I've decided to write a story and post it in parts - enjoy!
Long, pained groans emanated from beneath Minnie's chilly feet as she crept warily along the dark wooden floorboards, emphasized along the glossy oak walls. A few feet ahead of her, a splatter of torchlight lay spilt across the floor, oozing along the surface controlled by her grip. She saw her desired destination when her wrist directed the torchlight in ascent at the stretched, arched window plastered against the far end of the wall.
It took the young girl at least five minutes to travel the limited distance before her - she could not be disruptive. As she approached the silvery glass, her breath caught unexpectedly in her throat - the adrenalin that was now creeping through her body was probably unnecessary, but as her gaze scanned the depths of the vast inky garden, fear swelled inside of her. It was as though she was observing a dark twisted jungle, witnessing its features from a separate world - the world behind the glass. The garden was composed into two parts; the first, and closest to the house, was prim, well kept and regularly nourished. The second loomed beyond an old battered gate and appeared as though it hadn't seen a pruner in decades. Minnie hadn't been given a fair amount of advice by her parents growing up and no matter how little time they had to fully interact with her, they had not failed to present her with one memorable, daunting warning: "NEVER go through the garden gate."
Her young eyes swept across the neat garden, the garden she often spent hours in on a warm day, propelling the dog's ball across the lawn and shrieking with giggles as he pelted across the grass and flew into bushes where it had landed. The memory aroused her with content and for a moment, her fear was extinguished; but soon, she had subconsciously began staring dreamily at the forbidden part and as the realisation tugged her back to reality, she began to feel uneasy once more. It was as though the bottom of the garden had swallowed every last drop of moonlight and in its place was secreting a sinister swamp of ebony darkness, cradling every corner, every twisted branch...
That was when Minnie saw it. She would have been a fool to dismiss it as a bird or a squirrel or a rabbit; for a moment, the pair of intrusive eyes that glowed passionately as the torchlight hit them pondered her own, distantly...then they bulged slightly, as though their occupant had begun to smile wickedly. The world beyond the window was plunged into deep darkness as the torch in Minnie's hand eagerly escaped her sweaty grasp and clattered noisily to the floor. Like all the other branches, vines and weeds, coiled in jagged patterns, the mysterious pair of eyes had become lost in the gloom.
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