It took Maple a while before she came to grip with the situation. Instead of thinking too much about it, she tried to plan around it since there was still a lot to do before she was ready for Halloween.

As she thought about the dinner invitation she had accepted for later in the evening she grew rather self-conscious. She had yet to bathe and was still dirty after having cleaned, painted, slept and unpacked.

After getting her clothes from the dresser, she opened the door to the storage room...

"Wait... this should be the bathroom" Maple thought looking at what was now a storage room. The door in the foyer across from the entrance had been the bathroom yesterday. Or maybe Maple was mixing up her rooms. Opening the door to the left lead to the living room. The kitchen/living room door was still there, so was the office, and she was certain she had yet to go upstairs.

Confused she went to the door in the back of the kitchen again. She had not noticed when she came here last it definitely lacked cleaning, so she could not have been here to clean. The door on her immediate right opened to the bathroom she had been looking for. Relieved she found that it looked as she remembered, even though it seemed to have moved overnight.

It took a while to fill the tub but the 15 minutes Maple had to soak was definitely worth it. During the bath she had thought about whether she should go with some cosplay. The host had probably set up decorations and everything in which case she might stand out if she did not dress for the occasion. Applying some natural yet characterized makeup, combing her hair and finding an outfit took a while.

Since Lara had been wearing some simple relaxed clothing consisting of multiple colors Maple wanted to maintain the Halloween spirit by choosing something completely different. Something that would contrast and had fewer colors. To keep the slightly gothic style Maple put on a loose dark shirt over a black t-shirt and a dark pair of jeans. To add some color she put on a red lipstick, found a patterned hair tie matching her red-black shawl, colored waist scarf and hip scarf. Hopefully it would not be to cold this evening in fall.

After choosing an outfit, Maple still had some time before James would show up. To make use of the brief interval she chose to carve the pumpkin into a jack o' lantern.

First Maple carved out a piece of the pumpkin just behind the stalk. Then she proceeded to scrape out the pulp, seeds and some wall the make it thinner. Even though she had brainstormed some ideas with Vincent, Maple did not know what exactly she wanted to carve, so instead she just went with her gut.

The pumpkin got large round eyes with a hypnotizing swirl. A mouth like that of Jack Skellington, an appearance of stitches in one side and teeth in the other.

The hardest part though was carrying the beast off the table. The rest of the way went by rolling the pumpkin slowly to the door. \*knock\* \*knock\* it sounded from the back of the house. "I be right there" Maple responded as she got the pumpkin onto a metal tray, not that she had ever seen a fresh pumpkin catching fire, but safety first. Lighting up a candle inside and locking the front door Maple felt ready and gave herself a last once over in the mirror.

Maple could have done something to make the pumpkin last longer, but it was already the 30th which meant she would have to remove it again soon anyway.

Opening the door Maple was once again met with the grey-blue boy. "Hi James" she said raising her hand in greeting.

"You clean up nicely, miss Maple" James returned in his thunderous voice, before turning around and leading the way, "please follow me".

Maple felt like she had forgotten something and started looking around, only to stop abruptly. Somehow she was walking around in a forest, away from the only house for miles. And it was not even raining. She even remembered looking at the roaring downpour as she lit up the jack o lantern and how she had to remind herself to grab an umbrella on the way out. Maple felt overwhelmed with the ramification of what she was seeing.

"Miss?" James asked questionably as Maple had stopped moving. It snapped her right out off trance she had been in.

"Sorry I forgot something" she said and ran back. Unlocking the door she ran through the house grabbing the umbrella she had prepared and out on the other side. Running through her forested front yard and into the regular looking family street she took in the pouring rain.

There were no woods behind any of the houses, all the properties were well-kept, and it was definitely looking like a street in a regular small town. Maple could even see the roof of other houses behind her neighbors. Confused she walked back, stashed the umbrella and grabbed her phone on the way in case she might enter a situation where it was needed.

Walking up to James she once again looked back on the lone house standing in the forest which only strengthened her confusion. Maple barely noticed the surrounding as she followed James in a daze. Not that he seemed to mind the peace and quiet.

Maple only broke out of her daze when James started laughing. Chipp had bounced over and started licking him. The booming laugher was thunderous on the ears and contrasting yips of Chipp made a surreal experience. Not that it prevented Maple from breaking into a smile at the happy display of affection.

While Maple could no longer see her house or recognize the surrounding, she was probably less worried about her ability to get back than she should have been. Somehow she still had a feeling of where her house was even though there was no path.

