Jonathan picked up his young bride in his arms, "Oh Jonathan, how romantic" She told him and kissed him deeply, "I have to admit this is a bit exciting." "You see my dear," Jonathan said with a sly smile, "It doesn't have to be all bad now does it?" The coachman was long gone now and they were alone, so why did he still feel as if eyes were upon him? He stood there a moment longer with his wife in his arms, it was dark and the wind sent cold chills down his back. He stepped towards the door and fumbled a moment with the large brass knob. The great door slowly creaked open and they stepped over the threshold. "Welcome to your new home my dear..."

Everything inside was left untouched except for what the rats had got. And the dust of time that showed its mark. Armed with candlelight and open eyes, through the dark they fought their way 'Til every room was lit again.

"This place does have a certain...charm to it." Miriam said lighting the last candle she blew out the long wooden match and continued, "Now that it's all lit up its not nearly as dreadful as it was, don't you think so my dear?"

Jonathan was staring transfixed at an old portrait of a graying but noble old man. He knew this man, this face so much like his own. It was his Grandfather the great Count de LaFey, Jonathan knew very little about him for he had died seven years before he was born in 1811. What he did know was that he was once a hard as nails soldier who had fought his way out of the slums of London as a young man and on to some of the greatest battlefields of Europe and Asia. He eventually was promoted up the ranks till he was commanding legions of men, in this way he managed to claim some land of his own and the title of Count.

For some reason after his marriage to the Countess De LaFey nothing more is really know, No one ever talked about it...

As he stared at the portrait it began to take on a life of its own...It began to breathe! No that was not quite true it seemed that the entire house began to breathe, it seemed to be alive!

Jonathan jumped as his wife gripped his shoulder and began to shake him, "OH Jonathan you scared the devil out of me!" She cried wrapping her arms around him, weeping she said. "It was like you weren't there! I called your name again and again and you just stood there... staring at that dreadful portrait!" Her voice was stronger now almost angry, "Well who is it anyway? why were you acting that way?" She demanded.

"Its my Grandfather, The old Count." He tried not to snap at her but after what he had just seen he was a bit unnerved, "He was the man who built this place." It was clear that Miriam had not seen what he had seen. Maybe she was just to freighted over his own strange behavior to notice anything else. That or maybe...just maybe he was going mad? Either way it would do no good to tell her what had happened so he said, "I am sorry my dear it must have been the long trip." He reassured her, "Now come the candlelight has begun to fade," Jonathan said "Let's go to bed" The fireplace had ceased to burn and both were fast asleep before the dawn, Dreaming...Dreaming but they did not know about the shadow on the wall it really came Alive!

The darkness came closer to home on the following night and Miriam slept like a rock when Jonathan's face went white.

The bedroom was ice cold but the fire was burning still the flames themselves seemed frozen as if the cold of the mansion had drained out the soul of the fire! Suddenly there was a blinding light that swept over the room and a mist began to rise from the floor, curling its way around his body like a serpent entwining itself in every nook and cranny of the room.

Through the mist, surrounded in a halo of bright light a ghostly figure began to appear before him! It was The Family Ghost had risen again... The Ghost of his Grandfather, "Don't be scared," came a haunting voice, "Don't be scared now my friend I am Count de LaFey, Let me take you to the crypt down below where Abigail rests!"

Jonathan could not believe his eyes the apparition moved closer and said, "Let Miriam sleep she never would understand now come let us go... It's time to know" Jonathan did not know what else to do so he followed the ghost on a winding path through the mansion. They swept past the hall of portraits where the painting of the count seemed to glow in their wake. Down the grand staircase and strange as it seems even though his mind was numb from the shock of what was happening he could still feel the cool smoothness of the highly polished, hand crafted banister as his hand slide down the length of it, and in spite of himself he couldn't help thinking of how Miriam had admired the stairs when they first saw them, she had said that they were the most elegant part of the house. They even shared a joke about how she had better not find Jonathan sliding down them. It was the first and only time they had laughed since they had arrived...

He realized that he had paused at the foot of the stairs, lost in his thoughts, when the ghost called to him "Come We Must Go...Time Is Growing Short!" They continued on through the darkened mansion. The apparition always floating just a few feet ahead after the passed the main entry they turned into the dining hall were the count passed right down through the center of the great table that ran the length of the room, passing eerily through the center-piece that had sat there since the count himself had dined there. Jonathan of course choose to go around the table following him through the servants entrance to the room. Jonathan had not yet explored this part of the mansion and probably never would have if not for this unearthly visitor.

The servants area of the mansion was like stepping into another world, gone were the lavish wall hanging and colorful portraits, in their place was chipped and peeling paint and even in the dim light he could plainly see that the dingy and meager conditions that the servants lived in were far and removed from that of the count and his wife. They passed quickly through the servant's quarters and came out though an undiscript doorway beneath the north staircase. They crossed the north hall and went back under the stairs through another door on the opposite side of the arch like staircase. Jonathan realized that he had not even noticed either of these doors before, they were so well hidden right in plain sight. This door had brought them down a darkened hall filled with cobwebs from the years and years of being unused. At the end of the hall, there was a carved archway and in the dim candlelight, he could see the images carved into the stone, Devils and demons danced along the center of the arch and at each end there were praying angels on bent knees. What Jonathan didn't see was scrawled on the floor in a smeared black chalk were the words
'Herein Lies Evil'
Beyond the arch were the steepest stairs Jonathan had ever seen. They were quiet narrow and it made him feel dizzy just looking down them. He carefully stepped forward.

"Wait!" the haunting figure said suddenly, "Beware of the slippery stairs You could easily fall and break Your neck! Now hand me that torch and I will lead the way to the secret in the dark. Take a look into the vault, The sarcophagus...of a child...Abigail has been in here for years and years...stillborn!"

Abigail, Jonathan thought to himself why does that seem so hauntingly familiar? The Count Continued, "The spirit of Abigail is inside your Wife and there's only one way You can stop the rebirth of evil itself!" He paused and in the silence Jonathan knew what was to come next. In a voice that chilled, he's bones the Count said,
"You must take her life now..."