Party House Murders II (A Sequel) (IC)

[Infected Mushroom]

Clarissa
Kieran and Clarissa had followed the others, not really taking an interest in the rows of books or musical instruments. It wasn't after all a ghost, and Clarissa's bottles (which she knew could hold a ghost captive) were waiting...not for a book, but for the undead. She watched as Hunter began to examine the walls, clearly looking for some sort of evidence that the government was using this place for...something, Clarissa didn't really know what it was he had in mind. Conspiracy theorists had a few screws lose in her opinion.
"There is nothing of the mystical about that area of wall," she declared, walking silently up behind Hunter. "I would try behind the painting. Nobody would hang such an unpleasant scene up to admire it surely?"

Hunter Kirby
Hunter looked at the art, and said aloud,"It'd be easy to hide a mike or camera pickup in that bust. I think it's watching me." He inspected from different angles, trying to find something. He continued,"Maybe it's some sort of switch for a secret passage or a secret compartment. Naw, a painting or book is more likely." He began tapping a nearby wall, searching for something. One spot, about two feet square, sounded oddly hollow. He said,"Ava, I might've found something. Help me look for a button or a switch or something."

The Current Mansion

Stansfield Lee

As Hunted, Kieran, and Clarissa were fiddling with the painting and looking for a switch of some kind, Stansfield was instead looking at the Carballal bust.

The alignment of the bust was wrong, and woefully so.

This annoys me for sure.

He was always a bit of an obsessive when it came to cleanliness so he walked forward, grabbed the bust firmly and re-aligned it properly with the desk's surface. As soon as he did so... there was a very loud CLICK.

"WOW!" Stansfield cried out as he released the bust and stepped back.

What... what did I do?

Hunter, Ava, Kieran, and Clarissa all heard it as well.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling sound.

On the opposite wall facing the painting of the ship... A SECTION OF THE WALL BEGAN TO SLIDE OPEN, making a loud noise as it did so.

NO... NO WAY...

Soon, a panel of the wall was completely gone, revealing a hidden passage with a stone staircase straight down into a new area.

"No... NO WAY!" Stansfield cried out in disbelief. "This... this can't be!"

This can't be happening in real life!

He looked at Hunter in disbelief. Stansfield didn't believe him about the hidden basement. But now that this was a real thing... literally any other madness was at least a possibility.

"I... err.... I think we better stay away from that," he said to the others, ever the cautious one.

[Recuecn]

Hunter Kirby
Hunter looked at the art, and said aloud,"It'd be easy to hide a mike or camera pickup in that bust. I think it's watching me." He inspected from different angles, trying to find something. He continued,"Maybe it's some sort of switch for a secret passage or a secret compartment. Naw, a painting or book is more likely." He began tapping a nearby wall, searching for something. One spot, about two feet square, sounded oddly hollow. He said,"Ava, I might've found something. Help me look for a button or a switch or something."

"Sure, Hunter," said Ava. She didn't really believe that there were going to be any hidden secrets in the mansion--it was just a creepy old house, nothing more. But watching Hunter try to find something that wasn't there was kind of entertaining, and at least he seemed a lot friendlier than a lot of the other people who'd come on this trip. In the grand scheme of things, Ava decided, "being obsessed with conspiracy theory" was far less bad than "being a total bitch." And he'd been decent to her, so deciding to pleasure him, she pretended to look around for microphones, cameras, secret passages, whatever it was Hunter was after.

Pretending to look for something actually made her take a pretty good look at the room they were in finally. "God, couldn't Scott ever pick a nice painting? What's with all these depressing ones?" At least this one didn't dredge up past traumatic memories for her. Nevertheless, Ava didn't really care to stare at it too long. She turned her back on it and crossed the room to the opposite wall. She began to tap it with her knuckles, trying to look busy and pretend to see if it was hollow. It was kinda funny, actually, it did almost sound like there was an empty space behind it--

CLICK. The very wall began to move beneath her fingers. Ava screamed in surprise and leaped back. "Holy shit, what's happening?" She looked around to see Stansfield, staring awe-struck at the wall, which was still slowly moving to reveal a secret passageway behind it. Stansfield still had one hand on the bust he'd just moved--it hadn't been accidentally crooked at all, it had been a secret switch.

"Holy shit," Ava said again. "Hunter, you were totally right." Ava was impressed--with the fact that Hunter's hunch had been proven correct, as well as the fact that this old mansion actually had a secret passageway at all. That wasn't something you saw everyday--it was more like a scene straight out of a Scooby Doo episode.

Stansfield was already saying something to the effect of 'that's dangerous we better not go down there'. But at this point Ava's curiosity was roused. You couldn't find a secret stairway and not see what was down there. "Ok, but like, we're all totally doing this, right?" Ava said. She inched back towards the revealed staircase and leaned out to peer downwards but couldn't see anything in the inky darkness. "Hunter, you've got a huge flashlight. Lead the way."

[Infected Mushroom]

Gallery

"Calm the hell down, Mort." Victoria could only simply say to Mort, as it looked like he was having a mental breakdown. "Uhhh.. Mort? It's just a painting. Scott probably has fakes or replicas on display. He could have kept the stuff in a storage room somewhere." Victoria put a hand on his shoulder, but it seemed like Mort was in a state of deep shock.

Mort Winters

"I... I can't begin... er..." he was in a state of shock. Then he came back to his senses. "You know what? Let's... let's go get some food. I may need a drink."

Mort turned around and started to walk out. He was hoping Victoria would follow.

Hopefully, if I leave, she leaves, and the rest of the works are protected from her!

---

The Dining Room

Mort returned to the dining room but he was surprised because everyone else had disappeared.

"Where did they all go?" he said out loud.

He sat himself down and helped himself to some of the food. He opened a can of beer as he loaded some pizzas, crackers, and fruit pieces unto his plate. Then he saw it, the box that Victoria had mentioned, containing the money inside.

Interesting...

He smirked as he noted the painting of Scott Houghton, the face glaring arrogantly at them.

