The Girl and the Grandfather

I am alone.
Where am I?

Her name is Wraith.

Light. The tower ahead. There's rubble to either side. An archway in pieces lies to one side, studded with skulls. It's very dark inside.

Light. This room has been cleared out. Four pillars rest between the eight walls. Dead spiders line the corners. To the left, a curtain has been drawn.
She approaches, more curious than afraid. Then pauses. Her eyes widen. There is a knife on the floor.
A fat cloth woman bursts out, shrieking madly. Wraith jumps back, falling to the floor, screaming, covering her eyes and throwing up a hand. A wall of light springs from her fingers. The cloth woman crashes against it again and again, nightmarish wails slowly fading. Wraith stands, but she doesn't look. "You can't touch me," she whispers.

Light. Mirrors line the eight walls. Four crystals, red, blue, yellow and black, lie overturned on the floor beside their individual dias. A beam of light falls on a circular platform in the center of the room, cracked painfully in half. A doorway leads onwards. It is very dark beyond.

Light. A golden staircase leads upwards. The Straw Golem stands stiffly, eyes unmoving.
She takes her first steps up, facing the creature. It stares blankly forwards. With a small sniff she curls her tiny hand into a fist and, bracing herself, punches the demonic scarecrow. It rustles but does not otherwise react. She strikes it again, refusing to stand down, and gradually its dark shirt folds outwards, becoming a black tunnel. The tunnel becomes a blackness. The blackness becomes a man.
He's smothering her. His arms wrap around her, and she's too afraid to move. "You are mine," he hisses. His breath is foul. It's so dark. She can't breathe, she can't move. She is twisted around. The arms wrap tighter. Something pokes into her back, moving downwards.
"No!" She kicks, she struggles, but he is too strong. "No!" she screams. She's trapped, she's trapped...
The door flies open dramatically, crashing into the wall. The man drops her, perhaps from surprise or guilt, and she runs to the light outside. Its arms envelop her, but she welcomes it. "DO NOT TOUCH HER," commands the light. "I WILL DEAL WITH YOU."
The man bristles. "LEAVE HER," suggests the darkness.
"SHE MUST SEE THIS," states the light, "OR IT WILL HAUNT HER FOREVER." The light moves towards the darkness.

There is a voice.
"Everything is a lie."

Light. There are no arms. She awakens on a tall black stool, underneath a hanging lamp. She stands and walks. Soon she is back on the golden staircase. It is not long before she reaches the top.

Light. A tall shape stands in the middle of the room. The platform is surrounded by a circular wall of light. Beams lead away in four directions. The room has eight sides, four with doors. She exits through the one on her right.
Time passes. A sphere rests in a hole. She lifts it out. The red beam flickers and goes out. She returns to the central room, places the sphere at the base of the platform. Stone grips wrap around the sphere, dragging it into the ground. She takes the second door.
Time passes. The second sphere. The blue light goes out.
Time passes. "Do you know what you're doing? You should stop. You don't want to do this. It won't end well for you." The third sphere. The yellow light goes out.
Time passes. She is moving slowly now, so slowly. There is darkness. "Everything is a lie," she whispers. The fourth sphere. Slowly, so slowly. As she lifts it the black light splutters out. The rooms begin to tremble.
Darkness rushing. Roaring.
She places the sphere in the final dias and steps back. The shields are gone. He is there. He is watching her. He is waiting.
The beast howls. The child screams. Chains break, walls smash, eyes find light again.
She stares, transfixed. Nothing separates them. He does not move, does not step towards her. He does not beckon her closer. She stands. Her hands clench into fists, then relax. A smile begins to play across her face. She leans forward.
A cold hand lands on her shoulder. She looks up into the face of Skeleton. "We must go. Now."
Running. Footsteps in darkness, stairs. It's ever so silent. It's not meant to be this silent, surely?

Then, daylight. Nine figures leave the castle. Whisk droops in Prophet's arms, Lank and Styx lean on each other, Wraith huddles under Skeleton's cloak, Clarence rests in the haich's massive arms. Only IMPACT walks alone. They pass the broken arch, walking back along the winding road to the shore. "I'm so tired," gasps Clarence.
"Be still," hushes Skeleton. "Rest. You have been through [a great ordeal.]"
"YOU SHALL NOT REST." A voice booms from the mountain. "I AM HERE. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW REST, NOR PEACE, NOR FULFILLMENT. I AM HERE, AND I WILL HAUNT YOU... FOREVER." It lets out a final, hissing breath before falling quiet.
Skeleton breaks the silence. "It lies." They left.