Chapter 11:

When Charlotte awoke from her deep slumber, she was in bed alone. Sitting up slowly, Charlotte glanced around the chamber before she raised a hand up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The Horseman was nowhere in sight.

She pulled the covers off her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed before rising to her feet. The ground felt cold underneath her, and it sent a soft chill throughout her body; dazed, Charlotte walked over to the bathroom to relieve herself and once that was done, she spotted a small piece of parchment lying next to the sink. She didn't have to guess who it was from as her lavender eyes swiftly read over the few lines of words that were printed on the paper that she now held in her hands,

"You looked so peaceful in your sleep I dared not to disturb you. When you're dressed and presentable, you may come downstairs. I'll be waiting."

A soft frown came to Charlotte's lips at the Horseman's choice of words, he was making everything sound more than what it really was- as if they had come to some sort of intimate understanding. Charlotte gave a quick snort at the absurd idea before she looked back into the mirror in front of her.

In its reflection, hanging behind her on a wall, was a breath taking gown of emerald green. Charlotte stared at the reflection with wide eyes before she turned about to see if this was real and not just an illusion; the gown was very real.

With a slow shake of her head, Charlotte walked over and appraised the fine piece of clothing. It was indeed a beautiful gown, finer than anything Charlotte had seen in her entire life. How it had found its way in here in the first place was a complete wonder to her. Sighing, Charlotte quickly stripped off her nightwear and reached for the gown hanging on the wall in front of her. After putting on the proper underskirts and tightening her corset, she slipped the satin like gown over her head.

It absolutely astounded Charlotte just how well the dress seemed to fit-it was like it had been tailored just for her. Then, once her arms were through the longs sleeves that reached her elbows and were trimmed with black, flowing lace that continued down to the wrist, Charlotte reached behind her and skillfully laced up the back.

Once dressed, she did a quick turn around and examined herself in the mirror. The dress' bodice was low and square cut and like the sleeves, black lace had been stitched around its border which proudly showed off a nice view of décolletage and the crystal cross that hung around her neck. If Charlotte had to describe this gown with one word that word would be royalty; she looked as well dressed as a queen.

Reaching her hands up to the tie on her braid, she undid the ribbon and carefully unwound her long hair. It fell about her shoulders and down her lower back in soft waves which she then brushed lightly with the hairbrush. Satisfied with her attire, Charlotte spun away from the mirror and left the bathroom, heading for the chamber's door. Along the way, she couldn't help but enjoy the gentle swishing noises her long skirts made as they dragged softly behind her with each step she took.

Upon opening the door, Charlotte quietly stepped out and cautiously looked around. The Horseman was nowhere in sight. Feeling a little bit more bold now, Charlotte started off down the hallway that would take her to the stairs. She reached the stairway in just a couple of minutes before she hesitantly began descending it. When a bare foot touched the cold, black marble of a step, it dawned on Charlotte that she wasn't wearing anything on her feet.

But Charlotte simply shrugged the fact off, "I move faster without shoes anyway…" she quietly told herself.

At the bottom, Charlotte went for a hallway that looked the most familiar to her-it was the corridor that would eventually lead her right into the parlor room, the place where the Horseman had first brought her to when he had taken her from the village. Its door was open, and the room was a light with a fire's glow.

Warily, Charlotte peeked into the room. There was still no obvious sign of the Horseman, instead, the young woman's attention was caught by the site of an open window near the fireplace. Curiosity struck Charlotte like lightning and she practically ran to the window to look out at her surroundings.

Outside, the sky was a dark grey- it was the kind of color you would see when expecting a thunder storm, only not a single cloud was in sight. Nonetheless, she could see things better now, than how things were last night when she tried escaping. At least the view from the window provided Charlotte with the knowledge that wherever this house was, in this God-forsaken-spirit world, it was really isolated but it also overlooked a lot of the region. That had to count for something, she imagined. But maybe that was just wishful thinking...

