The road eventually began to level, and I caught my breath as I came to a gate. The stone wall rose taller than my head, but it had been worn down from its original height, no longer even on top. Large chunks were missing, giving it a ragged, jack-o’-lantern’s smile. On either side of the gate, perched on top of the wide posts, sat two hunched over gargoyles, facing the opening. They stared down at me, sneers giving me an idea of how unwelcome I was by trespassing on their land. But the gate hung crookedly off the top hinge, a further sign I was alone, and I’d always been curious. Shame this old beauty had been left to crumble.

 

Gripping the stone pillar with my left hand for support, I swung my leg over the lowest corner of the old gate. Once I had cleared it completely, I dropped my bag and checked my phone. A single bar popped up and then died. SOS. Tempting, but I’d wait until I’d exhausted all options.

 

The driveway continued uphill, so I started climbing again. The house loomed like a dark shadow in the distance, but my thighs ached, begging for rest. The creepy tingling at the base of my neck had blossomed into the feeling you get when you’re watching a horror movie, screaming at the screen from behind your fingers, go back, you idiot, go back. My feet kept moving. As if once I stopped propelling them forward, I’d have a hard time getting them going again.

 

I should’ve turned around and headed back down to the highway. But the thought of the lonely trek down the mountain, with who knows how many miles of winding mountain road to hike before I found help in the middle of a dark night, seemed hopeless.

 

I would try this first. There had to be a cell tower somewhere. I trudged up the hill that led toward the house, grateful for the moonlight covering the world in its silver glow. At least I would see if something jumped out at me. Maybe.

 

The driveway turned and leveled out, finally giving me a better look at the structure. It was a wide, stone creation, more fortress than house, complete with buttresses that were in style a millennium ago, and a bell tower. I had never seen anything like this building in North America. The outline resembled mountaintop monasteries I had seen in books,

but those were all on other continents. This one was too big to be a residence, and I doubted there was anything as modern as a phone line or even electricity. There were no lights on, no signs indicating that anyone had come this way in the last century.

 

Maybe I had discovered an important, forgotten building? That could be worth the inconvenience of the last hour.

 

To the right of the building rose a large granite promontory. It was shaped like a high mountain peak, a miniature Matterhorn, smooth in the moonlight, about twenty feet high. Whoever built this old ruin had placed it in exactly the right spot, facing the natural stone sculpture. The almost-full moon sat between the tower and the monolith. If you could get past the creepiness of the setting, it was truly beautiful, in a gothic, make the hairs on the back of your neck stick straight up, kind of way.

 

I checked my phone again, dialing Matthew as soon as I saw I had a bar of service. Waiting for the line to connect, I looked at the granite

peak, which no longer resembled the top of a mountain. Instead, it appeared to be changing shape.

 

That couldn’t be right. And yet, my eyes swore it was happening. A large boulder, the size of the bedroom in my dingy apartment, seemed to be spreading straight out, then curving up.

 

“Freya? Thank goodness. Where are you?” Matthew’s voice sounded distant, as if coming from the end of a tunnel.

 

And still, the earth kept shifting. The other side unfurled in the same way, making what had looked like a stone mountain top appear more like a dragon with wings spread. Except, as the tip of the mountain transformed in front of my eyes, while it resembled a dragon in overall shape, the body was that of a large man. On top of the humanoid figure

sat a wide, horned head, more at home on the devil than anything that walked this earth.

 

It turned to look down at me; iridescent cat-eyes blinked once. The phone fell out of my hand.

 

What are you doing here? How dare you trespass on my land?