Party House Murders: The Bloody Shack [IC] CONCLUDED!!!

[Infected Mushroom]

Finally, the house appeared into view.

The reckless young Anna, who was at the front, saw it first.

“Wow we have arrived! It’s the Bloody Shack!”

“Unreal...” Lily muttered excitedly.

The Bloody Mansion was a large and ominous looking structure. It was at least three stories tall; it’s massive size and architectural style (borrowing a bit from Gothic with its triangular roofs) looked very out of place in a place like Simon Creek.

The walls were tiled with an combination of grey and dark teal bricks. The age of the building was clear with ravines dropping out of the windows, dust and leaves accumulating, and cracks here and there.

Anna looked at the windows; there were so many of them across all three floors. There was something threatening about the building, it was almost as if all the windows were screaming or howling out in pain. The massive angled monster of a building stood in contrast to the orange and violent North American autumn sky behind.

There was a very large courtyard full of weeds leading up to a large set of mahogany doors taller then even Fred and Gerry.

Half broken statues of angels (or demons) and an unused age old ceramic fountain lay around rotting and aging still.

The teenagers said nothing as they approached and studied their surroundings. Even the characteristically loud Gerry seemed somewhat awed by their surroundings.

“Wow...” Lily said at length, breaking the silence. “This is going to be fantastic.”

Fred said nothing as he looked at the windows, a tense expression on his face. He looked at Anna, from the excitement on her face there would be no talking her out of this. But boy did he have a bad feeling...

[Recuecn]

Apparently Ava hadn't been the only one to arrive a bit later than the others. Two more of the boys caught up with the group, causing a small ruckus. One, announcing he'd brought the alcohol for the night, tossed a bottle of vodka to Gerry, who took a swig right off the bat. Ava was a little bit relieved, to be honest. Breaking into a haunted house was unlike anything she'd ever done before. Drinking with some other kids from school was a little more inside her realm of lived experiences. This would give her at least a little bit more idea of what to expect. Unless, of course, the two activities combined in some terrible way, but that was unlikely...

Kier showing up with the booze was also a relief to Ava, as she'd intended to borrow a couple beers or something from her friend before showing up, but hadn't been able too. She'd been worried she'd have to go back to get something to keep the part alive, but now that job had been taken care of. That was definitely for the best. It was tough for a 15 year old girl to get her hands on any alcohol in the first place.

This was shaping up to be quite the party--about a dozen kids, about half seniors, half juniors, one sophomore; half girls, half boys; some close friends, some who didn't know each other, a pair of siblings; a diverse group of personalities--it was definitely a group of kids that wouldn't normally hang out together, so you didn't really know what would go down. It was crazy that they'd all been brought together by this crazy haunted house idea. Crazy. Even in her head, Ava felt like she was repeating herself. When she'd heard Gerry joking about this idea with some kids at school she hadn't thought anything would come of it. And now, not only was it happening, but here she'd come along for the ride. One thing was for sure, it would be quite the story to tell at school on Monday.

Leaves crackled under the feet of the group as they hiked ever deeper into the woods. In the woods, a beautiful fall afternoon quickly became much less inviting as the sun drew closer to the horizon and the temperatures began to drop just a tad. The walking certainly kept her warm, but Ava was glad for her sweater as well. The trees looked the same in all directions. Ava didn't even know if she could trace her way back out of the forest. "Wow, we really be out here," she said.

Nobody paid any attention. As one, the gaggle of teens had stopped moving as their focus was riveted by what had appeared in front of them. They stared forward, agog. Ava looked up, and as she did, what she saw made her forget everything she'd just been saying.

There it was. It loomed in front of them, surreally out of place here in the middle of the Maine woods. If you'd been asked to draw the stereotypical haunted Halloween mansion, what you came up with would be the spitting image of "The Bloody Shack." Ava wondered why that was its name. The 'bloody' part, she understood. But there was nothing shacklike about this practically palatial estate. It was certainly in ruins. But it was clear that this had once been quite the house.

Ava stood gawking for a minute. Then, as the others began to peer in the windows, she timidly followed into the courtyard. The tapping of her footsteps on the weed-choked flagstones of the courtyard caught her by surprise--it was a sudden change from the shuffling crackling her Skechers made as she walked through the forest. Passing between the crumbling, creepy statuary, she paused at a defunct fountain, running her hand along its rim. The basin held a pool of rainwater, with some leaves rotting at the bottom.