"Nice one..." Mort muttered as he munched on some crackers.

I wonder where my pal Stansfield went...

[Main Nation Ministry]

Descending Into The Basement

The secret passage was something out of an actual mystery. The landing beyond the panel was visible, but the stairs were heading towards the darkness. Naturally, Hunter and his quest to know the truth was the one to lead with a large flashlight. The walls of the narrow staircase were made out of unpainted wood, as the steps were creaky when going down. It wasn't a long descent, nor did anything below those walking down the stairs break. The hard floor below the stairs was the floor of the basement, as the secret passage opened up to a wide room. Looking around with the flashlight, it appeared to be a large maze of crates and objects covered in sheets and plastic wrap. Definitely the mother load. Scott definitely knew all about this.

While it was difficult to see, it wasn't until the sound of footsteps started to come towards the group. Was someone coming?

The Dining Room

"Wherever they are, let's hope that Scott isn't involved." Victoria told Mort, as she helped her get a drink and some food to cool off. "I didn't know you were such an art snob, but I don't have anything against you. I'm trying to annoy Scott, since he is the asshole at this party." Victoria tried to explain to Mort, as she told a sip of some punch. "We can start looking upstairs for them. I got a bit of an idea, since I know Scott might be doing some tricks for us." Victoria told Mort, as she was wondering if Mort was interested.

[Infected Mushroom]

Descending Into The Basement

The secret passage was something out of an actual mystery. The landing beyond the panel was visible, but the stairs were heading towards the darkness. Naturally, Hunter and his quest to know the truth was the one to lead with a large flashlight. The walls of the narrow staircase were made out of unpainted wood, as the steps were creaky when going down. It wasn't a long descent, nor did anything below those walking down the stairs break. The hard floor below the stairs was the floor of the basement, as the secret passage opened up to a wide room. Looking around with the flashlight, it appeared to be a large maze of crates and objects covered in sheets and plastic wrap. Definitely the mother load. Scott definitely knew all about this.

While it was difficult to see, it wasn't until the sound of footsteps started to come towards the group. Was someone coming

Stansfield Lee

Oh my God I'm going to regret this.

He looked around. There was no stopping the others. Ava was especially keen and Hunter was well underway.

"Alright alright," he said somewhat grumpily. "I'm coming too. Wait up."

I am DEFINITELY going to regret this.

Stansfield Lee joined the others. It was a bit out of character for him, but he wanted to protect the others. Stansfield was so by-the-book he couldn't help but briefly wonder...

Is this allowed by the owner?

He shook his head,

Scott may not even know this place exists. What am I on about?

The Dining Room

"Wherever they are, let's hope that Scott isn't involved." Victoria told Mort, as she helped her get a drink and some food to cool off. "I didn't know you were such an art snob, but I don't have anything against you. I'm trying to annoy Scott, since he is the asshole at this party." Victoria tried to explain to Mort, as she told a sip of some punch. "We can start looking upstairs for them. I got a bit of an idea, since I know Scott might be doing some tricks for us." Victoria told Mort, as she was wondering if Mort was interested.

The Dining Room

Mort Winters

"Art... art snob?" he said, looking slightly offended. "Well... I like paintings... a lot. Carballal, he's a really good painter, a REALLY good one. But I guess... opinions differ."

Hmmmm... messing around with Scott?

"I... I guess I could go onboard with that."

He wasn't sure why he was going along with it. Victoria was getting on his nerves and he had every reason to dislike her, I mean... the DAMAGE she did to that priceless painting. It broke his heart. Still, his curiosity got the better of him.

"Okay I'll follow... but... but hopefully nothing too crazy?"

[Pax Nerdvana]

Hunter Kirby
Hunter shined his Maglite around the basement, looking at the plastic wrapped objects. He said,"I knew it! I knew there had to be something hidden in this mansion. If only my camera could handle lowlight conditions." He walked over to the nearest plastic wrapped object, which was about the size of an overstuffed armchair, and said aloud,"I wonder what's under that plastic? Maybe an old mainframe or something?" He began pulling the plastic wrapping off, and what he saw certainly wasn't a mainframe...

[Infected Mushroom]

Hunter Kirby
Hunter shined his Maglite around the basement, looking at the plastic wrapped objects. He said,"I knew it! I knew there had to be something hidden in this mansion. If only my camera could handle lowlight conditions." He walked over to the nearest plastic wrapped object, which was about the size of an overstuffed armchair, and said aloud,"I wonder what's under that plastic? Maybe an old mainframe or something?" He began pulling the plastic wrapping off, and what he saw certainly wasn't a mainframe...

Stansfield Lee

"Are... are you sure we should stay here?" he said. "This is really uncanny."

The real question is... what is the function of this hidden basement? Why does it exist? For what purpose? Why would a simple storage place be hidden? There's more...

He walked around and carefully and his stern grey eyes scanned the plastic wrapped objects and the crates as well. However, he touched nothing. He had had about the sort of invisible filth and worse that could accumulate over the years in these types of enclosed spaces. He wanted no such risk.

Seeing that he was convincing no one, he said, "Well... at least we should stick together."

The place is huge. It's... it's like a MAZE.

[Kazarogkai]

Red Bedroom

To give Amon some credit, he might have been best of an artist as Carballal. His own "work" was the destruction of the interior of the closet. With the bat that he used, he had smashed dents and holes inside. There didn't seem to be anything inside. There was a nasty large hole at the back of the closet, however. But no sign of anyone inside. Amon's fit of rage seemed to be caused by simple paranoia. His destruction wasn't noticed, as the group who were still downstairs were exploring the rest of the mansion.

Theme

Amon Day
Red Door Room

Strange happenings in this land....

Was the thoughts that came unto the mind of the young Mister Day. This was a strange place with strange happenings afoot. Was a nightmare soon to be upon him or was it all just a paranoid fantasy of a cynical and misanthropic mind? Hard to say and even harder to come with a proper answer for the matter. But whatever the case may be something must be done. A decision had laid itself down like a dead dear struck by by a car and left to die in the middle of a lonely highway. Should he leave and find somewhere that might be a bit safer or should he stay and make this place of his as secure as he could? Not an easy choice either way.

