~The Forest~
Because of the delaying train, it took more time than expected for Tetsu arrived at that countryside station far away from London, and the night has already fallen.
However, the train station was not the end of his journey. He knew he still had a long way to go to his uncle--Marquis Oishi's villa.
Tetsu's thought came all the way back to those day and incidents, which had happened more than ten years ago while he was in his way his to Marquis Oishi's villa, which was located in the remote mountain.he could still picture the past very well.beside, the scenery surrounding was still remained the same.
Those Piece trees along the road has turned they color into golden brown. And the road had almost been buried under the fallen autumn leaf.
Only a single carriage in hurriedly ridden though that quiet wood side road. Causing the leaf flied in the mid air once again, the golden ray of sunlight lighted them up with fine golden-color. They seemed so surreal and beautiful, shun under the bright ray of setting sun.
It was a right choose to his Uncle's invites to stay in his villa for a while.Tetsu thought to himself.
But.something just wasn't right.every time Tetsu stopped and talked to another located passing bys, he found that.
"You're going to go to the forest?" the look of their faces all turned dark suddenly.
"Don't ask me! I don't know a damn thing about it!" then all of them ran away.
Tetsu had no idea why those guys fear so much for that wood, He couldn't figure out a single fearful thing which could being afraid of within the wood. Instead, the amazing beauty of this wood stunned him, and also the fresh air you just could not find in the urban side.
There was a large meadow far away much more clearly the deep of the wood, but why there were so many white-stone all around the meadow?
No.in fact those [stone] were a lot of gravestones among the meadow.
When the carriage solely gave near the grave, Tetsu noticed, although most of the gravestones were very ancient. Still there was 6 or 7 brand new- painted gravestone. They seemed so dazzling among those old ones. Some of them even the flowers laid in front of the gravestones still hadn't faded. So..those people who had been buried under the ground were all dead recently? And.what could cause so many series of dead almost at the same time recently?
Shortly after the grave went out of sight. Tetsu saw another carriage stopped in the roadside, a man in priest's custom stood near it and he seemed having some problem. Therefore, Tetsu decided to invite the priest to join him company.
"What!?" Surprisingly, the priest-his name Yoshiki's reaction was as the same as the other passing-bys. "Are you really had to go there?"
"What the problem about the forest actually?" Tetsu asked.
"Well.the forest itself doesn't have much problem.but have you heard about the Castle of Okano? That Castle's located inside the forest you're going, too."
"Yes, I have." Okano's family.Tetsu recalled that he had heard that name from his Uncle, which supposed to be a very powerful noble family around here.
"That Castle of Okano 's a very famous ghosts haunted castle indeed! "
"Really?" Tetsu finally understood why everyone was scared and unwilling to come a little closer to the forest.
"Vampire, monster in the dungeon, ghost.every old castles have those tales." Yoshki's expression turned gloom suddenly, but he went on." Especially after so many vampire attack cases happen. No one dare to give closer to it now."
"Vampire?" Tetsu recalled so many new gravestones in the graveyard he had just seen.
"Yes! All of the victims were sucked to die, but on the other hand, I don't truly believe it 's vampire! Maybe there is some psycho did it! The killer.I don't care he's vampire or human.Now I have my [job] increases greatly because of him!"
Tetsu was extremely curious now, and he waited for Yoshiki went on his talking.
"So many legends in that kind of village." Yoshiki went on again after a long while of silence."For example, the story those town-folks 're shaping.they said they saw a female ghost dressed in white wandering around the forest."
"A female ghost?" It was an amaze! Vampire and a female ghost? Really interesting!
"Yes, someone even said it was the ghost of the Count's daughter who commit love suicide 80 years ago. They have told an interesting tale, did't they? "
"Do you believe in them yourself? Father? "
"I myself don't believe in those stupid stories.but it was a very ancient castle,many things happened in its glorious history. Truly not everything happened there were good thing."
By the time, the carriage had arrived at the edge of the town, the entrance of the forest. Instead, a tiny Gothic's style church stood there, nothing else.
"Thank for your help, young man." Yoshiki told Tetsu before he gone. "Now you have to go deeper to the forest. Good-bye."
"Better don't go out at night if you didn't have to go, perhaps.vampire fond of the blood from beautiful youth. As well!" Yoshiki left a long laughed then turned away.
*
With Yoshiki's instruction ,Soon and easy enough Tetsu search the lakeside villa of his uncle later.
The forest of huge birches now replaced the piece wood completely. The birch forest was so soundless inside as if all the sound has been simplify sucked away. It was an almost strangely abnormal silence covered everything. A laryer of gloomy pale white fog was floating on top of the lake.
After placed all his luggage and stuffs, Tetsu went near the second floor's window to took a good look outside. The bleeding red sun had already sunk behind the horizontal.
However.one" figure" went into his sight and caught his attention immediately. .."Someone" was there.in the gloomy ink-green shadow of forest. He could only recognized the fuzzy pale figure of that person within the twilight.
Dark long hair, and white dress.
---The female ghost of the girl who committed love suicide.
Those humorous words from the priest came back to Tetsu unexpectedly.
But before he could his sight on that person (or ghost?!) again, but the fuzzy white figure has already vanished without a trail.
---Is this really a ghost?
Tried to make sure what he had just seen was not illusion, Tetsu looked over the window again. Nevertheless, the heavy white fog silently covered everything, now there was nothing could see outside.
To be continue.
To the next part