Xu Ling shivered in the bitter wind. Light brown strands of hair whipped across her face, and she tucked them behind her aching ears with a shaky hand. It was hard to see much in the thick, black night filled with fog and snowflakes. Only a few thin streams of moonlight managed to break through the tall, snow-covered trees.
How could such a beautiful place be so harsh on the human body?
She sighed, her breath forming a cloud in front of her. She should have been on a relaxing flight back to her home, but the day before she had learned something incredibly exciting. Hope had filled her, and earlier that night she had rushed there without thinking, without stopping to consider, seizing the first chance to find out if it was true.
Somewhere in the vastness of this forest were men with strange abilities that no one seemed to understand. She didn't know exactly what they could do. All she knew was that she desperately needed their help. And she would risk anything, everything, to speak with these powerful men.
She couldn't live with the voices anymore.
Xu Ling only had to stand in one place to hear every conversation that had ever happened there, no matter how much time had passed. Present, past, in any language, it didn't matter. She could hear them in her mind, understand them, even translate them. Some people thought it was a gift. She knew it was a nightmare.
Another cold gust of wind hit her, and she leaned against a tree for shelter. The day before, when she had come to Budapest with some colleagues from the World Institute of Parapsychology, she had stood in the center of town and started hearing bits of conversations. This wasn't new for her...until she had figured out what the words meant.
They can control you with a look.
One of them has wings and flies when the moon is full.
The scarred one can disappear whenever he wants.
As if those whispers had opened a doorway in her mind, hundreds of years of chatter had crashed into her, a mix of old and new. The intensity of it made her double over as she tried to separate the ordinary from the important.
They never get old.
They must be angels.
Even their home is creepy - like something out of a horror movie. Hidden on a hilltop, with dark corners, and even the birds won't go near it.
Should we kill them?
They're magical. They eased my suffering.
So many people, from the past and present, clearly believed these men had powers beyond human ability, that they had extraordinary skills. Was it possible that these men could help her? Someone had said, eased my suffering.
"Maybe they can ease mine," Xu Ling muttered to herself. Over the years and in all parts of the world, she had heard rumors of vampires, werewolves, goblins, witches, gods, goddesses, demons, angels, monsters, and fairies. She had even led the Institute's researchers to the places where many of these creatures lived, proving that they did, in fact, exist.
After all, the whole point of the Institute was to find, observe, and study paranormal beings and figure out how the world could benefit from them. And for once, working as someone who could hear these special sounds might also be her way to find peace.
Strangely, she hadn't led the Institute to Budapest, as usually happened with a new assignment. In fact, she hadn't heard a single word about Budapest in any of the recent conversations she had listened to. But they had brought her here anyway, asking her to listen for any talk about demons.
She knew better than to ask why. The answer, no matter the question, was always the same: secret.
When she had done what she was told, she had learned that some of the local people thought the men living on top of this hill were demons. Evil, wicked. However, most people thought they were angels. Angels who kept to themselves - except for one, who supposedly liked sleeping with any woman and had been nicknamed the "Orgasm Instructor" by three giggling women who had spent a "single, glorious" night with him. Angels who, just by being there, kept crime levels low. Angels who gave a lot of money to the community and made sure the homeless were fed.
Xu Ling herself doubted that such helpful people were demons. Demons were always mean and didn't care about anyone else. But whether the men were angels living on earth or just ordinary people with extraordinary abilities, she hoped they could help her in a way that no one else had. She hoped they could teach her how to block the voices or even completely take away her ability to listen to all those voices.
The thought was thrilling, and a slow smile spread across her face. But the smile quickly disappeared as another blast of wind went through her jacket and sweater and chilled her to the bone. She had been out here for more than an hour, and she was freezing. Stopping to rest (again) hadn't been a smart idea.
Her eyes went up the hill. Through a break in the clouds, a sudden beam of golden light shone down and lit up the massive dark gray castle. Mist curled up from the bottom, seeming to wave her forward like ghostly fingers. The place looked exactly as the voices had described, she thought, shadowy and with sharp points along the top, like a horror movie come to life.
