𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝑰 / 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 & 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑭𝑭

𝟑. 𝑨 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒕

If you're a lover, you should know
The lonely moments just get lonelier
The longer you're in love than if you were alone
Memories turn into daydreams, become a taboo
I don't want to be afraid
The deeper that I go
It takes my breath away
Soft hearts, electric souls
Heart to heart and eyes to eyes
Is this taboo?
Baby, we built this house on memories
Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it
And when your fantasies become your legacy
Promise me a place in your house of memories
I think of you from time to time
More than I thought I would
You were just too kind and I was too young to know
That's all that really matters
I was a fool
Baby, we built this house on memories
Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it
And when your fantasies become your legacy
Promise me a place in your house of memories
Those thoughts of past lovers, they'll always haunt me
I wish I could believe you'd never wrong me
Then will you remember me in the same way as I remember you?
Baby, we built this house on memories
Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it
And when your fantasies become your legacy
Promise me a place

The old doors creaked when they were swung open. It sounded eerie and the inside filled with dust. It was empty. The long hallway was empty, and the walls inside were just as white as the outside, just with interesting carved in art in the corners from the ceiling all the way down to the ground. And when Raven took a step further in into the Mansion, her eyes widened in admiration when the lobby was revealed. A large entrance up front, slightly curved large pairs of stairs on each side of the Mansion, the banisters are made of pure white stone, a majestical, golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling and underneath it was a stone table, carved in an elegant style with elegant and smooth edges and on it rested a rusty, golden vase with dead flowers in it.

Raven narrowed her eyes. Flowers couldn't survive a hundred years. She walked closer to the vase and reached out to the flowers, touching them softly. They felt dry and rough, rustled by her touch when a few dead petals fell off of them. Something didn't seem right.

"You said this Mansion was abandoned all this time?" she asked Bojan that looked around the mansion amazed himself.

Caught in his own thoughts, he turned harshly to look over to Raven. "Well yes, nobody dared to buy it."

"These flowers are recent.." she mumbled underneath her breath.

"Sorry, what?" Bojan asked confused. He did not hear what she was saying, but he heard her mumble something. But he was only met with a dismissive, waving hand. He scoffed shaking his head as he made his way to the first step of the majestic stairs. "Want to look what's upstairs?" he asked, waiting on her to turn his way.

Raven's gaze wandered to the large entrance to another room. She found some furnitures covered in white sheets. This was indeed an abandoned Mansion. She narrowed her eyes. She sighed, thinking that she is just imagining things. Maybe those flowers were also somewhat magically altered or something. Maybe an alkemist gifted them to her family a hundred years ago. Everything seemed possible now. Yet she couldn't help but feel an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She felt as if she was being watched, but when she would turn and look around, nothing seemed to be there except for Bojan standing at the stairway. She made her way to the stairs and looked up. She couldn't shake off the feeling something horrible happened upstairs in one of the rooms. Her stomach twisted more, she didn't like it at all. She looked over to Bojan a moment that waited on her patiently.

Even him felt the uneasiness of hers. He could see it in her eyes despite her trying to act all calm and collected. He could see through the surface. He had studied her thoroughly during those few days she had stayed with them at the Inn. He found her eyes revealed more than any word spoken or any slight movement could. And yet he would find himself lost in them. No wonder the Dark General fell for her, he thought. She had something in her that made him nervous and yet feel calm. He liked her aura, her energy that was so mysterious and dark and twisted, but he felt pulled and intrigued by it. He wished he could explore more, get to know her more. But he did not know how far his patience would go with her. How much longer he had to wait patiently. But he was willing to put in time and work. And between his unsettling thoughts and still trying to process the fact a living rarity and apparently a being of immense power was standing right before him, despite his fear not so long ago, he wanted to see her for her, a human that struggled and fought her way through like everyone else.