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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Vast-Listen1457 on 2025-12-10 18:56:52+00:00.
Actual information in authors note. Please read it.
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27th of Arah – Continued
The three heroes climbed the hill, towards the apparently ever-present storm. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, rain fell. As they got closer to the large old mansion, they could see the darkened windows and front door staring at them like a face.
“Well, this place is creepy.” Hesh commented.
“Ya think?” Sam replied.
“I try not to; it makes my head hurt.” Molly completed the old joke.
They climbed the front steps, and looking at the impressive brass door knocker sculpted to look like a demon’s face with the handle being the demons lower jaw, decided to knock with their fists instead. After the third knock, the demon dead let loose a sigh, grumbled something under its breath, and the door creaked open.
The three, in unison, glanced slowly between the head, the open door, and back, before slowly pushing the door open the rest of the way. The room beyond was dark, lit for bare moments by the flashes of lightning. Still, with the flashes, they were able to make out an entrance vestibule, flanked with closets on each side. As they stepped in, a pair of unnoticed gas lights lit, illuminating the once nice, but now dilapidated state of the room. Through an arch, they could see an entrance hall, also dilapidated, lit by similar lighting. In fact, as they watched, the entire first floor of the mansion seemed to come alight as lamps lit in an ever-expanding arc around them.
The mansions smelled of dust, mold, rot, mice, and decay. As they explored the first floor, they found it to be abandoned. Once beautiful plush furniture sat rotting in several of the eleven rooms of the first floor.
The library, a once ornate room of books and paper smelled the most of mouse, with the books rotted so far as to be unreadable. Sam attempted to pick one up, but it disintegrated in his hand, leaving a pulpy sludge behind.
With nothing left to explore, they entered the main hall, with its seemingly solid main stairs to the second floor. The hall was large, with Hesh estimating it to be some twenty-five feet deep and thirty-five wide. The grand staircase in the deep center of the room, climbed some eighteen feet into the air, ending upon a gallery surrounding the hall. A place that Sam remarked would be a good place for an ambush. Still, ambush or not, the three climbed the cold, damp, and slippery steps.
Sam looked up while climbing the steps, “I don’t know why I just thought of this, but did you the Finnish word for best friend is “kusipää”?”
Hesh slowly shook their head, “Now isn’t the time for a language lesson.”
“I know, it just came to mind for some reason.” Sam replied.
As they reached the second floor, they looked over the rotting railing of the gallery on which they now stood, and shuddered a bit at the some twenty foot drop. On the floor lay a ratty mold infested rug that at one point would have been quite beautiful, but now lay there in ruin. There were four doors on this side of the gallery, one that led to the right from the top of the stairs, one just ahead of the stairs, and one farther down the way, and an archway at the far end, not much past the last real door.
All three doors hung in ruins, as though some one, or thing, had broken through each one. Glancing through the broken door to the right, they discovered it led to a short passage that paralleled the stairs, and smelled bed. They skipped it for now.
The door directly across from the stairs turned out to be much more interesting, as it appeared to be the master bedroom of the mansion. A large four poster bed dominated the room; sadly, covered with things the trio didn’t want to think about. To the left and right were more destroyed doors, each leading to a dressing room, one for a man (as evidenced by the clothing laying on the floor), and one for the lady of the house. Passing through the ladies dressing room they discovered the stinky passage, a bathroom and eventually a room containing a pair of fainting couches.
They stared at the couches for a few moments, staring, then averting their eyes. “I’m sure I have no room to talk, but that is a horrific way to die.” Hesh said, voice hitching a bit.
For their part, Sam and Molly just nodded. “On the other hand, there are a pair of doors on the other side of the room. Perhaps we should skirt the room and take a look?” Molly asked.
Keeping their eyes averted, they crept around the abattoir like scene, and through a glass pained door. A door that, once passed through, brought a sigh of relief. The room smelled like the fertile plains, no rot, mold, or other such smells; unsurprising due to the menagerie of plants, bushes, and small trees. It also helped that the glass roof and walls were missing a few pains here and there, letting in the outside air.
As lightning flashed across the sky, followed immediately by the crack of thunder, they stared at the majesty of the storm. Finally, Hesh broke the silence, “Is that a wire over there, leading to the roof?”
After taking a momentary look at the place Hesh was pointing to, the other two nodded. I think you’re correct.” Molly replied. The three walked over to investigate.
The wire in question; a thick thing of almost an inch in diameter; ran from the floor to the ceiling. Actually, it ran through both the floor and ceiling. Tugging it gently at both visible ends, the conclusion was made that it was attached to things at both ends.
“Do we climb up to the roof and see what’s up there?” Sam asked, looking out the glass pained wall into the ever-constant storm, “Or do we find out where it goes down below us?”
Hesh laughed, “I would rather deal with the smells, than face that storm while walking on the wet roof.” To which Molly vehemently nodded.
Sam smiled at his friends, nodded in agreement, and the three left the conservatory for the stairs down. From the bottom of the stairs, they hooked a right through another of the rotting doors into what had once been a well-appointed parlor room, and began to search the wall that would be directly under the conservatory, but found no sign of the wire.
Staring up at the ceiling, then down at the floor, Hesh took a step back, then turned around, placing their back to the wall, then began to pace the distance to the far wall.
Sam raised a finger, about to ask a question, but Molly interrupted him with a hiss, “Their pacing off the distance from wall to wall.”
“But why?” Sam asked, one eyebrow raised.
“To compare it to the conservatory.” She responded. “To check to see if this room is narrower than up above. You know old places like this occasionally hide servants’ stairs behind false walls and such.”
“Oh.” Sam smiled, then punched the wall where Hesh had started pacing from. “I have a better idea.” On the other side of the lath and plaster wall, Sam’s arm met nothing but air. “Hey, buddy! There’s a space back here!” He yelled over his shoulder to Hesh, as he ripped open the wall further to reveal a narrow set of stairs leading down.
Rolling their eyes in annoyance, Hesh returned from across the room. “You could have let me have this one.” They grumbled under their breath. To which, Sam just snorted.
The trio began the trek down the narrow; and dust free; stairs into the depths below.
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From here on out, I plan on writing chapters that run 1500-2000 words. Once that area is reached, I will publish the chapter. This will give me enough breathing space, but still get chapters out, without me worrying "too" much about a schedule. I hope you enjoyed this one, and the next chapter should conclude the heroes investigation of the "vampire's" manor.
Other news... It's snowing here in MN. Temps have dropped (in my area) to -15f (-26.1c) on a regular basis. A friend of mine (one John Danielski) who writes Napoleonic War era fiction for Penmore Press has allowed me to write a short story about one of his minor NPC's from his forthcoming book "The Corsair Conundrum"!!!
My story will take place after the conclusion of the novel, and will NOT be included in the book. I still plan on releasing the short for y'all to read, after the novel is published (unless I get stupid lucky, and they publish the story? HAHAHahahahahaha!). We will see, as it is someone else's intellectual property.
As far as home life goes, the old man is as healthy as a horse (aside from the Alzheimer's) and has his 90th birthday tomorrow! Everyone is tired. so very tired. My GF and I will be taking this weekend off to explore the frozen north shore of Lake Superior! Visit all the frozen waterfalls and take pictures. We are both looking forward to it.
My cats left me a dead mouse on the end of my bed last week. :) Such good hunters.
Can't think of much else.
Stay safe all of y'all!