(12) Two vampires, a ghoul and a shifter.

"This is like way cool."

"You think?" Piers smiled at Linden's excitement while trying to retain his own calm demeanor. "Just be careful. Who knows what lurks in there."

Linden chuckled. "I think we're probably the only 'beasties' here. I mean where would they hide?"

Piers might have agreed except for one thing, the ruins were open to the sky, all the upper levels of what had once been a small castle now weatherworn rubble on the ground.

"Rod did say there was a dungeon under here. Who knows what could be lurking there?"

"One way to find out," Linden replied as he marched up to the massive gatehouse arch. "Shouldn't there be a moat and a drawbridge?"

"Maybe there was, way back when." Piers followed his intrepid ghoul, wanting him to have the pleasure of discovery. Personally, he was quite certain that what they saw was all that there was anymore.

"This place could have housed a small army," was Linden's first comment once they were inside the destroyed walls. He stared up at the remains of the mullioned windows at one corner of the front wall. "Three levels."

"Four in the guard towers, if that's what they're called."

"Got me, I'm not exactly a history student." Linden started clambering over the fallen stones towards the center of the once noble castle. "It must have been awesome before it burned down."

"Well no one took any photos that I know about, so it's hard to tell." Piers told him straight-faced.

"They should have," Linden said before he realized Piers was teasing. "Brat," he grumbled.

"Always." Piers grinned at him. Then he turned his gaze to the piles of rubble. "If Rod was telling the truth about the dungeon I wonder where the entrance was."

"Are there any old plans for this place somewhere?"

"Now that's a good question. Maybe the first thing to do is go through the estate's library and see." Piers walked carefully to one side of the remaining structure, using the piled stones to climb up onto one of the lowest parts of the damaged wall. "Come here, take a look," he said moments later.

Linden joined him, asking why.

"Look at the stones. You can almost tell where the interior walls were by how high some of the piles are, if that makes sense."

Linden nodded slowly. "I see what you mean. That could help if we can't find floor plans from back then. We could at least sketch this out next time we come here."

"Which will be tomorrow night, but for now we'd better head back. The moon's going to be under the clouds soon, which will make it hard for you to see where you're going."

"Remind me to bring a flashlight or two tomorrow." Linden clambered down to the ground with Piers right behind him.

When they got to the great arched area between the towers, Linden stopped to take one more look. The moon chose that moment to hide behind the first of the fast-moving clouds. As it did, Linden hissed in a breath. "Something's there," he whispered.

Piers whirled around, trying to see what Linden was talking about. Even with his enhanced eyesight the area looked empty to him. "Are you sure it wasn't just the shadows moving because of the clouds," he asked quietly.

"I wouldn't take a blood oath, but I swear what I saw looked—human?"

"Ghosties and goblins and things that go bump in the night," Piers teased. However, he still shivered, whether from the cool breeze that had sprung up or the belief that just maybe Linden had seen something, he wasn't certain.