...The house was alive.

The lights flickering in the large arched front windows looked like pupils in a set of giant eyes glaring at the four men as they approached. The front door was enormous. Far larger than Frederick remembered from his dreams. But, after all, they were only dreams, weren’t they? The door, itself, was ten feet tall and was constructed of solid, dark wood. Perhaps maple or oak. It stood partway open, as if daring them to enter, to try to sneak past. All of them remained on their horses, staring at the house for a long time before dismounting. Being on the ground made the gigantic structure only appear even more foreboding.

The front of the house stretched endlessly in both directions, disappearing into the darkness on either side of them. They had to crane their necks in order to see the peaked, slate shingled roof. Heavy gray wooden panels were layered one on top of the other. Besides the two enormous arched windows, there were several other smaller square windows, all lined above and on the sides of the main ones. These were not lit as brightly as the two they saw, yet a dull glow came from somewhere behind them.

Nathaniel looked at the structure and whistled through his teeth. “It just goes on forever. How far back does it stretch?”

“There are more than a hundred rooms inside,” Barrett replied, his eyes never leaving the house. “Each wing was designed in a different way. Decorated according to the original owner’s tastes.”

“The original owners?” Frederick asked. “But I thought Francis Rousseau and his mother were the original owners.”

“They inherited it from a distant uncle,” Nathaniel said. “Master Rousseau’s brother, if memory serves me correctly.”

“I knew there was a reason I brought you here,” Barrett said with a smirk. “We should go inside.”

Even as he spoke, something in the air changed. A coldness engulfed them. The horses shifted uneasily. Their eyes started to bulge out of their sockets in fear. Frederick’s horse reared up before he was able to calm it down.

“What’s wrong with them?”

The distant sound of padded feet rapidly approaching triggered a memory in his mind. But as quickly as it came, it vanished. All he knew was that he was afraid again. Afraid of what he saw looming above him with the slate roof and partially illuminated windows. Afraid of what was inside the house.