Mansion Troubles II

Sven fell through the darkness for a time, feeling the wind that was coming up to meet him start to die out until nothing remained but the sensation of weightlessness and inertia. For a few moments he even wondered if he was falling at all, his mind began to fog with tranquil thoughts that he didn't conjure himself, something inside this house was trying to lull him into inaction so that he would die from the fall. Shaking his head violently, Sven positioned himself upright and held onto the sides of the wall as he fell, if he was any shorter than he was then he wouldn't have touched the sides at all.

Digging his nails into the walls, Sven could feel his senses coming back to him. He could tell he was up right, he could feels the wet limestone wall scrape away under his fingernails, he could see a small light below him racing upward to meet him, clawing harder Sven managed to slow down his decent until at the very bottom he managed to land gracefully with a combat roll onto the concrete landing zone.

Looking around him he saw the splattered remains of Orcs that had shared the same fate as he had, their mushed limbs and organs carted off into a corner where flies picked and festered over the remains, a breeding ground for maggots and rats alike. Sven shook his head as he breathed in the disgusting air, there was something off about this place and it wasn't just the decaying corpses off to the side.

"How many times must I tell you Sven, no video games after dark!" A disembodied voice called from behind, swinging around Sven looked at the familiar voice he couldn't possibly forget.

"U-Uncle?" Sven asked, bewilderment written plainly on his face. Standing before him was a spectral image of the man who had raised him since birth, his uncle.

"If you don't go to bed early, the demons will get you Sven! The demons will get you!" The spectral image lunged at Sven with a kitchen knife, dodging to the side Sven narrowly avoided being stuck like a pig. What in the fuck was happening?! His uncle slashed wildly to the side, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as a twisted smile curled impossibly onto his cheeks.

"You're dead Sven! You've always been dead! And it's the video games that killed you!" Sven dodged the wild slash but not well enough as a red gash appeared on his chest where the ghost had landed the edge of his swipe. This was real, the pain, the blood, the spectral uncle, it was all real - but at the same time it wasn't. This was an illusion, but with real life consequences.

"Bed time Sven! Bed time Sven! BED TIME SVEN. BED TIME SVEN." The ghost chanted as it attacked without any real form or style, just wildly and unpredictable and monstrous. Sven unsheathed his blade and slashed at the ghost, lopping his head from his shoulders, but the body kept on swinging wildly.

"BED TIME SVEN. BED TIME SVEN. BED TIME SVEN." The ghosts severed head continued to scream while still rolling on the floor, Sven's heart was racing as his mind rattled with thoughts, finally he broke free from the fear and confusion and just went in swinging. With a myriad of swipes, Sven cleaved his ghost uncles demonic body into chunks of astral meat until it lay in a pile on the floor. The ghost screamed in agony as the diced body parts began to melt into the concrete until nothing remained.

"What the fuck was that..." Sven asked rhetorically to nobody in particular, his mind still racing with questions, had this been truly real? Or was it just his mind playing tricks? Was it some kind of spell or ability cast on him by somebody within this mansion? His 'uncles' words echoed in his ear all the while. "You're dead! You're dead! You've always been dead! The video game killed you!" Was that his thoughts or was that truly what his uncle believed? The human mind was a wonder at times, he could hardly believe that a spell could use his own memories against him like that.

Calming himself he moved forward, a double door ahead of him seemed to lead into the mansion itself, but while he walked he couldn't help but feel his mind fill up with fog, in fact, had he ever not felt that since he fell inside? He kept feeling his mind slipping away from him, and it took a real conscious effort to reel himself back in every time it happened. Opening the double doors, Sven walked inside of the mansion itself, the floor was an immaculate marble checkered pattern design of black and white, so clean he could see his own reflection staring back at him.

"Sven." A deep voice called from behind him as he walked into the center of the room, turning behind him, Sven looked up to the top of the stairs to see a balcony that peered down at him. Standing above him was yet another astral figure, but this time it caused the hairs on his entire body to stand on end.

"Father?" Sven called, he'd only ever seen his dad in old photographs, but there was no mistaking who this man was. Looming above him, the ghost stared down at him with a stern face similar to how the photo's of him had been.

"When you die, you'll come see me." The ghost stated ominously, Sven frowned, he wasn't ready to die just yet. However seeing his father standing before him now, thoughts and feelings that had been burred away for decades began to swim to the surface.

"Why did you and mom abandon me, dad? Why did you leave me for your brother to raise? Why-" The ghost fell off the side of the balcony and crashed to the floor with a sickening crunch, only to pick itself up and push broken bones back into place as it continued to slowly shuffle forward.

"When you die, you'll know so much more. When you die." The ghost repeated, avoiding the question like Sven hadn't even asked it. Looking into the ghosts eyes, Sven could tell that his dad wasn't even looking at him, its eyes were scanning the room completely unharmonized with the other. One eye would look to the ceiling while the other to the floor, then one would look to Sven while the other rolled up inside itself to look 'inward', and so on.

