A Heart Matter

      There’s not a single life can be seen on the street. Only the sounds of winds and rustle of leaves on the trees that breaks the silence occasionally.

      Located in the border of the town and the woods, this street is dark because there’s not a single human that lived close to the gloomy street.

      Centuries ago, a wizard is said to have cursed this street. True or not, none know the real stories, since the rumor only spread from mouth to mouth, the real stories have gone together with the wind.

      One thing they do know for sure is that once you get in, you could never came back. But if that person is lucky—or unlucky, they usually never came back in one piece, body or mind.

      They said that when one walking down the street, mist will immediately surrounded that person. Either it’s night or noon, the mist will never ceases; they would lost their sense of direction since compass and other navigating devices is useless. Stars and moon can’t be seen either, since the mist will surround all side and they could barely looking at the tip of their nose. Then the time they have falling exhausted walking for days in circles, monsters will came to attack them, or they will start hallucinating from the curse. The rarely surviving person would only sprouting nonsense about a tavern with a big, burly, and nice tavern owner that serving the best ale they had ever drunk. No one believed their words, obviously.

      Either way, it is positive that the street is dangerous.

      The street is void to any living activities. Some buildings in both side of the street is already crumbling and ready to fall down, and some have became one with the nature. But on the end of the road, a two stories building is still standing firmly on its foundation.

      The building is lit brightly by lights from magical stones that placed on the blue colored glass window with ‘LYNN TAVERN’ written proudly on the surface and on the side of the entrance door that said ‘Open’. Only the sounds of glass tinkling and a soft melody from a piano can be heard from inside the tavern.

      Being the only lively building within the eerily looking street, the tavern that made by stone and woods exterior is a weird existence in this kind of place.

      Like usual, nothing big is happening on this cursed street. It just a calm and usual gloomy, eerie street that no one want to got in.

      But that night, something is different.

      A small light can be seen from the dark, misty street towards the tavern.

      The closer the light with the tavern, the mist surrounding the person begin to ceases. He walks straight to the front side of the tavern and stop to examine it for a moment.

      The bearded man that looked like he’s around forty years old wears all black from the top to the toe extinguish the light from his lantern and taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly.

      He walks to the entrance and opening the door, alerting the man behind the countertop when he’s walking in.

      He saw the man on the countertop cleaning some glasses and walking towards him. He looked around the clean and calming feeling tavern and find another man playing the grand piano on one corner of the room. He could only see his back since he’s sitting facing the wall.

      When he stopped in front of the countertop, he’s taking off his black hat with a single ornated feather which is also black in color and asking politely to the big and muscular man that apparently is the owner of the tavern about his reason here.