She stepped forward into the darkness, the black bandana wrapped tightly around her eyes. The dark was a living thing, like the watey mouth of some great black beast, hungry and cold, yet strange and warm all at once. It pressed against her skin, pressed into her senses, and made her heart beat louder in her chest. Only when she removed the bandana did she come face to face with the stone gargoyle perched above the entrance — its eyes frozen in a grim, silent watch.
Fifteen minutes before...
Caroline hurried to roll up the car window as the chill wind swept past her. Outside, the road was lined with autumn trees, their leaves burned orange and gold, tumbling silently onto the cold, dark pavement. The car slowed and finally stopped before an rusted iron gate. The gate groaned open, revealing the neglected vineyard that stretched beyond — rows of twisted vines curling over weathered earth.
driver stepped ahead, carrying luggage carefully as the maid stood by the car, her expression both polite and watchful.
"Did your trip go smoothly?" she asked, her voice soft and steady.
Caroline only nodded. She felt a strange flutter in her chest, like something unseen was pulling her forward.
The maid adjusted her glasses, then produced a strip of black cloth. "Tie this over your eyes," she said quietly. "Then we shall meet the headmaster."
Caroline's fingers curled around the fabric. Questions tickled her mind, but she said nothing. The sky above was a canvas of fiery reds and oranges, the sun nearly swallowed by the horizon. The moon, pale and silver, was beginning to rise from behind a veil of clouds.
With measured calm, she covered her eyes with the bandana. The maid made sure no light could sneak in through the edges.
Caroline took her first step into the unknown.
The fifteen minutes stretched endlessly, each second thick with silence and anticipation. Caroline's breath came in quiet, shallow gasps, her ears straining for any sound beyond the faint rustle of dead leaves outside. The bandana was removed at last, but the darkness inside the mansion swallowed the moonlight whole, leaving her eyes blinking against the shadowy gloom.
The mansion's heavy wooden door groaned as it creaked open, revealing a narrow hallway lined with peeling wallpaper and faded portraits whose eyes seemed to follow her every step. The air was thick with the scent of old paper and dust, and somewhere far off, the faint drip of water echoed like a distant heartbeat.
"First floor, to the right," the maid's voice was steady, though Caroline caught the slightest tremor beneath. "The headmaster awaits you there. I'll be here when you return."
Summoning every shred of courage, Caroline pushed the door marked with a brass plaque reading 'Headmaster's Study'. Inside, the dim glow of a single lantern flickered against walls stacked with ancient tomes and brittle scrolls.
Seated behind a heavy oak desk was a woman whose presence seemed to absorb the very light around her. Her silver hair framed a face etched with time, but her eyes, sharp and unwavering, pierced through the gloom like twin emerald flames.
"Welcome, Caroline," she said softly, her voice a smooth blend of warmth and steel. "I am Betty Heming, the headmaster of this peculiar place."
Caroline's gaze fell to the thick volumes lining the shelves. Strange symbols danced along the spines — runes, glyphs, and languages looked ancient.
"This school," Betty continued, "is a sanctuary for those like you. Gifted… misunderstood and feared. You are not alone here."
A shiver ran down Caroline's spine as Betty's eyes locked onto hers, an unspoken understanding passing between them.
"You carry a legacy," Betty said, "one that your father could never fully explain. But here, you will learn the hidden truths of the world"
Caroline swallowed hard. "Do you… know him?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Betty nodded slowly. "I visited you often when you were a child. Your father entrusted you to this place, and to me. He left you a gift — those green eyes of yours are the eyes of truth. But gifts come with burdens."
The room seemed to close in around Caroline, the weight of secrets pressing against her chest. She wanted to ask more, to demand answers, but the woman's steady gaze silenced her.
"Rest now," Betty said, rising from her chair. "Tomorrow will answer most of your questions. So far now the maid will escort you to your dormitory."
Caroline nodded and rose, stepping out into the hallway once more. The silence was deeper now, almost alive, as if the house itself was breathing around her.
Halfway down the stairs, a whisper brushed past her ear — soft, barely there, yet unmistakable.
"Caroline.."
She froze, heart pounding, and glanced over her shoulder. The passage to the left beckoned, shadow pooling like ink beneath a half-open door.
Drawn by an unseen force, Caroline approached, pushing the door wider. Inside, the flicker of an old television screen cast a ghostly light over a figure unlike any she had ever seen.
Tall — impossibly tall — cloaked in shadow that seemed to swallow the light itself. IThe creature's head was featureless except for a V-shaped like a mouth sewn by a needle across its face. Both creepy and hypnotic.
The creature turned its head slowly, eyes glowing faintly from the blackness. Caroline felt its gaze pierce through her soul, whispering promises and warnings she could not yet understand.
Frozen in place, she realized this place held far deeper mysteries than she had ever imagined — and that her journey was only just beginning.