AN: Here's a special from us! Hope you enjoy it. We will be posting a chapter everyday at around the same time for the next few days. Just a warning there will be smut. That's why it's M. xD
The end of the 19th century-1880
Run. It was the first thing that came to her mind. The first thought that she had and so she did. She ran as fast as she could, her heels clicking on the pavement as she gained more and more distance. Her fingers were curled into her dress in fists, pulling the dress just above her ankles to allow her to run without tripping over it. The heavy fabric swayed from left to right with each step, the slightly curled ends of her blonde hair fluttering in the wind. Light clouds emanated from her mouth as she panted into the frigid night air, her cheeks flushed red from the exertion of her flight. The unusually bright light of the full moon reflected off of the crown on her head, highlighting it and making it shine as if it were a halo.
She continued to run along the empty streets, the only thing that could be heard was the ghostly sound of the wind blowing through them. The silence was broken by sharp noises followed by faint whistling. Then came the baying of the hounds. She knew it had to have been the doing of her father. If he sent them after her, then she definitely was in trouble. Feeling like a hunted animal, she cursed to herself, dashing into the nearest side street. In her haste she tripped and fell on a gnarled piece of tree root sticking up from the pavement. Groaning in pain, she quickly moved one hand down to her feet to assess the damage, wincing as her fingers found a particularly tender area around her ankle. She was startled from reprieve by the sounds of the hunt once again. The echo across the buildings distorted her sense of exactly how close they were, but the frantic sounds of the dogs told her the search party was closing in on her. Panicking, she pulled herself up using the wall for support. No way was she going to let herself get caught. Not this time.
With renewed strength and determination, she headed away from the town and in the direction of the graveyard. Graveyard…Lucy shuddered at the thought. Yeah she was a bit of a scaredy cat when it came to stuff of that nature, but what choice did she have right now? Besides, no one would think to look for her there. After a short time she managed to move the heavy front gate of the graveyard. She paused at the entrance and gulped at the eerie sight before her. The rusty old hinges creaked loudly in protest as she pushed it open enough to get through and walked inside. She slowly made her way in, tiptoeing in as if she were afraid to wake any who were in an eternal slumber. She followed the main path through the cemetery to avoid treading on the deceased. Her eyes traced the path that meandered through the tombstones and eventually wound its way up the hill. Final destination, the elaborate mansion perched like an ominous sentinel at the very top overlooking the entire valley of the dead below. Thankfully the church was on the other side of the graveyard. She definitely would not be going there since the priests were likely to tell her father of her whereabouts. It wasn't the church's fault. It was almost impossible to hide from him given the power her family had and if you went against him it resulted in ties to the family being cut and no one dared cross the Heartfilia's. No… no one dared cross Jude Heartfilia. His word was law.
The mansion she was headed to was a different story. She looked ahead, the structure getting bigger as she neared it. Stories were told around town. Every child knew about this place. Tales of an abandoned mansion where the creature of the night resided. Bedtime stories of the vicious monster living alone in the huge mansion, who would come out at night to prey on those who were bad, had circulated amongst the town's inhabitants for hundreds of years. Children were told to listen to their parents and go to bed on time because if they didn't, the monster would come and get them. Children laughed and giggled when they were dramatically told about the monster coming to get them, often a tickling attack ensued by the parents.
She smiled softly as she remembered her own mother telling her the bedtime story. At least while she was still alive. The girls sighed softly. She had been very interested in the stories her mother had told her and had even researched a few of them. One of them turned out to be about this mansion she was headed to for refuge. It had been built a century ago but by an extravagant, rich baron. The baron had no children of his own and so it was left abandoned after his death. Before passing, he had donated part of his land to the church and so the graveyard came about. Wealthy dukes and barons had tried to get their hands on the mansion over the years, but they always ended up abandoning their pursuit of the estate. Apparently they had all had a similar dream every night of razor sharp teeth smirking at them, red golden eyes glowing in the night watching from the shadows, and giggles of young maidens dragging them to the edge of a cliff. It was because of this that she believed the bedtime stories, legends, and rumours that surrounded the mansion. She was always curious about it and wanted to explore it, but her father and the servants forbade her from going anywhere near the grounds. According to them, it was too dangerous for a fragile young lady of her social status to be traipsing about a place like that. She clenched her fists and grit her teeth at the memory. Oh she would show them how fragile and helpless she was.
