The Unknown - Chapter 1

Friday the thirteenth. A day that most people who were superstitious loathed but a lot of people, like Claire loved that day. Why? Because it was just something out of the ordinary and gave Claire an excuse to play pranks and have a good time. However, today seemed to be quite boring. For some reason, Claire had decided to call in sick at school and wander around the mansion, which her family recently bought and was still adjusting to. There were plenty of secrets to be found and Claire was determined to discover them.

It was still early in the morning and Claire had decided to start from the top and make her way down to the bottom. No one was home, her brothers and sisters were at school and later would go to the after school clubs. Her parents were at work, which made Claire slightly nervous, but she still had some company. A black cat named Artemis, which Claire adored. The cat lived on Claire’s floor and followed Claire everywhere she went; he was one of her best friends actually.

Exploring the top floors wasn\'t anything over the top; the mansion seemed like any other mansion, big bedrooms, some of them being en suite, large bathrooms, a few small offices on each floor. It was what you would find in normal houses but everything was just slightly bigger.

It was getting dark outside, as it had started to rain and the wind seemed to pick up. Still, Claire was home alone with the black cat. Company, but she wanted someone else to be there.

Hours went by and it was pitch black outside, when Claire found herself in the entrance hall, looking around. There wasn’t anything eye catching in the entrance hall, except for the large, dusty, golden chandelier above her head. Her eyes wondered around for sometime, when something caught the corner of her eye. Something which didn’t belong there on the shelf…..it was a picture of a woman and her child.

Curiously, Claire lifted the picture and as she did so, the entire shelf moved back...