High atop a bare, jagged hillside, and sealed off with rusted gates of .
iron, lies a decaying and ancient estate that makes many of its neighbors .
fearful. The hideous statues of demonic creatures look down on the town .
with frightful eyes. Many townspeople are afraid of this horrifying house, .
but all will enter.
Vie N. Mort, a young, nave boy, walks up the mountainside, already leery .
by nature, and with a feeling of foreboding, and a fear of the unknown, .
approaches the estate. His heart pounds with every step he takes, and even .
though his entrance causes a chill to shoot down his back, his curiosity .
overrides his distrust and fear. The day is beginning, and the bright .
morning sun provides the estate's only source of light. As Vie enters, he .
sees a countless number of corridors. He chooses the first corridor to the .
left, taking him along what seems to be a mile-long path, lined with books .
on dusty bookshelves, ending at an ebony door. With some thought, he opens .
the door, and sees a room as black as the casing he is standing under. .
Nothing is present in this room save a ray of light which enters in through .
a bleak, cloudy window. The light shines in the window and illuminates the .
room. The unfurnished room appears to be endless, stretching beyond Vie's .
sight. His fear of this room is unexplainable. His reaction is immediate .
as he turns and runs from the room, frantically searching for an exit.
Vie sprints down the hallway without knowledge of the path he is taking, and .
soon becomes lost. In his desperate search for escape, time has elapsed and .
it is now afternoon. Eventually, he stops running and looks around him. .
There are before him many paths he can choose. He jogs, because he is now .
too tired to run, down a corridor lined with old family portraits. At the .
end of this corridor, he arrives at another ebony door. With hesitation he .
opens the door and realizes that he is once again in the same black room.