For the latter one could argue it would be a poor choice indeed. This place had shown itself to be potentially compromised saying could be potentially inviting tragic scenario indeed. But on the otherhand trying to find another place there was no guarantee the same result would not occur. Could this all be a game, drawn up by the sick mind of social reject known only as Scott? It wouldn't be all that surprising considering the reputation he had. There would be nothing but incentive to make the whole process occur as quickly and thoroughly as possible. What other reason could he have except sick amusement in bringing strangers to a place where nightmares dwell? Hence staying here and making the best of the situation might just be the best plan. There is a reason why when stuck and lost in the wild one is generally advised to stay and wait for rescue rather than trying to affect it themselves. Doing otherwise might just get you even more lost. Amon was somewhat familiar with the room knowing it's exits and routs and general outline which conferred a degree of protection.

On the otherhand in terms of the latter proposal. They do always mention "greener pastures" and all that wonderfulness. Taking away all the pessimism that coursed like a toxin through the very veins of Amon pumped by a heart as black as the dark side of the moon one couldn't discount the possibility that this room was a uniquely poor one for purposes of personal safety. But it goes without saying the mention of a mad man having built this location hence even without the Scott factor there remained a possibility of this entire domicile having been built with a degree of bad intent. Danger all around no matter where you go. But again nothing ventured nothing gained.

With all this coursing through the mind of Amon and without a hard and solid position on the matter Amon decided that the best course of action at the very least would be, while still maintaining this as his main base, to potentially go into further exploration. To see the lay of the land so to speak just in case. There was nothing preventing him from returning to the current location. With that in mind Amon gathered his things backpack and books and all found a decent enough hiding spot in the form of the middle shelf of a dresser. To the bed he rumpled up the covers slightly and with the use of pillow placed underneath said covers made it look as if someone was asleep on the bed to any who might be trying to peak inside. Amon again was a paranoid sort not interested in the idea of letting others know his exact whereabouts and patterns. With that all said and down and armed with his good ole bat for protection he took his leave making sure to leave the door to the room slightly open and the lights on so that any who might stumble upon it would hopefully assume it was already occupied and not disturb.

To the abyss we go, what dreams may come..?

[Pax Nerdvana]

Hunter Kirby
Hunter shined his Maglite around the basement, looking at the plastic wrapped objects. He said,"I knew it! I knew there had to be something hidden in this mansion. If only my camera could handle lowlight conditions." He walked over to the nearest plastic wrapped object, which was about the size of an overstuffed armchair, and said aloud,"I wonder what's under that plastic? Maybe an old mainframe or something?" He began pulling the plastic wrapping off, and what he saw certainly wasn't a mainframe...

Stansfield Lee

"Are... are you sure we should stay here?" he said. "This is really uncanny."

The real question is... what is the function of this hidden basement? Why does it exist? For what purpose? Why would a simple storage place be hidden? There's more...

He walked around and carefully and his stern grey eyes scanned the plastic wrapped objects and the crates as well. However, he touched nothing. He had had about the sort of invisible filth and worse that could accumulate over the years in these types of enclosed spaces. He wanted no such risk.

Seeing that he was convincing no one, he said, "Well... at least we should stick together."

The place is huge. It's... it's like a MAZE.

Hunter Kirby
Hunter said,"We should definitely stick together in this big storage facility. I've got a feeling something's going on around here. It may be bigger then I thought." He finished unwrapping the object, and dropped the last piece of plastic to the floor. The strange object looked like some sort of chair, but it had spikes instead of cushions. Hunter said,"Is this some kind of modern art?
It'd fit with all of that other creepy stuff that was in the gallery. Whaddya think?"

[Atkemri]

Daylon Swartz

Though Daylon had originally planned to give Mary-Anne a piece of his mind about his past treatment, but if his anime had taught him anything when faced with a lady in peril you are required to help and so listening to Anne's rambling reply Daylon tried to clean her off "M'lady, you need to calm down. What did you see?" Daylon was curious about the contents of the house, but didn't want to deal with whatever Mary-Anne had been dealing with before leaving that place. "Shall I go before you to check the contents of that place?"

[Infected Mushroom]

Daylon Swartz

Though Daylon had originally planned to give Mary-Anne a piece of his mind about his past treatment, but if his anime had taught him anything when faced with a lady in peril you are required to help and so listening to Anne's rambling reply Daylon tried to clean her off "M'lady, you need to calm down. What did you see?" Daylon was curious about the contents of the house, but didn't want to deal with whatever Mary-Anne had been dealing with before leaving that place. "Shall I go before you to check the contents of that place?"

The Marsh

Mary-Anne Paris

What's... what's with the way he talks?

She finally managed to catch her breath. She walked forward and said:

"You... you don't want to go to that place!" she grabbed at him, her face hysterical. "There's SOMETHING IN THAT HOUSE!"

"P... Patrick is dead. I... I saw his face on the wall, he... he became some kind of a monster. And R...Rachel is missing. There... there was blood from the walls. I...I don't know how. Also... also Sc... Scott knows something he's not t...telling us."

This is all so unbelievable. Why did this have to happen to me?

If anything was clear from her face, it was that Mary-Anne was absolutely terrified.

"I don't want to go back there! Please let's go get the others!"

Wait... what happened to Scott?

She briefly let go of Daylon. She turned around and looked back at the bridge and the Old Mansion in the distance, squinting to see if she could see any traces of Scott. It was all quite unclear.

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Basement

Hunter shined his flashlight, as he began to unwrap the plastic wrapper, covering what he believed to be a mainframe. However, it was another chair with spikes built into it's wooden frame. A possible replica of the one in the art gallery, though it was hard to tell which one was legitmate. The whole thing might be actually the storage for the rest of Carballel's art. But why were there two chairs with spikes? The thing that Hunter found in the basement was an almost carbon copy.

