A Truly Unusual Occurrence (Temporary Title)

Author?

I was lost, and in one of the stupidest ways possible; five miles from my house. Of course, at the time I had no idea it was only a five mile difference, and was positive I was going to die of starvation and dehydration within the next couple of days, since I had no idea how to scavenge for food in a forest, even  though it ought to be easy since it was a forest, and full of vegetation. But this one was different. It wasn't teeming with life, it was dark, and dreadful. Its trees appeared to all be dead, the pine needles beneath my feet were dry, and snapped as I passed over them.

Holding onto the smallest shred of hope that I would somehow find a place that would direct me back to civilization, I continued walking, without any sense of direction, and somehow, hours later, ended up in front of an old, foreboding house. The gate was broken, but the house itself appeared to be in livable condition so I slipped through and walked down the pathway and up the stairs, and knocked on the door. Several minutes passed, and no one answered, so I reluctantly turned around and headed back down the steps to explore round back.

What met my eyes astounded me-it was a garden, dead trees planted here and there, cacti in the middle, surrounded by little rocks, and several dead fountains covered in moss, with black roses. I stepped back, stumbling a little as I did so, and fell to the ground.

From behind me a woman screamed, "Don't touch the tree!"

I whirled my head around to find a small, squat lady holding an axe marching up to me, and then glanced at my hand which I had placed against the tree to keep myself from falling, and quickly took it off.

"Excuse me, could you possibly tell me the way home?" I asked her, hoping to be on my way as soon as possible.

"Get out of my garden." The woman raised the axe threateningly.

"Okay," I squeaked, and bolted for the front yard.

A hand shot out and snagged the hood of my sweatshirt stopping me in mid run. By now I was thoroughly freaked and and just wanted to get out of there.

"We can't let her leave without a little snack," a man's voice said soothingly. "Come inside, miss, and I'll tell you where home is." He let go of my hood and I heard footsteps returning to the house so I turned and followed him.

He was a tall, stopped man in a butler's uniform, his hair greying, and I noticed his hands were shaking very badly. He walked with a limp, and reached out several times to steady himself on the railing of the porch.

Inside the house was dark, and eerie, curtains covering the windows, and in the corner of the hall a little girl, only eight at the most, leaned against the wall, tears streaming from her closed eyes, her face and clothes covered in blood.

"Is she-okay?" I asked the man, who was walking ahead of me, without even glancing into the corner.

"Who?" he asked, turning slightly, showing his face for the first time-it was hideously malformed, with a scar running across his cheek, going right through his mouth, and down his neck.

"Well, the-the-the-the.. girl..." I trailed off, unable to stop from staring at the scar as he raised one eyebrow at me.

"What girl?"

At this her eyes flew open and upon seeing me she sobbed, "Please, miss, I can't get out. Please help me. I'm stuck."

The man looked concerned. "Miss?" he asked. "Are you feeling alright?"

I nodded a little, eyes fixed on the corner where she sat sobbing, "Please, miss," she begged. "Let me out."

"Take my hand."