.

Rebecca sang it louder, clapping her hands to the beat. "Oh Ricky, you're so fine. You're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Ricky! Hey Ricky!"

Kevin interrupted. "Rebecca! Enough!", he shouted.

Richard wished that he could slap Rebecca around some, but he didn't dare.

"That's how we used to get back at him.", Rebecca whispered.

Ireena nodded. "Ah.", she said giggling.

"Eighties music sucks ass.", Richard said, glaring at the back of Rebecca's head

Ismark looked at the quibbling heroes. "We're doomed.", he muttered to himself.

Rebecca kept walking towards the music and boldly walked through the doors to the great dining hall.

"Don't!", Richard shouted as Rebecca opened the doors the rest of the way. "Push it with your rifle butt, you moron. The doors could be trapped! Whenever I run a dungeon I always lay out stuff like that."

Then Richard muttered something about real-life adventures with non-gamers getting them all killed.

Ignoring Richard, Rebecca pushed on. Soon she found herself in a magnificent dining room, brilliantly lit by three massive crystal chandeliers. Pillars of stone gleamed against dull white marble walls, supporting the ceiling. In the center of the room, a long, heavy table was covered with a fine white damask cloth. The table was laden with delectable foods of every type: roasted beast basted in a savory sauce, roots and herbs of wide variety, and sweet fruits and vegetables. Places were set for each of the visitors with fine delicate china and silver. At each was a crystal goblet filled with an amber liquid whose delicate fragrance tantalized the senses.

At the center of the far west wall stood a massive organ. Its pipes blared out a thunderous melody whose tone blended greatness and despair. Seated before the keys, his back toward his guests, a single caped figure pounded the keys in rapturous ecstasy. The figure suddenly stopped and a deep silence fell over the dining hall. Then the figure slowly turned around.

With a thick accent the man at the organ greeted his guests. "I welcome you as guests to my humble home.", the man said. "Please, sit and eat."

"Is that him?", Rebecca whispered to Ireena.

Ireena stared at the speaker. Her eyes were wide and she trembled slightly. Slowly she moved behind Ismark.

"Irene?", Rebecca said, turning her head to look at her old friend.

Ireena was deathly afraid, hiding her face behind her brother's back. The Count remained seated at the organ and said again, "Please, sit and eat."

Rebecca started to get angry, but she stopped herself from acting out. "We need to get the thing from the chapel.", she whispered to the others.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "We can't.", she said to the Count. "Well, not before praying."

The Count said nothing.

Ismark could contain his anger no longer. In an icy tone he said, "I'll run this bastard through myself, right now."

"Please, sit and eat." the Count repeated again.

"He's like a recording.", Rebecca whispered.

Angered as well by Ireena's suffering, Travis decided to test out Rebecca's theory. He swung up his shotgun and fired at the seated count. Richard nearly had a heart attack as the gunshot rang out from right beside him. Travis' aim was true and the Count reeled from the impact, but remained seated. And rather than the gore one might expect from such a wound, only sawdust poured from the gaping hole in Strahd's body. The Count looked at everyone with a sneer just before the visage shimmered and faded, leaving only a dummy made of cloth and wood behind.

The moment the illusion was broken, a fierce, bone-chilling wind rose up and roared through the hall, putting out all the candles and torches, and plunging the room into darkness. A mocking laughter echoed throughout the hall. Then they heard the screech of ancient hinges and the solid thudding of many heavy doors slamming shut, one after another, in the distance. They could also hear the sound of the portcullis clanging shut and the tired groan of the aged drawbridge pulling up.

A chill went up Ismark's spine as he realized that Strahd had them right where he wanted them: trapped inside his sinister castle where all manner of grisly fates awaited.