Chapter 2

The moment the waiter brought us food, Vera ran off to film something with her phone. I sighed and ordered a sandwich and a chocolate bar, knowing she would be starving the moment we got on the bus.

I smiled and looked at her as she interviewed some old guy at the counter. I had no idea what it was about; I could only hear “Dullahan”, Dullahan” repeated over and over again in a high-pitched voice, so I assumed it had something to do with her recent idea.

Beyond the Veil…. I sighed and looked out the window, watching the rain. It could be worse. At least this time, my involvement would be limited to wearing a silly t-shirt and filming, so it was not so bad, and if it made her happy, I really didn’t mind it that much. Suddenly, she ran towards me and pointed her phone at my face.

“...and Freja is contemplating the perils our investigation can bring upon us. Are you afraid…?”, she asked and continued talking without giving me any chance to respond. Not that I wanted to, but still …

“If you want to have early access to behind-the-scenes content and know how Freja feels about Dullahan, join our Patreon…”

At least the locals didn’t mind her. Maybe they really believed that she was some sort of famous vlogger or something… She definitely had the right attitude for it.

“I have so many ideas for behind-the-scenes content…” She collapsed on the chair next to me with a smile.

“Like what?”

I gave her a sceptical look, and she looked away and instead murmured,

“I…think we missed our bus, Freja.”

I shook my head.

“We still have 20 minutes.”

She looked at me with a strange expression before leaning into me.

“If you say so”, she said quietly.

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Dullahan was definitely leading us towards our destiny, because we took the wrong bus but somehow arrived at the place where we were supposed to be, more or less. According to Freja, it was cheaper here, so I didn't mind it too much. We could always walk to Ennistymon if we needed a geolocation tag for some videos.

Anyway, Freja would probably edit the footage before we published anything. So far, we had a very small audience, so there was no point in going live anyway.

Grey clouds still covered the sky, and it was getting darker as we walked to our hostel. I had never considered that paranormal investigations would require so much physical activity, but it somehow made sense. After all, you needed to get to the location you tried to investigate. I had just never considered it before. All the shows I was watching when I got this idea did happen on location, but of course, those people needed to get there in the first place.

Maybe this was part of the adventure, I tried to tell myself, since carrying a heavy backpack wasn’t something I was designed for. At least Freja looked happy walking ahead of me with a pace that I didn't even try to match. But of course, she was really fit. Probably because she was the one doing the shopping and all the other boring stuff that required you to leave the house.

I took the phone from my pocket and started to film the countryside. If I were lucky, I could catch Dullahan on this first night and become instantly rich and famous. According to the stuff I watched online, dawn and dusk gave you the biggest chance to see him… I got so lost in thoughts, I almost leapt in surprise when Freja glanced at me and said,

“If you don’t hurry up, Dullahan will get you”

I ran to her and grabbed her hand, suddenly remembering all the dark stuff I had watched about him. It was really cool back in our flat, but here… A cold shiver ran down my spine, and I could swear I saw something dark moving at the edges of my vision. I yelped and pressed myself against her before instincts took over, and, still holding her hand, ran towards the hostel.

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Nope, paranormal investigation wasn’t as easy and innocent as I had expected it to be. I never considered that Vera would take this investigation seriously enough to be terrified of Dullahan and refuse to let go of my hand until we finally got into our room. I don’t need to say that trying to sign anything with my left hand and getting the key to our room was a challenge that I hadn’t foreseen.

I had the full right to laugh at her for getting so spooked out, but I didn’t have the heart to do it, even if I knew where this probably would lead. Despite my clear stand, I actually read all her manga. Not that I liked it in any way, not really, but I preferred to be prepared for what she might come up with. For some reason, the line between reality and fiction wasn’t as clearly defined in her as in most people, and she pretty often used what she read as a guide for her actions.

For this exact reason, we had raincoats instead of umbrellas, and I spent a fortune on this hostel rather than camping with her in the tent, as her stories always talked about. You needed to draw the line somewhere.

So we sat on my bed, huddled under a blanket, as she nervously kept glancing towards the window.

“Are you hungry?”, I asked, hoping food would distract her from her fear, but she shook her head.

“I.. I should record it …right?”

Without waiting for my answer, she pulled out her phone and started to film us, telling all those weirdos who undoubtedly would watch it how afraid she was when she had seen Dullahan on our way here.

It was so cringy, but I had no way to get away as she still held my hand, and hiding under the blanket was below my dignity. So I zoned out, gazing at the ceiling and hoping she would be done soon, reminding myself that I could edit myself out of that footage.