A source of footsteps that was oblivious to the group had gone closer, where appearing next to the group with a quick beam to the face by Hunter's flashlight was Spencer Hopkins with his camera. "Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys! I found this room by the bust and the secret passage. I been blind as a bat in here and the only thing I could have used as a flashlight was my camera! You know why Scott keeps all of this crap down here? I found something, but I figure that Hunter might help." Spencer explained himself, as to his sudden appearance in the basement.

Upstairs

Victoria had Mort follow her, as they left the Dining Room and ended up back at the foyer. She took another glance at the stained glass that was on the ceiling. Focusing back at the task at hand, she went up the stairs with Mort. "I didn't expect to stay here. This whole mansion is nothing, but a twisted image of Scott himself. Maybe everyone understands already." Victoria took a quick glance down the hallway on top of the stairs, where he had Mort follow. "I'm still curious on how Scott sleeps here. Thinking about finding his bedroom. He probably kept a copy of password in his room." Victoria explained, as the two walked down a hallway and past the red door, where Amon had started to leave the room with a baseball bat. Victoria and Mort didn't seem to realize that Amon was in the room, as they continued down the hall. However, the hallways upstairs felt like a maze, unlike what was on the bottom floor. The only doors were brightly colored that led to the latter colored bedrooms. 3 more bedrooms, though where was Scott's room? It could have been any of them.

"Hang on, what's this?" Victoria was about to give up, where she saw several doors next to each other. One door had a rather artistic design of a sailboat on the front. Another had a doll head hanging by a single string from the doorknob. While the last one had a golden outline, where a homemade "Keep out" was scrawled on the door.
"Well, Mort? Which one? All of these could belong to Scott, though one might be his father's bedroom." Victoria asked Mort, as they might have found something of interest.

[Infected Mushroom]

The Basement

Hunter shined his flashlight, as he began to unwrap the plastic wrapper, covering what he believed to be a mainframe. However, it was another chair with spikes built into it's wooden frame. A possible replica of the one in the art gallery, though it was hard to tell which one was legitmate. The whole thing might be actually the storage for the rest of Carballel's art. But why were there two chairs with spikes? The thing that Hunter found in the basement was an almost carbon copy.

A source of footsteps that was oblivious to the group had gone closer, where appearing next to the group with a quick beam to the face by Hunter's flashlight was Spencer Hopkins with his camera. "Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys! I found this room by the bust and the secret passage. I been blind as a bat in here and the only thing I could have used as a flashlight was my camera! You know why Scott keeps all of this crap down here? I found something, but I figure that Hunter might help." Spencer explained himself, as to his sudden appearance in the basement.

The Basement

Stansfield Lee

Wait... what?

"Sp... Spencer?"

Stansfield was shocked and surprised. There was something... slightly off about Spencer's story.

"Hey err Spencer," he said suspiciously. "You... you said you entered through the secret passage too right? The same one we just... But... but then why..."

He looked back at the others and then at Spencer. "Why was the bust still misaligned when we found it? How did it all close back up?"

Upstairs

Victoria had Mort follow her, as they left the Dining Room and ended up back at the foyer. She took another glance at the stained glass that was on the ceiling. Focusing back at the task at hand, she went up the stairs with Mort. "I didn't expect to stay here. This whole mansion is nothing, but a twisted image of Scott himself. Maybe everyone understands already." Victoria took a quick glance down the hallway on top of the stairs, where he had Mort follow. "I'm still curious on how Scott sleeps here. Thinking about finding his bedroom. He probably kept a copy of password in his room." Victoria explained, as the two walked down a hallway and past the red door, where Amon had started to leave the room with a baseball bat. Victoria and Mort didn't seem to realize that Amon was in the room, as they continued down the hall. However, the hallways upstairs felt like a maze, unlike what was on the bottom floor. The only doors were brightly colored that led to the latter colored bedrooms. 3 more bedrooms, though where was Scott's room? It could have been any of them.

"Hang on, what's this?" Victoria was about to give up, where she saw several doors next to each other. One door had a rather artistic design of a sailboat on the front. Another had a doll head hanging by a single string from the doorknob. While the last one had a golden outline, where a homemade "Keep out" was scrawled on the door.
"Well, Mort? Which one? All of these could belong to Scott, though one might be his father's bedroom." Victoria asked Mort, as they might have found something of interest.

Upstairs

Mort Winters

As Mort followed Victoria upstairs and around, he became more and more intrigued.

What is with this girl? First she spits on the painting and now she has all these ideas about stealing Scott's money? The password might be in Scott's room? Wow... CRAZY STUFF...

Finally, he was presented with a set of doors.

"Hmmmm," Mort said considering the options. "Well you know me, I love art. I'm gonna go with the one with the STYLE."

He gestured towards the door with the sailboat design.

He was also intrigued with the door that said "Keep Out" and there was a chance that the password was behind that door, however, that sailboat design looked so interesting to Mort that it immediately caught the pale boy's attention...

I bet there's more excellent art behind it...

Mort walked towards the door with the design on it, grabbed the door knob, turned, and pushed.

He wondered what was behind.

[Atkemri]

Daylon Swartz

Though Daylon had originally planned to give Mary-Anne a piece of his mind about his past treatment, but if his anime had taught him anything when faced with a lady in peril you are required to help and so listening to Anne's rambling reply Daylon tried to clean her off "M'lady, you need to calm down. What did you see?" Daylon was curious about the contents of the house, but didn't want to deal with whatever Mary-Anne had been dealing with before leaving that place. "Shall I go before you to check the contents of that place?"

The Marsh

Mary-Anne Paris

What's... what's with the way he talks?

She finally managed to catch her breath. She walked forward and said:

"You... you don't want to go to that place!" she grabbed at him, her face hysterical. "There's SOMETHING IN THAT HOUSE!"

