The Mansion

Part 1: Enter

It is said that men make their own beds to lie in, yet I must confess that I cared little for its meaning upon awakening on a cold stone floor. What conclusions men made with their ponderings did little to save me from my current predicament or cushion my throbbing head. I slowly lifted myself up and opened my eyes wider to filter in the dim glow of this expansive foyer. Though dimly lit, the elaborate details of the room were still shiningly apparent. Above me a crystal chandelier sparkled down its former majesty; for even though it seemed to have been here for ages its beauty remained untouched by time. Time...time?...What time was it? I couldn't recall. Now that I thought about it,... I couldn't recall much of anything. How I had gotten here, and where here even was, eluded me. I stood tall and studied the foyer intently. It was truly a beautiful mansion, at least, it had been in its day. There was one large grand staircase leading up to a central landing, and then on to the second floor to the left and right. The room itself was strangely devoid of any furnishings, but one. There was a large clock at the top of the central landing. This clock was no ordinary clock, however; it had the shape and hands of a clock, but the hours seemed to be completely missing. It also appeared to be broken with both hands eternally stuck at the 12 position. "Hmmm, 12 am or pm?", I thought to myself rather foolishly. It was obvious neither time was likely to be correct, and yet it seemed prudent to give myself some sense of time to rest upon in the unsurety of the moment. I glanced back toward what was clearly the entrance to this stately mansion and decided it best to look outside if for no other reason than to give myself another clue as to the hour. I turned the golden door handle and opened the door with a shrill and resounding *creeeeaaaakkkkk* to discover nothing but a wall; a wall made of the same dark mahogany panels as the rest of the room. I touched it to be sure my eyes weren't deceiving me in this dim setting, and was properly reassured that they were correct by its solidity. It was indeed a solid wall, and clearly not a way out or in. "Why would anyone build a door that goes nowhere?", I asked myself out loud; frightening myself slightly with the sound of my own voice penetrating the silence. "Hmm? It seems there are no windows either. This left me with only a few options as I turned back around. To the left was what looked to be an endless hallway devoid of all light, and to the right side tucked underneath the grand staircase was a very plain looking wooden door. Then there was always upstairs to the left or right. I looked to my left and began to walk slowly forward, but after some minutes I found myself to be in the same position as I had started. A few times I thought I saw some movement of black within the blackness. "Yet how can one see anything darker than total darkness?", I thought to myself. How I could see anything in this dark place was beyond me. It seemed to me though, at the edge of this dark hallway, that it was as if everything here had its own level of darkness; so, I turned around and began to walk up the stairs. I hesitantly scaled the stairs stopping only upon reaching the large middle landing to study the clock more closely. "Uh, yes, strange indeed", I concluded to myself as if I'd half-expected to make some other conclusion to such a clock. "Left or right? Hmm?...". Left seemed no different than the right; both paths led up a few more stairs to long sconced hallways lined with doors. I turned to the left and walked up the last stairs to the top setting my feet softly onto the dark crimson carpeting leading down the seemingly endless corridor. I began to walk forward checking door after door as I passed them; all of them locked. Door after door was the same...another locked door...another dead end. Eventually I found myself at the end of the hallway where a small dark wood stand with a large ornate mirror greeted me. I looked into the mirror intently, but..."Where was I?". "I seem to have no reflection", I said out loud to myself, accidently making myself jump from the abruptness of the noise within the deafening silence of this mansion. "How strange. Am I a ghost? Or, yikes! A vampire? Have I already died and simply do not remember it? You would think a person would remember something as important as their death, but then who remembers their birth?", I thought in conclusion. "Yes, that must be it. I am dead; and just like my birth I have simply forgotten it. I wonder how I died? Oh well, no use thinking upon it now that it's over I suppose; but does that mean that this is heaven...or *gulp*, hell? No, I don't believe in the existence of either", I reminded myself. I looked back into the mirror and grew cold with fear. There in the hallway behind me stood a tall black lurking figure. I stood stiff,... afraid to look away or move; as if I somehow believed moving would allow the shadow form to see me. It was clear however, that despite the lack of any discernible eyes, the dark figure was indeed looking directly at me. The eyes burned on the back of my neck as every hair on my body stood on end. The figure towered over the hallway, and was decidedly masculine in size and build, so I concluded rather quickly that this was a man's shadow. I was too afraid to blink for fear I would miss his movements, yet I was soon able to convince myself that I needed to turn and face my fate head on despite my apprehension. I gathered all of my courage and spun around as swiftly as possible and,...nothing was there. "What?", I thought, "That's strange. I definitely saw him". I turned back and glanced into the mirror once again, and then again...and nothing. "That's a relief", I sighed. "So now I suppose it's back to the stairway to try the doors in the other hallway", I decided. I looked into the mirror one last time, and when I turned there in front of me was an overwhelming coal black figure with a perceptibly blurry face. He held a knife in one hand, and immediately reached for my neck with the other. He lifted me off the ground as I coughed unable to say or do anything; and then I was dropped to the floor with no sound whatsoever. He lifted his knife, and I covered myself with my hands as humans seem so apt to do in such situations; as if arms were indeed armor and would deflect such attacks. I closed my eyes and felt the blade strike me in the leg and then....nothing.