Rise of a Queen

Chapter 28

The lovely @saraSD made some more wonderful aesthetics, this time for Erie! The one above is the first one. And all I can say is this ... IT IS PERFECT! I can literally imagine Erie from this aesthetic <3 leave me your thoughts!

Enjoy!

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Lumiere hurtled over the broken gate and sprinted across the yard, past the burned pumpkins and over ashen vines, with destination set on the door hanging halfway open where no light emanated from within.

    Brandon was on his heels and Corinth after that. Dustin tried to follow briskly but he and I were significantly slower than our friends. He tripped over a vine, I caught my foot on an uneven brick; the smell of roasted pumpkins was oddly enticing and it drew our attention elsewhere, on distant patches rather than the area directly in front of us, which caused us to fumble several times more before we reached the porch. By the time we caught up to our friends, we both were in pain and losing stamina.

    Lumiere bolted through the open door and bellowed, "Erie!"

    The same long, dark hallway stretched before us as it had when we first came here but unlike our previous visit, no candles burst to life and no one came to greet us. Everything remained dark and silent. A misplaced chill hung in the air, as if the house had been siphoned of heat. Winter frosted over tables and mirrors, causing any unbroken glass to mimic icicles and drip snowflakes from swaying chandeliers. The very house held its breath, trapped in hibernation, and from somewhere deep within the labyrinth of vacant hallways, a howl of arctic sorrow swept around us as the house mourned the absence of its master.

    Corinth stepped closer to Lumiere, her fingers touched lightly against his arm, and she whispered in a voice frightfully clogged, "Lumiere, something isn't right. We need to be careful-"

    "Erie! Where are you?" Lumiere barreled down the hallway in blind panic, "Answer me, babe! Where are you? Erie!"

    "Lumiere, stop! It isn't safe!" Brandon chased after him while checking every room we passed for intruders. Even though daybreak fluoresced in the world beyond these walls, inside this house was still without light. Only darkness was seen and only emptiness was felt. Erie's candles had been snuffed and from where we stepped, dry wax crunched under foot.

    "Lumiere, wait!" Corinth hissed at him even as he ripped his arm from her hold. She was too cautious to speak any louder but Lumiere either didn't hear her, or he ignored her. He fled deeper into the house, still calling out for Erie as he blundered through the darkness.

    With Lumiere far ahead, the rest of us had to feel our way down the hall. Dustin clutched my hand tightly in his while we advanced, always keeping me half a step behind him in preparation for an ambush. But no harm came, no enemy was seen. And to be honest, besides the ominous cold that clouded around every corner, no threat was detected.

    Adversely, no life was detected either. Whatever evil had been unleashed upon the Gate was gone and the presence we now experienced was only a dark reflection of what had happened.

    After several minutes of wandering down the hallway, we eventually found Lumiere standing in the doorway that fed into the large room where we conducted our meeting with Erie. I squinted to clear my vision but still I could not make out any objects beyond our current position.

    Lumiere pulled a lighter from his pocket and flicked it to life. Not much light was produced by the single lone flame, but there was enough to see a disastrously messy area that had been ransacked. We saw stray papers and debris, overturned furniture, dismantled appliances. And across the room, thrown between the wall and a fallen bookcase ...