William sensed something was wrong the moment Selah brought the blasted thing home.

Lanky fur with bald pink patches, the creature was shorter than Selah's knee and had all the charm of curdled milk. Beady, suspicious black eyes stared from behind its straggly mop of straw-like yellow tangled mess. It clutched Selah's leg, its claws digging into her tights that Selah wore to school, along with a skirt that was far too short and a shirt that would make William blush back then.

"What is that?" William said in disgust. Selah couldn't hear him, although she was much more tuned in to his presence and could tell he wasn't pleased.

"I found him out in the streets." Selah smiled down and patted its head. William would have wanted to wash his hands; no, he wouldn't touch the filthy thing to begin with. "I felt sorry for him and I figured it'll be nice to have company -- not that you aren't, Angel, but it's nice to have another face, isn't it?"

William heartily disagreed, eyeing the creature with mistrust. It stared back at him, almost as if it could see him. He'd heard of these creatures before. His footman had claimed these creatures were behind the buckling of the horse carriage when the wheel came loose. The Westburys five miles away said they saw similar furry creatures tinkering with their machinery. William had just assumed it was the women's hysteria and overactive imagination.

But here was one of those things -- gremlins -- exactly as the picture books had depicted them, staring at him in the face: ugly, skinny, humanoid.

It could not be good news.

As if to prove his point, the thing nuzzled Selah's leg and glared up at him. William scowled. This thing would become a threat to Selah and his precious home. What if it played with the gas cooker? What if it set the house alight now that it was wired with electricity? It needed to go, even if it would upset Selah.

Selah was talking to him again. She took out yesterday's wilting Delphinium from his altar and her mother's altar and replaced them with fresh ones, their bright violet petals vibrant against the ash chest of drawers.

"...Valentine's day soon. I don't know if you know much about it--" Selah, to this day, still treated William as if he were an alien from one of her books. "--but it's a day when people confess or celebrate their love. Dad always gets me some flowers and a card, but it would be nice if I could get a gift from a boy! Maybe I ought to say something first."

Ah, she wanted a suitor. And a Valentine's greeting. William had been surprised she'd never had a suitor yet. It seemed the tradition of courting had changed; Mr. Montmorency hadn't taken Selah to social gatherings or brought over suitors even when she reached fifteen. Certainly Selah hadn't mentioned members of the opposite sex until quite recently so it was unlikely she'd gone out alone and been courted -- he shuddered at the thought of innocent Selah being alone in the company of strange men. Time might have changed, but it was still improper. And to profess affection, as a girl? That was a preposterous thought. William wasn't even sure if he'd be comfortable if a young man asked Mr. Montmorency's permission to court Selah.

"It's a shame it's an all girls' school though." She sighed and flopped onto her bed. William tactfully averted his eyes when her skirt rose too high again. "Maybe one day I can leave this place and meet a boy. I can't wait until university."

The gremlin leapt onto her bed. William bristled. The thing tugged at Selah's unruly curls, tied in a plait. William wanted to slap it away. Selah only giggled and rubbed its head.

"Hey, maybe you can be my present!"

William wondered what he could get her. She'd spoken of many things, but most were related to her precious books. She was not a girl who liked pretty lace or fancy clothes; she dressed like someone who would muck out the stable. She paid little heed to her appearance despite having beautiful porcelain skin and vibrant thick red hair. He would have liked to get her a book, but he doubted he had the focus or strength to move a book to her room from the library in the annex.

And despite living in the Wallace manor for two years, Selah had yet to find William's library, which had been refurbished, secret access mechanism, precarious staircase and all, during the re-building. The annex was William's mother's pride and joy, being a well-read woman, an absurd idea back in his days. When she died, he'd inherited the library, although he'd long inherited the manor at that point, but out of respect, he'd allowed his mother to continue to add to her collection until books lined all the shelves from the ground to the ceiling.

He was sure Selah would love that. If only he could show her the way.

His mother.

