The Girl and The Baguette Man

Ch I - White Dress

Brush mulled over the tiny piece of paper in his hands before looking up at the manor that sat above him. It was an address, there was no doubt in his mind he had arrived at the right place. The address had long since been stamped into his head by his old schooling, along with four others of the great noble houses. How he had ended up in front of the Great Vivinette Manor was another surprise altogether.

While the manor was sequestered in a remote location within the City of Voksar, it was not difficult to find; as once you saw it, you knew. Even with its size it crept up, hidden just enough by foliage and trees surrounding it, but whose roof peers down with its many segmented eyes. It was a giant you couldn't miss, a tourist attraction in any other city. It drenched up old memories seeing such a place. He did not know if the journeys he once had would not help him here, so he continued his walk.

He had heard the countless stories when he was around nine years old, stories of the manor that sat atop of a small hill surrounded by woodland and overgrown thickets. One that belonged to a great noble family now long gone, no more important than the house they once slept in. Whatever legacy they once had was replaced by superstition, prominence replaced by rumors, and the people who lived in the manor now old wives tales.

It was like their title, influence, and even name had been reduced to a creepy manor. Relegated to songs heard at the dead of night, knocking within the mansion walls, strange lights going in and out of windows; if Brush was on adventuring duty, he might have been hired to break a window and scout the insides. Instead he was invited here, by his sister no less, something about needing a "babysitter". As for why the job was in such an eerie place was left to the imagination.

The metallic gate barring passage to the manor was now in front of him, a wide intricate thing which was in far better shape than he expected, the gate's curved top leading down to swirling patterns and lines with the top of it holding the crest of the Vivinette household in the shape of a lock. Internally he groaned, it was one of many symbols he was forced to memorize. Its outer maintenance looked pristine, enough to question whether the building's secrets were true.

He grabbed the metal lock with one hand, fiddling with the key his sister, Paint had given him. A small part of him wondered if this job was really true, or if he'd be on his way home by the next hour, but sure enough the lock clicked, welcoming him with the squeaking of rusted metal. He unlocked the gate, pocketed the key before letting himself in.

Moving up the hill, nature had barely scraped the surface of the manor with the moss rolling itself around the feet of the home. The cold white brick remained unstained. Even among the tall grassland surrounding it, the building itself kept its noble majesty. Its chestnut rooftops rose like pyramids, towering over even the tallest oak. As expected, the usual maids and caretaker privy of any great manor were nowhere to be found. Instincts from another life begged him to straighten his posture and dust himself off before he entered while inquisitiveness honed from his adventures now wondered what secrets the manor held.

He moved closer, shuffling through the damp air. He was unsure his breath was stifled by his own mind or if it was being choked by whatever haunted the mansion. He stood around ten paces to the doorway when he heard a distinct whistle in the air.

Immediately he ducked into the grass, intuition watching for an arrowhead to come flying over him. It did not, instead what followed was the splintering of wood far off within the neighboring trees. Cautiously, he followed the sound, making his way to the right of the building.

The right of the building contained a garden just right beside the forest. What Brush expected was a lavishly overgrown hedge maze with exotic flowers and smells. Now that its masters were gone, they would have been left free to roam, spreading their green as the building's new owners.