Soon enough she arrived in front of the old and rusted metal gates, beyond which lay what remained of a once decorated garden and, most importantly, the mansion itself.
Most of the mansion looked to be deserted, at least the outside did, with its unkempt garden and ruined fountain, it looked like no one had set foot in here for years, which was probably a good thing.
Celeste let a chuckle slip through her lips as she walked through the gates. "Now what secrets do you hold?" She asked, her voice ringing in the silence. She was not afraid. She walked toward the house, to the front door.
The large wooden door opened with a loud and prolonged creak, like a death moan. Once inside, the main lobby of the mansion was grand and pretty empty, with ruined furniture here and there, pillars with long cobwebs dangling off of it. Straight ahead, there was a big stone staircase, that led to two different sides of the building.
Outside, rain had started pouring, with small lightning flashes lighting up the room every few minutes
"Oh, how pleasant," Celeste grumbled, curling her lip at the scene before her. She headed up the stairs, moving lightly.
Going left, the rooms were mostly empty, each frozen in time since the day the owners had left. The kitchen still had its utensils still on the shelf, the library was still full of books, the living room was completely untouched, all of these covered in thick dust and some cobwebs here and there.
Progressing through rooms, there seemed to be a slight change somewhere as in, the dust wasnt as thick as before, and the furniture was not destroyed. Had this part preserved better than the rest? But why?
Soon enough, there were no more rooms left that had not been explored. Which meant it was time to head to the other way of the staircase. That side of the building was even more damaged than the other, with holes in the floor and stains on the walls, painting a more grief version of the other side of the mansion.
Most parts were blocked by rubble and whatever else there was, so it seemed to be a dead end. The only place left unexplored was a small and simple wooden door underneath the staircase, which would normally lead to the maid's room
After looking around for a while, Celeste threw herself onto a partially destroyed chair. "There's nothig interesting here!" She whined. She stared out at the sky. She didn't particularly feel like going outside, though.
The rain continued to slam against the old windows, water dripping off it constantly, its sound creating a constant source of ambient white noise. So, this was after all just another simple abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere.
The sudden rattle of something falling to the ground came from the small door under the stairs, the one presumably leading to the maid's room. Mice? Nah, mice were way too small to make such a noise
Her head snapped toward the noise, so fast it was a blur. She stood in a flash, turned toward the noise. "Come out," she hissed. "I know you're there."
The room was dipped in silence once again, no response to her demand. Either the source of the noise was indeed some critter, or it refused to come forth. If it was a person, it was most likely the latter.
Only option left now was to go explore and find the said person
She scowled hard, moving quickly over to the door and wrenching it open, pulling so hard that the thing flew off its hinges.
The small hallway that had been revealed was empty, aside from a small wall chandelier that had fallen off, crashing on the floor. It looked like an accident, due to old age and state of decay of the building. And that would have been the end of it if the door at the end hadnt been slightly ajar, with tiny rays of light shining through
"Does this place get any worse?" She scowled, pulling her jacket from her waist and hurrying forward.
Opening the door fully, there was a small lamp whose light was bright enough to illuminate a small flight of spiraling stairs at the end of which was yet another door, whom she pushed open yet again.
This time, the result was different. The room that had been discovered was fairly well maintained, with a clean bookcase to the right as one came in, and long windows on the left. Walking along the bookcase there was a short ladder that led to the main platform of the room, where there was a table, some chairs, bits of furniture probably picked up from the other parts of the manor, a small simple bed that had been neatly made, a comfortable armchair and a fireplace, with the fire still burning.
With the heavy rain outside pouring against the windows and the occasional lighting, this room was rather warm and welcoming, very different than the rest of the abandoned manor. But where was the person living here?
"What is this place?" Celeste muttered, not without some awe. It was such a strange place, and she was confused. Was there, or wasn't there someone here? She moved toward the fire, carefully pulling her knife from her belt, and looked around warily.
The room was quiet and empty, the only sound being the crackling of the firewood and the raindrops hitting the windows outside. It could have all been an illusion but why would anyone bother to weave an illusion here out of all places?
Next to the fireplace was what looked like a wood tray, used to store the logs that were to be placed in the fire, but it was empty now. No more wood huh?
Small footseps came from the spiraling staircase she had just come through, signaling the approach of someone
Celeste turned slowly. Her senses were on high alert, and she tilted her head, listening. As the footsteps grew closer, she tensed, then flashed to the doorway, hiding behind the door.
Right as she hid, the door opened and a relatively frail person walked in, carrying an armfull of firewood. The person continued walking, closing the door with their leg, their back still turned to the intruder.
This mystery tenant of the abandoned mansion had dark hair, styled in a simple bobcut and they wore a white sweater that looked slightly too big for them. While their body was mostly hidden under the sweater, the slim legs betrayed their skinny build
She blinked, confused. It was a boy? Why was he living here, of all places?
The boy made his way up the few steps leading to the platform, his steps making very little noise as he walked. Once reached the fireplace, he put down the logs he'd brought and grabbed the poker, shifting some of the already burning wood so it would break in smaller pieces.
He then grabbed two logs and tossed them in, before turning back to the pile he'd brought and carefully arranging them in the tray. Not once had he suspected the presence of someone new in the room, and thus was minding his own business, in all this time his face seemingly covered by the hair which now glowed green in the light of the fireplace