[i]Drip... Drip... Drip...[/i]
Beads of rain raced each other down the angled tiles of the stone cottage's roof, falling to splatter against the waiting ground below. A door opened with a quiet creek, a man walking out of the house. He took a step out, inhaling then letting out a light sigh, taking in the smell of the fresh rain that had only ended minutes ago. He looked out over the garden that lay before him, mossy paving stones making his path through the lush plants that seemed to grow in any place not already taken up. His eyes wandered over the plants, resting on the pond in the short-walled yard. He walked over to it, crouching down to run a finger along the petal of a water lily floating on the surface of the pond. A butterfly flitted by, stopping to rest on a flower for only a moment before taking flight again. Bees buzzed as they flew around, collecting their precious nectar from the flowers of the plants. 

'So much for the evil, dark, satanic lair of a witch,' Urisk thought, turning around and going to close the door to his cottage behind him, locking it with the key he kept in the hidden pocket inside his sleeve. He turned again, then walked along the stones until he reached a stone structure in the center of the garden, hidden by overhead willow trees, their long fronds trailing down to the ground. It was a stone table, about four feet long and two feet wide. It had strange runes and glyphs etched into the sides in a language of which most speakers had ceased to exist. It was adorned with a red cloth, draped over the top of it, a candelabra on top of that, complete with five black candles. A silver chalice sat on the altar as well, off to the side and filled with pure spring water. A pentacle had been embroidered into the cloth on the altar, marking it as a focal point for the magic performed there. The altar stored the magical energy created by the garden, nature's essence fueling the spells he performed. 

The inhabitation was an overall peaceful and beautiful place, very tranquil. He sat down on the altar, closing his eyes. He thought about what he was doing here, questioning why he had even chose to try to restart his life. He'd been having more doubts about things recently, like if he could ever live a normal life again, not that it was incredibly normal in the first place. He'd been trying for over a month now to even identify the demon that had killed his aunt, but he'd had no luck. Maybe he should just give up on everything involving that. His tongue ran along his pointed teeth. No, that wasn't an option. Not with this permanent reminder of what had happened. If he gave up then it would become a permanent reminder of his failure too.

A sudden shuffling of leaves snapped him out of his thoughts. He stood up, taking the chalice and candelabra off of the altar and swiftly covering up the pentacle-adorned cloth with a larger white cloth that lay beside the structure. The sound was more than likely just an animal, but he wanted to take no chances of anybody discovering what he was. He walked out from the willows, going to get his watering can. He picked it up just as he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned to look, but it vanished in an instant. He was worried now that somebody, or some[i]thing[/i], was watching him. He dropped the can and walked swiftly toward his door, the key sliding from his sleeve into his hand. As he fumbled in his nervousness to unlock the door, he heard a thud behind him, like the sound of something landing on the ground. He turned around, afraid of what he might see. He knew that if they were so inclined to stay out of his sight until now, it wasn't somebody he was acquainted with.