Jumping back Sven narrowly dodged a saw like blade the ghost suddenly materialized from his coat pocket, the creature that looked like his dad raised its top lip to reveal crooked and chipped teeth, Sven watched in horror as the face of his father decayed away slowly to reveal a half skeletal, half human body that quickened its chase, swinging the saw around itself savagely.

Sven blocked one of the swipes and cleaved his 'dad' in two from the midsection in a diagonal curve. Like before, he watched as his fathers astral body melted into the ground, but right before he sunk in entirely his fathers eye shot up to look at him, turning its head slowly to face him.

"You only get one, then no other." Was his fathers last words before he sunk into the ground entirely. Just what was any of that?! Was his mind still fucking with him, or did any of that have any meaning behind it at all?! This place was a mad house. Sven could feel his psyche warp as he climbed up the steps to where his father had been previously on the balcony. Off to the side was another set of double doors, walking towards it and with every step, he could feel the power that was coercing his mind begin to pulsate more powerfully. He was growing nearer to whatever foul monster lurked behind those doors.

Opening the doors with a powerful boot, the wooden double doors came flying off their hinges and glided across the laminate flooring. In front of him was a metal cage with a woman lying with her back turned to Sven, naked as best as he could tell. She had darker almost charcoal like skin with a purple tint to it, and she lay curled up on a bed of straw motionlessly.

Walking closer to her, he could feel his mind begin to slip, but he pushed forward regardless. All the while willing his existence into her space and rousing her from her sleep. Standing up shakily she grasped a hold of the iron bars that surrounded her and glared as Sven approached her cage.

"What do you want with me, human?!" She spat, Sven could see the fear in her eyes even if she tried her best to mask it with anger and hostility.

"I'm here to..." His mind was beginning to wander from whatever spell she was casting. "Free you." Sven managed to finish despite the inner battle his mind was experiencing just being close to this woman.

"Free me? You mean you wish to sell me, like all the others!" She bore her teeth, revealing a set of well pronounced fangs. A vampire, Sven realized and not doing a good enough job in hiding his surprise.

"I've no interest in gold, the admiral wants you freed so that you can testify against Bergh, the one who bought you. After that I promise you, you'll be a free woman." Sven rationalized, but the dark elf was having none of it as she scoffed derisively.

"You think you're the first man to whisper sweet promises into my ear? You know what I am, as if I would believe you would free me!" She began to concentrate her power as her eyes bore deep into Sven's, forcing all of her will power into him. Sven stared right on back as he matched her ferocity with his own, a battle of wills was something new to Sven but if it would help her believe him then he would go all out.

"If you stay here then who knows what Bergh will do to you, if you come with me then you can at least take your chances. I'm not who you think I am, look at me and see for yourself." Sven blinklessly returned her stare, the dark elf looked into those red eyes and he looked into her own red eyes. As she stared her eyes began to flicker and shake, looking away she couldn't look any longer as she began to see the truth of it, but still did not want to believe. "Look at me!" Sven shouted loudly, returning her attention to his once more as she bore deep into his soul and bared witness to his intentions. In that moment, she knew she had lost.

Collapsing to her knees, she shook ever so slightly as she still held onto the iron bars, a part of herself wanting to believe in him and the other half not willing to be let down once again.

"Even though I'm a vampire?" She sniffled, Sven tried his best not to sigh in relief as he felt whatever illusions and mind manipulation he was experiencing relinquish its grasp on his psyche, walking up to the cage he knelt there with her.

"Even though you're a vampire. You're still a dark elf right? You're not a monster." Sven comforted her, and it seemed to be just the words she needed to hear as she let go of the bars and brought her hands to her face as she cried into her balled fists. For a time Sven to sat with her silently, his back resting against the cage to let her know that he trusts her. Oh, and because he was mentally exhausted from putting up with her spell for so long, but she didn't need to know that part.

"You promise I'll be free to go wherever I want after I sign my testimony?" She finally asked, wiping away the remaining tears from her sore eyes. Sven nodded in response.

"You promise not to tell the admiral that I'm a vampire?" She worried, even though she had peered into Sven's soul her old habits of mistrust wouldn't die off so easily. Sven nodded again.

"You promise... That I can have some of your blood?" She asked with a small blush spreading across her blackened skin. Sven nodded- wait, what? Just then he heard her belly rumble loudly. Turning to look at her she flipped around to avoid his stare, embarrassment written clearly on her face.

"D-don't worry, I won't make you a vampire. That's not how vamparism works, you know?" She seemingly read Sven's mind even though she wasn't even facing him right now. Standing up Sven unsheathed his sword, the dark Elf looked at him worriedly from her knelt position for a moment before Sven sliced her cage in half, freeing her from her bindings in a matter of seconds. As the dust began to settle, she looked up at Sven, his face shadowed by the ray of sun that suddenly shined from behind him, his form looking both angelic and demonic all at once, his appearance enraptured her into stunned silence as she truly looked at him this time, and liking what she saw.

"What's your name?" Sven asked as he offered her a hand, looking like a knight in one of those hero tales she remembered being read to as a child. A knight, but not quite so shiny, there was something dark about him that she couldn't quite place a finger on. Taking his hands delicately she answered.

"Adriana."