The beginning
Few know this, but deep in the heart of our world of metal and smoke, there is a door. This door in its simple design and structure hangs in the back of the White Rabbit clock repair and antique shop unassuming and yet hiding unimaginable wonders beyond the wildest of dreams....
The bell above the shop entrance chimes as Rose comes in for her shift. Rose is a part-time worker for a small shop owned and operated by an elderly couple she had been acquainted with for sometime. Her long dark red curls are pinned up in a simple messy bun she prefers when she comes to work. Confidence emanates from her short frame as she strides in ready to begin another day. Only to immediately tell something isn't right.
Under ordinary circumstances, Mr. Jacobs, the owner, would greet her at the counter upon her arrival. This time, however, rather than the usual greeting she would receive from the slightly grumpy old man all she was met with was silence. "Hello? Mr. Jacobs?" She calls out. "Mew"the shops calico Pumpkin greets her running up to rub against her legs and purring.
"Strange," she thought bending over to give the cat some attention before moving deeper into the shop. Rose continued to call out the names of both Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs, hoping to catch their attention and draw them out from whatever corner of the store they resided in or at least get some sort of response other than the silence that seemed to be the norm for antique shops. Once again, however… she was met with the ever present silence that normally calmed the excitable girl, but today made her nervous. When she was certain she had checked every room of the small location, Rose forced herself to calm down a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "Must be busy with something," She thought to herself attempting to rationalize the situation, and began her usual routine of readying and opening the shop.
The day continued just about as normally as Rose had expected. Few customers came and went to idly gaze upon the multitudes of various items the shop had for sale. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Rose had pulled from behind her work desk an old magazine dated back to the nineteen fifties. Losing herself a bit in the text and images of the older time period. Needless to say it left her vastly unprepared for when a loud crashing echoed throughout the small building, disturbing the previous peace.
Rose let out a cry of shock hearing the sound. Her heart threatening in the heat of the moment to leap from her throat, continued to thump furiously, almost ready to burst. Her pupils dilated in fear. Rose began to look about madly. She considered running away in terror, but quickly dismissed the idea as stupid.
"You can't run away! What happens if Mr. or Mrs. Jacobs come back? What if…" She hesitated for a moment, raising the tips of her fingers to her lips in dawning horror, "what if that WAS Mr and Mrs Jacobs that made they crash?!"
Moving up from her spot behind her desk, Rose took a deep calming breath, and summoning whatever bravery she could within her moved to investigate the sound. "You need to make sure…maybe stop watching so much horror films. I'm way to jumpy " she told herself as she made her way through the cluttered shelves to the direction the noise had originated from. Slowly and carefully Rose made her way to the back of the store.Or at least, as far back as she could before stopping in front of a large, heavy, dark blue velvet divider.
Staring at the divider, the warnings of Mrs. Jacobs played in Rose's head. Since day one, it had been strictly ingrained into her that she was not, under any circumstances, allowed to go or look behind the large heavy curtain. When she had asked why, Rose was usually met with the same instructions to trust the old woman or scolded being told to ignore the curtain and just listen to her elders.Today, however, her curiosity betrayed her. There were no other visible areas of damage throughout the rest of the building, every other place she checked seemed just as before without any signs of damage. "Every other place… except for this one." She murmured to herself looking around nervously.
Rose shook her head, knowing that she would deliberately disobeying her supervisor and possibly costing herself her job and reputation. Nevertheless, she needed to know. Both for her own sake and for the sake of her supervisors.
"What they don't know won't hurt them anyways, right?" Rose reasoned with herself as she eyed the divider from top to bottom. Taking a deep breath, She tried her best to mentally prepare for whatever she was about to see… and break that one rule she had been given.
Slowly placing her hand in between the two curtains, Rose carefully began to move between them, slowly she pulled back the curtains It wouldn't be long until she found herself on the opposite side of the thing that separates the fine, if dusty old store… and whatever mysteries that lay behind it.
Beyond the curtain there is another anteroom much smaller than the front, this room is filled with many things some almost otherworldly in appearance. As Rose looks around in aw exploring the new area small things call out to her in various ways.Two bags sit side by side one looking like folded dragonfly wings while the other seemed to whisper of uncharted lands waiting to be Various knick knacks of sinister origins whisper of blood and dark empires. There is even a bottle with what looks to be a small petrified fairy inside a note attached to it proclaiming to just add water for your very own sea sprite light. Among all these bits and bobs sits a plain and unassuming door with a small note attached to the front just above the knob.
(The note)
I am the door of Thrae
Though I am simple in size
I hold thing that will make you not believe your eyes
(End note)
The door itself seems to be locked but next to it Rose spots a desk with what seems to be a well-used journal and a ring with a few keys on it. The keys all show a varying degree of workmanship from a simple brass key emanating the feeling of warmth and smelling faintly of baked bread to an elaborate and bloodthirsty looking black key of intertwining thorny vines dotted with small ruby roses.
Curious Rose attempts to first open the journal, but its pages are strangely glued together. "This is odd." She flips over the journal and discovers red letters scratched into the back as if the owner didn't have much time. She squints her eyes, barely making out the words. "Secrets...through...door...Crown Key."she says scratching her head in confusion "I wonder what it means". Shrugging it off as a mystery for later investigation Rose slips the journal into her purse and takes another look at the ring of keys. Many of the keys are beautiful and give different impressions from gentle and mischievous to dark and foreboding one even has a pair of feathery bird wings that move slightly when she touches it. Eventually though she finds a key with a tip in the shape of a crown and tiny red jewels embedded in it. "Maybe this is what the book was talking about" she says to herself a little unsure what she should be doing. Stealing herself Rose picks up the Crown Key from the ring pocketing the rest, and puts it into the doorknob turning the lock till she hears a gentle click. "Ok Rose you can do this" she says taking a quick breath before she flings open the door.
Darkness is the only thing that can be seen from the other side and though it doesn't feel threatening per say it brings out an unease, but before Rose is able to shut it a dark blur zips out from the shadows of the room and knocks her in. As She falls she catches a glimpse of Pumpkin who seemingly smiles from the doorway before it closes shrouding Rose in unending darkness.
The darkness seems to go on forever as our heroine floats along unable to move or direct where she's going. The only thing keeping her from the complete breakdown that keeps to the edges of her mind is the gentle glow that surrounds her shielding her form from the unease the dark brings with it.
Eventually she is spit out none to gently onto a grassy knoll where she rolls and tumbles before finally coming to a stop. Scratched and bruised Rose slowly sits up and looks around at her new surroundings unable to fully process what is going on. "Where...am I" she wonders as she surveys the peaceful looking forest dotted with small puddles as if it had just finished raining before she had landed. "This place would be beautiful if it didn't feel so unsettling" Rose whispered to herself as she stood and started to look around at first not understanding why before she notices. "There are no noises" and indeed the normal noise of the forest. The sounds of birds chirping the rustling of small creatures, even the sound of crickets. None can be heard in this place..