The Demon Of The Night [OUTDATED VERSION]

Nepenthes Rafflesiana

All that was in this room were items and furnishings that had no trace of dust or age on them despite their antiquity. Barbara aimed her flashlight around, catching a reflection of the light in a mirror. She cautiously approached the vanity set, seeing that the mirror had been smashed for some reason.

She let out a gasp, seeing a face in one of the shards behind her. Spinning around, she shone her light at the space above the bed.

It was a portrait.

Barbara instantly recognized the painted face of Pamela over it, having mistaken it for her actual being. How ridiculous. She had been startled by nothing more than a painting.

But after looking at the portrait further, Barbara's unease returned. This was indeed a wedding portrait as Pamela's gown and veil indicated. But that was not what disturbed her. It was the groom beside her.

He had no face.

Or rather it had been violently scratched out.

"What the hell." Barbara started to back away slowly.

A sense of dread crept upon her all of a sudden, resembling the same feeling from last night.

A feeling of being watched.

Barbara wasted no time in leaving that room, but refused to leave the mansion entirely. She needed to find Officer Bard. But being unable to speak in such a massive place would be almost impossible. And the feeling of being watched hadn't left her, making things even worse for the girl.

She entered the closest room to her, immediately overpowered by a rancid and metallic stench. It was so bad that she had to cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve to even breathe.

Drip.

She knew this stench. She had smelt it before. But it was tenfold than it had been with Richard and Jason.

Drip.

Barbara's hand wavered as she shone the flashlight in the direction of the trickling noise. She already knew it would be bad, but she had to confirm. She was just that type of person.

Drip.

It took everything within her not to scream when she saw the bathtub. She felt the urge to vomit from both the smell and sight. It was practically a crime scene; a gruesome and sickening crime scene.

Barbara's legs reacted before her mind could send the alert to leave. She ran as if her life depended on it, and perhaps after seeing that, it did.

Her hurried steps creaked over the floorboards. But she didn't care how loud she was. All that mattered now was escaping this place.

Up ahead, there was a staircase but where that led to was further into the pitch-black darkness.

From one of the rooms, a phonograph turned on and cheerful music started to play throughout the mansion. She was not alone in this house.

This made her come to a halt as she tried to figure out where the music was playing in order to run in the opposite direction.

That's when she felt cold air directly hitting her neck. Something was breathing right behind her.

Above her.

Barbara gave a strangled cry as she recklessly flew down the stairs. She nearly tumbled all the way down at one point from her frenzied state, losing the flashlight in the process.

A scuttling sound was heard chasing after her, sending the girl into even more of a panic. All she could see was the discarded flashlight at the bottom of the stairwell. Her boots skidded on the floor as scooped it up with one hand. By now, more light could be seen from up ahead and she desperately ran towards it.