The woman reached to grasp the gate in her slender hand. She tried desperately to see through the downpour. There was movement again, this time closer to where she stood. "Hello??" The gate shook as a woman drenched in rain and dressed in old Victorian style garb threw herself against it. Alera nearly screamed, as the figure seemed to have come from nowhere.

Before she could formulate words, the woman spoke. "Please miss, you mustn't linger out here!" she cried out over the pounding rain. Pale white hands fumbled with a lock on the gate for several moments before it fell away. "You'll catch cold standing out here in this storm. You must come inside, dear!" Her sad, seemingly hollow eyes pleaded with the stranger as she opened the creaking iron gate just wide enough for Alera to be pulled through. It seemed she didn't really have a choice.

She stumbled forward and nearly slipped before turning to thank the woman, but couldn't seem to find her again. The lock had been put back in place and footsteps could be seen in the mud where she had stood, but where..? Alera turned back to the house only to see the woman hurrying down the mud-covered road towards the front door. She immediately began to run after her, though the rain slowed her down. The next time she lifted her head to look, all she saw was the front door closing and a drenched skirt disappearing through it.

Alera hurried to the door and hesitantly reached for the large brass handle. She had been invited in, even if the woman had been acting strangely. It's not like she was breaking in or anything. With great caution, the brunette pushed the door open and stepped inside. Lightning lit up the sky and she nearly slammed the door up in fear of the accompanying thunder. Water pooled on the floor where she stood; her clothes thoroughly drenched. That woman seemed to have disappeared again... "Hello...? Hello! Is anyone here?" She bit her lip and looked around, beginning to back up against the door again.

The whole property gave off an aura of unease, and she quickly found that the manor was no different. Things were darker inside than she had expected. The furnishings were older, probably still from the same time the house had been built. As her eyes wandered through the entrance room, she caught herself whispering, "It's like stepping into a time machine..."