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Arrival

The trio pushed open the heavy doors, making their way inside the grand entrance. It was your typical old mansion. Large stairway carving its way down the center of the room. Long hallways took you to the two great wings of the building. There were suits of old, dusty, and rusty armour. The typical assortment of terrifying old works of art and, last but not least, a big ole chandelier.

"Yep, this place is haunted," Soen said before shrugging her shoulders and crossing the threshold. Holding their respective breaths, the other two joined in, beginning the delicate work of not messing their pants as the trio panned their flashlights.

"This is quite the place," Mystic said with a steady exhaling breath. "Who do you think lived there?"

"Oh, just that guy," Pike said, his flashlight landing on the painting of a bloated toad man, his eyes bulging in that unique way that follows you around. "The placard says B. Flysworth," Mystic said as he squinted hard at the wall before suddenly leaping back, and a massive spider appeared on the edge of his vision! He shrieked in terror... only to hear his friends laughing.

"Not funny!" he growled.

"Oh, that was hilarious," said Pike, casting a humorous look at Soen, who was currently projecting her flashlight over the body of a tiny spider, making it look immense on the wall. "Good one, Soen. Can we get out of here, please?" Pike said, his own arachnophobia kicking in.

"Yeah, sure. Listen, this place is massive, and we are already at sunset. If we want out of here before dark, we will have to do something we should never do: Split up," Soen said with a wince.

"That never ends well for anyone, Soen!" Pike exclaimed, throwing up their hands in exasperation. "That's how you get picked off, one by one."

"I gotta agree with Pike on this one," Mystic said, dusting himself off after his shock encounter with a shadow. "But at the same time, what else will we do? We'll have to return if we don't do the house tonight. Do you really wanna come back, Pike?"

"No, I'm just saying-" Pike began before Mystic interrupted.

"Then it's settled," the otter said cheerily. "I call the theatre, later suckers!" Mystic said, running off down the eastward hallway.

"I'm heading this way, Pike. Why don't you take the upstairs? There's less space and a quicker escape," Soen said, gesturing to the Westward hall leading to the conservatory. She began to walk away, leaving Pike at the stairs.

"I... I don't like this," Pike whined, "just once, I'd like to not split up in the creepy house. Maybe, I don't know, stick together in case something happens?" the whining continued as Pike sighed. "Alright, time to get going; it should be safer up there anyway," the skunk said, comforting himself before beginning the long walk up the grand staircase.

As the onyx-furred otter approached the theatre's grand doors, he winced. Holding up the tough guy persona didn't come naturally to him, but he wanted to support Pike as best he could. If both were being scaredy cats, they'd never get anything done. Standing alone in the cold, cramped hallway, he let it out.

"Stupid creepy house! How in the world did I end up in another one? It couldn't have been like a nice nature walk or something!? Why couldn't we just visit like a haunted rainbow factory or something!?" He exclaimed, shouting at the hallway as if the wall paintings would answer his plights.

Finally, steeling himself, he decided to enter. "I'll get the readings on the tablet and then get out. It'll be fine," he says, steeling himself and turning the door knobs. Light struck his eyes as the doors swung open; all the chandeliers here were illuminated with lightbulbs, not candles. The warm rays were cast upon rows and rows of theatre seats, descending toward a large stage. The walls were adorned with faux sconces, illuminated with the same bulbs as the ceiling, with one exception; they tended to flicker.

"I mean, impressive to have electrics, but the flickering is a bit cliche," Mystic chuckles as he fully steps into the room. He spies the stage and the entry booths in the back, choosing the stage as a more exciting area. "Lots of people die on stage, don't they?" he asks, the hum of the lights as he makes his way down. He didn't even notice as the doors closed behind him, clicking as they locked shut.

The hallways leading to the conservatory seemed to wind forever. Soen passed parlours, sitting rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms. One last room caught her attention as she neared the large glass doors. Briefly peeking through the doorway, she saw row after row of cages. This wasn't the first time Soen had seen this sort of room, a kennel, one of immense size. "Holy shit," Soen said, her eyes scanning the room, spying on several old leashes, harnesses and assorted toys. " This is crazy," the hellhound said before backing out of the room and turning her attention to the large glass doors.

"Alright, let's see what we have here," she said as she steeled her resolve and opened the heavy doors. They creaked and groaned as they opened, old rust saturating their hinges. They came to a rest, jamming just wide enough for Soen to slip between the bars. As she did, she felt something on her clothes catch, pulling the door shut as she landed on her butt. "Ah, that hurt," she moaned, rubbing at her arms and back, both sacrificed to keep her head safe. The scrapes were minor; she would be fine.

She looks around the room, and her jaw falls open. The dark red sunshine of dusk plays through the glass walls and ceiling, illuminating hundreds, potentially thousands, of plants. It was a veritable jungle in that conservatory, with every bed significantly overgrown. "How... how in the world is all this still alive!?" Soen exclaims, climbing to her feet and brushing herself off. The sun continues dancing through the windows as she looks around.

Pike wandered the upper floor of the mansion. The second floor consisted of a large mezzanine and a set of doors on each cardinal wall that led to different rooms. No hallways and minimal creepy art, and there even seemed to be more sunshine up there. "Oh, this isn't so bad," Pike thought, crossing the creaking wooden floor to one of the doors. He opened it, revealing a large master bedroom with a humongous bed occupying the center of the floor. "Hmmm, pretty cozy up here," he thought as he shut the door and moved on.

The next door led to a bathroom with a claw-foot soaking tub. The door after that was jammed, which was unsurprising. As Pike looked around the jam, it looked doused in many layers of colourful paint. "All those layers are wedging into the hinges and between the door and the frame. Kind of weird, though. How did the door get painted while closed to accomplish that?" Pike wondered. One door remained.

As the chubby skunk opened the door and stepped inside, he knew exactly where he was. "Oh, that's different, a second-floor kitchen?" he said, stepping inside. For the most part, this looked to be an ordinary kitchen. However, one thing was....wrong. "How does it smell like cookies in here?" Pike said, already beginning to salivate. He stepped through the rows of counters, exploring the massive kitchen. Then he spotted them, fresh cookies cooling on a wire rack. "What the hell..." Pike gasped.