"Guter morgen, Mein Haustier." Came an all too familiar male voice from the parlor's doorway. Charlotte instantly pivoted around and found the Horseman leaning casually against the doorframe, watching her with his steady gaze. Charlotte's lavender eyes narrowed before she scowled softly,

"You have a really bad habit…." She pointedly grumbled as her arms came up and crossed themselves over her chest. The Horseman arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well first," Charlotte began, "….you're still continuing on with your German dialogue and second, it's not polite sneaking up on a young lady…" She paused for a moment to shift softly on her feet, "...even if this is your house." She added.

"Hmmm…." The Horseman replied as he pushed himself off the doorway and walked into the room where Charlotte was standing.

Charlotte straightened up and raised her head to give herself a bit more height. Not that it did anything really, compared to the Horseman's towering build, she was tiny.

"Sleep well?" the Horseman asked as he stopped right in front Charlotte. Again, Charlotte's eyes narrowed,

"I'm not going to answerer that." She replied stubbornly before she faced her body away from the man standing by.

The Horseman chuckled, "Still pissed off about it, eh?" he suggested offhandedly.

"You very well know the answer to that." Charlotte snapped slightly.

"This is very true." He returned.

Though Charlotte now stood with her back facing him, she could already picture the smirk playing across his face as he spoke those words.

Charlotte released a huffed sigh of irritation before the Horseman continued on, "So…..I take it you approve of your wardrobe?" he asked curiously. Charlotte turned her head slightly to glance over her shoulder at the man behind her,

"Its…..fine…." she answered, keeping her voice as uninterested as possible.

"The dress suits you well." He noted approvingly as his eyes traced over Charlotte's womanly figure.

"Wonderful because you know that's exactly what matters to me at the moment." Charlotte sarcastically muttered, "Personally, I don't know why you're wasting such fineries on me. I'm probably just going to get locked away in some dungeon..."

The Horseman surprised her by throwing his head back with rich laughter, "Dungeon?" he repeated , "You sure are a funny one, my sweet." He commented. Charlotte turned around to face him,

"Laugh all you want but I'm being serious." Charlotte threw back.

"As was I." he replied simply, "A face like yours does not belong in a dungeon."

"If I'm not your prisoner then what am I? A trophy?" Charlotte questioned irritably.

"Oh no…you're still my prisoner, make no mistake of that but I'm willing to not be as…..what's the word….harsh with you as I have been with others in the past."

Immediately, Charlotte tensed up, "You've done this before?" she asked in both disgust and disbelief.

"Are you really surprised?" he returned with a high arch in one of his ebony brows.

"I was only informed of you taking Mary Van Tessel." She answered.

"Ah yes. Well there was her too but you should've seen me when I was living flesh and bones." He replied with suggestive grin.

Charlotte shook her head and turned away once more, "No thank you. I can hardly stand you as you are now let alone think about when you were a live, walking madman with a sword and axe."

The Horseman chuckled again, "The correct term would be mercenary, my dear."

Charlotte rolled her eyes before angling her body back around to face him, "Fine…..have it your way," she began, "You were a mercenary madman." She stated putting emphasis on the word 'mercenary'. She quickly lifted and dropped both eyebrows to allow her a look of insubordination before she swiftly walked around him and headed for the door. She had barely taken five steps when she felt the Horseman grab her arm from her behind and spin her about to face him once more.

"Going somewhere?" he asked lightly. Charlotte tried jerking her arm out of his grasp but he wouldn't ease up.

"Yes actually, I was just about to go exploring." She answered coolly,

"Are you not hungry?" he asked.

"No..." Charlotte disdainfully looked the man up and down, "... I'm afraid I've lost my appetite, now if you'll please excuse me…." she replied in an aggravated tone while she again tried to break out of the Horseman's hold. Instead of putting distance between them like she had wanted, the Horseman instead pulled her closer.

"Very well. Feel free to roam about…inside." He seriously informed.

"Does that mean I won't be allowed to leave this house at all?" Charlotte questioned.

"I never said that. But if you want to go outside, I'll have to come with you." He answered smoothly as he released Charlotte's arm.