"P... Patrick is dead. I... I saw his face on the wall, he... he became some kind of a monster. And R...Rachel is missing. There... there was blood from the walls. I...I don't know how. Also... also Sc... Scott knows something he's not t...telling us."

This is all so unbelievable. Why did this have to happen to me?

If anything was clear from her face, it was that Mary-Anne was absolutely terrified.

"I don't want to go back there! Please let's go get the others!"

Wait... what happened to Scott?

She briefly let go of Daylon. She turned around and looked back at the bridge and the Old Mansion in the distance, squinting to see if she could see any traces of Scott. It was all quite unclear.

Daylon Swartz

¨D-dead? As in killed?¨ Daylon could not believe what he was hearing, people were being killed here? Was this some sort of prank? Who among them would be a murderer? And a monster? None of this made sense, but surely the second mansion could wait until the entirety of the party was collected to see what was really going on in there. Though Daylon had his doubts about Mary-Anne´s claims since Scott would certainly be the one to orchestrate a prank on this scale, but the look of genuine horror on her face told Daylon otherwise. ¨ W-why don´t you head back to t-t-the main mansion so we can find everyone else and check out what´s going on. I´ll look ahead to see if there are a-any survivors.¨ The idea of an actual monster roaming some mansion scared Daylon so much that he forgot to use any of his otaku speech patterns in that sentence, but even despite Mary Anne´s look of genuine horror, he still had some major doubts about the validity of her claim. With his legs shaking, Daylon made his way towards the second mansion.

[Recuecn]

Unlike Stansfield, Ava wasn't too worried about where Spencer had come from. If there was anything dangerous down here in the basement, she felt safer with more people around. What worried Ava was the chair.

""Is this some kind of modern art?" Hunter had asked. Ava gulped. The more time she spent in this house, the more terrible memories of that night this place dragged up. She looked at her hands--still holding that random book from the library--and examined the scars on her fingers. Scars made by spikes just like those.

"I... I don't think that's meant to be artwork," stammered Ava, almost as if she was afraid to hear herself say the words out loud. "It looks like... some kind of torture device." Ava had the feeling that most people were supposed to be able to consider torture devices with a sort of skeptical curiosity, a feeling totally alien from the fear that was slowly gripping her, investing her totally and personally in these machines. Oh, how she wished that they were just some sort of interesting curio to her.

There were so many boxes! Could they all be spiked chairs? Ava opened another.

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Basement

"Like I said, I found the secret passage, also. Scott might be aware of it, though it's too easy to get lost in this house. When I went downstairs, someone must have misaligned the bust while I was in the basement. I hadn't found a switch or something to get out of here, but I been down here for, I think, 10 minutes?" Spencer explained to Stansfield, as Ava was examining the chair. "Torture devices? I didn't check out Scott's gallery. This might be old furniture or this might be made by Carballel himself. Scott seems to be the only one that knows a biblography of him." Spencer continued, where Ava opened another box. Inside the box was something much different, as Hunter shined his flashlight to review the contents.

Inside the box was a small painting that was showing a mix of green and silver in a series of shapes to resemble, what Spencer believe looked like a tennis court. A small label was on the inside of the box, where reading it said, "The Harpooner of the Court". Spencer took out the painting from the box, only to notice that there were another painting that was exactly the same that was hidden behind the other painting. "Wait a minute?" Spencer looked into the box to see that there was practically a stack of nothing but "The Harpooner of the Court" paintings inside. "Weird. Is Scott making copies of the painting? I think all of this is either the real stuff or this is a bunch of fakes. Either Carballal was good at making duplicates or..." Spencer thought of something, but wondering if it's Scott's idea or his father's. "Is Scott trying to profit off of this? I mean, he's rich. And his dad works in Hollywood, but you think he's selling this like merchandise? I wanted to say something, but I had found something guys. I couldn't get in, since it needed force, but I think there is something off about this place."

Upstairs

Mort entered the room with the sailboat. Inside was a large and grand bedroom. A king sized bed in satin sheets and red silk covers were present in the room. Several movie posters were hung up from a variety of films that all appeared to be horror-themed. A personal computer and desk were near a window. The wallpaper was a pattern of roses and white small flowers. Two glass doors led to a stone balcony overlooking the old mansion, where rain poured down from the sky. This didn't seem like Scott's bedroom, but the bedroom of his father himself.

"Hang on, Mort. I'm wondering what's in this doll room? Tell me what you find." Victoria said, as she opened up the door to the room with the doll head on it's doorknob. While Mort was inside the bedroom, there was suddenly a large silence that was visible to Mort. The sudden feeling of being alone was appearing.

Outside

Scott struggled to get himself out of the bridge. Outside in the rain, his clothes were now soaked and it didn't take long, until he managed to slip through the hole into the small mass of mud and water below. That whore...

Scott managed to get up out from the small ditch that was under the bridge, where he sidestepped past the hole that he made in the bridge. He took a glance at the mansion where Mary-Anne fled back to. An angered scowl appeared on his face. He had an idea, however. Leaving his knife behind on the ground near the hole, he took a walk towards the forest. He needed to be somewhere.

[Infected Mushroom]

The Marsh

Mary-Anne Paris

What's... what's with the way he talks?

She finally managed to catch her breath. She walked forward and said:

"You... you don't want to go to that place!" she grabbed at him, her face hysterical. "There's SOMETHING IN THAT HOUSE!"

"P... Patrick is dead. I... I saw his face on the wall, he... he became some kind of a monster. And R...Rachel is missing. There... there was blood from the walls. I...I don't know how. Also... also Sc... Scott knows something he's not t...telling us."

This is all so unbelievable. Why did this have to happen to me?

If anything was clear from her face, it was that Mary-Anne was absolutely terrified.

"I don't want to go back there! Please let's go get the others!"

Wait... what happened to Scott?

She briefly let go of Daylon. She turned around and looked back at the bridge and the Old Mansion in the distance, squinting to see if she could see any traces of Scott. It was all quite unclear.

