My legs carry me down the street, my heart racing out of my chest. I have to get there, fast. The words from my earlier call still ringing in my head.

        ‘There’s a fire. I can’t find Victor.’ 

  My little old neighbor called me at work, informing me that a fire started on our floor. The fact that she couldn’t find Victor scared me, and her not mentioning the kids just added fuel to the fire brewing inside the pit of my stomach. It makes me nausous, and even angry. My feet come to a stop when I reach our apartment building. The heat licks at my face and I have to be held back. 

“My boyfriend and kids are in there,” I shriek. The fireman still won’t let me get past. 

       “Ma’am, you can’t go in there. We will send in some men,” he continues to push me behind him, not letting me get closer. Shouting from the crowd swarms my brain as I watch three firemen enter to try and find my family. 

  “My boyfriends name is Victor. The twins are Esrah and Aisya. Please, they’re six,” I breathe out, not fighting anymore. The fireman nods his head and calls out over the radio, telling them names. Just then, a hand clamps around my shoulder from the crowd. 

“Sage!” The voice says, turning me around. I sigh in relief when I see one of my coworkers. 

        “Oh, Damon. What are you doing here?” I ask. Damon leads me away towards the back of the crowd. It’s quieter here, and I can think better. 

“You ran out without an explanation, so I closed early and hurried to follow,” he explains, wrapping me in his arms. I let him, slowly starting to feel tired. My adrenaline was wearing off, and sprinting five blocks didn’t help my muscles. 

       “Here, let’s go sit while we wait for them to put out the fire,” Damon suggests, turning me towards his car. I nod and he opens the front door for me. The door closes and he gets into the driver seat, starting the car. 

 “Lets get you warmed up,” He whispers softly, hand rubbing my thigh. I stare at him, my head reeling with questions. 

      “Damon…” I breathe out. His hand grips my thigh, and his car starts to peel off. 

  “How long do you think they’ll take to       
 figure out that the fire started in the 
  bedroom?”

I don’t know if I ever want to go back. The fact that it was there all day and I didn’t know it makes it that much creepier. Have you ever spent time with someone who claimed they were connected to the other side? All day long, they’d go about saying they saw this ghost or talked to that one. I didn’t believe my sister when she said that she saw a monster. She’s six, everything is creepy to a six year old. Breakfast that morning was fine, the rice a little too mushy, but other wise alright. Keiko probably won’t let me live that down anytime soon, but she still ate it for me. It’s pouring rain outside, and whereas most kids would sit inside and read, Keiko wants to go explore. Mom always jokes that she was supposed to be a fish. Keiko wanted to go visit dad, so I obliged, getting her all dressed up and everything. She wore her special dress mom got her, and her little heels. Walking to the cemetary wasn’t bad. The chill hadn’t seeped in yet, and Keiko was jumping in most of the puddles. She kept looking behind us, and telling something to go away, but I just thought her imagination was running wild. I looked back and saw nothing. “What do you keep talking to?” I ask her, laughing softly. She shurgs her shoulders and looks back again. “I have a friend.” My eyebrows raise, but I drop it. We reach the cemetary and find our dads grave. We both sit under a tree nearby and try to stay clean, away from the mud. I take out the soup canister from my bag and share it with her. After a while, Keiko starts to get tired, leaning heavily on me. “Say goodbye to dad,” I say softly, picking Keiko up. She says goodbye, and burries her face into my neck. Random chills get sent up my spine, and I look around, locking eyes onto a woman in a trench coat. Her face was covered, so I couldn’t see who she was. Brushing it off, I start to walk Keiko and myself back home. The way we had traveled lead us under a bridge, and right before we walk under, I notice the same lady standing there. Confusion blooms in my chest as my brain starts to overwork. I left her behind me in the cemetary, there was no way she could get ahead of us. I pause, trying to gage all outcomes. Her face turns up, and my blood runs cold. A skeletal face looks back at me, blank eyes staring into my soul. The upturned shape of the mouth will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. I start to back track to get out of there, when Keiko speaks up. “Do you see her too, Ito?”

The small group of five set out at dawn, ready to get their day started. The leader of the group, Vidar, leads them to the mess hall to greet the cooks. The five elders walk slowly, their pace never breaking. Their black robes touch the ground, giving the appearence of floating in the fog. “Hello Dagfinn,” Vidar greets the main cook. The scarred man nods his head at the elder, turning back to his cooking. The group sits down at their favorite table, and start to talk. “You know what I’m tired of?” One of the women, Unnr, speaks up. The groups turns to her, questioning looks on their faces. “Well? What is it,” Reidun asks, the other woman of the group. “You know how those kids mess with us? What if we were to do it to them?” Unnr asks, looking into the distance. Oyvind starts to laugh and tears sparkle down into his greying beard. “And how do you plan on doing that?” His deep voice booms. Unnr shrugs her shoulders and looks to the final man at the table. The Mastermind. Alvis studies his hands, lost in thought. “We could send them on a goose chase.” He speaks softly. Vidar hums in agreement. “We could send them on a hunt for a Draugr,” Vidar laughs. “Tell them old Hroarr was buried with an ancient spear in his grasp, and only the chosen one can retrieve it. And don’t tell them who is chosen.”
The others start to laugh and agree. The mess hall had started to fill up, so the quintet leaves to find their target of kids. They find four brothers after walking a ways, and head straight towards them. “Eirunn!” Reidun calls to the oldest. The blonde boy runs up and greets the five friends. His brothers run behind him, also greeting them. “We have a quest for you brothers,” Oyvind laughs, clapping the third son, Ebbe, on the shoulder. All four boys straighten up. “What is this quest?” Brynjar, the youngest, asks. Vidar clears his throat. “Do you remember dear old Hroarr?” He croaks. The boys nod their heads, Brynjar taking a second longer. “Well, he was known as one of the best hunters in this village. It is said that he was buried with his spear, and only a chosen son of the same village can take the spear from his grave.” Vidar tells the boys. Unnr hops in next. “And the one who gets the spear from the cold dead hands of Hroarr will be the best hunter.” The boys eyes sparkle with excitment, the thought of being the best hunter warming them. “Where was he buried?” The second son, Sven, questions. The five elders look at each other, not thinking the joke would go this far. Alvis gets an idea, and smiles slowly before turning back to the four awaiting boys. “Go down the deer trail, past Jagged Rock and turn left at the Waiting Lady. There, you should see a lone thorn bush. He was buried right there.” The four boys nod and start to run off, Brynjar turning around. “Thank you for this oppertunity,” he beams at them, going to join his brothers. Once the four boys were out of sight, all five of the friends burst into laughter, wondering how long it would take the boys to realize they had been tricked.