That didn't scare her away. It was the opposite. I'm almost there, she thought happily, starting to walk uphill again. Her thighs already ached from dodging branches and jumping over raised roots, but she didn't care. She kept moving.
Until, ten minutes later, she found herself stopping for what felt like the thousandth time, unable to take another step as her shaky, tired legs turned into blocks of ice. "No," she groaned. Not now. Rubbing her legs to warm them, she looked at the distance again. Her eyes widened when she realized that the castle didn't seem any closer. In fact, it might have been farther away.
Xu Ling shook her head in surprised despair. Damn it! What do I have to do to reach that place? Grow wings and fly?
Even if I fail, I don't regret coming here. The part about not bringing supplies or making a plan, yes, she regretted that, but she had to try. No matter how foolish it seemed, she simply had to try. She would have made the journey naked and barefoot if she had to. Anything for a chance at a normal life.
She liked that she helped protect the world with her - ugh - ability, but the suffering she went through was too much. Surely there was another way for her to help. With a little silence, she might be able to think of how. Deep breathing and meditation only helped her peace of mind so much.
She rubbed her legs more frantically, the rubbing finally melting some of the cold inside her and making her want to move again. "They're here. I know they are," she heard as she walked past a bent, twisted tree.
Then someone else said, "Aren't you pretty?"
"Yes, I am, thank you," she said, hoping the sound of her own voice would be louder than the others. It wasn't. Deep breath in, deep breath out.
As she kept walking forward with difficulty, different conversations from different times came into her awareness, piling up in her mind. Most were in Mandarin, some in English, which made them even more mixed up.
Yes. Yes! Touch me. There, yes, there.
Where is my sword? I don't know where it is.
One more taste of his lips, and I'll forget him, I just need one more taste.
Xu Ling stumbled over small branches and rocks, the words blending together, getting louder. Louder still. Her heart beat fast in her chest, and she almost screamed in frustration. Deep breath in, deep breath -
If you knock on the door, you'll be treated like an animal, and I promise you'll love every minute of it.
She covered her ears, even though she knew that wouldn't work. "Keep going. Find them." More wind. More voices. "Keep going," she repeated, the words matching her footsteps. She had come this far; she could go a little farther. "Find them."
When she had told Dr. Lucas, the vice president of the Institute and also her boss and mentor, what she had learned about the men, he had given her a short nod and a quick "Well done" - which was his highest praise.
Then she had asked to be taken to the castle on top of this impressive hill.
"No way," he had said, turning away from her. "They could be the demons some of the locals think they are."
"Or they could very well be the angels most of the locals believe they are."
"You're not going to risk it, Ling." That's when he had told her to pack her bags and had a car ready to take her to the airport, just like he always did when her part of the job - providing the ears - was done.
It was "standard agency procedure," he always said, but he never sent the rest of the workers home. Just her. Dr Lucas cared about her and wanted her safe, she knew that. After all, he had taken care of her for more than fifteen years, taking her in when she had been a scared child whose parents hadn't known how to ease their "gifted" daughter's suffering. He had even read her fairy tales to teach her that the world was a place of magic and endless possibilities, a place where nobody - not even someone like her - had to feel strange.
While he did care, she also knew her ability was important to his career, that the Institute wouldn't be nearly as effective without her, and that as a result, she was somewhat of a tool in his eyes. That's why she didn't feel (too) guilty for sneaking away the moment he wasn't looking.
Her fingers numb, Xu Ling smoothed her hair from her face again. Maybe she should have taken the time to ask the locals for the best way to go, but the voices had been too loud, too overwhelming in the city center. More than that, she had been afraid that an Institute employee would see her and take her back.
It might have been worth taking her chances, though, to avoid this freezing cold.
There's one way to find out the truth. Stab one in the heart and see if he dies, a voice said, catching her attention.
Oh, that feels good. Please, more!
Distracted, Xu Ling tripped over a fallen branch. She tumbled down, landing with a painful gasp. Sharp rocks scraped her palms and scratched her jeans. For a long time, she didn't move. Couldn't. Too cold, she thought. Too loud.