The Blackwood estate was both scary looking and beautiful. It looked a lot more like a haunted house than Maple's new property. It almost looked like the castle of a mad scientist that could be found on the edge of a cliff in cartoons.

The castle did not have any of the characteristic that usually followed. It lacked a traitorous cliff, high protecting walls or even a moat. It had a couple of towers but rather than standing by themselves they were a part of the structure. Some even tilted slightly yet appeared structurally strong. Most of the castle were made of wood rather than stone, though not the kind of stone wood that Maple had.

"Welcome" it sounded from the front of the castle as Lara came to greet Maple at the door. "If you would please follow me, I'll give you a tour as Dave finish preparing dinner" she said leading Maple into the building.

Like a mansion the building started of with a large foyer with multiple entrances to adventure or maybe a bathroom. Other room might lead to the dining hall, the kitchens, an office, a library, a captured princess, a dragon's lair or a wizard's tower.

As Maple looked around during the tour, she kept seeing an increasing amount of doors where some secrets may hide. She tried to commit them all to memory to avoid wandering into places she should not be, who knows what they might contain or seal away.

"You can explore if you want, but you should bring one of us along as the building is constructed using Maze wood" Lara said as noticing Maple looking around.

"Maze wood?" Maple asked mostly to keep the conversation flowing but still slightly intrigued at Lara's description. "Yes, here in the Maze, a special type of native wood can be found" Lara described and continued "It has properties of the maze, that allows the house to grow once built".

"By continuous enchanting it, it has been possible to direct the growth of the house" she continued magically "Though not completely, some misleading pathways are unavoidable".

"Misleading paths?" Maple asked eagerly for more as the prospects of a growing house seemed ludicrous.

"Oh, yes" Lara said as she laid a hand on a lamp lighting up the hall before twisting. With a jerk the hallway rotated, and they found themselves in an enclosed hidden room.

"Wow" Maple said with eyes sparkling. It really was quite spectacular. "Are you telling me the house grows rooms like this by itself?" she asked.

"Yes, and much more, though we sometimes have to be careful as traps can also appear" Lara said with a stern and warning tone to make sure Maple did not lose herself in the maze.

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*\*ding dong*\* a bell sounded. The lamp was twisted once again as they found themselves back in the hallway. "Dinner is ready, let us head down to the dining hall" Lara said leading forward.

"How old is this place? How long has it been growing?" Maple asked still interested in the large and mysterious castle filled with adventure and possibilities.

"It has been in the family for almost 3 millennia" Lara said after some thought, "my husband inherited it from his father after his grandfather who had it built".

'3000 years and 3 generations?' Maple thought confused as they encountered the pale count once more. Oh, right, vampires.

"Please have a seat" Lara said offering Maple a chair at the long table. "This is my daughter Lisa, she began at Maze academy 2 years ago, you should be about the same age" she said pointing at the large and very detailed cloth doll that was waving back at Maple. "She stayed home to do homework when we came by your house" she explained as Maple had not seen Lisa before.

Rather than scary like those of horror movies, she instead looked really cute. The cloth softening her features rather than the creepy unnatural movements of a plastic or wooden doll. Her face was not without emotion. She even had small dimples as she smiled. Unlike the rest of the family her hair was golden instead of dark to black like the rest of them. It almost made her look adopted if they were not so different looking to begin with. She was wearing a gothic loli dress that matched well with her looks.

"As we have ourselves a guest I will introduce today's dishes" Dave said as he stood behind his chair. "We have a blood tomato soup with Guldan heart seasoned with herbs, a Finic bone broth with marrow and meal, a sim spaghetti carbonara with brain and fragrant flower salat with honey and cheese" he introduced and sat down.

Except the fragrant flower salat they all matched the Halloween theme rather well. Intrigued by the dishes, Maple wanted to try out them all, starting with the tomato soup. After filling her bowl, she was about to take a spoonful when a *\*CRUNCH*\* sounded to her right. The shock sound had her turning in the chair to find James eating.

Maple's sudden motion had him looking back at her questioningly. Looking at his hands you would find him holding a book in his hands. The book had a large bite-shaped piece missing. As he started to chew it sounded like he was chewing on a dozen carrots at once.

Confused Maple placed the spoon in her mouth. Ahh, hot. Blowing on the spoon she took another careful mouthful. It was a strange taste, it barely tasted like tomato. The dominating taste was some kind of spice, followed by slight metallic taste.