"Gross." Ava broke the silence. She instantly felt that perhaps she shouldn't have, as if she'd disturbed the peace of some occult temple. She shook off the feeling. This place definitely felt haunted though. Ava looked up at the building again. She had no clue what lay behind the cracked stone facade and the mahogany doors. If it was anything that matched the Gothic exterior, it was probably full of dust-covered chandeliers and broken grandfather clocks. Ava felt a tingle of excitement run through her. Now that she'd made it this far, she had a sudden urge to see inside... to go in.

"Does anyone know how to pick a lock?" Ava asked. "I've got a bobby pin. Or do y'all wanna check out the outside first."

[Infected Mushroom]

"That's going to be a break and entry," Fred muttered, but he seemed already partly resigned that it was going to happen anyways. They had gone too far to back out now. "We could do some long time-"

"Oh don't be such a killjoy Freddy," Gerry declared. "We didn't come all this way just to walk back to school now did we? It's happening. We gonna make HISTORY. We gonna rock it in the Bloody Shack WOO HOO!"

He high fived Anna.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST PARTY EVER! ... FUCK YEAH!"

Then the muscular teen turned to Ava. "Now I was going to crack the window open with a rock, but your idea is even better. Let's see those lock picking skills at work."

Lily, Anna and Gerry all eagerly crowded around Ava.

"Ima witness a work of art I think," Gerry said excitedly.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Fred said nervously to Leon.

[Recuecn]

Gerry seemed to think Ava had some kind of secret burglar skills. Well, he was in for a disappointment. Ava gulped. Lily and Anna were looking at her too now, expectantly awaiting some kind of display of thieving proficiency.

"No no no, I don't have a clue how to pick a lock. I just thought one of you might." Ava snapped open her clutch bag and pulled out two bobby pins. She held them out in the palm of her hand for one of the others to take, looking around for someone who looked like they might have a clue what they were doing.

[Main Nation Ministry]

April Oberlin

April observed the towering mansion that was the "Bloody Shack". Shack was a blatant lie. This place looked like a historic landmark. "I can see why no one is planning on tearing this down. Probably still antiques inside." April said, as she looked in the fountain. This fountain could have been a part of history. Some rich people lived here. And died. April thought of that, as she went to the front doors. Gerry was expecting Ava to lockpick the doors, but April decided to check the door themselves. "Hold on, guys." April said, as she gripped the doorknob. "I think they left the doors unlocked in this place? Let me try to get this door open."

[Infected Mushroom]

Gerry, Lily and Anna were momentarily disappointed that Ava wasn't to show off burglary skills.

However, they quickly refocused their attention on April as she stepped forward to try the door.

Everyone held their breath.

Surprisingly, the door was unlocked.

There was a brief creaking sound but the doorknob turned and April was able to open the very tall mahogany doors to the mansion.

As she did so, Anna, Lily, Gerry and others erupted into cheers and clapping.

Only Fred seemed a bit reserved.

"Wait a minute people," he called out but he was largely drowned out by the cheering. "Why would it NOT be locked? Someone has been here? Maybe we should rethink..."

However, the group was in a hurry to get inside and soon everyone had entered the mansion.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE WICKED!" Gerry called out as he observed his surroundings:

The tapestry was a dusty blood red carpet. Paintings of landscapes and buildings with very dull colors hung on the walls on either side. There was a dusty chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, it was filled with large visible cobwebs. The walls were smeared and cracked, parts of the dark paint was peeling off.

From where the teenagers stood, they could see that the entryway hall led into a large dining room with tables. There were several doors behind and a large flight of stairs. A grandfather clock was in a corner.

The teenagers wasted no time in entering. As they stepped past the hall and into the dining room, their curious eyes absorbed the scenario and they took in every aspect of their surroundings.

"OH MY GOD this is going to be the BEST PARTY EVER!" Gerry called.

"WOO HOO!" Anna cried out. "This is GRAND!"

[Nagakawa]

Of all the crazy things he had done his life, breaking into this strangely open house definitely wasn’t the most dangerous, but Ashley definitely found it to be one of the most interesting, for the simple fact that he had no idea what exactly to expect.

Climbing up the side of a cliff without shoes or ropes? A bit painful, perhaps, but the hardest thing to conquer was the height. Learning to execute an aerial cartwheel? Dangerous, but ultimately little more than an impressive party trick.