Daylon Swartz

¨D-dead? As in killed?¨ Daylon could not believe what he was hearing, people were being killed here? Was this some sort of prank? Who among them would be a murderer? And a monster? None of this made sense, but surely the second mansion could wait until the entirety of the party was collected to see what was really going on in there. Though Daylon had his doubts about Mary-Anne´s claims since Scott would certainly be the one to orchestrate a prank on this scale, but the look of genuine horror on her face told Daylon otherwise. ¨ W-why don´t you head back to t-t-the main mansion so we can find everyone else and check out what´s going on. I´ll look ahead to see if there are a-any survivors.¨ The idea of an actual monster roaming some mansion scared Daylon so much that he forgot to use any of his otaku speech patterns in that sentence, but even despite Mary Anne´s look of genuine horror, he still had some major doubts about the validity of her claim. With his legs shaking, Daylon made his way towards the second mansion.

The Marsh

Mary-Anne Paris

"Hey... HEY I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO!" she cried out after him. "YOU LISTENING AT ALL?!!!"

However, he was already well on his way.

Oh well, what happens is on you. WEIRDO!

She turned and started walking very briskly back towards the other mansion. There was no way she was going near the Old Mansion or that dreadful bridge again.

This party is no place for a girl. I'm getting out right now. Is there even a boat out of this place? I HATE this dumb forest!

Something flew into her hair.

The red-haired girl screamed as she swiped at her hair. It was a DISGUSTING dragonfly almost size of a finger. It flew away but briefly made contact with her hand.

GROSS!

She started to run again, back towards the first mansion. Relief washed over her as she reached the familiar glass doors again which lead back into the breakfast nook. Now that she had time to calm herself down, she figured Rachel probably dog-tailed back before her. She was probably around here, waiting.

"Rachel?" she called out as pushed the glass doors open and stepped in. "Rachel?"

Or was she... also like Patr.... NO! STOP IT!

She wiped at her forehead. There was a small ocean of sweat and it had an unpleasant reaction with the copious facial make up she was wearing.

DISGUSTING... EWWWWWWW.... Yeah, I'm SO getting out of here.

She walked past the kitchen and into the hallway again, trying to find the others or some other way out. But then she remembered, she and Rachel had gotten lost inside the house before. So maybe... maybe she should go back outside and walk around the outer perimeter of the mansion?

But then she remembered Scott's crazy behaviour.

Yeah... just NO.

She would focus on finding the group again. Stay inside the mansion as much as possible.

Upstairs

Mort entered the room with the sailboat. Inside was a large and grand bedroom. A king sized bed in satin sheets and red silk covers were present in the room. Several movie posters were hung up from a variety of films that all appeared to be horror-themed. A personal computer and desk were near a window. The wallpaper was a pattern of roses and white small flowers. Two glass doors led to a stone balcony overlooking the old mansion, where rain poured down from the sky. This didn't seem like Scott's bedroom, but the bedroom of his father himself.

Upstairs

Mort Winters

"VOILA!" Mort cried out. It was a bedroom. Hey not bad right?

However, as he looked at the contents more closely, disappointment washed over him.

This isn't Scott's style. It's too clean, not showy enough. It's likely... his father's place? Damn.

Mort walked over started to observe the movie posters. He heard Victoria leave from behind.

"Hang on, Mort. I'm wondering what's in this doll room? Tell me what you find." Victoria said, as she opened up the door to the room with the doll head on it's doorknob.

Mort gazed over the posters. Friday the 13th, Halloween, Elm Street... the whole package.

"Heh," he said.

He walked over and began to open up the drawers. However, he found that they were locked.

Wait... what am I doing? I shouldn't be doing this. This isn't even my room!

He looked out of the window. It was raining outside. Thank goodness they were inside.

While Mort was inside the bedroom, there was suddenly a large silence that was visible to Mort. The sudden feeling of being alone was appearing.

Where did Victoria go? It's been a while.

Suddenly, it all seemed to be so quiet.

"Victoria?" he called out.

No reply.

"Vic... Victoria?"

Okay is this a prank? It's a prank right?

Frowning, he turned and walked out of the room. He found himself approaching the other rooms.

"Victoria?" he called out.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Kieran

He didn't want to admit it, but this place gave Kieran Leonard the creeps. All this random stuff, some of it rather...unsettling, covered up like some kind of deranged treasure hunt. He really wanted to believe that the place they'd found themselves in was just Scott's families storage basement, however something about it (possibly the fact you had to get in via secret passage, possibly the fact that spikey chairs were not usual household items) dissuaded him from that thought. What on earth was this place for?
He whirled when he heard Spencer's voice, before sighing "Don't creep up on people like that, I nearly decked you."
Turning away, he was able to catch what Ava had said and wandered over to her, looking from her to the spiked chairs.
"You look like you've seen something like these before," he told her, "Torture devices, I mean. Personally though," he bent to examine one of the chairs "I wouldn't build it like that. I'd make it look like a normal chair, and have the spikes set to plunge into the people sat in it...why give people the warning if you're going to hurt them?"

[Recuecn]

Turning away, Kieran was able to catch what Ava had said and wandered over to her, looking from her to the spiked chairs.
"You look like you've seen something like these before," he told her, "Torture devices, I mean. Personally though," he bent to examine one of the chairs "I wouldn't build it like that. I'd make it look like a normal chair, and have the spikes set to plunge into the people sat in it...why give people the warning if you're going to hurt them?"

Somehow just hearing Kieran's voice gave Ava the heebie jeebies. What was it about this house that made every single thing and person in it remind her of some long-forgotten nightmare? Ava kept her head turned forward and refused to look over at Kieran as he talked. Listening was more than enough.

"I think it makes sense, if you're trying to torture someone, to have them fully aware of what's coming," said Ava. "It's the psychological terror that gets to people before the pain does. Torture is just a big mind game." Ava spoke with the authority of someone who somehow knew what she was talking about. "The worst part of torture is knowing what's coming and yet being totally helpless to avoid it..." Ava stopped talking. Why did it feel like she was describing their current situation? She couldn't stand it.

