"Oh come on ya stupid thing! I just replaced yer transmission last week!" Nick groaned, pounding a fist on the raised hood of his car. Just his luck that today was a late Friday night so no one else was out driving this stretch of road; nor did he have a cellphone to call for a tow...not that he would ever have the cash upfront for that kind of thing. Sighing, he looked around the moonlit stretch of highway where this broken-down bucket-of-bolts had stranded him, surveying the thick sylvan flora on either side of the road.
His eyes lit on a set of lights set deep in the forest on the side closest to him. Straining his peepers to their limit, there seemed to be a tiny game trail barely wide enough for one person leading off the highway in that direction. "Well," Nick said aloud to himself. "If I'm gonna die, it might as well be at a witch's house made outta candy." His Southern drawl rolled off into empty air, a reminder that the Hansel and Gretel reference fell on, not deaf ears, but none at all.
Nick Fletcher closed his car hood with a slam, snatched his keys out of the ignition, closed and locked the car's entry points, and stepped down the path. As soon as he stepped off the highway, a chill crept up his spine and things in his peripheral vision and behind him seemed much darker than before. By contrast, not five steps down the tiny path, he could see a white, antebellum mansion before him rising high in the night seemingly closer than it ought to be for only eight paces from the highway now.
Before he quite realized it, he was standing before an elaborately carved and gilded doorknocker depicting a small swan in profile. It's neck arching gracefully around to be the handle, looking a bit to Nick like a horseshoe. Birdshoe? The errant thought made him chuckle as he reached for the knocker, but to his surprise, found the door swinging open of its own accord. "Uhh hello?" he drawled out, peeking around at the sides of the entryway. Nick waited a few seconds for someone to pop out from behind the door and announce themselves, but no one came.
Cautiously, he wiped the dirt and debris from his boots off on the rough mat outside, then stepped over the threshold, peering behind the door as he did so to discover that no one was indeed there. "Whoever y'are, this is all real funny!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his tone light. "Y'see, mah car broke down over on the road. Jus' wonderin' if ye gotta phone I could use t'call fer a tow?" But his voice was met only with silence. Being a man that was usually emboldened by silence, at least a woman's silence, Nick took it upon himself to walk further into the home.
Past the entryway stood a rather small door right in front of him, making the room he stood in a sort of antechamber to a main hall. None of this mattered to Nick, however, as he brazenly stepped through said door, again checking behind the door for someone lurking. He found himself in a large room with two spiral staircases going up on either side of him. In front of him, four waist-high pillars sat, each bearing a book atop them.
When Nick heard a female voice seemingly out of nowhere, he nearly jumped out of his skin about two inches off the floor. "Yo, who is that? Come out where I can see ya!" he demanded. But no response was forthcoming after a minute or so of waiting. The calm lady's voice had said to choose. Nick didn't really know or care what type of game he'd gotten himself into, but it seemed best to play along if it would get him answers. So he stepped up to the first pillar on the left, waved his hand under the floating book that seemed to change in shape, pattern, and color as he looked at it. A quality that the other books strangely did not seem to possess. Bringing his other hand to bear, he took the strange changeable book in both hands and lifted it off the pedestal. "Alright lady, what now huh? I s'pose you want me to take off mah clothes and go through some voodoo magic ritual, ain't that right?"
His eyes lit on a set of lights set deep in the forest on the side closest to him. Straining his peepers to their limit, there seemed to be a tiny game trail barely wide enough for one person leading off the highway in that direction. "Well," Nick said aloud to himself. "If I'm gonna die, it might as well be at a witch's house made outta candy." His Southern drawl rolled off into empty air, a reminder that the Hansel and Gretel reference fell on, not deaf ears, but none at all.
Nick Fletcher closed his car hood with a slam, snatched his keys out of the ignition, closed and locked the car's entry points, and stepped down the path. As soon as he stepped off the highway, a chill crept up his spine and things in his peripheral vision and behind him seemed much darker than before. By contrast, not five steps down the tiny path, he could see a white, antebellum mansion before him rising high in the night seemingly closer than it ought to be for only eight paces from the highway now.
Before he quite realized it, he was standing before an elaborately carved and gilded doorknocker depicting a small swan in profile. It's neck arching gracefully around to be the handle, looking a bit to Nick like a horseshoe. Birdshoe? The errant thought made him chuckle as he reached for the knocker, but to his surprise, found the door swinging open of its own accord. "Uhh hello?" he drawled out, peeking around at the sides of the entryway. Nick waited a few seconds for someone to pop out from behind the door and announce themselves, but no one came.
Cautiously, he wiped the dirt and debris from his boots off on the rough mat outside, then stepped over the threshold, peering behind the door as he did so to discover that no one was indeed there. "Whoever y'are, this is all real funny!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his tone light. "Y'see, mah car broke down over on the road. Jus' wonderin' if ye gotta phone I could use t'call fer a tow?" But his voice was met only with silence. Being a man that was usually emboldened by silence, at least a woman's silence, Nick took it upon himself to walk further into the home.
Past the entryway stood a rather small door right in front of him, making the room he stood in a sort of antechamber to a main hall. None of this mattered to Nick, however, as he brazenly stepped through said door, again checking behind the door for someone lurking. He found himself in a large room with two spiral staircases going up on either side of him. In front of him, four waist-high pillars sat, each bearing a book atop them.
When Nick heard a female voice seemingly out of nowhere, he nearly jumped out of his skin about two inches off the floor. "Yo, who is that? Come out where I can see ya!" he demanded. But no response was forthcoming after a minute or so of waiting. The calm lady's voice had said to choose. Nick didn't really know or care what type of game he'd gotten himself into, but it seemed best to play along if it would get him answers. So he stepped up to the first pillar on the left, waved his hand under the floating book that seemed to change in shape, pattern, and color as he looked at it. A quality that the other books strangely did not seem to possess. Bringing his other hand to bear, he took the strange changeable book in both hands and lifted it off the pedestal. "Alright lady, what now huh? I s'pose you want me to take off mah clothes and go through some voodoo magic ritual, ain't that right?"