Throwing an unplanned and very much unauthorised party in an abandoned mansion in which several murders had taken place, on the other hand, was something from which one could hardly see an outcome of any sort. Ashley was far from a party person, but damn if the opportunity to gloat about having gone drinking in a haunted house was so easily let slip.

“I fee like having some baileys”, he said meekly, his voice almost drowned out by Gerry’s roaring. “Is there any?”

[Infected Mushroom]

"Good call Ashley! BREAK OUT THE HARD BOOZE PEOPLE!" Gerry cried out. "Let's get this FUCKING PARTY STARTED!"

Gerry was excessively pleased. This was working out even better than he'd anticipated. The dining hall was large enough to accommodate everyone; it was one hell of a massive hall. There was also MUCH to do after some drinks since so much of the house was unexplored...

Thudding sounds echoed through the mansion as several people set down some bags. Gerry himself unzipped a small backpack and began taking out some bags of snacks, mostly potato chips.

"Yo where's the alcohol? KIER MY MAN? YOU GOT THE HARD STUFF?! Let's break it all out!"

Following up on Gerry's call, many people began to unpack the goods. The party's set up was underway and soon the long table in the dining hall was filled with snacks. Lily and Anna dragged a few chairs around. A creaking sound echoed across the hall.

Only Fred seemed silent and still. His sharp eyes traveled across and took in everything methodically, as if on the lookout for potential threats.

Anna noticed.

"What's wrong Fred?"

"Something's not right," the blonde senior replied. "The door's unlocked. It doesn't feel right. Something's off."

"LIGHTEN UP FREDDY BOY!" Gerry called. He snapped his fingers rudely. "YO KIER! [snap* snap*] The BAILEYS BRO!"

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Kier was one of the last to enter the house, marvelling at the obvious grandure of its condition. Why, after the previous owners had left it wasn't resold...and lived in, and why they'd left so much stuff around was a mystery to him.
"Why do you think they left all their things?" he asked, wandering over to the old grandfather clock. Finding the small door at its base, he began to wind the ancient beast; surprisingly it was still working and its loud ticking started to punctuate the caverness silence of the hall. He stood up from his work when it became hard to wind and placed the enormous backpack on the floor beside the table: it was obviously heavy and looked to be bulging. Given the thing was easily expedition size, it was a wonder exactly how much alcohol Kier had thought that the group would need, and even more of a mystery where on Earth the 16 year old had gotten it from: he left questions unanswered as he began to plonk bottles of beer and spirits on the table.

"No baileys," he told them happily, "Baileys is shit. I make my own. Try this," he handed the still-cold, unmarked bottle over to Ashley "It's nicer than baileys, I'm sure you'll agree."

[Infected Mushroom]

"No Baileys?" Gerry said, eyebrows raised. "I ain't impressed."

Then he went around bothering the other people before focusing on Evanora. "Yo who took my vodka bottle earlier???! Was it you 'Evey'? Can I call you that? Where is it?"

...

Anna and Lily were busy munching over the potato chips from the bags they had scattered across the table.

"Get the booze on the table please!" Anna called out. "Let's spread it out!"

Anna herself took out a couple of beers from inside her backpack.

[Nagakawa]

Drinking moonshine baileys wasn’t one of the things Ashley had been dying to do, him being enough of a mainstream drinker for typical alcohol to suffice, but this was a party, and sometimes... there was perhaps no harm in trying something outrageous once in a while. He accepted the bottle from Kier with a quick flash of a smile, taking a quick sip from it.

“I... like this”, he replied Kier tersely, handing the bottle back to him. It tasted a little stronger than actual baileys, less sweet and more intense. “Thanks, Kier.”

Ashley didn’t remember when exactly he started drinking, but he was aware of the fact that he had a surprisingly low threshold. This was only the third party he had been to in his life, and already, he’d drunk enough moonshine that his face had become flushed. On the bright side, it meant that less alcohol was needed to get him into the spirit of things.

As he was about to ask Kier for another sip, however, Ashley couldn’t help but notice that Fred was looking a little disquieted. As if there was something in the house that was tugging at him forebodingly...

“Any of you want to explore the house a little?” He asked, whipping out his bag of almonds and popping a few more into his mouth.

[Infected Mushroom]

At once Anna jumped out of her chair. "I'm IN!" she cried out excitedly. She rushed forward and nearly tripped.

Fred was not happy about that. He tried:

"Anna I don't think-"

"I'm going, you should also come along," she insisted.

