I don’t know when I decided to go off from the main trail.
It was to be a regular hike through the forest. Like the ones, I had done a thousand times before. Although, I had never been in those woods before.
You see, I was visiting my parents' new home in the Eastern part of the United States. I don’t want to say exactly where. All I will say is, it was somewhere in the Countryside.
Being a nature enthusiast, I set off on the local hiking trail. I love nothing more than to leave all the busy thoughts and petty stresses of the modern world behind. To wander out to be alone with the trees and the rocks.
I had been on the trails for a few hours or so, I don’t exactly remember, when I set off on my own path. I don’t know what possessed me to do this. In retrospect, I believe it was calling to me.
At some point, I came along a muddy stream. There were many dark sticks that carried along with the current. The smell of rain and murk. I remember that for sure.
Finally, I arrived at a straight line of very tall trees. Trees that reached into a foggy abyss. When I was walking past those trees, I felt... a strange feeling. It was as though I had entered a new territory that was outside this world. I don’t know exactly how to describe this. At the time, I ignored those strong feelings as irrational nonsense. But I was soon to find out how wrong I was.
I carried on through the mist and the growing chill. There were holes in my jacket from jagged branches. Mud covered my shoes. My ears, more than anything, felt the sharp bite of the cold. I felt colder and colder as I went deeper into those woods.
As I walked through that secluded forest, I started to get an ominous feeling of terror and … calmness. Something about this so-called “creepy” landscape made me feel invigorated. I stopped there and observed the feeling of the wind on my face. I heard the crunch of a pine needle under my shoe. The smell of petrichor filled my nose. And I felt the presence of solitude. The whole world ceased to exist at that moment, and the only thing left was me and that forest. The only thing left floating in the stream of the universe.
I walked on and on for how long, I can’t say. But I did see something in the distance. As I made my way closer, I saw that it was a large house.
When I came upon it, I realized how massive it was. It was more of a small palace than a house. It was of muscular dark stone, with arches and tall ledges. It reached through the haze with many towering stories. The sure size and grandeur of the house made the whole chance of encountering it seem surreal, in the middle of that uninhabited forest. The ruinous windows were decorated with bronze frames. Trees and bushes covered much of the palace like a cloak of secrecy, hiding its true nature. It was utterly abandoned. I knew, somehow, that I was the first human in centuries to lay eyes on it.
That strange mansion in the middle of the forest had made the hair on my neck stand up. I could feel the coldness emanating from deep within it. Surely, I was in some kind of bizarre dream, I had thought. I was to wake up soon. But I knew from the breath in my lungs and the sweat in my hair, that it was real.
The house in all its terror drew me towards it. I realized that I was at the front door. My hand independent of me was opening that door and my legs carried me inside.
The first thing I saw was a dark wooden staircase that led up, right, and left to other areas of the house. On my right there looked to be a room full of delicate ornaments and statues of armor. To my left there was a spacious room with many old purple couches, lined with cobwebs.
On the walls that led up the stairs, there were many swords and axes crossed together on top of designed shields. The shields had an array of runes and symbols that were incomprehensible to me. The metal of the swords was of a shiny silver color. But looked to be made of some material that was different from steel. They had a tinge of vivid blue that kindled through them.
On a table in front of the stairs, there were several elaborate ornaments. The shape and material of the ornaments were unlike anything I had ever seen before. There is no way I could describe them, but I knew they were otherworldly.
Then, I realized that I could see everything perfectly. Yet, there was no light source. All the candles, spread in sticks around the room, were out. The light seemed to fill the room from out of nowhere. As if, there was a small rip from another universe and its light had slowly leaked in to live in that house.
I walked through many bedrooms and living rooms. I went up and down many stairs. There were rooms with grand beds and elaborate mirrors. The halls of the mansion had many paintings of snowy mountainous landscapes. Each door had a serpentine handle and a heavyweight in opening them. I saw the large kitchen and the giant dining hall with rusted copper platters and dull knives. The smell of rotting wood and dust was everywhere. I saw the trophy room with all its extravagant armor and weapons.
As I explored that abandoned dwelling out of time I felt as if someone was watching me. Not another human was there, I knew that, but some kind of presence was evident in every creek and corner of the house.