Charlotte took that opportunity to step back a few paces, "Oh splendid!" she mockingly declared as she turned and walked away, "…an unwanted escort." She grumbled the last few words through her teeth, making sure they were loud enough to be heard before she exited the Parlor room and began surveying the rest of the house.

The Manor was a lot bigger today then how it seemed the day before . Charlotte guessed it was because she never actually had the time to fully take in its every detail-the Horseman had his way of rushing her through it, after all.

But as much as she hated to admit it, it was actually really quaint. Quiet too. The soft swishing of her long skirts was really all that could be heard as she padded her way down one of the many hallways while her curious eyes took in everything that she passed. At the end of the hallway, which seemed to grow darker the further she moved down it, she reached a pair of closed double doors. Since her trek around the house had started, these were the only doors she had found closed. But why was that?

As her head inclined itself to the side, Charlotte reached a hand out for the doorknob and gave it a mild turn. With a soft squeak, one of the doors opened right up into darkness. She stared blindly into the shadows for about a moment or so before taking a few, slow and hesitant step into the doorway.

A cool draft greeted her, caressing her face and carrying a musty, old stench along with it. As Charlotte took a step past the doorway, she found that the floor dropped off. Charlotte gasped in surprise but as she let one of her feet dangle down just a bit, it met solid stone.

Charlotte took another daring step and found herself on a winding stairwell that was descending into the lower regions of the Manor. Without a light to help guide her way, the young woman braced a hand upon the wall beside her in case she needed it.

It took about a minute or so for her to reach the bottom of the stairs, but after she made a turn around a sharp corner, she was relieved to see that a few torches hung up high on the walls, giving off a soft glow to, what Charlotte guessed, was a cellar of some sort. It was practically empty-no shelving or furniture. It didn't even look like a place for storage at all.

And as Charlotte walked the perimeter of the room in puzzlement, her eyes landed on a site that made her blood run cold. On the far side of the room, hung limp, rusty chains that were shackled to the center of the stone wall. Drawn in by her curiosity, the young woman moved closer to the frightening restraints. It took but a second for the observation to process before her eyes widened and a hand came up to her mouth to muffles her incoherent cries.

Though the room was still fairly dark, there was enough glow from the torches to portray a ghastly reddish brown stain that was splattered over the wall behind the chains as well as the floor in front of it. Charlotte didn't have to think twice about what it was from-blood.

Without wasting another second, she spun around and dashed blindly for the stairs. Even with her skirts clutched tightly in both hands, she stumbled over her feet a few times as she tore up stairwell as quickly as she could move.

At the top, she practically leapt through the doorway, stopping only once she had the door slam shut behind her. She stared at the closed double doors for a moment more before she backed away and ran.

"Oh God," she softly exclaimed in absolute horror. Charlotte spared a final glance behind her shoulder and unknowingly ran into something. The young woman's head snapped around front and connected with a firm chest before she felt arms wrap themselves about her waist. Her eyes closed themselves for a quick second as she let out a soft scream and began struggling to break free of the hold that she was now in.

"No, no, let go!" she cried as she pushed with both hands against the chest of the Horseman. When she found that he had actually dropped his hands, Charlotte shoved past him and ran for the stairs that would take her back to the security of her bedroom. Just as she had climbed about three steps though, she felt a strong hand close over her wrist from behind, pulling her to stop.

"Did I miss something?" The Horseman asked. His voice was low and calm. Charlotte turned her body around to face him and began tugging on her hand.

"Go to hell!" she exclaimed as tried using her free hand to pry the Horseman's grip off her wrist. Before she could blink, the Horseman easily caught her other hand in his grasp and pulled her closer to his body which stood tall at the bottom of the stairs.

"That's not very nice." He stated in mocking tone.

"Like I care." Charlotte replied before she tugged back on her wrists once more. Her struggles proved fruitless against the Horseman's strength, he easily held her in place on the stairs, a slightly amused look was held in his pale blue eyes,

"Why the sudden hostility against me, Mein Liebling?" he asked calmly.

Charlotte paused her efforts for a moment, her lavender eyes narrowing softly, "I guess you can say I had a sudden wakeup call." She replied in a cold tone. "You're a sick man..."

