Author's Note: Apologies in advance for the long chapter but I wanted this to seem more like a real book. My other chapters probably won't be this long. Hope you all enjoy regardless.

Part One: Elise

Chapter One: Black

She wasn't greeted by a monster or madman, just near darkness. The only light came from a window letting in the brightness of the moon. Dust covered the floor out in the corridor. She also noted that there was no furniture what-so-ever in the place, it was completely empty like the room behind her. Not wanting to just stand there and do nothing she began walking down the corridor to the left, eventually she came upon two doors. One seemed to head into the main hallway and the other had to lead to another room. Something told her that the room was the right place to go first but she wasn't one hundred percent sure. She gagged again and a small droplet of blood dripped onto the dusty floor, wiping her mouth she felt that her time was running short and that if she slipped up she'd most likely never get out of this. With that in mind she turned to her right and headed into the room.

As expected there was dust everywhere and no furniture save for a giant metal box in the middle of it. Cautiously she walked over, hearing her footsteps creak on the old floorboards sending a slight shiver up her spine. It sounded like the moaning of the dead. The box itself had been painted black she noticed as she took a closer look, some of it had chipped away through time though. There was a giant latch on it but she found that it was broken and bent out of shape. She contemplated what to do next, should she open it or not? Curiosity killed the cat as the saying went but did she have any other option besides running into the main hall. For a split second she wanted to turn and run, this brought on another gagging fit with blood being coughed out. It looked like she had no choice, wiping her mouth again she braced herself and popped open the latch to open the big black metal box.

There was a loud creaking noise as she pushed up the top of the box and a bang as it hit down on the other side. She didn't know what she was expecting, placing her hand into it she felt around for something. After a minute searching she thought the thing was empty but just at that moment her hand touched something metallic. It seemed to be a key from the feel of it, pulling it out she took a better look at the thing. Nothing too special, just a regular old, rusted house key. Without even thinking about it she slipped the key into her jeans pocket and left the room. Now there was some more decisions, there was the room to the main hall or she could turn around and head back down the corridors to explore the mansion further. She waited for the gagging to start again after she decided to go through to the main hall but nothing happened so she assumed she'd made the right decision.

She stepped into the main hall and took a quick look around at the dust covered place. The floor was tiled so her heels kept making sounds as she walked, it frightened her as she was always sure someone was behind her with the echoing in the place. There was a set of stairs in the middle of the room which led to a stained glass window depicting a giant red demon with horns and wings burning a small village below. The image was certainly startling but she wasn't going to worry about it just yet. Taking another look around she saw that there was no furniture in this room either. To her left was the door she'd entered through, the stairs was behind her, another door was to her right and in front of her was a set of double doors leading outside. What could she do? Something was clearly wrong here but was this just a false beacon of hope? I mean if she walked out would she just be going into another world or somewhere worse. She felt the devils eyes on her from the picture, it made up her mind for her. There was no other choice but to get the hell out of there so she ran to the door pulled it open with ease and stepped outside.

It didn't take her to another world, outside there was no birds chirping or sounds of any description just like the forest. As if stuck in time frozen and she was the only thing moving forward, she looking up at the night sky and saw that the stars and partial dark clouds were not moving. This backed up the theory of suspended time. But the bigger question was if this was all in her head or really happening. It sure as hell felt real but right now all she wanted was to wake up if this was a dream. Sometimes the worst dreams are when your alone and helpless knowing that even if you scream not a single soul will hear you. No breeze hit her as she stepped down to the muddy garden, she wasn't surprised that there was nothing around her but grass and forestry. The woods looked eerily like the other one she'd trudged through but the fact that they might be the same didn't leave her mind either. It was all just so confusing, deciding she had no choice she went back into the mansion and closed the door behind her with a loud bang.

Her mouth hung open when she saw the puddle of black paint on the crisp white tiled floors. There was a paint can overturned next to the stairs where most of the mess was. She walked over and the stained glass window caught her eye yet again. Someone had put paint all over the devil like figure in the picture, the paint seeped down the stairs and into the puddle that she initially spotted. Her heart was in her mouth, the realisation that she wasn't alone anymore hit her and she let out a little squeal of fear. Heart pounding in her chest she ran to the left and pulled open the door and slammed it shut without looking back. For some reason she felt as if she was being watched, shaking her head she wiped her top one more time and walked down the corridor. There was a room to her right which seemed to lead to a downstairs bathroom. Hoping for running water to clean herself up she went inside only to find a store room with no light, flicking the switch she saw that there was lots of stuff packed away. Something shiny caught her attention to the dresser in the back. She walked over to get a better look.

