After what felt like the longest drive in the world, ten hours to be exact, I finally made it to my destination. I parked my car by the front gates of the mansion my mom left for me. I got out of the car. This is not what I expected, I thought to myself. The sky was dark, but the moon was full illuminating the sky breathing in life to the dilapidated chateau.

“There is no way that I’m going to find any answers here. Do I have the right address?”

I took out my phone to double-check, it was evident that no one had lived here in such a long time. Perhaps Tim was right, I had no business being here. I cross-referenced the address on my phone to the one that was in my mom’s letter. Yup everything checks out, I thought.

With her letter still in my hands I re-read the whole thing over again. The letter had very specific instructions. Hell, the lawyer had step-by-step detailed rules as to how she wanted him to present the information to me. Which he professionally did as silly as he thought it to be. And as silly as I thought it was, I was about to do the same.

I dialed Tim’s number as I used the first key to unlock the gate, blocking me from getting to the once great chateau. It looked like an important person once lived there. I was perplexed that my mom owned something of this magnitude. Not to say she wasn’t important. She was to me.

“Hey babes, miss me already?” Tim asked with the sound of virtual gunshots in the background. I always hated when he split his attention while on the phone. I never understood why he couldn’t just pause the damn game. It’s not like he played online, he only played single player games.

“You know it,” I said giving him just enough satisfaction.

“Awh, so when you coming home?

“That’s what I am calling about.”

“Is everything okay?” He said with concern in his voice.

“Yeah, the place isn’t livable. I am sending a picture now.” I said as I pulled one side of the gate open, snapping a picture of the house on my phone.

“Oh, that is rough Erin, I’m so sorry sweetie. How about you come back, and I’ll have ice cream waiting and draw up a nice bath for you,” he said almost sounding empathetic.

“Yeah,” I said.

“You okay babe?”

“Yeah…I am."

“That doesn’t sound convincing."

“I…I…just thought it would be different.”

“Different how?”

“I dono…just did."

“Come back, and we will talk all about it.”

“Yeah, call you when I get back on the road.”

“Love you sweetie.”

“Yeah…love you."

I hung up the phone and my hands were shaking. I swung the rest of the gate open in frustration. However, the rusted gate did not comply. Only moving a few inches. I walked over and kicked it with my leg. That should be enough space for me, I thought to myself. I got in my car and drove up to the old chateau. The sky was covered in a blanket of clouds, moving past the moon like in an old werewolf movie. The ground was covered in mist as if there were a big lake nearby, I looked around as my car approached the ever-so-long driveway.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I planned on following the directions to a tee, then getting the hell out of there. This house gave me the creeps. Truth be told, I knew that following these instructions wouldn’t change my life in any way. I would go back to Tim and use the money, go back to college, and live out a boring career-filled life with a good man. My heart yearned for adventure, action, and romance. Like something in an old fantasy movie. I wasn’t old, but my soul was. If I have learned anything from my thirty years on this planet; It was that I wanted a life full of adventure.

I pondered these thoughts as I turned off my car and grabbed the egg. My mom called it an egg in her letter so, it’s a freaking egg, thinking back to my conversation with Tim. That was my hint that he read the letter in secret. I was sure that he snuck in references but couldn’t truly prove anything. It would only incite another fight with him. And boy did he love to fight. That’s my curse for shacking up with a lawyer.

I got out of my car and turned my phone’s flashlight on. I was sure that the house didn’t have any electricity or running water. I turned back to grab the letter I almost forgot. I wanted to be sure that I followed every step exactly in the order described to me in the letter.

I stepped to the door and got out the ring that had the three keys given to me. I used the second one just as the letter told me. I opened the door; it bellowed out a loud creak. It was as if the house had awoken from a long slumber.

To my surprise, I walked into what seemed like a modern castle. It was clean and I flipped the light switch. It worked. Confused I went back outside and the outside still looked as if it were in ruin, but the inside looked immaculate. Okay, maybe I do want to live here, I thought. Eger to follow the rest of the instructions, I walked into what I perceived to be the grand hall and took in the sight. It reminded me of a Victorian-style hall, which struck me odd because the outside looked like a French chateau.

I walked up the winding staircase. According to the letter I needed to follow it up to the master bathroom. I wasn’t sure if there were multiple master bathrooms or what. This place was huge. Thank goodness my mother was detail-oriented. She always said that the ‘devil was in the details.’

I walked down the hall; the red carpeting was gawdy and so were all the pictures hanging on the wall. Some were people of which I had no clue who they were. Other pictures were of rolling pastures and farmland. One picture looked to be of a great monster. It gave me the creeps.

I finally made it to the bathroom and turned the light on. It was the most beautifully intricate bathroom I had ever seen. Ornate pictures and statues similar to my egg filled the space. They were all purposefully placed as if it were some kind of ritual room of some sort. I peered at the letter mouthing the instructions for the last time.

“Alright, so take the egg. Put it in the bath with me. I have to be sure to turn the water on making sure that I only use the hot setting.” I better not get burned I thought. “Then sit in the tub with the egg and let the tub fill up all of the way. Oh, and by the way I need to be holding the egg or it won’t work. Also, don’t forget to wear your clothes in the tub,” I said talking to myself. It’s official, I am a crazy person.

I followed the instructions to my mom’s perfection. I sat in the massive tub clutching the egg in my hands. Hoping, waiting, for my life to somehow change. The only thing I got so far was the uncomfortable feeling of getting my clothes submerged in water and the heat that came with not using any cold water. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot for me. I was known to take extremely hot showers.

I needed to let the water overflow in the bath. As I waited for that I looked around in the enormous room. I didn’t know why I was following my mom’s instructions. Perhaps it was because I missed her. I thought about her, and tears started to roll down my cheeks. I felt the warmth of my cheeks give way to uncomfortable thoughts. I cried into the egg gripping it tight.

I always held myself together but not now. I cried even harder as if I were a child in search of her mother. I thought about all of the good memories of her. The silly ones and also the not-so-great memories. I feared that they would be erased, I feared that I would forget.

The tub started to overfill, and the egg started glowing brightly like magic. It started shaking as mascara bled down my face. As if it were hatching. My head felt extremely dizzy.

"Must be the hot—"

My vision blurred as I saw cracks in the egg, and I felt as if the bottom of the tub was not supporting me, and I began to lose consciousness.

Is this all just a dream?

“No Erin, my sweet dear. This is only the beginning. Your journey awaits,” I hear my mother’s voice as I slip into eternal sleep.