He paused. He hadn't thought about her in a long time. There was something else he could give Selah, if he couldn't get her to access the secret panel that opened the staircase.

His mother had a beautiful sapphire stone necklace. She'd worn it every day until she passed it to William when he became of age, asking him to give it to his wife when he found 'the right woman'. William had never found one, largely down to his repulsion of all encounters of the opposite sex he'd experienced. The necklace was hidden in a panel beneath the stone cellars; it might have survived the inferno.

The next day, whilst Selah attended school, William made his way down the cellar steps. It was all refurbished after the fire, wired with electricity and equipped with novel technology. He poked around the corners, sweeping the dust aside with his presence as much as he could, looking for the uplifted corner in the stone slabs. And at last he found it.

He slipped his fingers over it. To his relief, it was solid beneath his ghostly, pearlescent fingers. He pressed. If he focused, he could continue his grip over it. He sucked in a breath and tugged. It groaned after centuries of rest. He pulled again, throwing his almost-non-existent weight backwards. The stone slab swung up, throwing dust in the air. His fingers slipped through the surface, but the momentum carried the slab and it landed with a bang onto the ground, throwing sand and debris everywhere. Within the crevice sat a metal box, pieced together by some faraway metalworker and sold to the Wallaces several generations back by a travelling tradesman. With bated breath, William lifted it out and almost dropped it when his focus wavered. He'd used too much of his energy in rapid succession.

He flicked the latch; the cover opened. Amidst rolls of letters and small memorabilia, in the middle sat the necklace, the gem as bright and deep blue as he'd remembered it all those years ago. It would look lovely against Selah's moonlight skin and long fiery hair.

A shiver ran down his spine. He was being watched. He looked up and his stomach dropped.

The blasted gremlin stood at the top of the stairs, staring at him.

"No." He couldn't even be sure the thing could hear him, but he could almost feel its evil little brain ticking. It hopped down the steps with deliberation, its beady black eyes fixated on him. They darted down to the box. "No."

It shot towards the box when it reached the bottommost step. William dived at the same time, hands swatting at the gremlin. But he'd used too much energy. His hands passed through both the box and the thing without any effect. It squeaked, tiny hands shooting out and snatching the necklace.

"Give that back!" William roared. Windows rattled in the house, but the gremlin gave no notice. The intricate silver gleamed between its small fingers, the stone twice as large as one of its fists. It backed away, not breaking eye contact. William dived at it again and it turned tail and shot up the steps, its bald behind disappearing through the doorframe.

William cursed the blasted thing. He should have watched out for it. He was a fool. That thing was trouble and he'd fallen straight into its sneaky little trap.

His head poked through the floorboards of the ground floor; its legs disappeared into the kitchen. He floated after it, intent to murder in every fibre of his being. The gremlin had the necklace in its mouth -- if it even made a scratch on the stone, he would eviscerate the thing -- and darted on all fours. It leapt onto the kitchen counter, sending drying cutlery flying -- oh he was going to murder it -- and then onto the switched-off cookers -- if only they were on -- and then onto the top of the wooden cupboards, knocking off the cardboard boxes and old newspapers stashed up there. William passed straight through the walls in his attempt to grab the monster. It cackled at him.

William bristled. How dare it laugh at William Wallace?!

He caught sight of it again, down the long hallway and straight up the stairs. He wasn't going to let it get away, not with the Wallace family heirloom in its disgusting mouth. But it seemed everywhere William went, it just stayed out of his reach. His anger mounted; the windows rattled louder than before.

And all the while, the little bastard taunted him with those infuriating eyes.

He was so caught up in hunting down the thing he didn't hear Selah come home. The creature perched atop her wardrobe -- her winter clothes in their bags tumbling onto the floor and upending several picture frames on her bedside dresser -- chattering, irritating William.

"What the heck is going on?"

William whipped around, a flush rising up his face. How humiliating to be caught failing to capture the fugitive. Then he remembered Selah couldn't see him -- but she could see the bastard. She held out her arms and, to William's disgust, the creature leapt down into her embrace.

