Ill Met By Moonlight

Chapter 1: The Dollmaker

Her boots crunched against the dirt path, a deep, thick fog obscuring her vision quite a bit. The leaves on the trees had already began to change from green to red, orange and yellow. Summer was just ending and soon the village would be surrounding by brilliant, bright colours of fall. However, do to the deep mist in front of her, she was unable to see the leaves transitioning from green to red, yellow and orange. Unfortunate, since it was her favorite time of the year.

She continued to walk along the path, ignoring the little whispers in her ear emanating from the mist as best she could until she came upon a grave surrounded by yellow flowers and smaller gravestones. She curiously approached the gravestone, kneeling down to get a better look at the name. The name was covered in dirt and faded to the point she could barely make out any of the letters. She was barely able to see the last name but she managed to make out the ten letters. Beneviento. There was also another bit of text on the grave that read: Freed from the binds of flesh, she now walks the valley of death.

She stood back up and slowly crept past the grave. She was on the right path at least. She continued to walk until the fog began to reveal the place she'd be staying at. House Beneviento. The house sat atop a cliff with a large waterfall behind it. The house was dark and could easily be passed off as haunted. The dark, slightly rusted gates were open, almost as if they were inviting her in.

With almost no hesitation, she passed through the gate, being careful as to not allow the rusted iron to cut her. Her eyes never left the door as soon as she passed through the gates. There was a slight chill in the air; she wasn't sure if it was from the spooky atmosphere or of the small breeze that had decided to pick up into a gust of wind.

She took a moment to just admire the building itself until she felt the bandana around her eyes slip downwards. She tilted her head down and reach for the back of her head, untying the knot in the bandana she had made and tightened them, before tying it back in its previous knot. She took a step forwards on onto the steps. They creaked under her weight with each step she took. She was half convinced they boards would give out under her, but they didn't.

The blindfolded woman raised her hand and knocked on the door. She waited, but there was no answer. She knocked again, there was still no answer.

''Hello? Lady Beneviento? My name is Lex, I was sent by Mother Miranda.'' she called out. Yet, there was still no answer. She knock again, a bit louder than the previous knocks. This time, there was answer in the form of the door swinging open slowly with a spine chilling creak. The woman peered inside the dimly lit household.

She could see a long rug with a small round table in the middle of the room, a rocking chair beside it. To the right, there was a staircase the lead to the second floor and a large painting on the wall but she couldn't get a good look at it. The floorboards were a dark brown along with the stairs. The walls on the second floor was a creamy white and a dim lit chandelier hung from the ceiling.

The woman took a cautious step inside, swallowing the lump in her throat before calling out again. ''Lady Beneviento? I don't mean to enter uninvited but the door opened on its own.'' she said, feeling as if she needed to explain herself. There was no reply to her explanation.

She took a few more steps inside, looking around. Her eyes locked on the painting that she could now see clearer. The woman in the painting had hair of ebony held back in a bun, a few loose strands framing the sides of her round face. Her skin was quite pale and her eyes were darkened pearls. Almost like she was devoid of any emotions yet, even if she was portrayed as emotionless, Lex could see a deep sadness in those dark pearls. She was wearing a black funeral dress and she was holding was looked to be a porcelain ventriloquist doll who wore a white wedding dress with golden locks of blonde hair. Half of the dolls face was a light gray, while the right side of her face was a darker colour in the shape of a crescent moon.