The Demon of SilverFang

Helen Bell couldn't believe what she held in her hands. It was the most exquisite piece of mail, and without comparison the most enigmatic, she had ever received.

Ms. Bell,

We have been monitoring your work and believe you may be an ideal candidate for an extremely unique opportunity we are offering. Attached is a job offer for the restoration of an historically significant mural located at Wolfe Manor, on the Silver Coast of Portugal, a privately owned estate.

If you accept, please call the number below. You must come now. No name, no nothing. Just an address she had to Google-an isolated manor atop a wind-carved bluff on the Atlantic coast. The mystery and anonymity might have been thrilling if they hadn't also seemed so eerie and menacing.

Her life in Red Creek, Pennsylvania, had been what people here called predictable. She thought she had escaped after her parents died without warning five years ago and she disappeared into her work with such ferocity that some believed she was trying to outrun the eerie quiet of an empty house. But here is where she'd ended up; stuck somehow still, just not as comfortably.

This offer, bizarre as it seemed at face value, felt like the life preserver she'd prayed would come floating by.

Two weeks later Helen stood on a cobblestone path that wound up to Wolfe Manor, her heart pounding as she stared at the formidable estate. The mansion seemed to blot out the sky with its sheer mammoth size. It looked new and sleek in comparison to the jagged cliffs it was build upon, made entirely of glass that glittered like ice. It was so high up that you could see Cape Malachim at the top.

She frowned as she realized she was mentally ahead of everyone else.

'You must be Ms. Bell.' Helen turned to see a woman walking up to meet them - tall, in her mid-forties, with dark hair pinned neatly behind her ears. She was wearing a fitted black dress and heels that seemed to walk untroubled on the cobbled street.

" I 'm Sofia Mendes," the woman said and extended a hand "I manage the estate. Mr. Wolfe is expecting you."

Helen nodded and shook Sofia's hand, her cool firm grip matched the coldness of her voice.

"Thank you. It's... beautiful here," Helen said, though the word wasn't quite right. The estate was breathtaking, but something dark lurked in its corners.

Sofia smiled briefly at that. "It will be. Come."

Inside, Wolfe Manor was somehow even more intimidating. The ceilings were miles high, and the whole place was decorated in stark white. It felt more like a museum than a home with it's floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean but Helen couldn't see anything besides empty wall space.

"Mr.Wolfe likes simplicity," Sofia said from behind her as if reading her mind. "He likes function. Nothing else."

"Do I look like an art lover to you?," said Sofia, smiling. Helen was somewhat taken aback - why would anyone hire her to work with something they had no interest in?. "I suppose Mr Wolfe wanted someone who actually gets this stuff."

They stopped before a door at the far end of the hallway. Sofia rapped on it once then let herself inside without an invite.

"Your guest has turned up, sir."

The room was a library, yet it seemed unlike any library Helen had ever seen. Tall bookshelves made from a dark wood she did not recognize reached all the way up to the high ceilings. Every shelf was crowded with what seemed to be hundreds of leather-bound books. A fire blazed in a large hearth on one wall and near one of the tall frosted windows stood john Wolfe.

He pivoted gracefully as they stepped inside, causing Helen to suck in her breath sharply. john Wolfe was younger than she'd thought he would be-mid-thirties maybe-and he practically oozed that sort of easy-going good looks that most women couldn't help but feel attracted to. His thick black hair was trimmed back off his forehead, but she could tell it would curl if allowed to grow too long.

"Ms. Bell," he said, his voice was smooth but distant. "Welcome to Wolfe Manor."

Helen smiled politely. "Thank you for inviting me Mr. Wolfe. I'm honored to be working on your mural."