Time: Nearly two in the morning Location: A vineyard somewhere Status: @efraincrayhorn
Thalra didn’t know how late it was, but could probably guess by the position of the moon high up in the sky, where it was blanketed by wisps of clouds, that they were closer to sunrise than they were to sunset. Thalra was tired in a way that was more like giddiness than exhaustion, fueled further by the several glasses of wine she and Efrain had enjoyed before what they had both agreed was going to be the end of their night. But then they had gotten to talking, and Thalra had gotten to thinking about that silly ghost story the guide had told about a graveyard on the very cusp of the vineyard, old and ominous and rumored to be the home of a monster. There had even been a bounty put out decades ago, but no one had ever been courageous enough to venture out so late at night when the monster was said to roam about.
And well, to Thalra wine-soaked mind, that very much sounded like a challenge.
Now they were both out among the rows of grapes and Thalra was giggling, holding onto Efrain’s hand and pulling him along in the dark. Her darkvision was much better than his, so she insisted on being the one to lead them. She probably wouldn’t have been able to convince him to do something like this at all, but the alcohol had softened some of Efrain’s edges. Besides, she just wanted him to have a bit of fun. That was something that was severely lacking in his life.
“What do you think the monster is?” Thalra asked, her free hand splaying out to grab a grape from one of the vines and pop it into her mouth. They were almost certainly not supposed to be out here, and if they were caught it would take a very strong leveraging of both their reputations to not be banned from the vineyard outright. “I hope it’s a troll. I’ve never seen a troll before.”
Finally, the rows of grapes ended and the land sloped slowly downwards towards the beginnings of a forest. And on the edge of that wood, nearly hidden by the trees, was an ancient looking graveyard. There was a low black iron fence that surrounded the strange garden of stone, but it had been overtaken with greenery. Ivy crawled up the edges of the few small mausoleums, leaves swaying in the wind and making the buildings look almost as if they were breathing. Some of the gravestones were cracked and crumbling, and it was obvious the whole place had been left to be reclaimed by nature long ago, the people and names written down there better off forgotten. Thalra stopped walking but didn’t let go of Efrain’s hand.
“How ominous.” Then, after a second of silence. “Oh! No, not a troll! I hope it’s a vampire!”