Chapter 1
Melisandre looked up at the three story mansion that was passed down to her from her parents. The mansion had been in her family for generations dating back three centuries or more. Melisandre had many good and bad memories at her new home. Her parents had passed away in a freak accident at the mansion. Rumors had circulated around that something evil lived in the house, because the passed three owners died after living there more than three years.
When Melisandre moved into the house she had just turned eighteen, finished out her senior year, and then she moved away to college. Her parents staid now three years later here she was because her parents had died. If she didn't know any better she would have started to believe the rumors but she had been in that house while others had only seen a glimpse of the outside.
It was bittersweet walking into up the gravel path towards the front door. The gardener had done a wonderful job keeping up the grounds while Melisandre finished off her year at college. As she reached the front steps she took a deep breath. It had been three years since she had been back here and she didn't know what to expect.
"Ms. Melisandre welcome home." Wilson the butler answered as he closed the door behind her and took her coat. Wilson looked the same to
Melisandre he was still balding on the top of his head and he had just a little bit of grey in his hair. She smiled at him and walked upstairs to her old room. It was the only room on the third floor. It had a long hallway with a floor to wall painting of a man on a horse with only one leg. She would always look at the picture.
***
Well into the night Melisandre laid in her bed looking around the room, they hadn't changed her room a bit. She hadn't been able to bring herself to go their room. It hadn't been that long since that had passed away and what she heard it had happened in there. She just wasn't ready to face all that pain. Melisandre closed her eyes hoping that she would be able to fall asleep. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. Finally she
decided that she was going to get up and walk around until she got restless.
As she stepped into the hallway she felt the sudden urge to go look at that painting. So many times when she first moved her parents had found her
asleep in front of it because she would stare at for hours.
She ran her fingers over the trim of the painting when she felt it start to give away. She pulled her hand back. Why was the picture coming off the wall? It had never done that before. She second guessed herself for a second before she decided to pull it off the wall. She pulled with all her might and finally with a pop a gust of air came out. The air smelled out and moldy, she took a few hesitant steps inside then decided that she would wait till in the morning when she could go get a flashlight and ask the person who had been here the longest if he knew anything about it.
Tomorrow bright and early she would go find Wilson and ask him about the picture on the wall and if there was any secret passages inside the mansion. Melisandre wished she had known about this before she went to college it would have made living in the mansion more exciting.