It wasn’t long before my mad, panicked dash had run its course. Nevertheless I continued on, meandering restlessly as unease churned in my guts. What was happening to me? Everything was changing! All of my steadfast routines and habits had disintegrated; nothing was predictable any longer! How exactly had (Y/N) come to be on my land, and what did she want of me? And what manner of lady died wearing naught but underthings in the forest, in my forest? Or… had I done something wrong, something to bring all this uncertainty upon me?

Despite no physical requirement for breath, I found myself panting and overwhelmed by a sense of feeble helplessness. Nothing I had learned, in life or after, had prepared me for (Y/N); she had ripped through my carefully pruned existence like a cyclone. She didn’t ever seek me out, didn’t give a fig for half the things I said! She had played a prank on me, if anything it should have been the reverse! All the women I’d come across when I was alive had fawned over me, but (Y/N) was coarse, irreverent, and indifferent.

With a heavy sigh and an apprehensive glance at my codpiece (to verify that the unwelcome protuberance had abated), I let myself collapse against what remained of… what had this been? My mind was worn down, my wits vanished. I believed I was resting against the foundation of the southernmost building of the eastern ancillary stables, but I wasn’t certain. Perhaps the priest’s quarters? I sighed to myself again. It had been so long, longer than I had truly realized.

I closed my eyes, pressing the heels of my hands against my closed lids, and tried to summon up the centuries-old memories of my estate in its prime. I struggled to remember how my property had looked with every wall and roof intact. The air had been so much clearer before the automobiles came! And, while I had never been much for social gatherings, I had to admit to myself, alone in the quiet of the night, that several centuries’ worth of solitude-

A horrible, droning ululation broke my reverie, leaving me with nothing to comfort me in my distress. I should have known there was no chance I’d be able to find even a moment’s peace with the disruptive curse that (Y/N) had somehow set off around me! While I had a soft spot for animals, I didn’t appreciate their mewling cries intruding upon my aggrieved introspection!

With a scowl, I conceded to myself that, when I had been alive, the dense populace and rudimentary sewage system had given my castle a redolence that no automobile could match. Though-

Again, the guttural cries rent through the night air, ruining my poignant, nostalgic moment! Immediately, I resolved to find the beast responsible and drive it off, putting an end to its intrusive caterwauling! While it was considerably more difficult for me to frighten most fauna, I had the benefit of determination. Besides, I had been making progress in leaps and bounds of late.

Initially, I headed towards the repetitive yowls at a confident, self-righteous march. But after only a few strides, a disturbing thought slowed my pace. What if the poor creature was wounded, was suffering? It sounded so wretched! While I could throw small stones to send animals trotting on their way, if it were seriously hurt… I decided that I would do anything and everything in my power to put it out of its misery. Though I was long dead, that didn’t preclude me from compassion for the innocent. With noble purpose in my step, I took up a full trot, shortly veered left around the dilapidated ruins, and then stopped cold.

It was (Y/N), bellowing horribly as she swayed to and fro! My every thought melted away to instinct. It didn’t register that she was far beyond the treeline, closer to me than ever before. My sole, guiding impulse was to get to her, help her, save her from whatever was causing her to howl so piteously! Without any manner of plan, I bolted towards her as fast as my immaterial legs would carry me.

Arms outstretched, mind racing, I had time to call out, “(Y/N)! I’m-“ before colliding with the unseen barricade. The impact was so forceful that my head was knocked loose and propelled some fair distance away from my body, back the way I had come. Dazed, it took some time to realize that I could not see because my head was face-first on the ground. My poor, subordinate, anencephalous frame was even more stunned, losing its balance and collapsing entirely the guidance of a cranium. My head wriggled on the cold grass, insensible but still possessed of a feeling of urgency.

As my disoriented chassis tottered to where my head had fallen to the soil, I noticed the godforsaken, toneless braying had stopped. Despite the vertigo, while my head was being lifted clumsily back to its rightful place, I registered that (Y/N) was talking, and close by. “…cox-comb! You gave me such a fright. Here, are you alright, you lummox?”

She could leave the woods?!? Indignation burned within me anew, my previous concern for (Y/N) forsaken for confused anger. Had (Y/N) been able to come closer all this time and lied? I finished fastening my head on my shoulders and turned about to face her, prepared to give her the earful I had originally intended before her childish prank. But the moment my eyes focused on her, all words perished in my throat at what I saw.

At only a handful of paces away, she was far lovelier than I had been able to appreciate from afar. Even with her hair in tangles, it still framed her pretty face to stunning effect. She smiled, showing dimples in round cheeks. That she was unexpectedly quite beautiful only served to enhance the appalling contrast with the balance of what had not previously been plain to my eyes.

(Y/N)’s shift was indeed shabby, but clearly the ragged edges had been torn and were not the result of the wear of time or exposure. The darkened spots on the cloth were indubitably blood and muck, not the decay of age. I blinked, shocked, to clear my eyes of debris that wasn’t there. But what had silenced me was neither of those ghastly realizations.

There was no extravagant, gothic carcanet around her shapely neck. It was plain to me now that what I had taken for dark-hued jewelry was, in fact, a thick, blackened, swollen band of bruising.

It was in the shape of a man’s hands.

Notes

I've had quite the hiatus! My hand was very badly injured. Though it's improving, and I hope to start posting more regularly again, it will be more slowly than previously.

I'm loving Vale and looking forward to seeing BVB on the Resurrection Tour.