The Horseman made soft clicking noise with his tongue in response before cocking his head to the side, "Now explain to me," he began, "….how you could have had a wakeup call when you were already well awake my dear?" he smartly asked back.

Charlotte picked up the mocking in his question though his face displayed nothing but innocence. She gave another sharp tug on her wrists, "How dare you scorn me!" she hissed out between clenched teeth.

"Oh trust me, Mein Haustier, that's not the worst thing I could do." He assured in a low voice.

"I won't ask you again Horseman, let go at once!" Charlotte demanded fiercely while she began pulling back on her wrists once more. The Horseman raised a single eye brow at her before a small smirk came to his lips and shrugged a shoulder,

"As you wish." He replied before he at once let both of Charlotte's wrists go while she was in mid tug. Charlotte stumbled back and tripped on the step behind her before falling right on her rear.

Seeing the young woman in a flurry of her own skirts, the Horseman threw his dark head back and let out a bellowing laugh that seemed to echo off the walls of the manor. Charlotte felt her face flush bright red, first from embarrassment, next from sheer rage. Without really thinking, her foot kicked out from underneath her skirts and collided roughly with the Horseman's shin. While the Horseman hissed at the quick throbbing pain that had suddenly struck his shin, the young woman quickly jumped to her feet and scurried right on up the rest of the stairs. She wasted no time in running straight to her room before closing and locking herself inside it. But even from downstairs, she heard him as he called up to her with a continuous laugh,

"Next time, you won't get away so lucky." He promised.

Charlotte immediately shook her head, "Sorry," she whispered out loud before her eyes began searching all around the room for something, "…there won't be a next time." She added before her eyes landed on the window that resided on the far side of the room.

The young woman hurried over to the glass barrier and pulled aside the black curtain that covered it up so she could look out. From the room she was at, it was about a 15 foot drop to the ground. Nothing that she probably couldn't handle, she deduced. The young woman quickly unlatched the window and pushed it open,

"If Mary Van Tessel was able to escape," she thought to herself out loud, "….then so can I." she finished with a soft, determined nod of her head. A cool breeze blew in from the outside and brushed against Charlotte's face, almost like it was beckoning for her to come. Lifting her skirts well up her legs, she carefully climbed up on the windowsill. After she had rotated her body so that her legs were hanging down first, Charlotte let out a quick sigh and swallowed. Then with her eyes squeezed tight, she slid herself out of the window and fell to the ground without a sound.

Charlotte landed with a soft thud. The momentum of the fall caused her to roll a bit across the ground for a brief second before her movement stilled completely. She laid quietly on her back for a couple seconds trying to process what she had just done before she slowly climbed to her feet and brushed herself off.

When she looked up to observe her surroundings, she took notice of her current position that had landed on the left side of the Manor. And from the looks of things, it appeared that her little escapade had gone unnoticed. With a final glance at the house, Charlotte turned away and headed off, planning to get as far away as she could from the Horseman's Manor.

As she made it past the stone gateway that led up to the house, she continued on down a long dirt road. It took her a few minutes to figure out that this was the same place where she had been attacked the night before. She shuddered to herself softly but kept on running. Soon the dirt road curved upward in a small hill and beyond that, it melted into a plain of dry, dead looking grass. Even underneath the many layers of skirts, she could feel the rough bristle of the blades tickle her shins. The plane looked like it could stretch on for miles, and after a good ten minutes of moving, Charlotte slowed to a stop to catch her breath.

"Does this hell ever end?" she asked out loud in a breathless voice before she looked down and shook her head in despair. With a soft frustrated cry, Charlotte collapsed into the lifeless grass,

"How does one get out of this place?" she asked herself, her brows furrowing in deep thought. Charlotte closed her eyes for a minute to think. Finally something clicked inside her mind, "The Tree." Charlotte's lavender eyes snapped open, "…the Tree! "she repeated out loud. Of course, now it seemed so simple. She came into this place through the tree and so she will leave the same way. Charlotte willed herself onto her feet once more, grabbing her skirts with a sudden burst of energy. Doing a slow 360 turn, Charlotte looked around for any signs of a large tree that would look like it was grown in hell itself.
To the west, looking like nothing more than a small black dot on the horizon was a single, unrecognizable figure.

