He took a cautious step into the cold room, the lack of heat startling him even though there were candles everywhere in the room. The multiple flames swayed back and forth so much it seemed as if the candles themselves would fall down.

The old wood creaked underneath his feet as he walked through the center of the room. The musty smell did nothing to ease his nerves as he heard a thud from the other side of the room. Turning around quickly, he sighed in relief to see it wasn't one the many lit candles, but an old flashlight that seemingly fell on its switch and turned on.

"What the hell...?" He muttered, staring at the right wall. There were runes of all kinds covering the wall, among various other images, and they were all done in a substance that appeared to be blood. Cringing from the sight, he continued on to the little door that was barely visible in the dim light.

The door creaked on its hinges, and a huge gust of air hit him in the face the moment he stepped into the hidden room. Feeling the wind go past him, he checked to see if any of the candles in the adjoining room were put out by the strong gust; thankfully, none were. Oddly enough, this room was lit by a faint ceiling light.

The man could see various pictures hung on the 3 main walls of the room, but most of them were blurred or pictured something similar to the runes on the other wall. All of this, however, was completely indecipherable to him. In the middle of the room was a small round table that was covered in books and the surrounding floor was strewn with loose papers. All in all, the room was a mess. But he knew the object of his interest was in here; there was no other place but here.

Walking over to the table he inspected many of the books, but seeing as how they weren't important to him, he placed them on the floor next to one the table's legs. After about an hour of searching, he finally came across the book he was looking for; the Book of Shadows. Its distinctive cover should of stood out to him, and he wondered why it didn't immediately show itself.

A loud boom of thunder and the crack of lightning from outside caused the man to jump from his spot on the ground. The light from the ceiling light went out and he froze. Reaching his hand into his pocket for a knife, he drew it out, ready to attack, when suddenly the lights turned back on. Sighing in relief, he stood up, dusting off his pants.

"Damn lightning...wonder if it was your doing, Book of Shadows?" He muttered to himself. Tightly grasping the book in hands, he took note that the candles also went out, and shook his head. "Now I'll have to go through there without any lighting."

He turned around to take one last glance at the room before feeling his heart pound at the speed of light; on the back wall, a very bloody magic circle was painted, surrounded by another set of different runes and images of dead people. The circle began glowing, and he took a step back towards the door.

"What...is...what's going on?!" Confused, the man ran out the room and into the dark adjoining room. Suddenly, all of the candles lit up, and the runes on the right wall also began to glow. It almost seemed as if they were rising off the wall towards the man. "I-I don't understand! Why is this happening?! Did you really...?" He glanced at the book in hands, to which it immediately began vibrating furiously. The book's eyes lit up and a long tongue came out of one of the holes on the cover and wrapped around his hand.

Frantic, the man tried shaking the book off of his hand, but to no avail. "Get off! L-let go of me, you damned book!" He screamed, eyes wide in terror. The book fell to the ground, and he breathed in relief, but then felt a sudden pain in his back. "AARGHH!"

His back began bleeding profusely, and the man struggled to see what had attacked him, only to see a rune fly at him just in time to dodge it. The rune exploded in mid-air, and he heard the book growl.

"Spent all that time searching for me, for what? Did you foolishly think I'd let you leave here, of all places, with me?" Laughing loudly, the book began to rise in the air. Grinning madly, tongue flying about, he shrieked, "DIE!"

The man in question froze, not knowing how to react. The Book of Shadows was speaking. To him, and was telling him to die, no less. "W-wait, p-please, I-I...don't kill me," he ended softly. The light from the candles grew brighter and the runes centered themselves over the man's hands. He lie on the ground, shaking, and he stared at the sight in front of him; bright lights and a floating book. In his mind, he thought he was already dead, however the moment the first candle fell he screamed.

"Please, no! You...you cant! NOOOOOOOO!" One by one, the candles fell, and the runes disappeared along with the book. Slowly, the wooden room lit on fire, and the man lit up with it. He writhed on the floor, clinging to the slowly draining life force he had. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS!"

Soon, he was unable to even mutter a noise. However before he disappeared forever, he was able to mutter a few words before the last ounce of his life was charred along with his body.

"Shinozaki...this house..."

This is the prologue for my new multi-chaptered fic. I don't know how many chapters it will have in total, but I already have the first actual chapter written out. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the plot; I wrote them separately, and they originally had no relation. Even now, I'm still struggling to actually connect them or post them as two separate stories. Eh, we'll see how it goes, and then I'll decided if I should make them different. For now, let me know how you felt about this as a prologue in the reviews! (And yes, this is rated M. I'm taking a step out of comfort zone and doing something I've always been too nervous to try.)