Chapter 2:
//Two years later, Wynn, now 16, was still seeking revenge for her parents. The fall colors mesmerized her and put her in a relaxed state of mind. Little did she know, her life was about to drastically change.//
Her parents' deaths had struck a new part of Wynn. Over the two years that she had been traveling, she had become a lot less religious and a lot more focused on the destruction of her enemies. No longer did she carry a rosary, for it would scare her enemies away. Wynn wanted to kill them, not scare them. But she was lost, enchanted by the beauty of the trees changing colors for fall, and by the smell of pies being baked by women in their houses. Realizing she had lost her way, she cautiously approached a man for directions.
"Excuse me, sir. Could you point me to the nearest inn? I'm lost and having quite a bit of trouble locating one myself."
"Of course I can help, Miss. Just walk straight for two blocks. The inn is on the left side, two houses down from a Victorian manor."
"Thank you. I greatly appreciate your assistance."
"Not a problem, young lady."
She started walking the two blocks and stopped when she reached the Victorian manor, obsessing over its rustic beauty. Surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges and a tall metal gate, the magnificent building pulled her out of reality and into its mesmerizing beauty. The windows were darkened and mysterious, and Wynn wished she could have just one glance inside the beautiful manor. It looked abandoned, so she forgot that silly wish and moved on, bringing herself out of the trance and beginning to walk towards the inn.
The inn was across the street, but before she crossed, she spotted a puppy lying on the ground, apparently hurt. Wynn knelt down, petting the puppy gently, trying to earn its trust. She felt so sorry for the poor thing that she felt that she had to take it somewhere and get help. This had to be done soon since twilight was nearing. Places would be closing their doors soon.
"Don't worry. I'm going to help you. You can trust me. There, there, I won't hurt you, I promise."
She grabbed her backpack, took some rope out of it, and began to tie it loosely around the puppy's neck. After getting it tied, she tried to pick the dog up. It immediately started growling and baring its teeth, taking her by surprise. When the growling ceased, Wynn reached wearily for the leash, but the dog bit her. Scared, she dropped the leash and scared the puppy away.
Wynn straightened her clothes, fixed her cap, and began to walk across the street. The sound of growling stopped her. When she turned, she saw the puppy leading a group of three big dogs.
"Oh...nice doggies...stay, sit, d-don't move. Alright, I'm just going to walk away..."
She started moving away slowly when the big dogs began barking and chasing her. Luckily, Wynn had been chased by dogs before and knew climbing a tree was effective in evading them. When she looked down at the dogs through the tree's leaves, they were playfully rolling on their backs, tongues hanging out.
Cautiously, Wynn started to climb out of the tree. One of the dogs caught her and began to bark. This dog was the biggest and, being afraid of it, she climbed back up the tree, losing her hat in the process, her long, brunette hair falling down her back. It was about that time that a voice rang out through the air.
"Bad dog! Leave that girl alone! All of you go home!"
Obediently, the dogs ran up to the manor while Wynn climbed out of the tree. When she reached the bottom, she found herself staring at an extremely handsome man. Standing at 5'6" with short, jet black hair and captivating violet eyes, he was smiling at her, the light from the moon making his eyes glow. They held her gaze like a spider with its next meal. He was wearing a white shirt, a black jacket, jeans, and sneakers. Excluding his eyes, his appearance seemed normal.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to anger your, um, pets. It was an accident."
He smiled at her warmly, clearly struggling to keep from laughing over her blunder. "It's not a problem. And don't worry, they're harmless. Anything from a bone to a belly rub will calm them. Are-you ok?"
"A bit shaken, but fine otherwise."
He finally released his laugh, pointing at her pants. There was a hole in the side. "I think you need some new pants. You must have ripped them climbing that tree."
"Oh dear, I did. How could I be so clumsy? These pants are new pants too!"
"Don't worry about your pants; I can give you some to wear, if you're willing to come with me."
"You have pants that I can wear? How in the world-"
"My ex-wife was quite small and her pant should fit you just fine, judging by your looks."
Wynn trusted this man, probably more than she should have. She nodded her head and took a hold of his outstretched hand and followed him to the entrance gate in front of the Victorian manor. When they reached the gate, the man stopped.
"I'm so sorry for my rudeness, miss."
"Rudeness?"
"Yes. I never introduced myself. My name is Darius. Anything else you want to know about me will have to be discussed later. (She nodded.) Now, let's continue."
Darius started walking up the cobblestone path, but Wynn stopped him.
"My name's Wynn, if you would like to know."
"Well then, Wynn, shall we move on?"
"I guess so. I, um, still need a pair of pants."
She laughed nervously before Darius took her arm and led her up the path to the front doors of the manor. Wynn's heart began to race faster and faster with every step that brought her closer to the magnificent building.
Darius kept his eyes forward and Wynn was glad for this. After all, she was young and figured it would be dangerous, but she didn't want him to see her fear. Even though she was afraid, she was also eager to learn more about the house...and about Darius.
Since it was late, there were outside lights on so they could see their way. As they were walking up the cobblestone path, Wynn saw hedges trimmed to look like animals and people. An elegant fountain with a cherub on the top pouring water out of a jug was in the middle of a huge and beautiful garden. She stopped and stared, turning round and round taking in everything in sight.
"It's all so beautiful! I can't believe I'm standing here!"
"It is beautiful. This garden has lasted generations upon generations in my family. I've had it in my possession for three hundred-I mean, three years. I have servants who tend to it every day the weather is suitable." Darius looked at Wynn and watched her go around the garden. He felt guilty; he was luring a little girl into his monstrous world. She fascinated him and he didn't know how to tell her that he was a monster. How could he come to tell her?
Wynn walked from bush to bush and from flower to flower, staring in awe and waiting for Darius to tell her to go up to the house. He never did so she kept walking. Darius kept his distance but followed her to make sure she stayed safe.
"Wynn, be careful. You don't know the dangers of my property. It's very easy to get in to trouble here. (She turned around to look at him.) I'm serious, Wynn. Anything could happen to you and I would feel extremely guilty."
"I'll be careful, I promise."
She walked around the fountain, and then started to walk behind the house. On her left, there was a wall covered in vines; on her right, a dark forest. The forest seemed to beckon and call to her, so she started walking in its direction carefully stepping around the stumps of trees that were cut down.
Darius was a long way away from her and started to run.
"Wynn! Don't go in there! Wynn!"
He ran faster, hoping she didn't go into the forest. He knew what was in there. Despite his calls, the forest still beckoned to her and she had to find out what was in the deeper parts. It seemed to be calling her name over and over again. There were noises; she could hear noises. Loud noises, soft noises; what were they?
When Darius reached her, he grabbed her and pulled her away.
"What's going on? I want to go in there!"
"Little girl, I know of all the secrets of that forest. I don't trust it one bit."
"Oh, I didn't know it was dangerous."
"Well, that's over with. So, why don't we go get your pants?"