Being that that was the only thing Charlotte could make out, she turned and began heading west. At first she traveled at very fast walk, but as the black dot seemed to slowly get bigger the more distance she covered, it wasn't long before Charlotte was racing.

Finally, the figure's shape became more distinctive and Charlotte saw that she was heading toward what looked like broken stone wall. A thick, broken wall, with a rather large gap leading into it. Charlotte slowed as she approached it. She eyed the gap with disappointment before seeing that the gap led down into something. The young woman let out a sharp cry of joy.

"It's an entrance!" she declared with certainty. Without a second thought, Charlotte quickly finished off the distanced between her and the stone wall before she ducked inside the gap and found herself walking downwards into a dimly lit cavity that lied at least a couple feet into the ground. The opening was a round, circular room with stone walls. Charlotte stepped inside and looked about carefully. The whole place was made up of solid rock, all around with the exception of a small patch that was left uncovered, it was about eight feet across and eight feet tall and it was nothing but the earth itself.

"Odd." Charlotte thought to herself before she slowly walked up to it. She reached a hand out to touch it and sure enough, it was solid ground-she had come all this way only to find herself at a dead end.

As despair settled over her form, she braced her elbows up on the bare wall and leaned down so that her forehead could touch the cool piece of standing earth. Her lavender eyes closed silently as she was ready, right then and there, to finally give up and accept her fate as it was.

But then, something stirred underneath her arms. Charlotte's eyes fluttered open before she jumped back and screamed softly. Something was reaching out of the patch of earth toward her; as she watched at first in fear, Charlotte noted the thick, winding branches that seemed to be growing out in the open. Then it hit Charlotte, they weren't branches, they were roots. Tree roots! Like in a dream, the earth just fell away while the roots all opened up, revealing a similar looking abyss like hole. Charlotte took a step closer to stare into the darkness,

"This is it…." She whispered. "It's the…." Charlotte didn't even know what to call it. But she couldn't care less. She took in a deep breath of air before she bravely walked up and stepped into the dark opening. She could tell by the smell that it was incredibly damp, and reeked horribly of rotting corpses. But even with that, Charlotte pushed on.

Behind her, the opening that the roots had made, closed, sending Charlotte into complete darkness. She froze all movement at that second. She couldn't see a single thing, not even her own hand when it was being held right in front of her face. Before Charlotte could blink, something snatched out and lashed around her wrist. Charlotte screamed in fright and tried pulling away but soon her other hand was restrained in another hold. Next thing Charlotte knew, a strong force yanked forward on her arms, causing Charlotte to fall on her stomach before she was dragged deeper into the black abyss.
She was screaming wildly now as whatever was dragging her along, picked up speed. When Charlotte managed to look ahead, she could see a faint, white glow approaching. And it was growing bigger by the second. Charlotte squeezed her eyes closed when the light started blinding her eye sight-it was then that she found herself shot into the air.

She flailed and screamed for a second more before tumbling to solid ground and rolling away, landing face down. Her eyes had been sealed shut from the fear and shock of it all but after a few seconds, she forced them to slowly flutter open.

Trees-she was surrounded by trees. Charlotte propped herself up on her arms before she glanced behind her shoulder.

Standing tall and looking as frightening as ever, was the one and only Tree of the Dead. She watched with mild fascination as its roots lowered themselves back into the Earth, sealing up its infamous entrance again she allowed herself to emit a sound that sounded like a sob as she quickly pulled herself to her feet.

Looking away from the Tree of the Dead, Charlotte did a slow turn around, not believing what she was seeing truly seeing. She was back. Her eyes lit up with joy before she turned about and swiftly set off into the trees, down the path that would take her home.

"I can't believe it..." she exclaimed to herself breathlessly. "I'm back...I'm back!"

She did it...Charlotte was free...