The air was sharp and fresh in the evening, especially compared to what it felt like in the tavern. The usual drunken festivities were reaching their crescendo. The sweet song of the girl and Meijen started to fade away into the loud shouts of the grunts. I don’t know why I lingered outside the tavern. Normally, I would be halfway home by now. I didn’t even have any tobacco with me, made waiting outside boring, even more so when you don’t fully know what you are waiting for. But I was sure that I was waiting on something, whatever it was. It felt like autumn, even if it was spring. The chilly wind was picking up. I wasn’t dressed enough. I had decided to finally make my way home, intuition be damned. But right that moment, the door to the tavern opened up.

"Not enjoying our songs? Enough to wait outside for us to end?" asked the girl.

"Nothing of that sort, sorry. Your voice is very soothing to listen to, it's obvious that you are handy in your craft. I just had to leave early is all."

"Then why didn’t you, you know, leave?"

"Well…"

Suddenly she gasped and pointed at me.

"You are the man living in the mansion right? Mister Daggerpick himself?" she asked with curious eyes and overly strong enthusiasm.

"Yes, you could say that. Don't call me mister please, I am not that much older."

"Is it true that the place is haunted? There are ghosts? Mei told me a bunch of stories. Is there the webmother? Does she live in the cellar? Is it..." The girl blurted one thing after the other in a noncoherent fashion. What a contrast to the song before.

"The reality is….greatly overestimated." I stopped her roll.

"So there are ghosts! You don't deny that! Can I see them? Will you show me?"

"I don’t know if anyone else can see them." I was pushed into a corner by now.

"Well, we won't know for sure until we try! Can I come? Just to see."

"Alright." I kept the place clean enough not to embarrass myself and I didn't have visitors for a while now "Just don’t expect too much, no demoness to be found there."

"Shame."

Meijen came with us too. Curious about the heart of so many myths and stories of the town. They were going to be disappointed, but I warned them.

When we came to the big black gate, they quietened, getting a little scared. That is fair, I never did like the gate either. It was unnecessarily huge.

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The creaking when it opened shut them up altogether.

We came inside and I hanged their coats. I prepared them tea and then we…waited. You simply can't force ghosts onto you, they come as they want.

The tea did warm them up a little, in the literal and metaphorical sense too. We started talking again, they mostly asked about my family and the history of the house, but they weren't pushy at all.

"So your whole family died in a number of accidents?" Meijen asked.

"Yes. Great-grandfather used to say we are cursed, meant to die in various unfortunate ways. Some say he might have been right. Although I suspect he really wasn’t."

"Seems to me that there is no better explanation." Mia said "Plus, it'd make a good story for a song. The Daggerpicks chain of unforeseen and unfortunate events."

"You make everything about songs Mia. You should try to act sometimes too. This would make a better play."

"No, Meijen. You should learn how to appreciate the musical arts more, you are like a back alley thug sometimes."

Meijen looked greatly offended by that statement.

"If you don’t mind me asking, what are you to each other? You seem to fit each other." I wondered.

"No surprise there, this hydra came out of the same womb as me, she was just a little slower. Something that stuck with her."

"That’s because you wouldn’t move and I had to push you out myself! But yeah as he said, we are twins."

"Makes sense."

We continued to talk until sundown. Of course, none of the potential ghosts decided to show themselves.

"I don’t get guests often and we had not seen a single ghost yet, so what do you say we spice our hunt a little?"

Meijen's eyes lit up. "Uuu, what do you got?"

I took them to the wine cellar. Mia wanted to choose the bottles herself, so we let her.

Meijen looked over the cellar "Man, you have all this just for yourself...you are so lucky."

We watched as Mia tried to reach the highest placed bottle, failing miserably.

"I'd say you are the lucky one."

Meijen's face turned into one full with compassion, he reached out his hand and pressed it toward my shoulder.

"You are right and I am wrong, but let's say we split the difference a little heh? Friends?" he put out his hand

"Didn’t the stories of me scare you off?"

"Nowhere near as much as this creepy house, yet my offer still stands."

I clasped it into a handshake. I didn’t feel this glad in a long time.

"Friends then."

"Great! As a friend, I don’t have to feel embarrassed to ask for a place to stay!"