"Oh, sweetheart, you have been up to mischief today! The kitchen is a mess! I'll have to tidy up before Dad comes home."

William held his breath. But her exclamation as she discovered the necklace in its mouth never came.

He floated around her back. The gremlin bared its teeth at him.

The necklace was nowhere to be found.

William's stomach dropped to the ground for a second time that day. What had happened to it? Did the bastard eat it? Did it drop it during their chase? Did it hide it somewhere?

A fire William had never experienced before erupted. With a roar -- and accompanying doors slamming against walls and windows rattling in their frames -- he leapt at the monster. It gave a shrill squeal and took off; Selah shrieked and almost toppled over.

"What did you do with it, you little bastard?!" he yelled, pursuing the thing. It zigzagged across the ground along the corridor towards the master bedroom. William threw out his hand. The master bedroom door slammed shut in its face. It skidded, squeaking, and turned to face the fury that was William Wallace.

Out of desperation, the gremlin turned and scrabbled at the wall, as if hoping it could scrape its way to freedom. Its claws latched onto the polished wood and it scaled its way up until it got to eye-level with the painting. One of the panels gave way. With a screech, it plummeted to the ground.

William dived in for the kill.

"What's this?"

He froze. Selah walked through him and peered at the opened panel in the wall. A single pull handle sat inside, caked in cobwebs and dust. Without hesitation, she reached in and pulled it. With a groan, the bookcase behind her slid open, revealing the precarious staircase leading to the annex. Her face flushed pink with excitement, she glanced down at the gremlin and then up at William, who at that point had completely forgotten his murderous intents. She snatched a torch from a nearby drawer and picked her way up the stone steps.

The paintings that used to line the rickety stairs had rotted and fallen, leaving behind nails in the wall and piles of old, dry wood in the corners. Selah wobbled several times when the stairs groaned; some of them were perhaps replicated too well -- they were hardly reliable even during William's time.

With a crunch, a step gave way. Selah screamed, arms flailing. William's heart skipped a beat. He shot forward, hoping to catch her. She fell straight through him. He turned around, expecting a sickening crunch; instead, he heard Selah's agonised scream and the sound of her feet kicking against wood.

She leaned at a most awkward angle against the wall, her feet barely managing to sustain her weight. Tears streamed down her face. She reached up above her head and tugged desperately -- her plait had snagged on one of the nails and saved her from plummeting to death, but had also trapped her in that position. She slid down a little whimpering; the sound of hair snapping reached the air.

"Oh god, it hurts!" she whimpered. She attempted to push herself off the nail and unhook her hair, but there was too much hair too tangled. William watched helplessly. "Help! Oh god!"

No amount of yanking or struggling could get her off. William reached out, but perhaps it was the panic getting to him: his hands passed straight through her every time. He turned, looking for a knife, or scissors -- anything to cut the hair.

The gremlin jumped to Selah's shoulder. It bared sharp teeth. Selah blanched and shut her eyes. William barely dared to watch as it nibbled through her ponytail. After several minutes, Selah slid to a pile on the stairs, breathless and rubbing the back of her head, tears still shining in her eyes. Her mangled plait stayed pinned at the wall.

"Oh god... that was not meant to happen!" she muttered, shaking her head. "God, that hurt."

She seemed little concerned she'd lost a significant amount of hair. After gathering her wits, she squared her shoulders, picked up the torch she'd dropped, and shone it up the stairs. She didn't have any more accidents making it into the annex.

She paused at the top, her mouth open. Her torch beam swung round and round, punctuated by her gasps of delight. Dust floated from the ceiling. She reached forward and ran a gentle finger along the spines of the old tomes before emitting another gasp of delight.

"Oh my god... Angel. Is this all yours?" she whispered. William smiled, enjoying her joy. She stared at him, eyes shining. "This... this is amazing."

The gremlin snickered at her feet.

Word count: 2500. Written for Fantasy_Community's "Love Lost Item" writing contest.