The Secret of the Silent Stranger

Did you hear that? 

One would assume that after being dead for nearly two centuries, Albert could remember that he was a ghost. For some reason, the memory always escaped him in the most unforeseen times, but you couldn’t fault him. He had only been a young stable boy when a horse collapsed on top of him. One moment, he gasped for air, and the next, he floated above the horse. He wandered the castle grounds for days, chasing after his former friends for answers. They couldn’t see nor hear him.

At first, the whole “being dead” thing confused Albert, but over time, he figured out his favorite hiding places, the best times to wander the castle grounds without scaring the guests, and even scaring the staff from time to time.

The noise he heard a few moments ago was the sound of his body moving through the walls of Neuschwanstein, which had replaced Albert’s home of Vorderhohenschwangau in 1859. He never forgot the day when King Ludwig the Second ordered the construction of Neuschwanstein. He was minding his own business, wandering the ruins of his home when several wagons and construction workers climbed to the summit of the mountain. 

Albert decided to make the most of the otherwise confusing and somewhat terrifying circumstances. Every night after the workers finished for the day, he knocked over toolboxes and tore down nearly completed scaffolding. He even tried to tear down an entire wall, but that failed, primarily because he discovered that, as a ghost, he couldn’t pick up a stone, but he could move through it. 

There it was again, but this time, it wasn’t him.

His reminiscing was cut short by the sound of a metal pick clanging against the stones at the end of a corridor. All visitors and staff left a few hours ago. This realization frightened Albert, partly because he was alone and also because he figured out that the sound he heard early wasn’t his own. Someone or something was in the castle with him. 

He longed to reach for a sword or a shield to arm himself. Out of habit, he reached for one dangling near him, but right before his shadowy hand moved through it, it was dragged away from him. Albert looked up and around, searching for the hand that held the handle. He was alone, wasn’t he? 

Surely you heard that.

Emilia had grabbed a sword when she heard the sound of rushing wind down a silent corridor. She had snuck into the castle after nightfall because she found out that a rumor she believed in could actually be true. A chill ran down her spine. Something was next to her, but in the darkness, she couldn’t see anything. 

Albert spotted a young woman wandering down the castle corridor with a sword, dragging a sword in her right hand along the floor. He watched as she turned the corner but as he tried to follow, she disappeared. In his experience, humans couldn’t move through walls. 

There she was. She wasn’t hiding in the walls, but she had tucked herself behind a suit or armor. He leaned forward, hovering inches from her face. Her reaction told him that she could sense his presence, which was a first because most people assumed he was a gust of cold air. 

She’s shaking. Is she cold? 

Scared out of her mind yet curious about the truth, Emilia reached into the void before her. She could make out a vague shape of a body, but it didn’t look human. Her hand passed through a thick haze of air that caught on her fingers. 

AAAAAAGHGHGHGH! 

Their two voices screamed at the top of their lungs. Albert flung himself into the wall next to him; his head peaking out from the stone. Emilia toppled over; smushed between the wall and a suit of armor. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of what she could only describe as a ghost. To her, he looked to be about fourteen years old, but she wasn’t sure. 

Albert thought he’d offer condolences as a kind gesture. “Are you alright?” 

Her eyes were glued wide open and her mouth wouldn’t stay closed. Albert, thinking he would be helpful, reached up and closed her mouth, which worked to his surprise. He had never been able to touch a human before. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. 

“Can you hear me?” 

Emilia nodded. The reality of the situation finally sunk in. She was talking to a ghost, at least, she thought he was a ghost. 

“You can hear me?”

She nodded again. “Why wouldn’t I? Isn’t that how this works?” 

“No human has heard me for the last two centuries.” 

“No human?” 

“There’s plenty of ghosts here.” 

“Ghosts?” The young woman’s inquisitive tone surprised Albert. When he interacted with humans, they usually passed out in shock, ran away in terror, or simply ignored him. However, this human stared at him in amazement, as if she had never seen nor heard of a ghost before. 

“You’re real? You’re the silent stranger!” She stumbled and fumbled as she stood up, utilizing the wall for support. “You’re the ghost that haunted King Ludwig. That’s why everyone thought he was crazy.” 

Her expression confused Albert. Of course, he was real. Was he a ghost? Yes, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t real.

“You know who I am?” 

“I read about you!” 

“People read about me? Where?” 

“Absolutely!” She pulled a book out of her bag and thumbed through the pages. “I learned about you in school!” 

“You go to school?” 

His comment hit a nerve. She slapped him, well, tried to at least. Her hand flew through his wispy face. He couldn’t tell if she was annoyed, astonished, alarmed, or a combination of all three, but he assumed that her intuition had kicked in before she thought it through. 

“Ouch,” Albert sarcastically put his hand on his cheek. 

“Ah, did I hurt you?” She pouted her lip at him before turning back to her book. 

He gazed over her shoulder and read the passage about how a silent stranger haunted Neuschwanstein. Some people assumed it was a soldier that had died in the morgue, others said it was a young girl. 

“How dare they assume I’m a girl? I’m clearly a boy.” 

“Well, no one can see you so how would they know?” 

Albert gave her a side-eyed glance. “But you can see me.” 

“Well, I’m not everyone else.” She turned away from him to keep reading. 

“I’m Albert, by the way.” 

“Emilia.” 

“Nice to meet you, Emilia.” 

Suddenly, a gust of wind threw her into the wall. She toppled forward and hit her head, but continued falling. She landed on her stomach. Emilia looked around for Albert but she was alone. In fact, she wasn’t even in the same corridor that she had been in a few moments earlier. 

Was it all a dream? 

Her head hung heavy on her shoulders yet her body felt light and airy. The pain in her head dissipated. In fact, all of the pain that she expected to feel after falling flat on her face never matured into existence. 

“Hello, Emilia,” A young man’s voice reverberated through the corridor. “I’ve missed you.” 

#ReedsyFright