Wings Of a Raven

Part 2

Michael walked off the main road into a smaller gravel path that ran into the woods. The path was wide enough for a car and was lined with trees on both sides. He walked a short distance and walked over a small bridge. Made of red, but already much faded wood, the bridge connected sections of gravel path with each other, overlooking a gently humming river. Stern stood at the top point of the bridge, at the center, placed his bag on the tightly beaten planks, and leaned against the railing. The complete darkness made it impossible for him to see much, but he was less focused on the view and more on the opportunity to breathe fresh air. The thought had been running through his head for some time now that he was spending too much time in the city. Moving around the world from city to city, not stopping for too long in less populated places, one can forget how beautiful nature is. A couple of deep breaths of fresh air helped him relax from everything going on around him, at least for a while. He felt the satisfaction of being in such a peaceful place, although he realized that it would be quite the opposite, after all, if it wasn't for the death of his grandfather he would never come back here and it's not at all that he came back for the sake of his grandfather, rather because he is finally gone. He realized that the town itself as well as the estate would not let him forget, but he would only be staying here for a few days, get things done with the estate and then he can go back to the city. Most of his time here will be spent on his work, after all, he has to think about his current position during his last contract. He had been thinking about quitting for a while and finally decided to do so, but accepted the last assignment before quitting.

He took one last deep breath, threw his bag over his shoulder and continued on his way. He walked along another stretch of gravel road until a large metal gate covered with overhanging vines emerged from behind the hill he was climbing out from under. In the center of the gate was a metal sculpture of a bird, a raven to be exact, which, when the gate was opened, split in two, cutting right through the middle. An old stone wall, overgrown with something resembling moss in various shades of green and orange, stretched from the gate in both directions. From behind the gate, a several-part roof was visible. Michael stood in front of the gate and put his right hand to the raven sculpture. For a second the raven flashed, but to Stern's surprise nothing else happened.

"Yeah... " he looked at the inside of his palm with the tattoo of a rose "So either the tattoo is getting in the way, or you did something on purpose to keep me out. I mean, just HOW the hell do you change a padlock to the family lines? But sure, if you could mess everything up, why wouldn't you be able to do it too?" He pushed open the gate and the Stern Manor appeared before him in all its glory. The gravel road continued in a straight line to a circular branch around a large stone fountain standing in the middle of the property in front of the house. There used to be a huge garden around the mansion, full of greenery and a variety of colorful flowers, but now all that could be seen was an untended lawn overgrown with weeds and a small hedge complex that had once served as a maze in the garden. Despite a few lamps standing by the path, not much of the area could be seen.

He left the gate open and moved on. As he passed under the lamps, each lamp he was under kept flashing until he passed under another one. It might have seemed strange, but not to him, not in this place. He stood in front of an old dried up fountain and looked at the large building in front of him. Across from him was a tall semicircular staircase starting left and right, ending as far as the head of a statue standing between them, the statue portrayed a woman in a long dress with her hands positioned in a way that symbolized she was holding someone beside her, but she was the only statue standing under the stairs.

"Nice." Stern laughed as he looked at the statue. The stairs went even higher but already as a single, not too wide belt. Above them was a massive brick building that had once been white, but now... well, certainly not. The building looked straight rectangular with a slight beveled edge on the left side and a little taller than the entire building a round tower located at the right end of the building. He walked up the stairs and stood in front of a sizable wooden door with two round rings topped with beaks pointing downward to act as knockers. A large family crest depicting two fighting birds was also carved on the door. He thought for a moment whether to knock, but in any case, there was probably only a butler in the building, and besides, it was already late, so it would probably only wake him up.