Wander

//Entry 3//

When he finally felt as if the danger has passed, Wander hesitantly got up, raising the torch above his head once more. He slowly ventured further into the darkness, looking around at his surroundings, trying to get a better sense of where he was.

Just as Wander had noticed before, the nightmare-ish figure had appeared, two large staircases lead up to a balcony above the large oak doors where Wander has been sitting for the past few hours. Still shrouded in darkness, he assumed that would be the way to explore further.

Looking around for a bit more, Wander found a large window boarded up with ancient wooden planks of varying sizes. With the torch in one hand, Wander gave a yank to one of the boards, pulling it free and dropping it to the ground with a loud noise. He continued to do this, and, finally, a small stream of light filtered into the horribly dusty room. Despite his best efforts, no more of the old boards would budge - the further down he went, the newer the boards seemed to be.

He turned around once more to inspect the large room that he was in.

The first thing that he noticed was the large tapestry that fell to the ground near the right staircase. He walked over to it, picking up one end and holding his torch closer to inspect the item. It was a beautiful work of art; with the center dominated by an intricately woven design, depicting a large castle with two dragons spiraling around two of the larger towers on either side. Both dragons had scales of all different colors and shades, coming to a rest perched atop the uppermost part of the tower.

Below the depiction were two words woven in gold, shimmering as the reflection of the fire danced upon their surface. Castle Erincard. What a strange and peculiar name. Wander dropped the tapestry once he was done looking at it, lifting the torch once again above his head. He stared at the flames for a moment. Was it his imagination, or had the torch seemingly grown brighter? Shouldn't the flames of a torch that have been burning for who knows how long only burn dimmer as time moved on?

Wander frowned slightly.

Pushing the thought from his mind, Wander sees that the only way to go was up either set of stairs, considering they both led to the balcony. He choose the left staircase, just because it was slightly less eerie due to the small shaft of light filtering through the small hole he had created in front of the window.

The stairs creaked as Wander made his way further up them - it seemed that nearly everything in the entire castle was going to inevitably make some noise whenever he tried to be quiet - and he quickened his pace slightly, the torch still burning bright by his side. Upon reaching the end of the wooden staircase, he nearly tripped over an uneven stone that rose just enough out of the floor to catch an unsuspecting person such as himself to trip.

Cursing to himself, he made a mental note to be more careful in the future. It would mean nothing but trouble if he heads down the stairs and trips. Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Wander slowly moved towards another oak door much like the one from the original room he found himself in. It was not locked and he easily opened it, wincing once again at the loud squeals of protest from the hinges that echoed throughout the large, empty area.

Wander kept the torch in front of him, venturing inside. He made sure to leave the door open, in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. Who knew what other horrors he would find in this godforsaken place?

The room he had entered was only slightly larger than the room he had awoken in. The floor was covered in a colorful rug that stood out profusely amid the dark uninviting colors that inhibited the castle. Tucked into the furthest corner of the room was a large bed, neatly made and covered in a very warm-looking, crimson colored blanket. On that same wall, was a wooden desk and chair, a small jar of ink tipped over, wading in the blank contents that it had housed previously. Wander made his way to the desk, moving the chair out of the way and kneeling down. He slowly rummaged through the drawers, hoping to find anything that may aid him in any way, but he quickly began to lose hope.

They were all filled to the brim with useless items - more ink, quill pens, blank paper, an empty journal, and a bible. Finally, he reached for the drawer closest to the floor, pulling it open slowly. His heart gave a small leap of joy at the contents of the drawer. A box of matches! He grabbed for it quickly, praying that it was not some cruel joke and had been emptied by the previous occupant of the room.

Sure enough, it wasn't empty. Doing a quick count, Wander counted thirteen matches that he could use to bring light to the rather eerie and desolate castle gloom. He stuffed the box into his coat's pocket, closed the drawer, and then pulled the chair back over. He placed the still burning torch into an empty scone that was offset slightly to the right of the desk and then sat down on the uncomfortable wooden chair. He took a deep breath before pulling the journal out and began to write.

~

Entry 3

It seems that I am going to have rather difficult time regaining my memory as everything in this accursed place has a mind of its own; all intent on making sure that my stay here is as unpleasant as possible.

I have managed to find out the name of my prison – Erincard Castle. It seems to be abandoned, for I have yet to see another soul, and everything is in such poor condition that I can only conclude that no man has set foot here in an expansive amount of time. If only that where the case, but alas, it isn't.

Even in the waking world, I have been tormented by the faceless assailant that I saw in my dreams from my previous slumber. Maybe it has something to do with the memories that I cannot seem to recall no matter how hard I try? That can be the only logical solution. How could I dream of something unless I have already seen it before? And if that logic was true, then that would mean I could recall my forgotten memory, to some extent. But then, why can I only remember the faceless monster?

My head is starting to hurt as I try to make sense of this conundrum that I have found myself a part of.

I am lucky that I was able to close the large doors that isolated me before my waking nightmare could get through. I had to sit there for hours with nothing but the horrid sounds of its claws scraping, the dancing and flickering flames of my torch as companions.

I did manage to find a box of matches, which is the first good news since this whole ordeal has started. Thirteen unlit, ready-to-use matches that I can use through the castle on the various candelabra's and unlit torches that line the walls just waiting to be used.

I must press further onward, despite the obstacles that are in my way. First and foremost, the monster that stalks the halls of the accursed castle - I must avoid him at all costs. Seeing as how I have no way to fight it, I must flee - and even if I did have the means to keep it at bay, I would prefer to stay as far away from it as humanly possible. It seems to defy the confines of the mind, not adhering to the laws the rest of the world follows.

I can only pray that I can escape the castle before this elaborate game of cat and mouse can finish. I must go down the same hallway that brought me here to my current whereabouts. And this means that I must go in the same direction that the faceless figure went as well.

If in my past life I was a religious man, may any god lend me good fortune for I need it now more than ever.