Shortly after the taste came a burning sensation. Wow. Dave sure had not gone easy on the chilis. It actually rivalled some of spicy cooking Maple's parents did once in a while.

The spice melded well with a heat of the dish and the metallic flavor slowly disappeared as you ate. Before Maple noticed she had already finished of the dish with great delight. She almost went for seconds, but remember them other dishes. Since this had been so good maybe the others were as well.

Looking around the table Maple tried to see how the other were doing. She had been a little to absorbed in the food so far. They were each concentrating on their on dish rather than trying them all. As expected, Axel was eating the blood soup. He drank it directly from a glass rather than using a spoon and bowl, maybe due to the inconvenience of having fangs?

Lara looked to be enjoying her noodles, Lisa her salat and Dave his broth, though not sure how?

Rather than spilling everywhere the soup just seemed to disappear and for some reason he was steaming. Like a kettle boiling with water, a small cloud of moisture were lifting from his skull.

Beside Maple the carrot monster was continuing his enjoyment of the books. It was quite impressive to vitnes his persistence.

The bone broth were delicious as well. Rich in flavor and with a creamy texture but a little gritty and on the dry side.

The carbonara was also incredible, easily the creamiest dish you would ever have. Be it the noodles, sauce or the pieces of brain. It was all quite good. Brain? Yes, real brain. Like any other part of an animal the brain was actually quite delicious. Brain consists of mostly fat making it an acquired taste and texture, but Maple had it at her parent a couple of times as it was the food highest in available DHA. It was impressive and rare to find it included in a dish. It also gave another layer of realism.

Maple was already quite full when she went for a small portion of the honey and cheese salat. She had expected it to be a rather gross mix instead it was incredibly refreshing. The juicy leaves burst apart in the mouth spreading creamy taste of cheese as well as a sweet taste of honey that seemed to harmonize with the dish.

Maple could not help giving her compliments to Dave the chef. The meal had been fantastic, and she would not have had the patience, time, or resources to make anything like it herself. At least not currently.

After eat they started talking and Lara tried to once again broach the subject of Maple acquiring the neighboring house. Apparently some had tried to acquire the property with no luck. She told Maple that they were currently in the Blackwood estate located in the Blackwood forest. But that Maple's house was located in the adjacent spirit woods that were protected by the spirits and their king. It was quite the tale, but before Maple was able to inquire further Lara switched the subject to Maple's current plans and when she chose to move out of her parent's house.

Maple explained how she had finished school two years ago and found an interesting job abroad. She then talked about the good times and made a quick comment about the rest, happy that Lara did not pry further.

As Lara heard the description of the college Maple had attended she once again brought up the magic school. Confused Maple asked what Lara meant by "magic school" and what was taught at the school.

Lara and Axel did not have much magical talent and could not attend due to the circumstances circling the school back in the day. Dave on the other hand had chosen to study abroad at a magic cooking school. So the first of their family attending was Lisa. Therefore, Lara asked Lisa to demonstrate her current homework to give an indication of the material they were learning.

"I am going to have Potions, Herbology II, Cantrips, Astronomy and have chosen Flying as an elective" she said and continued "Last year I had History, Herbology and Traits and Abilities". "Most of my courses are theoretical, but I peeked at the new textbooks and learned the cantrip [candle]" she said while a small flame appeared above her finger.

"Fascinating right?" Lara said as Maple tried to figure where the flame had come from and what it was burning. "Would you like me to register you?" she asked. Maple was not quite sure what to say, looking back and forth between the flame, Lisa and Lara.

"No fair, me too" a rumble sounded to her right.

"Sweetie we already discussed this, you will start next year" Lara replied.

"But I wanna start with Maple" the rumble once again came from James. Lara and Axel exchange looks for a while before relenting.

"Okay, but only if Maple agrees" they relented.

"Yay, please Maple" he said as he tried his best to make puppy eyes at Maple. Even Chipp chose to join in, giving her another pair of puppy eyes.

"Sure" Maple said caving in to the now happy pair. She had always been rather weak with children. 'To think they would get this happy to have me going with the flow' she thought barely even thinking of the consequences. But since Maple had agreed she might as well see where it would lead her.

"So where exactly is this Maze academy located?" Maple asked.

"Why don't we take you to the festival held the day after tomorrow?" Axel asked as he remembered the event. "Then we can also see if you have the talent to attend" he said.