Shade and Dusk: Guardians of Analysia

(20) Nybass

No more going to strangers’ houses. For now on Ray is dragging the girls out next time they get invited in.

     As soon as they entered the living room, Ray looked around. Inside the living room are very old display cases of small statues, mostly of owls and other birds like hawks and stuff. Ray could have sworn they were looking at him as he walked by. On the walls are creepy portraits of different people that he didn’t recognize, and a grandfather clock near one of the corners of the room, next to a fire place. On the floor is an orange-brown stitched rug, and behind that is a coffee table and a couch. All Ray could hear is the sound of crackling fire and the ticking from the clock.

     Sam has gone to show Shade his room upstairs, and when Ray looked at the coffee table he noticed some papers. Celeste noticed to and asked, “What are those?”

     Mrs. Hillston looked, “Oh, some drawings Sam has made. He’s always talking about this spirit boy that visits him at midnight.”

     “Spirit?” asked Ray. He glanced at Celeste.

     “Yep,” said Mrs. Hillston, “It’s ridiculous, I know. We try to reason with him, telling him that he’s probably dreaming or something.”

     Celeste looked at the drawings. They look like an average ten-year-old drawing of a teenager in black robes, like a wizard, though it was kind of hard to tell. She saw scribbles of what looks like dark hair, and two dots for eyes. One dot is blue, the other amber. On the bottom corner of the paper Sam had signed his name, and above that is the name is Nybass.

     “So you don’t believe in spirits?” asked Ray, “What about dragons?”

     “Oh, those nasty beasts?” replied Mrs. Hillston, “Of course, you can see them can’t you? Spirits on the other hand; why that’s just silly. Surely you think this to don’t you?”

     Both Celeste and Ray glanced at each other. “Erm, sure,” said Ray.

     Man, this woman is weird. Ray wondered how Shade is doing upstairs.

     “So this is your room?” asked Shade, “I like it.”

     Sam shrugged. He had changed into a brown shirt with a fake fur vest and jeans, as well as a brown beanie hat.

     Shade looked around as Sam went to sit on his bed. This kid must really love magical creatures, because he has posters all over his room. There are dragons, fairies, wizards, you name it. He had reserved a spot on the wall for his drawings, just above his dresser. They’re basically ten year old drawings, but one drawing caught her eye.

     “Whose this?” asked Shade, pointing at a drawing of some wizard guy.

     “That’s Nybass!” Sam grinned, “Probably the only cool thing about this dump. He visits me every night at midnight, while I’m asleep.”

     “Wait,” said Shade, “If you’re asleep then how do you know he’s there?”

     “He appears in my dreams,” said Sam, “Then I wake up, and he’s right there in front of me! It’s super cool! He also takes me to the coolest places!”

     “Does anyone else see him?” asked Shade.

     Sam shook his head, “Only people who believe in spirits, according to Nybass. Unless of course you have the power to see spirits even when they’re invisible . . . and people in this town has neither of those qualities.”

     Shade frowned. The way Sam talked about this Nybass character . . . something isn’t right. Now knowing he’s a spirit to, Shade has a feeling she’s going to do some late night watching tonight.