To her surprise, Fred agreed rather quickly.

"Alright then, let's go," he said. "If you're going then I'm going. But we have to be very careful. It's best to be aware of what's around us. Stay close to me Anna."

"ALRIGHT BROTHER!" she yelled out.

Fred has his own reasons of course.

He had decided it may be best to get Anna away from the booze. His sister wasn't known for her self-control, and that Gerry was a tad unpredictable. Anna's face was already a bit flushed, a few more cans of beer and who knows. Also, Fred had heard rumours, Gerry may be the "cool kid" but he definitely had a darker side. Fred had heard rumours, of course, he had no way of ascertaining if they were true or not. Anna was probably safer with him and Ashley.

At any rate, its not as though Fred, being a rational person, really believed in ghosts. But something seemed off with the door being unlocked. He had to assuage his uneasy feelings and exploring the house might help him blow off some steam.

Unlike the others, Fred hadn't really touched much of the food on the table.

"Let's get out of here," he said to Ashley as he followed Anna. "Anyone else interested?"

...

"I'm staying right here where the food is," Lily said cheerfully, helping herself to some more potato chips. "Tell me the good stories when you get back."

Gerry set down a massive boombox and some speakers.

"It's time to notch up this party," he said loudly. "Someone help me set up the speakers here. We're gonna have some REAL ROCK!"

"There's no plugs in this house," Lily said.

"Well DUH!" Gerry yelled loudly as he took another large sip of liquor. "That's why there's BATTERIES GIRL! SOMEONE GIVE ME A HAND WITH THE SET UP! A HAHA!"

He was fiddling around with some speakers and mics. Now it became clear what was in his backpack all along.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Kier joined the growing group of people going to explore the house, taking a long gulp from the bottle of home-made baileys and handing it to Anna.
"Alcohol," he told her, "It truly is a magical thing. It turns bad ideas into great ideas, sadness to joy, joy back to sadness. With the addition of booze all states of mind...or none, are possible. Share in the magic of drunkenness with us, the experience may be life-changing."
His accent was definitely odd, it was a strange mixture of southern and British; however it was able to make the most ridiculous nonsense sound sensible, almost poetic in its brilliance. Kier demonstrated what he thought Anna should do, removing a small bottle of brandy from the bag, pouring a generous amount into a plastic cup and draining it quickly, before taking the bottle as they went to explore the house.

[Vienna Eliot]

Joyce wasn't sure about the alcohol. Getting drunk in the dark in a mystery house in the middle of the woods? She had a better idea.

"Fuck that. Who wants to take a hit?" she asked, pulling a ziploc bag with two joints and a lighter in it from her back pocket. Taking one out and lighting it, she inhaled the smoke, held it in, and then puffed it out in a cloud barely visible in the light of the setting sun that peaked through the dust-covered windows.

Gerry, as Joyce had expected from what she knew of him, was being a fucking cunt. Whether to bring it up, she wasn't sure. She "knew" everyone in the group, or knew of them, but really only knew Alex and April, both of whom were known to frequent the film club. Oh, sorry — cinematic arts club.

"Hey Gerry," she said, thinking of breaking the ice. "You're not going to play some kind of garbage, are you?" He seemed to be struggling with the boombox. "Do you even know how to work that?" she asked.

Oh God, did she sound too gay? This was it. They were going to find out she was gay and murder her in the middle of the woods.

Fuck, she thought to herself. Then, don't be so dramatic, you pussy. Then, but it could happen...

[Recuecn]

Ava stared in surprise as April twisted the doorknob on the giant mahogany doors leading into the mansion and found them unlocked. As if to say "yes, this is really a haunted house," the doors groaned on their hinges as they slowly swung inwards, tearing apart cobwebs. Ava gazed through the open doorway for a last moment of hesitation, but as the others trooped in past her, she stepped across the threshold into the hall of the mansion.

The interior was every bit as spooky as the outside had been. Although still totally furnished, it was clear from the thick layer of dust over everything that the house hadn't been lived in for years. Ava hadn't yet stopped getting an eerie feeling of mystery each time she saw a new part of this house, but here she shook it off quickly--the party was getting started.

