I was glad to have rented a vehicle with front wheel drive, which gave me more control over the vehicle as I drove down the muddy road and around the sharp curves.

This was the longest driveway that I had ever seen, let alone driven on. Geese, it surely seemed to go on and on, and I was beginning to think that I had driven onto the road to nowhere when suddenly, the car broke free from traction and started sliding sideways around the sharp curve that I was in, which was exhilarating and scary at the same time. However, I managed to keep the car under control and kept on driving when a yellowish glow came into view. As I continued onward, down the muddy driveway, and closer to the yellowish glow. I had noticed that the glow was coming from the lampposts that were positioned at the entrance to the Blackwood Manor.

A light mist had still covered my vehicles windshield, as the Blackwood Manor came into view, and at that very moment reminded me of a horror movie. 

The closer I got to the Blackwood Manor I began to feel the tremendous power from the supernatural forces that were concealed within it. It made me very nervous, and an uneasy feeling began to come over me, as this was a powerful and unpleasant force that I had never felt before. I somehow knew that this was an urgent and dire situation that Elizabeth was in, and that it had to be investigated as quickly as possible. As I pulled up in front of the Blackwood Manor, I suddenly began to feel something weird, an evil force of some sort trying to get inside my body. I could even taste it, and the taste was very unpleasant, especially in my mouth, it tasted like death, that is if death had a taste. I knew that there was something wrong with the situation at the Blackwood Manor. I did not like the situation one bit. This could be very dangerous for Elizabeth, and for me. I hope that I have what it takes to relinquish the evil supernatural forces that have taken over the Blackwood Manor.

I knew at this very moment Elizabeth was waiting for my arrival. Well, I had assumed that she was waiting inside the Blackwood Manor, as I had just called her right before I started my way down the mud stricken driveway from hell, and her maidservant Alexandrea answered the phone and stated that she was expecting me. 

Once I pulled up in front of the Blackwood Manor, I got out of the car, removed my luggage out of the trunk, walked up the steps, and set them on the porch. The Blackwood Manor contained two enormous doors that must have stood at least twelve feet tall. I was nervous and stood there motionless, as if I had been frozen in time for a brief moment, gathering my thoughts before I reach up and grabbed the uninviting doorknocker that resembled the goat headed Baphomet that was attached to the gargantuan doors, and clanged it three times in a row. It was not very long after I clanged the uninviting metal doorknocker before an elderly woman, which was rather plump, pulled opened the enormous door, and invited me inside. As she guided me through the main hall and into the sitting room, I noticed a very beautiful woman seated in a reclining chair. As the two of us walked into view, the beautiful woman exquisitely rose and said, “That will be all Alexandrea, you may retire for the night if you wish.”

My first impression was that with her beautiful looks along with her magnificent English accent, and with the way that the Blackwood Manor looked, we could have been playing out a scene from an old80’s horror movie. Elizabeth got up and held out her hand as if she was going to introduce herself, but instead said, “Well Mason Williams, I must say, you are not at all what I had pictured you to be. What I mean is. I imagined you to be a lot older.”

Being the smart ass that I am, I replied, “Likewise Elizabeth, I imagined an older grey haired woman that walked along with a walker, but instead I see a very attractive young woman in her twenties that is out of place in this old house.”

“Very observant Mason, I am twenty-six years old to be exact, and I would guess that you as well are in your twenties.”

“Elizabeth, that is very good, I am twenty-two years old, and not much younger than you are.”

I acted nonchalant about what Elizabeth had said to me, trying to cover up just how frustrated her remarks had really made me. What in the hell did my age have to do with the matters at hand? I am a twenty-two year old man in my prime, at that. I was filled with rage, but I was determined not to let it show. The moment had passed and we eventually got down to the nitty gritty at hand with her next remark.

“Mason, may I ask you what your first impression of the Blackwood Manor was?”

I replied, “Magnificent, Elizabeth, I would be telling you a lie if I said that I have seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life. You must be very proud to be the owner of this magnificent piece of property. I believe you told me that it had been in your family for over one-hundred years. Am I correct? However, it does not look it.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact it has been.