CLOUDED |

..

Rain was falling, the air cold and crisp. Oliver's eyes wandered, his head down as he listen to the sweet sound of the rain hitting the gravel. He softly hummed to himself, voice cracking, body shaking.

He dropped to his knees and began to cry. Hitting at the ground several times, his fists connecting with the earth. Blow after blow, rocks and different minerals went flying. These hard blows towards the quiet earth beneath him made his knuckles bruised and bloody. It left him breathless...

"So this is it.." Oliver sniffled. His puffy eyes scanned the soft horizon. The colors of the cotton candy sky made him smile, through his unknown sadness, he found joy. The sharp pain in his chest pulsed with the speed of light.

The hollowing winds ripped through his hair and he bellowed in pain. His heartfelt so cold. He felt all his emotions hitting him at once.

Slowly standing up, taking the scenery into its full glory.  Oliver stood in front of a home, his home.

His new home.

The home was more like a mansion or if you will a French chateau, it sat up nice and straight on a hill, deserted from the next town over, and on the way up you could see and hear the crashing waves and the navy blue water that gently hummed a fishermen's tale.

The thick vines wrapped along the ground and they crossed this way and that. Oliver sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes at his sleeves.

It was as if the estate was asleep, just waiting for the right person to make it feel alive again.

He was alone in this land. Oliver feared nothing, but something made him feel everything on this very day. He dragged his bags up the cracked pavement, setting his belongings down at the big front door.

He held the keys to this distant place, and somehow he had felt more at home in a place he never knew.

Unlocking the door, calmly he put a foot inside. As his eyes scanned the grand open area, feeling as though something or someone was watching him.

The thought seemed strange but it hadn't been touched for years so a family of rats, spiders, bats, or some foreign animal didn't seem too unheard of.

The walls seemed thick around him, they were traced with cracks, and once elegant designs seem to fade away. Ceilings drooped from one side to the other. These lands were known for hurricanes, terrible floods, and many long-forgotten secrets.

A beauty this home must've been, it belonged to his great-great-grandfather, Derrin.

It was 64 acres, with a beautiful garden, a vast view of the sea, and the many guests, musicians, and actors, that dwelled in these very corridors. Boast of how the lighthouse would beam, women would dance and men chat of property and god knows what.

Now it was Oliver's. None of his siblings wanted to be near the thing. The house.

They believed in sailors' tales and the secrets of the witches' moons that kept them far from here. He didn't believe in such things though, they were merely lies. Stories to keep the children in check and wives in the kitchen. He had no time for fairy tales, not in a place like this.

He had done his research about this place and had learned of the articles and the rich history which lay within. Some of it wasn't so rich, in fact tragic. His great-great-grandfather held many secrets, and the true lore of the house came from the very servants that lay in these forgotten chambers.

These tales, past around and woven into something dark, sinister perhaps even maleficent. It made the house seem ugly and wretched. He rolled his eyes at the thought as he flipped on a light switch, and closed the door.