"Wow!" A little girl came bouncing in from the front door. "Mommy! Daddy! This place is huge!" She cried out with a giggle. She pulled her big brother's hand through the door.

"Melinda! Calm down! It's just a house." He laughed.

"No!" She argued, "A mansion! Get it right, Vincent!" She pouted. Vincent pouted at her as he saw their parents moving in the rest of the stuff from the car. He took this moment to look around. But she is right, he thought, this place is a mansion. He walked over by the staircase and saw a picture of this young girl. Her raven black hair in curls that fell beyond her shoulders. Her pale white made her look as if she was an angel. Her eyes were a soft chocolate eyes gazing down upon the people who dare look upon her beauty and greeted them with a gentle smile. Wow, Vincent thought. She's beautiful. It took him a while to figure out that he wasn't breathing and took a deep breath.

"Who's she?" Melinda asked. "She's pretty!"

"I don't know…." Vincent said, a little sad. "She reminds me of this one girl our grandparents use to tell us about. The one about our great, great, great, great grandfather. Remember that story? It was…"

"No!" Melinda cried, covering her ears with her little hands. "I don't like that story, it always gives me nightmares!" She said, "Instead, I'm gonna check out my room." She ran up the flight of stairs away from Vincent as he chuckled to himself, but he found himself glancing at the picture every now and then. He glanced at the grandfather clock besides the picture as it rung at 5:00. Its soft chiming sent chills down his spine. He shuddered and slowly went to go check his room.

Later that night, Vincent was sitting at the dining room table with his family eating dinner. Vincent was more of pushing the food around on his plate until he father cleared his throat. "Why aren't you eating?" He asked Vincent. He didn't heard him, he kept thinking about the mysterious girl in the picture. "Vincent!" He yelled a little louder.

"Huh?" Vincent snapped out of his daydreaming and quickly looked at his dad.

"Why aren't you eating, I asked." His father told him sternly.

"Oh," Vincent looked down upon his plate. He hasn't even taken one bite, but he doesn't want to eat. "I guess I'm not that hungry." He told his dad as the grandfather clock in the hallway rung 8:00. Vincent glanced at the door and quickly turned to his parents. "Since I'm not that hungry, may I be excused?" He asked.

"Of course you can, sweetie." His mother told him. Vincent pushed out his chair and walked to his room, a little tired from the moving. He collapsed on his blue bed as his eyes began to get heavy. The first thought that popped into his head was the girl in the painting. Wait….. He thought. Am I falling for a picture? He wondered. Oh well, just don't think about it. He said as he curled up in his bed. Just go to sleep and you'll handle this later. He said as his mind began to drift away.

At midnight, the moonlight shone through the window to shine a faded light upon the painting. The Grandfather clock struck twelve as the gong rung throughout the mansion. The painting began to glow dark purple as a pale hand reached out of the painting. The hand grasped upon the top of the grandfather clock's top and the figure slowly jumped to the ground with a thud. The girl stood up and brushed her curly hair aside. She opened her brown eyes as she soon disappeared within the shadows.

"Huh?" Vincent woke up from the sound of the thud. "What was that?" He wondered aloud. "It's probably Mel." He thought. "I better go find her." He grumbled as he tossed his covers side and walked out of his room. A few minutes later, Melinda peeked inside her big brother's room.

"Oooohhh!!! Vincent isn't in his room!" She giggled as she ran back to her room.

Vincent explored the place as he walked across the vast hallways; he soon came upon a girl, dancing within the halls. Her black dress flowed with her like a shadow as her footsteps were barely audible. She turned around to see her performance watched by a boy. "Excuse me? Who are you?" She asked.

"Hey, I'll do that asking around here." He said bravely towards the girl.

"And why's that?" She asked.

"Because this is my house." He pointed out.

"No it isn't, this is my house." She argued back.

"Uh….No it isn't. My family bought this house just a few days ago." Vincent sighed. The girl looked a little shock, but then she regained her posture.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She giggled her voice like silvery bells. "I've forgotten how long it's been." She laughed.

"I see…." Vincent said. "Well, it's not your fault….I think…." He looked at the girl one more time. Red eyes and cat ears? Hmmmm…. He wondered. "What did you say your name was again?" He asked.

"Oh where are my manners?" She laughed. "My name is Anastasia von Dagmar."

"Cool name! My name is Vincent Basilia." He told her. Anastasia's face grew grim when she heard his last name.

"What did you say your name was?" She asked him grimly.

"I'm…..Vincent Basilia?" He stammered.

"YOU'RE THE GREAT GRANDSON OF THAT MURDERER?!" She yelled at him.

"What?!" Vincent yelled. Anastasia's eyes grew burning red as she whispered a few words before a sword materialized in her hand. She slashed the sword at him and missed. Vincent started stumbling as he ran through the hallway. Anastasia spoke a few words and slowly faded into the ground. Vincent stopped to catch his breath after a while, panting hard. I think I lost her. He thought. What's wrong with that girl anyway?! He started thinking. A bright light appeared behind him as he turned around to see Anastasia standing from where the light was forming.

"YOU SHALL PAY FOR WHAT YOUR DID TO MY FAMILY!" She yelled at him.

"But I didn't do anything!" He argued, defensively.

"YOU LIER!" She screamed. Her fiery eyes began to die down. "You….l-liar…." Her eyes returned back to their original red state as she fell to the ground as the sword faded away. She began to sound weak. "Sunrise…." She whispered as the sun began to rise from its peaceful slumber, taking its rightful place in the sky. The sunlight shone through the window as it hit Anastasia. Vincent watched in dis-belief as Anastasia started fading away from his view. He crumbled to the ground dumb-stricken.

"What…..just happened?" He muttered.