The Witch's Mansion

prologue

A thick rainforest, bullied by a thunderous rainstorm. Winds bending trees asunder. Hard rain cracking the earth's soil. The roars of thunder planted fear into its inhabitants. In the midst of this forest a man did walk, his pace frantic. Shielding himself from the harsh elements with but an outer shirt, droplets would still sink through its fabric. But it was better than fully exposing oneself to the cold rain. The dense fog obscured his vision, the path almost invisible to him, he had to be mindful of his pace, his foot placement. He'd fallen a few times even. His palm covered in mud, as each time he'd slap the ground beneath him to break his fall. The impact brings the sensation of warmth to his hands. The pulse of his palm intensified.

Through the dense fog, he could see something. Light, square in shape, from a window. A house perhaps, was close to the end of his life. He didn't know, just the possibility to shelter himself from the rain, from the cold was enough. As he got closer to the light, its radiance pierce through the fog. Its thickness not as apparent, the source of said light was beginning to take shape. A gated house, the rain had left its metal to rust, and fed thorny vines which grew around the gate, smothering it. Luckily, the door of the gate was closed, a small little shove was all that was needed for the door to creek open. He stepped through the gate, pain surged through his heart, his hand reached out to it in response. Clutching his chest, grinding his teeth, squinting his eyes. He fell to his knees as his beating heart echo's inside his thoughts.

Soon the pain subsided, he stood up breathing through the mouth as the cold rain poured down upon him. A shiver was all it took for him to continue forward. He followed a flat stone pavement that led him to the front porch of the house.

The main door creek open, revealing a woman, her thin robes were the color of ember, a corset dark as night wrapped tightly around her waist, her hair long and wavy, reaching the bottom of her spine.

"What in heaven's name are you doing in this rain", she scolded while approaching him. Reaching out to his wrist and yanking him inside.