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  Title: Of Cats and Magic

  Chapter: 15

  Author: Riko Gonzalez

  The three found the gate leading to the manor's grounds at the edge of Shadows

  Edge just like they had been told. Well, one could call this the edge of the

  town. Actually, it resembled more of a ghost town than anything else at this

  point. All along the street were abandoned shop carts, many with unsecured goods

  left in them. It was rather eerie as if the owners had just up and vanished.

  Even the birds seemed to be avoiding the place.

  Riko, Ruko, and Timothy stood before the large ornate gate. The golden gate had

  been set into a large brick fence that was quite a bit too tall for one to see

  over. For some reason, the gate was ajar, clearly not doing its job of barring

  access to random passersby --- not that it looked like passersby were that

  serious of a problem currently.

  Riko was the first of the three to peek through the open gate. Inside was the

  once well kept manor grounds. It was quite clearly not well kept anymore,

  though. Instead, the grounds had been overgrown by countless weeds. Strangely

  enough, there did seem to be quite a few flower beds that were not overgrown by

  weeds. However, even those flower beds had grown rampant, spilling out into

  adjacent areas. In the distance, was the manor. Luckily, there was, in fact, a

  trail leading to the manor.

  After a quick glance to one another, the three began heading down the trail with

  Riko in the lead. As they walked, the dense foliage that had overtaken the

  grounds rose up to both their sides. As they continued down the path, not once

  did the tall grass even so much as rustle to either of their sides. There was

  absolutely no sign of wildlife within it.

  "This place is rather creepy, isn't it?"

  The words had spilled from Riko's lips, breaking the silence. The beautiful

  catgirl wearing the black mage outfit continued moving forward, occasionally

  glancing to one side or the other. Step by step, she led the group closer to the

  manor.

  "Supposedly, this place was well kept just a few weeks ago. For it to become

  like this in such a short time..."

  This time, the words came from Timothy who had flown up to Riko's side as he

  replied. Ruko stayed quiet not uttering a word. Instead, the taciturn catgirl

  simply continued to follow her companions in silence.

  Moment by moment, the manor loomed ever closer to the group as if some beast

  drawing nearer. In time, the three had traversed the grounds to arrive at the

  ornate door granting access to the structure. Apart from being ornate, there was

  something else the manor's door had in common with the gate to the grounds.

  Simply put, the manor's door was ajar just as the gate had been. One by one, the

  three stepped through the doorway.

  ***

  The interior looked old and decrepit. This was most certainly not how the place

  should look. Riko, Ruko, and Timothy were greeted by the sight of yet another

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  room with a thick layer of dust seemingly on everything other than them. A large

  couch that looked to be on the verge of falling apart was positioned in front of

  a television set, a television set with a shattered screen. On the wall, a large

  mirror was similarly shattered. Against a different wall, a bookcase had given

  up on holding together and instead lay in pieces, a plethora of ragged books

  surrounding it. At least the lighting still worked.

  "This is quite bizarre," Timothy commented, glancing about the room as he did.

  Riko glanced to the blue cat as he spoke. She agreed with him on that. The manor

  looked as if it had been completely abandoned for years --- maybe even decades.

  This most certainly did not match the information they had. Someone named Julia

  should have been living here.

  As the pink-eyed catgirl pondered the scenario, Ruko glanced over the books

  scattered about the remains of the book shelf. Behind her, on the dust-covered

  floor, a set of tracks traced the path she had taken. Likewise, Riko and Timothy

  also had tracks behind them. Thus far the three had yet to notice any tracks in

  this place other than their own.

  The manor --- this room included --- had more than its fair share of cobwebs,

  yet not a spider had been seen yet by the group. Actually, they hadn't even seen

  a bug in this ghostly manor yet. It was almost like the manor was dead.

  Riko shivered at the thought. It took a moment for the cyan-haired catgirl to

  shake the mental image of being in some kind of dead creature. It wasn't a

  mental image she particularly liked. Actually, she didn't like it at all.

  "We should move on," she stated, glancing to her allies.

  Ruko and Timothy nodded in response. As a group, the three of them proceeded to

  head deeper into the manor, their tracks tracing their path onward.

  ***

  The light flickered. Before Riko, Ruko, and Timothy was an aged wooden wall. In

  it was several large gashes reminiscent of claw marks. This room was rather

  small, and it looked to be devoid of anything other than the claw marks and a

  thick layer of dust. Thus far, this was the only room they had encountered that

  had flickering lighting. The lighting elsewhere seemed to work perfectly.

  "Strange room...," Riko commented as she glanced around. The claw marks on that

  one wall made her a tad nervous. Was there some viscous beast running amok in

  this place? Wait. If that was the case, shouldn't there be other signs of it

  other than that one wall.

  Ruko had also taken interest in the damaged wall. The whole surface of the wall

  looked to have been scratched up by something. Actually, that wasn't quite true.

  There was a small area that was unmarred. It was that suspicious area that drew

  her attention. While her pink-eyed ally worried about whether or not there was a

  monster in this place, she carefully studied the smooth area. Around its edge,

  she could make out what appeared to be a seam. Silently, the taciturn woman

  reached forward, pressing her palm against the area. That small portion of the

  wall slid in with a faint click. To the left of the recessed section of the

  wall, a different section pulled back before sliding to the left, revealing a

  passage leading onward.

  "A mechanism...," Ruko said, sensing the inquisitive stares of her friends.

  Timothy walked up to the newly revealed passage before peeking in. This did not

  look like part of the manor. The walls of the passage possessed a light gray

  coloration. At first glance, one may think they were rock, yet those walls

  possessed an ever so slight suppleness to them that was most certainly not

  rock-like. Furthermore, those walls pulsed every now and then. What ever they

  were composed of, the floor of the passage appeared to share their composition.

  As for the passage's ceiling, a glowing, white artery stretched along it. The

  elongated structure pulsed with the rest of the passage. The artery was not that

  bright and only gave off enough light to dimly light the passage.

  Inquisitively, Riko stepped up to the passage's entrance, joining Timothy to

  peer down it. Due to the dim lighting, she couldn't see too far down the

  pathway. What she could see, though, extended straight ahead and seemed to

  widen. The entrance would clearly require for them to move single file until the

  pathway widened a bit. Steeling her nerves, she stepped into the foreboding

  tunnel, Timothy following her, Ruko following Timothy.