Growing up, my grandfather raised me after my parents died in a head on collision with a truck. He would tell stories about Blood Rose Mansion up on Snow Mountain that actually had the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Those nights were sleepless ones as I lay in my bed, waiting and listening. Nothing ever happened as best as I could recall, until one fateful hot summer day, a day that would change me forever.
It was my eighteenth birthday and Gramps took me to Martha’s Cafe for some breakfast. In a small town of nine hundred, everyone knew each other. After we placed our orders, I asked, “Gramps, you remember those stories you told me about Blood Rose Mansion? Were they true?”
”Yes, they were true,” Gramps said, looking a bit uneasy.
”Then why did it stop?” I asked, as the waitress brought our food.
”No one knows why it stopped and nobody talks about it, they’re afraid.”
”Doesn’t anyone want to go find out and if need be, put an end to the stories?”
”No one here is brave enough, they just go about their business.”
That was seven years ago and now I found myself two hours from home. I received a call from Gramps yesterday, and he sounded terrified. The first thing that came to mind were the stories he used to tell me, so I turned the throttle of my Harley Road Glide Ultra and sped down the highway at breakneck speed. Ninety minutes later, I found myself standing on the driveway, the sheriff had just informed me that my grandfather had died.
“How, sheriff?” I asked.
“Before I get to that, word is you’re the last hunter.”
”That’s what they say, now what’s going on?”
”It started four days ago, so far there have been three deaths, counting your grandfather. When their bodies were discovered...”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
The sheriff had turned pale at the thought of what he saw, and I knew exactly what happened to Gramps. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw his body.
“I’ll be staying here for the night sheriff and will head out for Blood Rose Mansion just before daybreak.”
After all the evidence was collected and my grandfather taken for cremation, I went to the garage and found the bolt cutters. I put a pair of bolt cutters in the cargo box on my Harley and went inside the house. Gramps left my room the way it was when I left three years ago, nothing was moved. I pushed the bed to the side and pulled up four floor boards. The two large boxes of ammo were still there.
I carried the boxes to the kitchen, sat down and placed my weapons on the table. I checked to make sure my two .44 magnum’s, the .38 automatic and the Gatling gun were in working order, then loaded them with the necessary ammo and called it a night.
The officials in my hometown of Springdrift, South Dakota, fenced off the dirt road that leads up to Snow Peak Mountain. No one was allowed to go there, though I doubt anyone really wanted to.
Getting up before dawn, I stepped outside and there was the sheriff to see me off.
‘You look dressed to kill,” he said, as I walked toward him.
”Yeah, I never know what I’ll run into,” I replied as I swung my leg over the bike and sat down.
“Be careful up there.”
“I’ll do my best,” I replied.
I pulled my goggles down from my cap, adjusted them over my eyes and then checked to make sure my holster was secure along with my Gatling gun and ankle holster. I made one last adjustment to my protective vest before revving up the bike and took off for Snow Mountain. About a half mile out, I stopped to look back and watch the sun come up behind the town. At the time, little did I know what I was getting myself into.
Thirty minutes later, I reached the end of the dirt road where the fence was and got off the bike. I opened the cargo box and pulled out the bolt cutters to cut the lock. I walked over to the gate, cut the lock and hopped back on the bike.
After having driven for another fifteen minutes, the mansion came into view. I parked the bike at the gated entrance as the path to the mansion was too narrow. As I walked past the garden, I noticed the white roses had blotches of red on them. I thought I saw a red liquid drip from the flowers and blinked twice to see if it was my imagination playing tricks on me. I looked at the flowers again, this time they weren’t dripping red liquid. I figured it had been my imagination playing tricks on me. I went over to take a closer look, these roses were real. Damn, I thought to myself, this one’s immune to them. I hope that’s all.
The mansion itself was a massive two story rectangular structure with four broad, round towers placed at the corners. I stood at the entrance and noted that the massive walls of grey stone were at least four feet thick. The wooden doors were nearly twelve feet high and there were stained glass windows were scattered thinly across the walls in an asymmetric pattern. There were signs of age, though it was in good shape.
The doors opened on their own and when I stepped inside, they slammed shut with a thunderous thud. Then I heard a loud click, I turned and tried opening the doors to no avail. I was locked inside and had that familiar feeling of the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. The sunlight had yet to reach the mansion and I stood there in the dark, dank room.
“Welcome to my humble home Will Bennett, my name is Echo.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something lurking in the darkness. Stepping from the shadows was a woman, her hazel eyes glowed like a setting sun in autumn and locked on mine as she came toward me. I was unable to look away, it was as if she had some kind of control over me. I’d say she was thirty-five years of age and was dressed in a red one piece body suit.
“How do you know my name?" I asked, as she came closer.
Her black knee high leather boots made no sound on the stone floor as she approached.
“I am the mistress of the house,” she said, adding, “Your reputation precedes you.”
At that very moment, the shutters slammed shut as the sunlight barely began to shine through the windows. Lights came on, giving off barely enough glow to see.
There was no way I couldn't notice that the front of her body suit was almost completely cut out. There were two thin strips of material running up the sides which were attached to a gold ring at the top of her suit. The ring itself was attached to a white collar that kept the top of her suit from falling down. The only other color on her outfit was a gold bat located on the bottom front. The two strips of material covering her front barely contained her extremely large breasts.
”Don’t be afraid, my skin is very sensitive to sunlight.”
She turned and I couldn't help but notice the thin strip of material wedged between two perfectly round butt cheeks.
"Thank you for the compliment, I'm glad you like what I'm wearing." She said, turning her head and with a crooked finger, signaled me to follow. I felt as if I was being pulled, not walking on my own.
"H-how did you know, what I was thinking?" I asked, following her.
"Come now, do you think I don't know what a young man of your age thinks about?" she said, as I was led into the kitchen where a breakfast awaited.
"Have a seat, you must be hungry."
Echo sat across from me and brushed back her long dark hair, accentuated by a blonde streak. While I ate, she watched with those piercing eyes as if she were sizing me up. I did the same to her, though being distracted by her hard nipples that were pushing against the strip of material didn't help.