Gerry, already in the back of the dining room, had busted out a boombox, and was trying to figure out how to set it up. As if out of nowhere, the others had pulled out a bunch of booze and snacks, most of which had found their way to the dining table. Ava walked up and popping open a can of Pringles, grabbed a handful. She took a plastic cup as well, and taking the bottle with the vodka from Evanora, poured herself what she guessed to be about two shots worth. She took a sip, made a face, and started coughing. It was mixed pretty strong, way stronger than she liked. Spotting a two-liter bottle of coke on the table, she poured some in to water down her drink before having another mouthful. It tasted much better this time. She followed it up with a couple Pringles.

Ava glanced around to see what the others were up to. Gerry was still struggling with the boombox to get some music playing. Joyce was giving him a hard time and was offering weed. Well, maybe if everyone else goes for it... Kier, Anna, Fred, and Ashley had clustered together and looked like they were about to head into the house to explore. Now that sounded interesting.

Ava finished her Pringles and took another swallow of her coke and vodka, for courage. This place was supposed to be haunted, after all. She walked over to the group, still holding her drink.

"Let's do this!" Ava could feel her excitement growing. "Y'all wanna check out upstairs, or look around down here first?"

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Kier grinned as Ava joined them, and opened a small compartment on the side of the giant backpack of mystery, retrieving a little bag.
He began to hand out little pink pils, smiling at everybody. "You want to see something really spooky?" he asked pleasantly, "Take these. The fucking ghosts will come alive." Spotting that Anna was the most impressionable, he focussed on her "Ever wondered what yellow tastes like? Now is your chance to find out!"

[Main Nation Ministry]

April Oberlin

April looked around in the entry hall. It looked like something straight out of the Haunted Mansion in Anaheim. "And no one bothered to head here to steal old shit, because...?" April asked, knowing that the furniture in this place had to have cost enough to pay for a car. Though, it looked like Gerry had brought snacks, meaning he still had some common sense. April wasn't going to get boozy on Halloween. She heard the shouts of Gerry mad that his vodka bottle is now missing. She didn't care. She wanted to fit in. Getting herself a plastic red cup, the type you would find in beer pong, she poured herself only some coke from the liter bottle. There wasn't any actual alcohol, though she snacked on some potato chips. April took a notice to look around the party, observing everyone else.

Some were planning on exploring the mansion, while some were making sure that there was enough drugs to make Hunter Thompson jealous. Alcohol, weed, and probably some ecstasy she's guessing, which she spied on Kier to see him with the pink pills. "This is stupid.." she muttered to herself, as she took a small sip of coke.

[White Bluff]

Evanora Bishop

Evanora walked though the doors after April had opened them, and was stunned, the house was in immaculate condition for being empty for thirteen years. As she looked around the foyer and parlour she hardly noticed Ava taking the bottle of vodka-coke from her.

She walked over to a bookshelf that was in the parlour and began to look though the dusty tomes and books, one immediately caught her attention, "Lily! You may wanna see this!," she pulls the book off the shelf, "most of them are first editions, but this one is more, it's a first edition of Liber AL vel Legis by Aleister Crowley.....The Book of Law, one of his first books. This is find of a lifetime." She blew off the dust from the book and opened it, the smell of old book hit her nose and she smiled.

[Infected Mushroom]

Evanora’s statement immediately got Lily’s attention.

She abandoned the drinks and her snacks and rushed over.

“Wow you don’t say...” she muttered breathlessly as her eyes behind the glasses lit up with excitement.

She checked out the book Evanora was holding and it seemed right. “What does it say?

Soon her fingers were busy grabbing and inspecting various books. She had to blow some of the dust off.

“They say Vanderbilt had a fascination with the occult,” she said. “It seems this is correct. Some say his insanity was the result of a Dark Bargain gone wrong. The devil came to collect his dues. Then just like that... he offer himself, his wife, his kids...”

Her attention turned back to Evanora.

“Does it contain the instructions to talk to the dead? I heard Crowley’s approach differed from Gardner and Kenneth Grant.”

...

“What the fuck are you babbling about?” Gerry called out rudely. He was still fiddling with the audio equipment and from where he was kneeling he could still see the two girls with the books. “Where did ya read up such shit? Don’t believe everything you read nerds!”

Seemingly annoyed at the unexpected difficulty of setting the machines up, he turned to Joyce.

“Hey! You said you could help right? I could use some. Come here! Also... yes I want some of the hard stuff ya getting, bring some too.”

He took another massive swig of beer and downed some pills. No doubt none of this was going to help him with clarity.

Under normal circumstances Gerry was at least competent with the audio tools he brought but today, he was already hard hit by booze and drugs...

