Chapter Text
The ride on the tour bus had been nauseating, the fuzzy seats reflecting years of use—and smelling of it too. But none the less, Aliya managed to smile and loosen her death grip on her backpack as the loch finally spread out in front of her. It was as gorgeous as she remembered, and the two families riding the small bus with her oohed and aahed, taking pictures with their phones before it could disappear behind the next switchback. Aliya merely leaned her head against the window, her mental inventory of her cameras and sensors somewhat dampening the desire to document the view. She’d be doing plenty of observing soon... just not the scenery. Besides, it’s not like she really had time for this tourism thing.
The bus rattled over the uneven pavement of the mountain road, the glass against her temple rumbling like a thousand grinding teeth, and she grimaced in disgust, pushing herself away from the window in favor of settling her chin in her palm. She looked for the castle before she reminded herself that both the lodge and castle were hidden away on the north end of the loch, where it curved out of sight from the road. Pity she wouldn’t be able to get a good view from high ground. Not that there wasn’t plenty to see—in front of her, steep mountains rose straight from the rocky shore to the overcast skies, their peaks already tipped with snow. The difference a few thousand feet could make in late fall, she supposed, and shuddered to imagine the kind of disaster a full winter storm could leave here. The hillside was lightly populated with old-growth pines, their needles dull against the blustery landscape. She could see the evidence of wind swirling through the branches, but down by the surface of the loch, the land met the water in a way so gentle as to be completely still. That was why Loch Dhé had been nicknamed "Loch Dormant", after all. There’s only so much tourism that can be generated without the draw of a cryptid, but the unearthly stillness of the water did its best.
Maybe saying the loch was as "gorgeous as she remembered" wasn’t quite the whole truth. She had always remembered it through a child’s eyes, when everything seemed towering and mystical. It was still beautiful, even though the details were now touched by nostalgia rather than fantasy, but she was almost grateful for the reprieve when the bus turned around the next switchback. Though the surrounding forest was far less impressive and much more generic than the loch, at least it didn’t induce that painful condensation of longing and pain and happiness, dripping away at her each moment she looked over the loch’s still, still waters.
Finally, the bus jolted to a stop at a three-way intersection, the scarred guard rail blocking the way into the water hinting at the cause of the driver’s liberal use of the brake pedal. Aliya briefly caught his eyes in the rearview mirror, his gray sideburns bristling mischievously as he grinned at her irritation. She looked away slightly too fast, pretending to be scanning the scenery if only to make herself feel better. The mountainside sloped steeply down to the water here, but the road coasted down to the waterline more gradually as they drove northward along the shore. A shallow bend, and then—the tourists were chattering amongst themselves again, and Aliya almost wished for a seatmate to share meaningless exclamations about the view.
Loch Dhé was a beautiful location. Its mountains were appropriately jagged, its waters unnervingly still, and its trees reasonably tall. But what really drew it all together as the undiscovered gem of Scotland was the old Castle Sgitheanach. Located on an island peeking from the northern end of the loch, the ruins still outlined the ancestral walls of so long ago, the mossy stones doing their best to blend in with the foliage. There was hardly a guidebook or travel blog on the subject, considering the island was strictly off-limits to preserve the ruins and there wasn’t much else to do other than look at scenery through binoculars.
Except that she, Aliya Morrigan, knew better. The old Castle Sgitheanach was the perfect place to observe paranormal activity, and this time she would be ready.
This time, she would be ready.