Ava was more than happy to divert her attention back to the box she'd opened, containing two identical paintings. "So y'all think this is how Scott got rich? Selling art forgeries?" It looked likely. And if all the other boxes contained more paintings, there were surely enough to make someone rich.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Turning away, Kieran was able to catch what Ava had said and wandered over to her, looking from her to the spiked chairs.
"You look like you've seen something like these before," he told her, "Torture devices, I mean. Personally though," he bent to examine one of the chairs "I wouldn't build it like that. I'd make it look like a normal chair, and have the spikes set to plunge into the people sat in it...why give people the warning if you're going to hurt them?"

Somehow just hearing Kieran's voice gave Ava the heebie jeebies. What was it about this house that made every single thing and person in it remind her of some long-forgotten nightmare? Ava kept her head turned forward and refused to look over at Kieran as he talked. Listening was more than enough.

"I think it makes sense, if you're trying to torture someone, to have them fully aware of what's coming," said Ava. "It's the psychological terror that gets to people before the pain does. Torture is just a big mind game." Ava spoke with the authority of someone who somehow knew what she was talking about. "The worst part of torture is knowing what's coming and yet being totally helpless to avoid it..." Ava stopped talking. Why did it feel like she was describing their current situation? She couldn't stand it.

Ava was more than happy to divert her attention back to the box she'd opened, containing two identical paintings. "So y'all think this is how Scott got rich? Selling art forgeries?" It looked likely. And if all the other boxes contained more paintings, there were surely enough to make someone rich.

"They're small paintings," Kieran replied, "Not really the sort of thing that're likely to be forgeries honestly." He lifted one out of the box to examine it closely, "Looks like the sort of shit that hangs on the wall of a doctors waiting room. I doubt anybody is going to think they're someones masterpiece, unless like...it was the winning entrant in a blandness competition."

[Pax Nerdvana]

Hunter Kirby
Hunter said,"Torture devices? Makes sense. This basement would make a good interrogation room." He shined his light around, and picked another package to open. He wasn't terribly surprised by Spencer's sudden appearance, although the idea of another secret passage intrigued him. He continued unwrapping the plastic, revealing a suit of armor similar to the one in the gallery. He said,"The art forgery idea would be a good way to clandestinely fund a secret government op. I don't think Scott is behind this."

[Main Nation Ministry]

"They're small paintings," Kieran replied, "Not really the sort of thing that're likely to be forgeries honestly." He lifted one out of the box to examine it closely, "Looks like the sort of shit that hangs on the wall of a doctors waiting room. I doubt anybody is going to think they're someones masterpiece, unless like...it was the winning entrant in a blandness competition."

Hunter Kirby
Hunter said,"Torture devices? Makes sense. This basement would make a good interrogation room." He shined his light around, and picked another package to open. He wasn't terribly surprised by Spencer's sudden appearance, although the idea of another secret passage intrigued him. He continued unwrapping the plastic, revealing a suit of armor similar to the one in the gallery. He said,"The art forgery idea would be a good way to clandestinely fund a secret government op. I don't think Scott is behind this."

The Basement

"They're small, but I think I'm starting to connect some stuff together." Spencer said, as he checked the suit of armor. "This might not be Scott's idea. Maybe it's his dad that making the forgeries? If both of them collects the real stuff and Carballel's work, they might cause the value of them to increase somehow." Spencer suggested. "There's a weird door that I needed you guys to see. Like I said, I found it here in the basement. I think Scott might have found it, also." Spencer said, as he had Hunter follow him.

[Infected Mushroom]

The Basement

"They're small, but I think I'm starting to connect some stuff together." Spencer said, as he checked the suit of armor. "This might not be Scott's idea. Maybe it's his dad that making the forgeries? If both of them collects the real stuff and Carballel's work, they might cause the value of them to increase somehow." Spencer suggested. "There's a weird door that I needed you guys to see. Like I said, I found it here in the basement. I think Scott might have found it, also." Spencer said, as he had Hunter follow him.

The Basement

Stansfield Lee

I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

And now there's MORE?

Saying nothing, he walked by close to Hunter. He wanted to see what Spencer was going to show.

---

Mary-Anne Paris

Where did Rachel go? Where did everyone go?

The dining room was nowhere in sight. If she could retrace her way back there, then maybe she could find the way out.

Should never have come here. This STUPID MANSION.

Creak.... Creak... Creak...

Footsteps. It’s the other teens?

FINALLY.

"Hey Rachel!" she called out. "Is that you?"

The footsteps had stopped.

She frowned slightly. She couldn't see anyone, yet the newcomer was very close, probably a single corridor away.

"Hey who is it?" she called out, "HE... HELLO?!"

Very slowly, she inched forward slowly. She approached the turn. Her heart racing, she turned and faced a new hallway. The blood drained from Mary-Anne's face as she saw a strange figure standing there.

The top of the outfit was made of a grey-coloured cloth; the neck had a V shaped opening and was done and put together like a kimono. The hands that extended out of the sleeves were covered in black latex gloves; they extended out of the flapping sleeves of the robes. The figure was holding a large, gleaming katana sword over 90 centimeters long.

A piece of blood red cloth belt was tied around the waist, keeping a violet battle robe attached to the upper part of the outfit. The figure was wearing a pair of dark leather boots.

However... THE FACE.

A brown goblin-like face with large soulless black holes for eyes stared out at Mary-Anne. Rows and rows of white sharp teeth had been painted unto the mouth portion of the mask; they were arranged in a permanent, fixed, leering expression over a small black surface. The brown skin of the mask was interlaced with blood red color design lines all around the eyes, the nose, and the mouth. A steel blade extended out from under the mouth design to form a sharp, dangerous looking chin.

The newcomer was wearing a very ornately crafted brown steel helmet on top of the mask. It had arched, demonic looking horns that protruded out from the top that were made of grey steel blades. There was a small, but elegantly crafted miniature golden skull with horns crafted at the very centre of the helmet and attached just on top of a bar of red, just above the leering eyes of the mask.