Unsurprisingly it turned out to be another key, it was still plain but less rusty than the other one she'd found. She put the key away and started searching some of the boxes, nothing particularly special was in them just some food and toiletries. Sighing she stepped up and left the room still unsure of what to do, the whole place felt like one dark empty void. There was almost certainly someone or something following her or at least in the mansion with her which was enough to unsettle her. It was the not knowing that got to her the most, for all she knew whoever or whatever it was could easily be a good guy but it was just human nature to think and fear the worst when you're thrown in to a situation like this. One misstep and she could be dead, that's all she could think about right now that and the strange coughing fits. Closing her eyes she imagined all kinds of horrible things. When she opened them again it was pitch black, holding back a scream she tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness she'd been so suddenly dropped in to.

What was she going to do now? Her hand slide along the wall feeling for a light switch. There was none that she could find, another thing that hit her was that she seemed to be in an entirely different location. After her eyes adjusted slightly she could make out that the door to the store room was no longer there. This was all too much, breathing deeply she made her way through the corridor to what she hoped to lead to somewhere with a light of some description. Her hand brushed a door handle after walking a bit, without another thought she pushed the door open and was rewarded with a lightened room. Well it was dimly lit but better than nothing, the room itself seemed to be another storage room but different than the one she'd been in before. For starters there was only one cardboard box in the corner with an old dusty chair next to it. That was all that was in there so she decided to check it out, there was dust everywhere but at this point she could live with it. Anxiety ripped through her but she wasn't sure about opening it, would something jump out at her or would she find something in there that wasn't pleasant? There was only one way to find out so she put her hand on the flap and opened up the box.

She didn't find anything disgusting or wrong in the box, all that was in there was a flashlight which she was in desperate need of. Breathing a sigh of relief she now hoped the thing would actually work, she checked for batteries and sure enough there were four fat CC ones in the box to go inside. It wasn't a standard flashlight like ones you see in movies and video games but rather a heavy duty one with a handle. The colour of it was of course black, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact so she did none of those things and got the batteries in. Everything worked fine when she flicked the switch, she was happy to have it even if the batteries might die at any time. Something was always better than nothing someone had told her once and now she saw their point. A noise sounded to her left as soon as she stepped outside the room, turning in that direction she spotted a pool of what looked like blood on the dusty tiled floor. For a second everything stopped and she didn't know what was happening to her. Her eyes remained on the pool of maroon liquid on the floor in front of her.

A part of her still wanted to deny it, say that it was just some paint but deep down she knew that was bullshit. The smell was definitely blood, there was no doubt about it. Her breath caught in her throat as she got closer almost stepping in it. Nothing could've prepared her for this, why the hell had she closed her eyes? Now she was caught in this nightmare with a monster or murderer running around killing people. Taking a deep breath she shone the light ahead and saw that the trail lead down the corridor. Didn't the old saying go 'curiosity killed the cat'? However sometimes you couldn't help yourself, it was human nature. She had to follow the trail of blood, something inside her head was telling her to and ignoring it wasn't an option. With her hand shaking like a leaf she started following the trail, noises sounded from the direction she was heading and she almost dropped the flashlight. There was a distinct thudding sound as if someone with large boots were banging their feet on a wooden floor. After she took two more shaky steps forward the thudding got significantly louder sending a shiver down her spine.

She kept telling herself to keep calm but there was no chance in hell that she could. This whole thing had rattled her to the core and now there was some madman killing people in a pitch black house. With each step she took another thud sounded, louder and louder. Her hand was really shaking now as she came to the end of the trail, she shone the light onto the door and saw that it was smeared in blood and black paint. Oh god, the smell was horrendous and the thudding continued. There was no doubt in her mind that it was coming from the room. Without even thinking her hand went to the blood smeared handle but to her dismay it was locked, at that point she thought the man inside would come out and finish her but no, the thudding continued and she didn't think they were getting any closer or louder. Before she was ready to give up her mind wandered to the two keys she'd found, the one from the black box was still there inside her pocket. Even though she didn't want to she pulled it out and pushed it in the lock without a second thought. Her heart was racing as she turned the key and pushed the handle down. Bracing herself she stepped in and prepared herself for the worst.

Author's Note: Review if you like it I'm always open to criticism