Of Heaven and Hell: The Beginning - 1. Chapter 1

Introduction

The snow fell to the ground peacefully and blissfully. The white specs land on the ground with the utmost care and grace. I turned away from the sight of the falling snow to the Iron Gate in front of me. It was large and cold the metal had slick ice all over it as if the whole thing had been drenched in water and the instantaneously frozen solid. I touch the black ice with my ungloved hand. It was extremely cold and I quickly withdrew my hand for fear of it sticking to the metal poles. I reached in to my jeans pocket and from it, I took a key. The key was small, no bigger than a small wooden pencil. It was made of copper and had the design of a freshly fallen snowflake on it. I put the key up to the lock that was around the gate. I unlocked the gate and walked inside. From the outside, you really couldn’t see very much, but now that I was inside the thing I could see the whole grounds. The small wood near the gate was the picturesque scene of a forest of freshly fallen snow with the many trees that were totally leafless. The clouds in the sky were a light grey and added to the scene before me, and oddly enough I couldn’t help but think that what I was seeing was completely and unequally beautiful in every way. I smiled at the picturesque scene and continued to walk down the path before me leading to the place where I would be lodging for the next few years.

It took me about fifteen minutes to fully walk down the whole pathway. I looked in front of me and saw a huge brick mansion. The building looked rather old, to be completely frank about it, I was surprised the thing was even still standing. Most of the windows were shattered or gone, the bricks were cracking and chipping, the paint job on the roof had long since been peeled away by the climate of the area. The building looked totally repulsive. I just couldn’t believe that it was in this bad of condition. The smile I wore was quickly turned to a frown just as quickly as an apple falls from a tree. I walked to the door with an obvious sulk written on my face. I grabbed the same key I did to unlock the gate and unlocked the door.

I stepped inside from the cold weather. I noticed that the lights from the lights kicked on after I opened the door. Therefore, I guessed that they were on a trigger and turned on when the door is opened. I removed the brown leather jacket I had been wearing and fixed my long sleeve stripped black and blue shirt that I had worn under the jacket. The house looked better on the inside than it did on the outside. The main room was lit by several small lamps place at specific places to give the room an eerie feeling to it. It was working on me rather well, I might add. I dropped my suitcase at the door and removed the toboggan that I had been wearing. My blonde hair was thoroughly wet and clung to my forehead like a child to their mother’s legs at the sight of a strangers face. The reason that the inside of the house was so well kept was because of my mother. She came here a few weeks before me and decided to clean up a bit. She washed all the towels and such. She dusted most of the rooms and then locked them up again. I was surprised that she did such a good job. I walked from the door toward the large staircase that took up most of the space in the front room. The stairs had a red, satin carpet on them. The railing beside the stairs was obviously made of fine oak. It had a silky finish to it. I didn’t bother going upstairs since I new no one would be there, this house was completely empty of all life, well except for the rats, mice, and bugs crawling around the inside of the walls.

I went back to the front door and grabbed the large blue suitcase that I had used to carry my stuff in on the way here. I quickly looked around and found a doorway. It was a double doorway and from the looks of it, mostly likely led to a hallway full of rooms.

‘Well, might as well look around. Maybe I’ll find my room.’ I thought. So, strutted up to the door and grabbed the knob. I slowly turned it to the left and found that the door was oddly….unlocked.

I thought it strange for a door in an abandoned mansion to be unlocked. I shrugged it off quickly though because I was extremely tired and I just wished I could go to bed and begin attending my new school tomorrow. I opened the door and instead of entering a large hallway, as I had expected to, I entered a large bedroom. There was nothing in the room except for a large mahogany bed with red silk sheets and an Egyptian cotton comforter. There was a red wood desk in the far back corner with something glimmering and a piece of paper under it. There was no dresser to put the clothes I brought in. I set my blue leather brief case down on the made bed and walked to the desk in the corner. I picked up the two items on the table and examined them carefully. The glimmering object was a diamond snowflake necklace, one that my grandmother was supposed to give to me before she passed away. I looked at the piece of paper and noticed it was a letter addressed to….me? It was from my grandmother, but she died when I turned twelve. I’m nineteen now. I quickly opened the letter and read it aloud to myself. It said that she was sorry that she couldn’t give me the necklace before she passed and that she would miss me dearly. I don’t know why, but I began to cry. I wiped the stray tears from my eyes and I went to the door and exited the room. I walked out side again and looked at the house. It looked as if I could fix it in no time, but I had absolutely no time to even try so I would have to stay with this repulsive looking house for a little while anyway. I walked back inside and decide to start unpacking. I had decided against sleeping in the room in that double door so I grabbed the snowflake key and locked the door up tight. I climbed the many stairs leading to the second floor. I looked around the balcony looking for a door or something. I saw an old mahogany door at the end of the balcony, so I grabbed my suitcase and carried it to that door.

I twisted the knob of the old wood door to find it locked up tight as so no one could get in. I grabbed the key I had been using for so long and opened the door slowly. The old hinges creaked as I opened the door; the sound was so loud I’m surprised it didn’t wake the dead. I walked into the room in front of me and immediately I was in complete and total awe. The room was so magnificent. The walls were painted a rich, calming, golden amber color. It gave the room a sense of utter beauty that I was left speechless, though I had this light feeling that made me think that this beauty was all too familiar. I though nothing of it and quickly shook it off like an old discarded rag. The bed was made of oak stained the most beautiful of colors, it was gold as was the sheets, pillows, and comforter. There were no curtains, so the light from the windows were free to enter the room as it pleased. I walked in the room and set my suitcase on the bed. I noticed that the blue from my suitcase clashed terribly with the amber color of the room. I saw a small dresser in the far back corner, it was made of pure oak and was stained a beautiful golden color. I walked up to it and noticed that there was something behind it. I reached my hand behind the piece of furniture and grabbed something. I pulled the object from its dark prison and was amazed at what I found. It was a picture of the sun setting behind a mountain range. I loved the picture the moment I saw it and so I looked for a stray nail to hang it up on. I found one near the headboard of the bed, so I hung the picture up, unpacked all my things and put them in the dresser, laid down on the large bed and, since I was completely exhausted, quickly drifted off to a blissful, well earned sleep.