A girl in strange cottages

Aiden fell to the ground with a gut-wrenching scream. His body ached from the impact, and his eyes saw nothing but pitch black. The only things he could feel were the cool wind, the croaking of frogs, the rustling leaves, and his body's pain. He slowly stood up, stretched his arms and legs, and found that everything seemed fine—no fractures. He looked around, puzzled by the darkness that had replaced midday. "The painting brought me somewhere," he thought.

He looked up at the sky and saw two giant balls hanging—one larger than the other. "Where is this place? Mars? No, it can't be. I can breathe. Maybe it's some fantasy world like in movies and novels." The thought excited him. "I must leave this darkness and find inhabitants," he resolved. Despite his excitement, a sliver of fear lingered due to the unfamiliar terrain. "Mom and Anna must be worried about me. If I hadn't been curious about the painting, none of this would have happened." He sighed. "There's no use regretting. I must survive this situation and find a way to return home."

Aiden fumbled around in the dark. He didn't know how long he had been walking. Navigating in the darkness was tough; sometimes he bumped into trees, and sometimes he stumbled on rocks or branches and fell. But by God's grace, he didn't fall into any pits or step on any dangerous animals. Soon, he found a point of brightness far away. "There must be people!" he thought, treading toward the light.

As he approached, the light grew brighter, revealing more of his surroundings. He could make out the shapes of trees and bushes, and the occasional outline of rocks.

He found the source of the light. It was a lamp flickering at the entrance of a two-story cottage. It wasn't an LED or oil lamp. He looked closely and saw something buzzing inside the lamp. Fireflies! He was fascinated. He had seen and played with fireflies in his childhood, but the fireflies inside this lamp were unusually bright.

He moved to the entrance. It was an old, five-foot door made of thick wood. There was no knob, but there was a rusty metal ring. He hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the ring and pulled. The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit interior.

"What's that smell?" he exclaimed as he was greeted by a strange, pungent odour that made him wriggle his nose. He walked further. The house was in a medieval style. To his right, he found statues of men, and women, accurately it's seven; a four-foot-tall metal pot large enough for two people to sit inside and a wooden cabinet with a glass door revealing its contents. The upper shelves were filled with books, while the lower shelves held many glass jars.

The contents of the jars both intrigued and frightened him. In the first jar, a leaf floated and burned with blue fire. Strangely, the fire didn't affect the glass, but smoke was escaping from the lid, causing it to jump occasionally. The second jar contained several blood-drenched eyes, looking freshly popped out, giving him goosebumps. the third jar had a live beating heart but its colour was golden, and the blood was also golden. "Whoever lives here is not a good person," he thought.

The next jar was pitch black, with something swirling inside. When he tried to touch it, a red slit eye appeared, making him step back. Then he noticed a small, white silhouette between his feet. It was a fist-sized white ball with big, cute eyes, and very tiny legs and hands, moving clumsily. It looked harmless.

He tried to pick it up. It was adorable, and its fur was soft. He caressed it, and it started laughing. Suddenly, it pounced on his face and bit his nose. "Ahhh!" he cried out as he lurched back in pain and collided with a table. He pulled the white thing from his nose, and it jumped from his grasp and escaped. Rubbing his nose, he checked his fingers but found no blood. "What a devilish thing!" he muttered.

Turning, he examined the table he had collided with. It was thick and covered with many crumpled papers. A book rested open on a stand, and nearby was a telescope, a metal pot in the size of a teapot, a bottle of black ink, and a feather pen standing in a wooden holder. He glanced at the papers while still rubbing his aching nose. The language on them was strange and unknown, filled with circle diagrams that looked like magic circles from fantasy anime. "Does this world have magic?" he thought excitedly.

He then heard the sound of metal clashing and a girl's scream. Following the noise, he found a young girl, possibly younger than Anna, inside a large metal cage. She wore a torn and dusty gown and looked pitiful. She was banging on the cage bars and screaming in an unknown language. From her body language, he could tell she was asking for help. The cage was locked and he heard faint footsteps. Panic seized him as he desperately searched for a hiding space. He rushed and hid behind a nearby cabinet, his heart pounding in his chest. Peeking out cautiously, he watched as the sound of footstep drew closer.

A green, humanoid creature emerged into view. It stood at about five feet tall, with thick, green skin. Its head was round with a piggy face; but its mouth was filled with irregular, sharp teeth; and saliva dripped from its jaws. Fear gripped him as he observed the creature.

Terror filled the girl's face upon seeing the creature approach the cage. As it took the key from the rope tied around its waist and unlocked the cage, her fear intensified. She clutched tightly to the bars on the other side, reluctant to leave the safety cage. But she couldn't match the creature's strength, and with a single pull, it dragged her out, her grip on the bars slipping away as she was forcefully pulled into the creature's grasp.

"Leave me, you monster!" she cried, struggling to escape from his grip.

"Struggle... no... obey!" the monster said in a coarse tone. Aiden couldn't understand their conversation. She gave a pleading look at Aiden who was behind the closet.