As I continued to cower in the corner of the compact room, without any sense of pride of my noble status, the door opened slowly with a sinister creek. The renowned sound of a large, heavy boot was heard as the person stomped across the wooden floor.

My hands continued to shield my eyes from whatever depiction of monstrosity accompanied me. The banging shoes ceased moving. Their last steps were directly in front of my cowering body. The squeaking sound of creasing leather, as the thing bent down to my height, simply increased my fear to a much greater height. I broke out in a sweat and I tried to clear my mind of the terrible thoughts I had, but I just couldn't do it. Then, the foul breath of a disgusting creature blew harshly against my face.

"Don't be so faint-hearted! You are a nobleman after all." The pitch of this made it clear that the speaker was a witch. I felt I should listen to the woman's advice so I gradually parted my fingers and reluctantly peeled my hands from my face.

"That's better. Now you can see my glorious complexion!" She said comically as she rose and then cackled. Less heavily than before, she strolled across the room towards a bookshelf. She then stretched out her long, narrow and blackened finger to the spine of a book. She mumbled its name and moved onto the next one. She continued to do this until, at last, she said, "Ahh, here it is."

I thought it was time I acted more like a man, especially as a Duke, so I jolted upright and bellowed, "What are you doing?"

In reply, she remarked, "Oh, have I scared the ickle Duke?"

"Refer to me as the righteous man that I am! Not some insignificant yellow-belly!" I demanded, ashamed of how fearful I was of her.

"You're all the same to me. You come and go, giving me the opportunity for a decent feast every once in a while. Like flies caught in my web simply making my grasp tighter through panic."

At this, I tried not to become petrified, I would have done too if I had not noticed the grin on her face making it clear she was just trying to arouse more anxiety through utter lies. I therefore said, "Witch, you wouldn't dare touch me!"

"No, I certainly wouldn't harm you, but not for the reasons you are thinking. You are just a lucky one." She stated. She turned to face a sizzling cauldron and threw some peculiar items into it. The bubbles became more frequent and violent. When they died down, a chilling whisp of wind entered the room tingling my spine and making my hairs stand on end.

The witch then carried on, "Unfortunately, my family has an eternal curse thanks to my ignorant Great Grandmother. We are bound immediately to hell if we dare harm so much as a hair on someone of royalty or nobleness. Beware though! I am the only one with this curse in this manor."

I saw a sharp object on the wall and I reached out for it. I managed to grab the sharp end and the witch shouted, "Don't touch that! For one, you have no right killing me and two, that's the wrong end to hold it with. Now, if you would be so kind as to leave my chamber, I have curses to cast and monsters to control."

With this opportunity, I more than happily ran out of the open door onto the landing of the large manor. It was clear to me where the main doors were so I headed down the grand stairs that had remnants of a once, fine velvet carpet.

Everything was now covered in cobwebs as it had been abandoned by its rightful owners. Left for years without any care, it seemed like so much of a waste. I began to focus more on my escape, so I hurried down the stairs almost tripping at the bottom. I ran to the main doors and yanked at the handle. I did it again more gently, turning it as well. They just wouldn't open. I turned to rest my back on the door in dismay, unsure as to what I should do.

I heard a loud smash come from the back of the manor. One of the windows had been broken. It sounded like there was a heavy march of something dreadful coming in my direction. In panic, I ran down some stairs into a basement. I was disgusted as I saw a coffin in front of me.

However, I stayed there as I thought it would be the safest place. I heard screams from above me. However, they weren't screams you would expect an ordinary person to come out with. It was as though it was more of a high-pitched hiss.

Directly above my head, I heard the tumble of bones crashing to the floor as a triumphant fighter laughed and swiftly lifted up his weapon. I then heard a very strange noise. Like a door opening. A door isn't at all that weird, but it was very close to me and there were no other doors in the room.

I realized it was coming from behind me. I slowly twisted my body to take a look. The top of the coffin then flew up into the air and landed on the floor beside it. The coffin's contents were still pitch black. Rustling was obvious though. A vampire then harshly rose and jumped whilst trying to lash out at me.

I jumped back against a wall and his slash just missed. As his hands went straight out towards a wall to stop himself from hitting it, he crudely turned his face to look at me. He then ran at me and pushed me violently to the floor. With a horrid grin on his face he tried to strangle me. I did my best to breathe and lighten his grasp.

I could tell he was winning; I could not defeat the creature. All of a sudden, he just seemed to let go. He was still n the same position but no longer malevolently smiling. There was a strange flash of blinding blue light and the vampire burnt into ashes. Instead, before me stood a grand looking wizard.

In an eccentric voice he said, "Well, hello! I am Mizgog, here to save you with garlic. That's all these fiends need, the pure stench will just keep them away. Mustn’t let Traiborn have any though, he'll go crazy thinking there's a thingummywut inside! Anyway, to stop wasting time, take this."

He handed me a rather old and tatty looking book. He then disappeared. Hopefully the book was the one he had taken from Varrock library that I was required to see. Curious as to what was inside, I opened it. I then quickly closed it again as the wizard appeared for the second time.

He hurriedly said, "Ahh yes. I have sorted out the front doors too. Do not be frightened of any creatures; the noise was barbarians clearing the way for you. They thought you might have needed some help."

He smiled and vanished again. I ran up the basement stairs to get away from the coffin. There were no signs of barbarians anymore; they clearly didn't have the desire to stay either.

The door easily opened so I ran through the small wood to the main gate. I then turned around to hear a screeching yelp. At last, I had my revenge. When the witch told me about her curse, she gave me an idea. When I touched the sharp hooked object, I left on it a few of my hairs. I noticed inside the book she had that she required hairs. Luckily, she didn't have any. When she spotted the ones on the hook, she must have snapped at the chance of completing the spell. Unfortunately for her, she had harmed so much as a hair of someone of nobleness.

Her chamber glowed a bright menacing red as fire devoured her, taking her down into the pits of hell. For bringing me into that place and almost putting my life in peril, I am glad I managed to get payback. My luck had changed at last and I felt better than ever. More of a man than I was before, I turned to walk away from the manor to find out exactly what the books hidden secrets were.