Secrets of the Lonely Farmhouse

The sinister, hair-raising cries of crows cast a somber tone to the fields of long-dead wheat.

Eidiri continued to approach the farmhouse cautiously, wary of any potential threats inside. As he walked through the fields, the brittle dead stalks fell apart at his touch, parting before him.

Climbing over the rickety wooden fence that divided the fields and farmhouse, Eidiri circled around to the front of the farmhouse, preparing to make his entry.

The front porch was a mess, scattered seeds and dirt just all over the place, clearly, it hadn't been maintained in a while.

The wood was chipping, splinters covering dotting the steps.

Pushing on the door to open it, it swung ajar, revealing a typical home, a dining room, a small kitchen, a neat little living room.

Upon entering, Eidiri eyes swept the area, making sure to take note of anything strange.

One thing that he had noticed immediately upon entry was the distinct lack of shoes. That meant that either this family was too poor to afford proper footwear, or that they had skipped town, or quite possibly, dead.

This was a decent enough-sized farmhouse, so them being unable to afford shoes was immediately crossed out of Eidiri's mind.

Therefore, the people that used to reside here had fled or been killed.

If they had been killed, then what had killed them?

If they were fleeing, what were they fleeing from?

'In both cases, the reason was most certainly one of the supernatural origins', Eidiri concluded.

The surroundings outside were just far too strange and abnormal to be written aside as a natural circumstance.

Besides the house being an outright mess, Eidiri didn't find anything too out of sorts after his initial glance.

Therefore, EIdiir went through the house once again, meticulously making sure to not miss anything that could hint at what possibly happened.

Dust.

Dirt.

An old piece of cloth.

Some lint here.

Eidiri stood up from where he had been kneeling in the living room, dusting his hands off after checking underneath the moth-eaten rug.

Then he moved to the adjacent dining room. There was also nothing out of sorts here, Eidiri even made sure to check behind the worn, weathered painting of what was presumably one of the family members that had lived here.

In the kitchen, things took quite the turn though.

After bending his aching knees yet again, he found an odd little slip of paper tucked into the roof of the stone-brick oven.

Unfolding the yellow paper, it read, 'Beware the crow that cries naught but danger. The Herald of the Beyonder has arrived, with it, comes the Black Dawn.'

This cryptic message puzzled Eidiri, only raising further questions rather than answering any of the ones that were currently going off in his head.

'Who is this crow? Is it a literal or metaphorical crow? If this crow merely a piece of symbolism?'

"Who's this Herald of the Beyonder? Were they the enemy? A good guy?'

'What is this Black Dawn even?'

Eidiri came looking for answers, and all he got was even more questions. Questions that taunted him with promises, but always turned away at the last second.

With the paper tucked away in his bag, Eidiri continued to search the kitchen, hoping that there would be another clue that could provide him some clarifying information.

Unfortunately for Eidiri, his search proved fruitless, yielding no results.

Having searched the entirety of the bottom floor by now, Eidiri now ascended the stairs, making his way up.

When he was going up the stairs, Eidiri noticed something that was rather strange.

A slight wind went through the house, ticking his hair as it passed by.

Not to mention, there was an abundant amount of sunlight as he looked up, something that shouldn't be seen.

Especially with there being no visible windows.

When he had fully climbed up the stairs, the reason for such became startlingly apparent.

Eidiri's jaw dropped, completely stunned at the sight before him.

Where they should have been something like an attic or more bedrooms, there was only a trashed open floor.

A big gaping hole in the hole was also there, the source of where the sunlight and wind were leaking through.

The place looked like a garbage heap, completely ruined in every sense of the word.

What was more concerning though was the severed limbs littering the place.

Tucked away in the corner was an entire arm, bloody and putrid.

The entire scene could only be described as repulsing.

Eidiri's stomach heaved in disgust, almost vomiting its contents out at the sheer horror of the situation.

The upstairs was like some sort of sick collection, as if a hoarder with all kinds of mental issues decided to take stock of body parts.

Eidiri took quick note of the scene, making sure to go over everything quickly, whatever had done this to all these victims may be coming back soon, and he didn't want to get caught here.

By the number of limbs here, whatever thing had done this had brutalized over 16 victims already.

Then the audible sound of flapping winds soared through the air, beating furiously.

The sounds got closer and closer to the farmhouse, and panicked, Eidiri took refuge within a small closet.

The click-clacking of what Eidiri assumed were talons or nails landed, bursting in from the hole in the roof.

With a heavy thump that slightly shook the floor, something fell.

Nervously, Eidiri sweated, hoping that whatever had fallen had no relation to what he had been doing.

That whatever was outside of these closet doors had been the cause of the fallen object.

After the talons/nails paced the floor for a bit, the sound of the heavy flapping of wings was heard once again, swiftly flying away from the farmhouse.

Anxiously, Eidiri slowly opened the door, careful not to make too much noise, perhaps the flapping could've been a ruse of some sort to lure him out or something.

Paranoia crept into Eidiri, causing him to only peek outside the closet.

As his eyes peeked out the closet, a severed head lay upon the floor, the dim, flightless eyes boring into his very soul.