Luigi's Mansion

Chapter 1 - A Disturbance in Boo Woods

   The evening sky over Boo Woods was blanketed over with dark clouds, illuminated throughout with a bluish–green cast. They foretold of a thunderstorm, but no rain had fallen as of yet. Instead, the creepy hue seemed to hang over the forest only to make it appear haunted.

Indeed, the woods did look forsaken. Dead trees extended in every direction, thick trunks and crooked, leafless branches stabbing skyward. The cries of small forest creatures, almost like a distant lament, echoed throughout the woods. But even so, the night somehow seemed still - too still. It was as if a great wave had swept over the woods long ago and demolished everything.

However, tonight there seemed to be something in the air – and not just the chilly wind that was picking up. It was not the same, dead feel that was there on every night; it was almost charged with a mysterious gloom, as if something was astir, something strange was afoot. Like so many things in Boo Woods, it's approach was vague - but it was there. The very trees seemed to stand frozen in anticipation of it.

It was on this night, and only this night, that everything suddenly seemed so different - and so dangerous.

The trees whispered through their empty limbs of evils unseen; something had happened. Something was going to happen; and it had already begun.

Someone was walking in the forest.

Deep in the woods, disturbing the gloomy aura of fog that hung over them, a beam of light moved in the night. Following the small, seemingly little-used path that snaked through the miles of ancient foliage, a lone young man passed silently among the trees. He walked, as he had for a long time already, rather rigidly as he surveyed his shady surroundings, clutching the flashlight which he'd been wise to bring. He was an intruder; and the forest had been getting to him.

He didn't exactly look like much of an intruder. He was dressed in plain, honest clothing; denim overalls over a long-sleeved shirt, which was a dazzling lime-green against the dead ferns. It matched the color of the hat he wore: a flat cap with a unique design. A white patch above the visor sported the letter 'L' embroidered on it in green, as a single source of identification. For a reason less obvious, he also wore thick white gloves and brown work boots.

Apart from the nervous demeanor which clearly emanated from him, he would not have been considered at all unpleasant to look at. He was slightly round in the mid-section and somewhat on the short side; but he had an impressive handlebar mustache, which fluttered faintly in the cool wind that played against him. It was a darker shade than the auburn sideburns and wavy hair that stuck out behind his cap. Above the mustache rested a big, round nose that almost dwarfed his thin, fair face. Bright blue eyes, alive with youthful innocence, scanned the forest dubiously. He may have been an intruder; but however one looked at him, he was alone.

Overall, he should have appeared a harmless traveler, trembling a little as he shone his flashlight doubtfully at the dark trees above him. Travelers certainly seemed a scarce sight in Boo Woods, and for a good and obvious reason. But despite all appearances, this young man wasn't just a lost boy - he was, in fact, going to meet someone.

Hard as it may have been to believe, he hadn't known anything about it when he'd woken up that morning. For him, it had been just another beautiful day in his shortly distant hometown of the Mushroom Kingdom; and he'd started it by going about his morning activities the way he usually did. It had been life at its simplest: take care of the house, deal with work, greet neighbors. All just the same as always.

His mornings sometimes could even be so repetitive that he actually yearned to check the mail: a one chance for news or excitement from the outside world to reach him. Usually he was disappointed on receiving it, of course - since when did mail ever mean anything good? But it was precisely when he'd checked the mail that day that it had all started – with a single unsigned envelope.