Before she knew it, Lucy had climbed the hill and found herself in front of the mansion. Golden brown leaves danced in the air as they fell victim to the wind. She looked up at the structure mostly composed of stone. Vines had spidered up from the ground to cover parts of the building's broad walls. Given the age of the manse, it was well preserved, save for a few cracks here and there marring its surface. The two-story building had what seemed like two towers standing like guards on either side of the large wooden doors, daring anyone to cross the threshold uninvited. Ornate balconies peaked out from the second floor and large windows wrapped around the entire mansion. A pointed roof made up of small square tiles crowned the residence, from the center of which rose a small bell tower.
Leaf-bare trees surrounded the property, the branches crackling and creaking as they swayed back and forth with the wind. Crows landed on the naked branches and seemingly eyed her, turning their heads from side to side as if to ask her purpose of being there. Moonlight illuminated the mansion and the crows, glossing off shiny black feathers and rugged stone alike. She stood there taking in the sight, her chest rising and falling from the run up the hill she just had. Her breath coming in wispy puffs as she exhaled before dissipating into the cold night air. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the sight before her. Never had she seen anything so hauntingly beautiful as this before. It was such a magnificent building. A breeze blew past her and she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear as she enjoyed the cool air on her warm skin.
The eerie look of the place sent prickles of excitement down her spine. She paused… excitement? Logically, she knew she should be afraid... every fiber of her being should have been screaming at her to get as far from this place as her feet would take her… instead, she felt drawn to venture further inside. Lucy bit her bottom lip slightly and took a step forward. There's no going back now, she thought as she reached the doors and pushed them open. She paused, greeted by the darkness. The moonlight crept in through the window illuminating just a bit of the front hall before the dark and the shadows over took it again. She gulped as she slowly walked in.
"Hello?" Her voice echoes through the house. "Of course there's no one. What did you expect?" She muttered under her breath.
Once inside, the doors shut behind her of their own accord, startling small bursts of light interrupted the surrounding blackness as torches began to flicker to life, illuminating themselves and lighting Lucy's surroundings. As she looked around the hall she saw a curved staircase on each side of the room that led up to the second floor. Various paintings hung on the walls and she took in the details of each of them as she walked around until her eyes finally settled on a statue in the middle of the room. It was of a young girl with wings on either side of her head. The figure was clad in a flowing long-sleeve dress, a small wrap lay around her shoulders secured by a ribbon tied in a neat bow at the base of her throat. Long wavy hair draped loosely down her back nearly touching the ground. She stood with her eyes closed, hands held together as if deep in prayer.
Lucy stopped in front of the statue and looked up at it, studying its stone features. It had a few light cracks, but like the stone outside, was otherwise was in good condition. Her eyes traveled down the statue as she continued her study, finally coming to rest at the base of it where a name had been etched into the stone.
"Mavis Vermillion," she read. Lucy wondered who she was, yet at the same time she felt the name was familiar, which was strange.
Her eyes moved beyond the statue and stopped at a painting with beautiful magnolia flowers shining in the moonlight. She had nearly missed it altogether in the dim light of the torches. The fact that the picture hung on the back wall behind the statue and under the balcony did not help its cause. Her eyes adjusted to the light inside as it illuminated most of the room. She saw the brown of the wood floors, the faded red painted walls, the yellow fire dancing as it lit the room. The green curtains served as a nice contrast against the red and brown hues of the room.
"Hello?" She tried again as she stepped toward the statue.
She held out her hand and touched the statue lightly. She didn't know why but she felt at ease while touching it, a small smile forming on her lips unbeknownst to her. Also unknown to her was the shadow that had moved from one of the windows when she had entered the mansion. From the moment she had decided to run away her fate had changed. The moment she had run to the mansion, the moment she stepped inside, the moment he had seen her...her life had changed forever and she didn't even know it yet.