Mansion in the woods.

Chapter One

 As the young man sat on the old, half-rotted stump in the forest, he spun his knife between his fingers. He needed a place to rest for the night before he continued off to his next mission. The man decided to walk in the direction of the village where he was heading, hoping to find a cave or other place to stay. Slowly he continued to walk through the dark forest seeing by nothing but the moon's light. Fog was starting to roll in as the beams of the moon gave it an eerie iridescent glow. He tried to not let his nerves get to him, he needed to get to the town before sunrise. His leg caught a root and he stumbled, barely catching himself with the trunk of a large tree. He cursed under his breath as he regained his footing and started trekking through the forest again being sure to make little noise.

A loud snap broke the silence. He turned to see a young girl around 16 years old dredging through the forest in a tattered, white dress. Her eyes shined blue like sapphires. She paused and looked up at the man, she went to mouth words but none came out. Blood lightly trickled from a wound on her forehead as she began to wobble.

The man quickly dashed to catch her before she fell. His training helped him cover the distance between them. He managed to catch her under her shoulders before she hit the earth.

She stared blankly into the void of his eyes, she was weak and gravely injured. He knew he could save her, he just needed the time and materials. He cut a piece of her dress and applied it to her cut then he picked her up and continued towards the village.

There was small clearing ahead as he dashed holding on to the scared girl. Lights shone through the trees. “Have I made it to the village? Wasn't it supposed to be farther off?” He pondered still approaching the clearing.

He blinked as he approached the massive mansion, the intricate woodwork that lined the windows and doors was incredible. The pale white walls dwarfed the trees surrounding them. He pondered to himself about who or what inhabited the solemn palace.

He snuck up to the building leaving the girl on a mat near the garden after he deemed it safe. He worried about what could be in the mansion for the world was no longer a safe place.

When he was growing up as a boy, the world was a safe, happy place to be. But science started to advance faster than people could keep up. People would be taken away to be studied and changed into “projects”. These mutants would lose all memory of their human life. The scientists that created them developed a lust for power. Many of the different companies fought over which would reign supreme and would program the “projects” to kill whatever stood in their way. Many of the companies were destroyed and their projects released. They ran rampant and killed millions. Some parts of the globe are still habitable by humans. Large fences and walls keep them out, for now.

But this was not a safe zone, the projects were free here and were ready to kill. He knew something had to attack the girl. He just didn't know what. He was weary that there may be projects in the mansion and he was cautious. He carried his hands on the hilt of his blades and walked stealthily through the doorway. He made his way down the long corridor and paused.

He heard the clang of metal. The grinding of gears started up then another clang. It was a cyborg, most likely a creation of Tek one of the many companies that developed the projects. They mixed man and machine. These cyborgs are often slow, loud, and clumsy but the many weapons they have make them deadly to fight. He slowly crept around the corner to see the creation. It was a female body with 8 large legs. A large photon cannon attached to her left arm. She walked slowly and clumsily slipping occasionally on the rug. He felt bad for the woman, or at least former woman.

He stepped around the corner. A loud creak echoed through the hall. The cyborg turned her head to see what the noise was. At that moment the man sprinted for the project sword drawn. The woman raised her arms in defense and pleaded.“Please, don't hurt me!”