Last time, our resident vampire discovered a setting none to his liking, though he managed to slake his thirst. You can read Part II here. This is all well and good, but what of the mystery of the manor? What tragedy lies in wait for our vampire of the hour? Let us find out.
The vampire stepped back from the door and scanned the walls of the main building of the estate facing him. It was built in the shape of a massive cube, with an open column in the center. From the gate at the end of the manor's main thoroughfare, a driveway wound its way to the side of the building where it came upon a steep descent to arrive at the parking garage below ground. A shorter drive split off and entered the building from the front, providing vehicular access to the courtyard, which lay at the base of the open column in the center of the building. The courtyard provided the main access to the building—entry to the main parlor for guests, and various service entrances for the human staff. This driveway was also gated, though the gate served to complement the design of the building rather than to keep anyone in or out, and as such was generally left open—security detail and coven wolves roamed the grounds keeping the manor safe from unwelcome guests. Considering the current state of the villa, however, it was likely this gate was now shut tight and overcome with growth. The vampire considered for a moment walking around to the front to clamber over the gate, but he dispensed with the thought when he spotted an open window on the top floor. Well then, this was much better. He took a deep breath, drew his attention inward, then floated off the ground, rising to the window, through which he ducked, stepping onto the marble within.
A very dusty marble.
He was in a hallway, one of four extending from wall to wall at the top. He could see clear through and out the window on the other side. The hallway was empty, completely void of decoration or furniture, as designed. The lower levels were generally more cluttered, as the younger generations preferred their things, while the elders, who occupied this floor, lived a far more lean existence. In a moment, he would find out how much of this clutter remained, but first, he walked directly to his room.
Dust rose behind him as he moved forward with purpose. He stopped in the very center of the hallway and turned to face toward the center of the manor. Here was a sort of alcove extending to the inner wall, with doors opening out on a balcony overlooking the expansive courtyard. He walked across the alcove, through one set of double doors—thrown open, as if awaiting him—and stepped up to the stone bannister. Placing both hands on it, he peered over the edge.
Continued after the break
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A tale from the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique.
On any given day—or night, rather—the courtyard would be full of vehicles, with various members of the coven coming or going, their valets retrieving or returning vehicles from the parking garage. Now, however, there were no vehicles in the courtyard. He scanned the ground for any sign, not quite sure for what he was searching. Nothing caught his attention. He would take a deeper look when he made his way down. He straightened, stepped back from the bannister, turned around, and walked toward his room which sat opposite the alcove.
Taking hold of the knobs in both hands, he threw the double doors open, walking in full of expectation of finding nothing spectacular. His expectations were met to the fullest, with not a single thing out of place, though a heavy layer of dust coated everything.
The vampire frowned. Assuming he would be living here for the foreseeable future—unless, of course, his explorations turned up some horrible discovery which would be cause enough to flee—he would have to return this room to a livable state on his own. Well, nothing to be done about it at the moment, the remainder of the villa needed to be explored. He made a cursory glance of the room and retraced his steps out of it, closing the doors behind him.
He continued down the hall, turning at the intersection to proceed toward the spiral stairwell at the end of the hallway. There were more rooms to his left, opposite the open column in the center, but he ignored these. Anything of use to be discovered would be found on the lower levels. Approaching the stairwell, he began to descend but failed to make much progress: a mass of broken furniture blocked his way. Now he understood why the quarters on this level were largely undisturbed. He turned around and walked to the center of the hall, opening the glass doors leading to the balcony overlooking the courtyard on this side of the manor. He stepped onto the bannister and stepped off onto open air, gently floating down and stepping onto the bannister of the balcony directly below.
Here he found absolute bedlam.
Bedlam? And not just any kind of bedlam, but absolute bedlam?! What manner of bedlam is this?! What does our resident vampire find upon entering the manor?! Only one way to find out. You can read Part IV here.
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