Author's note: For those of you who have read the beginning of this story previously posted, I have examined and altered my plot, therefore resulting in a similar, but decidedly different story. I still intend to carry it in the same direction; however, I will be using somewhat different means to accomplish my ends. I hope that this version will be just as enjoyable as the version previously posted, thank you.
"Come to me."
It was the same dream, the same dream Blythe had been having ever since the field trip had been announced. It woke her at all hours, and, when she could not fall asleep again, she spent that time playing Haunting Ground, trying to beat the urge to play out of her system. Because every few nights, during the months leading up to the class field trip to England, she found herself in Belli Mansion.
"Come to me."
She was standing stone still in the doorway, which led into the House of Truth; only, it was not the House of Truth, not the one from the game, anyway. It was better, more real. She could feel the sinister magic in this place.
"Come to me."
She walked slowly down the corridor, only becoming sidetracked a few times along the way. She examined the walls and furniture, touching them all tentatively, until she reached a second corridor that she knew led to Lorenzo's study. As if in a trance, she walked numbly past the grotesque figures in the walls and headed toward the study door.
"Come to me."
She reached out a hand to turn the doorknob; however, a scream interrupted her. It was followed by more screams; she clasped her hands over her ears as the screams became louder and more violent. She could not tell who was screaming, if it was one voice or two, someone else or even herself. The image of the dream distorted around her as she screwed her eyelids shut.
Blythe opened her eyes blearily, found that her hands were actually covering her ears and her alarm clock was blaring on her bedside table. She pressed the Snooze button and blinked the sleep from her eyes in the dim morning light. She felt her travel bag on the end of her bed, still open and halfway packed. Today's the day, she thought excitedly.
"Come to me."