He addressed April as well, in his drunken state he was impressed with how she didn’t seem too interested in the alcohol or food.

“What’s your story sis? Ya don’t really drink?”

...

Fred, Anna, Kier and Ava headed off into another part of the house.

Kier was about to offer Anna some pills but Fred cut across.

“I think she has enough for now,” he said firmly, stepping protectively forward. He was about to pull out the “Say No To Drugs” slogan but decided it might be overkill.

Anna’s attention was already on something else.

“Hey that’s so cool!”

Without warning, she sprinted down the hall. Fred turned and chased after her.

“wait up Anna!”

...

Anna stepped into a large room. The room was eerily empty except for a single large painting hanging over a broken fireplace.

The art style was vivid, it depicted over a hundred completely naked men and women being herded like cattle by a shadow like figure in the corner. A red and black glow seemed to wash over the doomed crowd. The style was very realistic but thankfully most of the private parts were not shown.

The painting had a definite effect since it was so large and wide, covering an entire wall, it was bigger then all four teens combined.

“This is wicked cool...” Anna muttered to herself.

Fred and the others caught up. Fred didn’t like this at all.

[Main Nation Ministry]

April Oberlin

Both Evanora and Lily were being major bookworms in a bookshelf at one corner of the dining room, while 4 of the teens were off at another part of the house, where April continued to have herself another potato chip. Meanwhile, she watched as Gerry was being the drunken fool, over for him to walk over where she can drink enough alcohol that made her wonder how he hadn't died of alcohol poisoning, yet. "My story? Well, I saving up for the actual party. Though, I must prefer actual Halloween candy." April told Gerry, though she knew that he wouldn't take it lightly. "I still remember you from freshman year, you know. Can't believe you hadn't changed a bit." April said, giving a bit of a smirk.

[Infected Mushroom]

They got Gerry’s attention:

“Eh...” he managed while drinking still more.

“What do ya remember? Something good or?”

[Main Nation Ministry]

April Oberlin

"I guess good for you, though I think that alcohol clogged up that mind of yours. Aren't you a bad boy, Gerry? Come on. Tell me what you remember that made you become part of the top in the popularity ladder." April said, where she was flirting with him. "I could have you ask, but I do want to know how you're attracted to that girlfriend of yours."

[Infected Mushroom]

Gerry shrugged. “I keep all options open, always.”

Downing still more alcohol, he went further:

“The reason I’m at the fucking top is clear. I’m the strongest, baddest, meanest, coolest in Simon High. I don’t back down from fights and I win em all.”

Finally, it seems that the music is set. A rather loud 90s pop/rock song began to play. It blasted out from all the speakers.

“This party is one of my brighter ideas,” he continued to boast. He tip sied towards a table where he grabbed a firm fistful of chips and unceremoniously gulped it all down.

“I have many many many other great ideas! I’m something of a fucking legend, sweetheart!”

...

“Hey turn down the music a bit Gerry we’re trying to read!” Lily yelled back from her position amongst books.

Lily’s voice did carry over the music but Gerry did not seem to hear or respond. He was fiddling with some pills.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Ignore this post, drunk post.

[Recuecn]

There was no wasy Ava was going to take those pills from Kier without knowing what they were. Maybe later if the party wound up with more of a chill atmosphere, she'd think about taking a hit from Joyce's blunt, but this was too much. She was trying to think of a way to turn down Kier's offer without being rude, when Fred jumped in to protect his sister. That's sweet, thought Ava. It's nice to see he really cares about her, and he's probably right too. I wonder if it gets on Anna's nerves though. In a minute, Kier had lost interest, heading over to Gerry to get him to change the music.

Those two are more alike than I realized, thought Ava. "They'll get along just fine with each other," she said to the others who had been in the little group. "Let's check this place out!"

But Anna had already run down the hall, Fred, of course, following her. Ava followed, curious what Anna had seen.

She could see it even before she stepped through the door at the end of the hall to enter the room. It was a painting, and it was massive. The room as a whole could hardly be said to have a cheery atmosphere--the dim light inside the mansion gave a sinister mood to everything--but even in broad sunlight the painting would have been creepy. Ava couldn't really tell what was supposed to be going on, but by her best guess, the painting appeared to show a demon or something, herding sinners through Hell.

"Wow, who would want that in their house?!"

The room appeared mostly empty, but Ava looked through it anyway, wondering if she would find anything. She wondered if anything had been burnt recently in the fireplace.