The change was immediate. She was suddenly standing, her whole body lurching forward as if a movie had skipped several frames. A blast of cold air assailed Mike as her wild face was suddenly inches from his own, her feet hovering inches above the ground. She let out a blistering screech, her hair fanning out wildly behind her as she raised her hands, fingers curled into claws. Mike, panicking, stumbled backwards, the railing hitting him in his lower back. The icy blast of air pushed him over the edge, where he fell into the scratchy bushes below. Wide eyed, he stared into the sky as the specter leaned over the rail, floating upward.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he muttered struggling to fight his way free of the bushes. She let out another shriek, her suddenly darkened features stretched until her face was a nightmarish mask.
"Stop unhooking my swing, fucker!" She cried, poofing out of existence. Mike scrambled to his feet, rolling free of the bushes covered in bloody scratches. Standing in the warm light of day, his heart pounding a mile a minute, Mike stared up at the porch where he had fallen from. The railing was cracked, and behind it, the porch swing swayed gently in the breeze.
Mike ran up the stairs, his eyes on the empty swing. He shoved the door open, slamming it shut behind him. "Naia!" He hollered, running up the stairs. "Naia, what the fuck was that?" He shouted, running into the bathroom.
The tub's faucet opened up, pouring a thin layer of water on the bottom. Her head and shoulders emerged as if she was in a lake rather than an inch of water.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Some woman on the porch. On the swing. Screamed at me. I fell into the bushes." Mike gasped for air, inspecting the cuts on his arm.
"Oh. Oh!" Naia's eyes flashed. "I remember! That's Cecilia!"
"Who is Cecilia?" Mike sat on the side of the tub, rubbing his eyes.
"She's a banshee. She lives on the porch. She really likes the swing." Naia sunk even lower, her lips just above the surface of the water. "I'm sorry Mike. I wish I could have told you."
"Is that the important thing? The one you wanted to say but couldn't?"
Naia shook her head, her face moving even lower. Just her eyes were visible above the water.
"Naia, what aren't you telling me?" Mike crossed his arms. The nymph blushed, her words muffled by the water. "What did you say?"
Naia rose up out of the water until her lips were visible. "I said that there are others."
"Others? Others like who?"
Naia shook her head. "I can't remember. I'm sorry Mike, but I really can't. Now that you've met Cecilia, I can remember her very well, or at least what Emily told me about her. She almost never came inside. But there are others."
"If you can't remember them, than how do you know there are others?"
"It's the important thing, the one I couldn't remember." Naia slumped. "I think you're going to be mad."
"I'll do my best. What is it?"
"Remember earlier, when I told you that the man who built this house collected magical artifacts?"
"Yes?"
"It's part of the Geas. It's a fail-safe, a half-truth. He did collect artifacts, yes. But he came across most of those on accident."
"How do you accidentally come across artifacts?"
Naia put on her best, fake smile. "You see a lot of them when you decide to start your own monster collection."