The tower loomed over me, equally beautiful and menacing. I looked up, craning my neck in an attempt to glimpse the top. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t make it out - it seemed to be almost entirely shrouded in murky gray clouds. __ _I can’t believe I’m about to do this. _ __ __ I glanced down at my tattered dress, at my worn and muddied boots. I had no choice. If I stayed another night out in the cold, I’d likely freeze to death or starve. My belly growled in acknowledgement. Either I faced almost certain death outside, or I took a chance and faced possible death in the creepy tower. Only one of those options had a slim chance of survival, and so I took it. Lifting up my skirts, I began the trudge toward the crumbling stone bridge leading up to the tower’s entrance. I arrived at said entrance after about fifteen minutes of climbing the dangerously uphill bridge. Stopping to catch my breath, I turned around to look back at the forest from whence I’d came. It was almost entirely concealed by swirling silver mist. “How ominous,” I muttered to myself. Turning back to the large door before me, I stood on my tippy toes to reach the iron door knocker. I wrapped against the heavy wood three times, hoping that would get the point across that I was in urgent need of help. I was greeted by silence. The door didn’t budge, and there was no sound of movement or life from behind it. Reaching up to knock again, I had just grabbed hold of the knocker when the door swung open, sending me sprawling into the stone foyer.