She was terrified but now she suspected this was some dumb prank.

W... what? So… so fucking dumb.

“Okay, you kind of creeped me out,” she said, raising her hands. “Joke’s over okay?”

I bet it's that creepy girl Clarissa or his brother.

No reply or movement from the masked Samurai. The Samurai seemed to be watching her; it was impossible to tell what the expression behind the leering mask was. The head was tilted just slightly.

“This… this a bit too much don’t you think? What’s… what’s with the get up?”

Is that a real sword?

“Okay look,” she said commandingly. “If… if this is supposed to be some kind of a fucking prank, it’s not funny okay? Knock it off. Take off that stupid mask NOW.”

The Samurai started to walk towards her, the sword seemed to gleam slightly as they continued to hold it out with both hands.

It was time to pull her cards as the school queen:

“If you don’t fucking back off NOW, I'm telling you, you can say goodbye to your social life-“

SWISH!

The Samurai swung the gleaming sword at her in a seemingly well-practiced horizontal strike.

Mary-Anne gasped as she backed off slightly. She was now eying the Samurai with rage and disbelief.

“What… WHAT THE FUCK?!”

At first she felt nothing... then a stinging, burning, nauseous pain. She looked down at her chest. The sword had cut straight through a part of the blouse she was wearing, there was now a clear tear over the part covering her stomach area… her bare skin had actually been sliced; she ran her finger through the area, she retracted her fingers and saw that they were bloody.

She looked at the sword. It was gleaming and there was a touch of blood now… her blood… on the edge of the steel.

She backed off, now terrified for her life. However, before she could turn around the Samurai swung the sword at her again, this time, he cut a part of her upper thigh, just above the knee... a spray of blood came out at once as the blade cut through fairly deep.

The katana was so sharp that it went right through her dress.

“AAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” she screamed out.

She tripped over backwards and fell down, landing on the hardwood floor with a loud thud.

Dazed and in pain, she turned and started to crawl away, her pale manicured fingers clawing at the floorboards. Her vision became increasingly blurry. She managed to get on to her knees; however she cried out as the searing pain of her thigh wound began to overcome her and she could feel her warm blood pouring out over the rest of her leg and dripping unto the floor.

She tried to escape. She didn't get very far...

THWACK

For the briefest of moment, Mary-Anne felt as though she had somehow swallowed a giant chunk of ice cold, metal.

In actuality the Samurai had raised the sword and brought it down at full force against Mary-Anne’s exposed neck with the full intention of decapitating the red-haired woman. However, the angle was slightly off so the decapitation wasn’t perfect. Instead, the sharp edge of the blade was stuck into the back of her neck, somehow caught by a number of hard bones but still very very deeply embedded. The head stayed attached.

Mary-Anne’s eyes were frozen in shock and terror as she begun to choke on her blood… but it didn’t take long. With the katana still stuck across a portion of her throat… she collapsed face down unto the floor. Her blood poured out unto the floor.

---

The Samurai murderer stood over the dead girl. They tilted their masked face as if to observe the damage.

It was clear that the decapitation move would need further practice. The human body was a tricky thing. Time to get the weapon out of her.

The killer bent placed a booted heel over the back of the young woman. With both hands on the hilt of the katana, the Samurai began to step down with all of their might as they pulled hard… it took a while but the sword managed to come out.

THWACK!

The Samurai was dismayed, part of their own clothes were now soaked with her blood.

The unclean blood of one of Pickering High’s dirtiest whore queens…

Overcome with blind rage, the murderer cried out with rage as they kicked her corpse so that it faced upwards. Then they raised the sword and brought it down...

CRACK! CRACK! SPLUDGE! SPLUDGE!

Over and over and over and over in a fanatical, almost ritualistic display of pure anger, the Samurai raised the sword and brought down repeatedly... hacking the corpse into pieces... all the while, the high school beauty queen's bright eyes stared blankly into the ceiling in death, her mouth hanging open in eternal shock.

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Basement

"It's right through here.." Spencer said, as the group followed him to a wall that was near several shelves of boxes and random junk. At the wall, there was an old wooden door that was covered in what appeared to be barnacles and moss. The door was slightly open, going inside of the room. Spencer gave the door a little push, showing that something was blocking the other side of the door. "Stansfield, help me this. There isn't something here." Spencer said, as he had Stansfield helped shove the door open. With enough force, Hunter's flashlight ended up peering inside. The sudden smell of saltwater emerged from the opened door, as Spencer peered inside. "There's something up with this room. If they are storing stuff down here, you figure someone might have discovered this room." Spencer continued, as the room provided an unnerving darkness that seemed to feel alive.

"There's something in here. Should we?"

[Infected Mushroom]

The Basement

"It's right through here.." Spencer said, as the group followed him to a wall that was near several shelves of boxes and random junk. At the wall, there was an old wooden door that was covered in what appeared to be barnacles and moss. The door was slightly open, going inside of the room. Spencer gave the door a little push, showing that something was blocking the other side of the door. "Stansfield, help me this. There isn't something here." Spencer said, as he had Stansfield helped shove the door open. With enough force, Hunter's flashlight ended up peering inside. The sudden smell of saltwater emerged from the opened door, as Spencer peered inside. "There's something up with this room. If they are storing stuff down here, you figure someone might have discovered this room." Spencer continued, as the room provided an unnerving darkness that seemed to feel alive.

"There's something in here. Should we?"

The Basement

Stansfield Lee

B.... barnacles?

Stansfield helped Spencer to pry the door open. It took a considerable effort, but the class president was decently strong.

I am so going to regret this...

Even though he wouldn’t admit it to the group, he was beginning to get curious as well. What was this place? Why was it hidden? What’s inside?

Cautiously, he began to enter the room. He really hoped Hunter’s flashlight could alleviate some of the darkness.

“Does anyone see anything?” he asked.