the first night in the castle
is the hardest, as you've
never encountered an actual monster before
the hairy, horned lord of the manor
won't let you leave, and his servants
are all ghosts who regard you with
malevolence even as they attend
to your every need
in a guest room with a bed bigger and plusher
than any you have known, your heartbeat
continues to thunder like the storm outside

the second night, you're tired enough from
the previous sleepless night and
from reading books in his lordship's library
that you slumber until the ghosts
seize you up and scream that you
don't belong here, that you shouldn't
have gotten lost in the woods, that
their cursed lord has been fine here
for centuries without the distraction
of a living woman on the premises.
only the arrival of their lord
causes them to retreat, chastened

the third night, you're restless
after hours of arguing with his lordship
about why you should be let free
he's taken it into his head that you
are his possession to be protected
he doesn't understand that you have
a black belt in karate, a college degree,
that you've traveled solo around the globe
he has no comprehension of the modern world
at all, and no desire to change his ways
you readily understand why he's been cursed
to the form of a monster and bound within
this chateau and grounds

the fourth night his lordship swoops upon you
as you attempt escape through the woods
his cloaked embrace is icier than winter
as he drags you, screaming, back inside
where the ghosts snarl about
your lack of gratitude
you dismiss them along with
any inclination toward Stockholm Syndrome

the fifth night is the brightest
courtesy of the fire you set in the curtains
ceiling timbers alight within minutes
the crackling flames even louder than
the howls of ghosts, still bound inside
likely clustered around the corpse
of their lord in the great hall
the guy may have been cursed for centuries
but that didn't mean he was immortal
you trudge into the woods determined
that your next night will be in a hotel