Kaien quickened his pace until he saw a door with a small opening. He was about to push the door when the door suddenly opened wide and a tall young man with a knife appeared behind it.
“Oh God!” Kaien shouted, shocking. It was the third time he had been shocked that day. If he was not healthy, he would probably already be dead because of heart-attack.
“I. . . I. . . I. . . Urm. . .” stuttered Kaien. “I’m Dr. Kaien Kaughan. I had booked a room here. . .” He offered a timid handshake and the man eyed him up and down before accepting it.
His handshake was firm and lingering. “You are the first,” answered the man.
“The first what?” asked Kaien.
“The first one to come and arrive here. . .”
“There will be more people coming here?” Asked Kaien, but the man just nodded. “I see. Actually, I heard a sound and that’s –“
“It's to make dinner or answer the door,” snapped the man. “Can’t do both.”

“You are right,” mumbled Kaien. “Are you Mr. Dominique Drancezci?”
“So far,” answered the man, nodding. “I’ll show you your room. This way.”
The man or Dominique Drancezci was his name, led Kaien to another round hall, a little bigger than the first one. In this hall there was a huge fireplace and tall stairs.
Kaien looked at the fireplace and thought that it would be nice to stay near there relaxing. Then he turned his gaze to the stairs and was amazed. He imagined walking down the stairs like a king.
He smiled to himself and followed Dominique Drancezci went up the stairs. Right at the top of the stairs, Kaien was greeted by a huge picture. The figure in the picture was clothed in a black cloak with a hood and half of the face was covered by the hood.
Kaien made a conclusion that the figure was a figure of a man. A beautiful man. Kaien smiled again and he wondered what the man looked like if he pulled the hood and showed his face. He was really interested to see the face. He chuckled at his own thoughts as he continued to follow Dominique Drancezci.
“Phlegethon Room,” said Dominique Drancezci as he unlocked the door of a room. “You are the first visitor here, Dr. Kaughan.”
“You can just call me Kaien.” replied Kaien and smiled sweetly. Being called ‘Dr. Vaughan’ reminded him of his work. The reason he came here was to rest and stay away from his work. He certainly did not wish to be reminded of his work and his patient that he left behind. He would keep a mental note to himself to introduce himself without the ‘doctor’ title. “Just call me Kaien, Mr. Dominique Drancezci.”
“You can just call me Dominique or just Dom is fine too,” muttered Dominique Drancezci, opening the door for Kaien to enter.
“Phlegethon Room,” mumbled Kaien as he walked into the room, amazed. “It means Flame Room. Does that mean it's hot here, in this room?” Asked Kaien, joking.
“No, no. It's not. Don’t worry.”
“I’m just joking. Hahaha,” laughed Kaien. “Phlegethon Room. There should be another four rooms like this, right?”
“Yes, the other guests will stay in those rooms,” smirked Dominique. “You seem to know lots.”
“Yeah, kinda. It’s just my hobby to read, especially about history and classic literature when I have some free time.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” complimented Dominique and Kaien accepted it gracefully with a genuine smile.

Kaien looked around the room and he decided that he loved the room very much. Like the rest of the mansion that he had seen so far, this room was also huge and classic style.
Right in front of him was a king size bed. There was a classic medium size fireplace. It was carved with lots of symbols and images. He could not help himself and ran his fingers on each carved. There was also a comfortable classic chair next to the fireplace.
‘It was like a king room,’ thought Kaien.
“This room is so beautiful. I have never seen something so beautiful like this,” exclaimed Kaien. “You must love to stay and work here, right Dom?”
“Thank you very much. I’m happy that you like it very much,” said Dominique, blushing. “You can relax here. Make yourself at home. I’ll serve dinner at six in the dining room. It’s just next to the kitchen, the room we met before.”
“Ok. Thank you very much, Dom,” said Kaien as he continued admiring art on each piece of furniture in the room. He did not notice Dominique was still standing at the door, watching him.
“There’s a few things you need to know before I go,” Dominique broke the silence and Kaien turned his attention to him.
“You mean rules?” Kaien asked with a smile on his face. He was expecting it. There was no way this classic mansion could still stand beautifully without strict rules. “Just say it, I’ll follow it.”
“Yeah. . . You can say that,” mumbled Dominique. “Breakfast at seven. Lunch at one pm. Dinner like today, at six.”
“Ok. . .” responded Kaien. He was expecting strict rules, but not like this one. “ That’s all?”
“Sean didn’t stay after dinner. Not after it begins to dark,” said Dominique. “People here will leave before dark comes. You should not go out when it’s dark too. Stay inside.”
“I see. . .” Kaien nodded. ‘People. . . Not everyone, but people.’ Thought Kaien. He was curious with the choice of words Dominique used. Maybe he was thinking too much.
“The nearest town here is kinda far,” Dominique mentioned. “Around 65 km.”
“Yeah. I can see that since I drove here,” mumbled Kaien, still looking around the room. “Took 1 hour drive from the town.”
“So, that means no one is around if you need help. . .” Dominique tried to warn Kaien, but Kaien did not take it seriously and was still busily looking and admiring his room. “Other people couldn’t even hear you at night.”
“Why?” Asked Kaien with a playful smile. He was not taking it seriously.
“No one lives any nearer than the town. . .” Muttered Dominique. “No one will come any nearer than the town. . . No one. Especially in the night, in the dark.”
With that, Dominique left Kaien alone in the room. The sound of a door creaking shut echoed through the room. Kaien pursed his lips in a pout, and then went to the window to look outside. All he could see was dead pine trees. From Kaien’s window, they look like a black forest.
“They must be so pretty if they are still alive,” mumbled Kaien to himself. “Why are they all so dead?”
He looked into the gate’s direction and caught a glimpse of a car at the gate. Looked like other people had arrived.