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Cold.

It was cold and was going to die. I was sure of it. The tracks of my tears had long frozen over. Swearing, crying, laughing hysterically had no effect on the fact that I was miserably lost in the wilderness of the forest. The world had started to become jumble of black and white mess. I couldn't differentiate what was what anymore. Staggering through the sparce undergrowth, my legs sunk into the mush of snow and dirt, soaking through my pants and I was too tired even to grimace in distaste.

Hours had already passed. Or was it just minutes? Time didn't make sense anymore. Giving up had never sounded any better. Then in the pitch of darkness of the night, something flicked at the edge of my vision.

Fire.

Perhaps I had turned too fast in my haste to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating, because exhausted as I was my leg got caught in something that I couldn't recognise in the darkness and I went down tumbling the hill and directly into a little stream getting my what was left of my pants soaked too.

F**k. I was so f**king dead.

Getting up, I shuddered so bad that I could hear my bones clink. It was clearer now. The flicker was a flame. It was a light from a house. As I ascended from the little trench that I had fallen into, it became clearer that it was more like a mansion than a house.

As I neared the house I wanted to cry again. Not out of relief. No, it was because of the bloody huge gates that blocked my path. Now, how did I go in? I tried pushing it, kicking it, but nothing happened. Tired, I did the only thing I could try. I tried climbed the gate.

Hah! Climbing? It was more like hugging the gates like a monkey as I tried wobbling up. I reached the top and put my legs over it and that was the end of my strength. Legs giving out slipping on the thin layer of ice, I fell on the cobblestone.

Groaning as I tried sitting, I shouted when I moved my wrist. Crap. I had either twisted it or I had broken it.

Getting up I tucked the injured wrist against me and I hobbled forward. It was too dark to make out but the sides of the pathway were lined with huge shrubs that were too neat to be wild. So it did mean that someone was staying here. Thank Gods. I didn't think I could survive the night out here. That brought me back to the SOB that I had once called father. If possible I wouldn't mind breaking his legs and dumping him in a snow blizzard just for the heck of it. It must have been the b***h's ides. My dad was too stupid to have done it all. Not that she is better. She's like one drop better than my dung head of a father.

Oh, did you think that my threatening was all bluff? Hell no.

Once I get back on my feet I planned on doing just that. Oh, drowning them all sounded just wonderful!

The huge wooden doors brought me out of my reverie of murderous thought. Another door to cross I thought sardonically. Well I doubted if this one would open. Taking a step in front, naturally I tripped on my own feet and I ended up face planting the door. The door gave away and my poor face ended up kissing the floor this time.

Quite well oiled hinges in the middle of nowhere for them to open just by putting my weight on them. I was going insane. There was no other explanation for my erratic thoughts.

I sat up slowly, groaning at the pain touching my nose. My fingers came away wet. Great, now I had busted my nose.

What else could happen? No, don't answer that. I looked around me miserably and I froze in shock.

Grand was an understatement for what I was seeing. The dim lighting just accentuated the grandeur of the place. I huge staircase stood in front of me parting in the middle that led to two opposite directions in the upper floor. The chandelier that hung on top of it was so huge that I feared to walk under it considering if it fell on top of me, I'd be Beauty pancake with glitter on top.

"Hello, is anyone there?" I stood there hearing my voice echoing through the empty space.

When I heard no reply, I frowned. Why would anyone light up the entire house if there wasn't anyone in it?

Sighing, I decided to explore. Walking behind the stairs I realised that the hall, the ball room I suppose, was way larger than I had originally thought it was. The second floor was almost like a balcony that overlooked the ball room. There was another huge ornamented door that took me to a huge dinning room beyond which were the kitchens.

No bedrooms. And, I was ready to kiss the floor agian. Slowly, I climbed up the stairs looking at the huge chandelier in slight trepidation. The second floor was no less than the first one. A huge corridor lined with periodic torches and golden walls ran deep into the mansion.

I found the first door and opened it and found that it was a bedroom. I naturally did the thing that an exhausted person would do with no regard to the owner. I jumped right into it and pulled the cover until my neck and closed my eyes.

Just before I sank into the darkness of dreams I heard muted voices.

"Is he asleep?"

"I guess so."

"Master will not be happy."

And then unconsciousness overwhelmed me.