The Mansion And The Pond

There was a legend, a story, a myth more like of a man, that I grew up with as a child, the man was a powerful sorcerer who appeared human, though he masked his face and kept a hood over his hair, he still appeared human but he wasn’t, it was said that though he started like us he became something ancient, something powerful, what that was exactly was unknown. But it continued to say that he was the champion of the multiverse. I know how it sounds, it’s crazy there can’t be magic, ancient beings, multiverses, it is impossible but to the mind of a young child when things go bump in the night you need a man like him to save you. Besides for me, soon I would find myself wishing for this man again.

Why? You ask well, remember how I told you ‘when things go bump in the night you need a hero.’ That’s exactly the reason. You see, my story begins in London, England. I was 24 years of age, as a young adult female I found work at a nearby old Victorian styled mansion. I was to be a guardian of it, when the owners were out of town I would look after the old thing. And boy the mansion was slightly terrifying, upon my first arrival I was greeted to an overgrown garden, ivy stretching across the cracked red brick that walled the outside, the windows stained glass depicting a terrible tale of slaughter and torture and right there in the middle of the garden was a pond, frozen solid with clouded blue ice that lit up the centre of the pond like a fire. I found it strange, it was summer and a scorching, blazing heat of 45 degrees centigrade yet the pond was still frozen, not even a droplet of water from melted ice dripped down it.

Sure you are probably asking what’s so scary about that? Well when I saw it, like I said it was strange, but the thing is I never said the pond was the thing that I found terrifying, I said the mansion was and with good reason. After I spent a while staring at the pond I continued to walk towards the mansion and instantly I could feel something, this cold bitter feel surrounding the place, and there in the upper top left window of the four floored building appeared to be an outline of a person, I could barely make them out, all I could see was this black haired woman in a white flowing dress. I looked up directly at her, thinking ‘no one is meant to be home yet, the owners said they’d be gone for the summer.’ And then I heard something, coming from the pond, a deep electric male voice whispering something, I turned to see the pond's light flicker as I began to hear ‘do not enter… run! Just run!’

I shook my head thinking to myself both events were nothing but the heat and looked back to the window to see nothing. I sighed and looked at the watch I was wearing to see the time was 4:30pm. “Better go inside, prepare myself something to eat.” I said to myself out loud. So against the advice of whatever was in the frozen pond I went in. The inside was no better than the outside, the floor was wooden but clearly old, some parts were cracked or completely snapped off, every step I took would send an echoey creak throughout the entire structure. The walls were scrapped red and wallpapered, the wallpaper damp and partly loose. Torches instead of lights lit the rooms. It was like it hadn’t been lived in for years, it made me wonder why the owners left it this way, well that would have to wait. I was hungry so I headed to the kitchen, which was hard to navigate too, through the tossed up destroyed furniture and old wooden stools.

But I eventually got there and boy the kitchen was in a far worse state than the rooms I had walked through, mold covered the sink and benches, the cupboard attached to the walls were falling apart. “I’m not hungry anymore.” I spoke as I retched after finishing my sentence, instinctively covering my mouth as I slowly backed out of the kitchen and made my way through the scattered furniture again in the other rooms and back to the hallway. “I guess maybe I should try to find a room, I’ll head into town tomorrow to get something from the local supermarket to eat.” I said as I made my way to the stairs at the back end of the hallway. As I walked, the floor just kept creaking and at one point I could feel the floor shake like there was a small earthquake but as I stopped so did the shaking. I just shook off any bad feeling that swarmed me and headed up to the first room I could find, the bedroom I had discovered was in quite the state too, the flooring was scratched up, the bed was off centre with scattered sheets as if someone slept in them recently and just above it was chains.

They were attached to the wall pointing down towards the scratches. It was obvious something was kept here and clearly didn’t like it. I was now officially freaked out, way too many things had been off to me and now this. “Urgh, I’m going to have to stay, aren't I? I mean I have to get paid” I asked myself as I held my left arm with my right hand in protest and slowly walked over the creaking floor boards and climbed into the bed, shifting the sheets over me and the pillows under my head. Though frightened I found myself falling asleep quite quickly and as my eyes shut I suddenly was in the entrance of the mansion again. It was almost new, I was walking closely to the black haired girl in the white dress I had seen earlier. I spoke and as I did my voice came out as male, deep and electrical. “They are coming, we must make our stand here. Go… my love, get your things and stay in the first floor bedroom on the left.” I ordered as she grabbed my hand slowly, looked at me in sorrow and then let go as she ran upstairs.

