Chapter 9 - Things That Go Creak In The Shrine

The flickering crystal lamp had dimmed hours ago, but Anastasya hadn’t slept a second.

She laid on her side, arms crossed, eyes wide open, glaring at the intricately carved wooden ceiling. Every minute, something in the room annoyed her.

A slow, rhythmic ticking came from a grandfather clock in the hall except it wasn't actually ticking. It was whispering. Faint voices murmuring something in Old Slavic, just soft enough to make her question her sanity.

Anastasya: "I don’t care if the walls have wisdom. I want silence."

A cold breeze swept through the curtains, though the stained-glass window hadn’t opened. Her blanket readjusted itself like it had a will of its own, tightening slightly around her legs, then loosening, then fluttering like it was tucking her in and panicking about doing it wrong.

Anastasya: "This blanket is possessed."

Aurelya floated near the bookshelf, snoring in tiny crystal chimes. Even that sound was somehow cute and irritating at the same time.

A pulse of light flared in the corner as one of the decorative runes glitched, yes, glitched, like a magical strobe light that couldn’t make up its mind between "soft ambiance" and "summoning ritual."

Anastasya: Sits up, exasperated. "Haruki Amano, if you don’t come fix your haunted Barbie dream house I swear I will walk back to the mortal world barefoot."

A second passed. Then...

the door clicked open.

There he was. Barefoot, hair messy, in a black yukata printed with faint fox masks, rubbing sleep from one glowing eye.

Haruki: "Were you yelling... or casting something?"

Anastasya: Her arms flail slightly. "This entire shrine is alive. The blankets breathe. The windows sigh. The clock is muttering in tongues. I think the bathtub giggled when I walked past it."

Haruki: "Mmm. That sounds about right."

Anastasya: "That’s normal?!"

Haruki: "You're attuned to the place now. It's just reacting to you. It likes you. You're exciting. A little high-strung, maybe, but very entertaining."

Anastasya: Slams her head in a pillow. "I will scream."

Haruki: Walks over to her, kneeling beside her bed. "You need to rest. The shrine needs time to sync with your energy. It gets… clingy with new brides."

Anastasya: "Is there a setting to make it stop whispering ancient funeral rites into the walls?"

Haruki: "Mmm, not exactly. But I can do this."

He leans forward, brushing a cool finger gently across her forehead. A flicker of golden magic drips down like a quiet breeze, tracing sigils that dissolve into her skin.

Anastasya: Her eyes flutter. "What are you... doing...?"

Haruki: "Sleep spell. Harmless. You'll drift. Nothing can wake you unless you will it. No haunted blankets. No whispering walls. Not even me."

She sinks into the bed like a stone into deep water. Her eyelids finally surrender. Her muscles relax as the chaos melts into calm silence.

Haruki gently pulls the blanket up to her chin, tucking it with more care than any possessed linen ever could. He rests a hand over her chest for a moment, feeling her heartbeat match the pulse of the shrine.

Haruki: "Rest now, Anastasya Volkov. You’re mine… and I’ll keep the world quiet for you."

He leans in, barely brushing his lips to her forehead in a whisper-kiss. Then, with a final glance at her peaceful form, he disappears into the shadowed hallway.

Behind him, the whispers stop. The windows hush. The light dims to a tender glow. And for the first time since arriving, Anastasya sleeps.

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