Ashley looked out of the car window at the dark woods surrounding the road. She took out her phone that was in the little, dark purple purse lying next to her. She turned it on and immediately frowned - no signal. This only added to her unhappiness. Not only was she supposed to spend the summer at an old house with people she did not know, but also was already driving for 7 hours through the old, bumpy road. She looked at the driver, sitting in front of her in the driver's seat. He was in his mid-fifties, an unfriendly male with lots of wrinkles all over his face. He was very quiet and wasn't very talkative. Ashley tried to make some small talk the first hour of the trip, but he made it clear that he wasn't interested in talking. For the past 6 hours they were drinking in pure silence and if at first, Ashley tried to relax and get some sleep, now she was just bored. The views were exactly the same for the last 4 hours, at first there were some fields and houses, sometimes they would pass a herd of cows or sheep, but then the driver turned down the road onto a much smaller and less used road that leads them into the forest. Now for the past 4 hours, it was just a forest. Ashley took a deep breath and asked how much more would they be driving. There was a pause, but all that came out from the driver's mouth was a small sound that sounded as if he coughed with his mouth closed. Ashley thought that maybe he hadn't heard her question and politely asked again, but this time a little louder. But once again all she was met with was silence. She sighed and leaned on the window. She closed her eyes and decided to get some sleep. Pretty soon she was asleep. She didn't have any dreams and when she woke up her head and eyes hurt. She hated sleeping in the car because it was very uncomfortable. She looked out of the window at the same setting. The only thing that was different, was that it was much darker outside. The trees outside were almost all dark and the only light there was, was the light from the sunset that lit up the tops of the birches, poplars, elms, and cedars they passed in the forest. Ashley came to the conclusion that it must be around 8 PM. She was still looking through the window, still in a state when even though you're awake, you still feel sleepy, when she saw a light in the distance. She focused on the light and soon there were more lights ahead. As they drove closer to the lights Ashley could make out small buildings. And really soon they were driving through a small village. It was made to look like a village from the 19th or 20th century, but there were small details that made you remember that you were from the 21st century. Next to the old-style buildings, there were cars and bicycles, also mailboxes and the glow from television screens that you could sometimes see through the few open windows.

Ashley was now fully aware, looking at the small town like a small child passing through an amusement park, joyfully and in amazement looking at all the different rollercoasters, booths and rides. All day Ashley was in the car, only looking at the lifeless forest and finally, now she was in a town, and even though it was small she was just happy that there was a sign of human life. After another ten minutes the sun was already gone, replaced by the night and moon. The car passed the town, drove through what seemed to be a field and reached a hill. The hill was surrounded by a fence, that was half brick and half metal. In front of the hill was a small, Victorian style gate. The driver stopped the car in front of it, and got out with a key in his hand. He came up to the gate and tried opening the lock. It took him a few minutes to get it open, as he did he pushed the gate open. It made a very loud and sudden screech as the driver pushed it open. Then he got back into the car drove a bit and stopped the car again. He got out and closed the gate, while it made the same now familiar, yet still unlikable sound. After that procedure was done he got into the car and they started driving up the hill on a very poorly lit road. At times it was surrounded by beautifully cut bushes and trees, and at times by some weird sculptures that gave an eerie impression that the road was either haunted, either they were entering a horror movie set. As they drove further up the road Ashley saw a big mansion on top of the hill. There wasn't a lot of light coming from it, intact only two rooms seemed to be light on: one big room on the second floor, and one rather small room either in the basement or first floor of the building. They drove closer to the mansion and Ashley could now see, that just like the gate, the mansion was also done in a Victorian style. It seemed quite old, but well maintained and taken care of. In front of the mansion was a rose garden. It was hard to see, since there wasn't a lot of lighting, but in the far end of the garden there seemed to be a beautiful pavilion. The car stopped at the steps of the manor. The driver got out and opened Ashley's car door. As soon as she got out she heard the sound of a fountain coming from the garden. The driver was already at the car's trunk, getting Ashley's suitcase and backpack. Ashley was quite surprised at the size of her temporary home and was still looking at the garden that stood in front of the mansion. She was very startled when she heard a voice addressing her from behind. She turned back to face the manor, and immediately saw the man standing on the front steps. He was in a grey suit and vest, the only decoration being a bright red rose on his suit.

-"My dear",- he said as he walked slowly down the stairs closer to her,-"I welcome you to our home sweet home and hope that you will enjoy your visit." He finished smiling, as he got down from the stairs and shook Ashley's hand.

-"You must be mr.Hemlocks, my dad's cousin, it's an honor to meet you sir.",- Ashley replied

-"There's no need to be so formal dear, you can call me uncle, your father was like a brother to me. Now, it is quite late and you must be very tired. Unfortunately my son's are already asleep, so you'll meet them tomorrow. As for now, one of the servants will take you to your room."

Mr. Hemlocks waved at one of the servants, standing by the front door. Ashley could see that it was a girl with dark orange hair. She was about 17 wearing a black dress with a white apron tied into a nice bow on her waist. They went inside the dark mansion. One of the other servants gave the orange hair girl an oil lamp. Ashley could see that all the other servants were also holding oil lamps. Some of the oil lamps had floral imagery, while others had ornate lampshades with hanging tassels. They walked into a big room. Ashley couldn't see much, because it was too dark. In the far end of the big room was a grand staircase that lead to the second floor. They walked to in. Mr. Hemlocks stayed on the first floor and wished Ashley good night, while Ashley and the servant with beautiful orangs hair walked to the second floor. It wasn't just the first floor that was dark, for the second floor was no lighter. Ashley wondered why they just couldn't use some electricity and as if her companion read her mind, the orange hair girl suddenly said,-"Our electricity works in a way that in order to turn on one light you have to turn on all the rest, and since the mansion is so big, it wastes a lot of money to use so much electricity."

-"I see. By the way I'm Ashley. What's your name?"

-"Betty. Betty Freeman.",-said the orange hair girl. As Ashley and Betty made it down the long, dark corridor they had a very nice conversation. Ashley found out that this was Betty's summer job and that this was her second time here, and that she had an elder sister who discovered this job in the first place. She told Ashley that her elder sister worked here full time. Ashley on the other hand told Betty that both her parents worked in the media and that for the summer they had to leave for job related reasons. Ashley also said that since she couldn't be left alone she was going to stay with her distant family that she had never met before - her dad's cousin, mr. Hemlocks and his son's. It also turned out that Betty and Ashley had a lot of things in common, for instance they both liked the same band, movie genre and books. They both LOVED animals and hated romance novels and seafood, they also watched the same youtubers and tv shows. Ashley recommend some videos and movies for Betty to watch and Betty recommend some shows and tv series. Soon they reached Ashley's new room. They wished each other good night and Ashley went into her new room. She was exhausted. Her luggage and backpack was already in her room. She wanted to take out her phone, but then realized that she had forgotten her dark purple purse in the car. She face palmed herself for being so forgetful and at first wanted to call Betty, but then decided that it could wait until tomorrow. She took off her clothes and put on her pajamas, brushed her teeth and hair and collapsed onto the bed. She closed her eyes and smiled at the thought that she already made a friend.