I stood, faced the doorway as four men broke the doors down and entered. “We know you harbour the girl, give her to us and we will let you live!” The first man demanded.

“You clearly don’t know who I am, you should have brought more men.” I replied as I raised my hands and three of the men’s necks snapped instantly. Suddenly everything began to flash before my eyes, more men entered and one by one I killed them. As I backed myself towards the stairs, the men continued in force to enter as I looked around me and ran up the stairs to the first floor room. They followed me up, now they had me and the girl cornered. She panicked and grabbed a torch from the wall as the men surrounded me near the window. “You cannot have me!! You cannot have him!!” She screamed as she pushed me with a strong force out of the window and as I landed in the pond, I began to glow, the pond froze over.

Everything went black and then suddenly I was the girl, I was running, until I hit the stairs and I just kept running up them. I hit the fourth floor in the room that the window she had appeared in earlier had belonged to, there they finally caught me and I dropped the torch setting the fourth floor on fire killing most of the men, all but one in fact who took advantage of this, grabbing me in a struggle by my hair and dragged me to the room I had been in earlier. There he faced my back to the window and stabbed me in the gut, I looked towards my wound as my eyes flickered and he began to tear off my clothing, blood flowed as he attached chains to the walls and bound my arms to them, he pinned me against the bed as he choked me hard, I blacked out at loss of breathe, coming through again later, he had left me there bleeding and dirtied by him,

Yet still I was chained up, I managed to get to the floor via moving off the bed slowly, and everytime I pulled further I felt the chains drag me down to the floor, I could hear a mechanical clicking as I was forced backwards and I dug my nails into the floor.

With little option I wrapped the chains around my neck and as the machinery finally pulled me back on the bed, my neck snapped and my body went cold and limp. Once again everything went black and there in the everlasting darkness I heard it, I was me again but I still heard it. “They are coming! Free me!! Let me finish this!” As the light from the pound began to get brighter and brighter until I woke up screaming with the light still visible to me, I could see several ghostly figures move towards me, with demonic smiles on their faces, I got up scattering the sheets one way again and headed to the back of them. “Stay away from me!!” I screamed as laughter emitted from their gaping grey mouths. I ran and ran right down the stairs, grabbing a stool as these things gave chase. I made it the pound and in a heavy breath I started smashing against it.

“Come on… come on break!!” I yelled as I kept looking over my shoulder to see the demons close in each time.

“Break damn you!!” I screamed as finally they reached the pond and as they reached out grabbing my left shoulder, I released one final big slam of the stool against the ice, shattering the stool.

“No!!” I screeched in fear as I began to be dragged backwards by my hair, but then suddenly there it was, the breaking of the ice echoed through the garden as the light began to glow black and this masked, hooded man began to levitate out of it.

“What the…” I exclaimed in shock as the man just held up his hands, two sets of wings stretched from his back, his trench coat billowed in the gust of the energy he was producing, showing his black turtleneck, black skinny jeans and black combat boots.

“It can’t be!” I said as this dark shadowy energy left his hands and struck out against the demons, sending them flying backwards, headless as they each landed to the floor one by one.The man from the pond just landed in front of me. “Are you ok?” He asked as he offered me his left hand.“You’re…You’re him aren’t you?” I replied as I took it.

“I am… My name is Sable… and you?” He researched as he looked towards the building and clicked his fingers as it lit up in flames behind me.

“My name is Divina.” I replied as he lifted me up and I looked at the burning building.

“Listen Divina, you should go, I think you got the wrong directions, the place you are looking for is down the road and to the left. I know you’ve been through a lot but you should rest for the night… oh and eh Divina try to keep this to yourself yeah, no one needs to think you're crazy.” He advised as he turned around to walk away, turning back again to say the final big and then vanished along with all traces of the mansion, except the garden and it’s now shattered frozen pond.

And that’s it, that’s my story of the mansion and the pond.