Faldehm

Chapter 5 - The Discovery

Samuel sat in the passenger seats present within the middle portion of the ship, where he leisurely rested his head on his hand, minor exasperation bubbling within him. Though the ship originally wasn't meant for transportation of people so much as it was for supplies, he had to admit his Team had done an excellent job refurbishing it as well as they had, allowing them to have a comfy ride to and from missions. Regardless, any amount of cushiony material and comfortable amenities wouldn't be enough to soothe his growing nerves, no thanks to Janet.

Despite Samuel's tentative agreement to allow Janet to join them for the mission, he was now silently regretting the decision as he stared out the window in an inefficacious attempt to let his mind drift. Immediately after they had departed, Janet had broken down into a hysterical fit of sobbing, blaming herself for whatever potential fate may had befallen the family they were going to investigate. At first, the Team was quick to attempt to comfort Janet, but as Thomas busied himself with piloting as he usually did, Samuel and Elizabeth were left to console the woman, the former of whom was terrible at the act of commiseration, a fact that Elizabeth was well aware of. She had wordlessly elected to watch over Janet herself, leaving Samuel to his own devices.

Finding it necessary to maintain an air of professionalism around a new hire, Samuel refrained from pulling out his communicator to busy his thoughts, instead opting to watch the buildings and trees pass by below as the ship flew over the land. Elizabeth and Janet sat across from him, with Elizabeth's attempts at comforting the distressed mechanic unsuccessful.

"She’s going to be alright, I promise you. Everything is going to be okay," Elizabeth softly repeated to Janet.

Janet could only respond with mere sobbing and broken sentences.

"I knew I shoulda said somethin’, but I weren’t worryin’ about it much!" She sucked in some breaths and gave no attempt to halt her crying. "Victoria could be deeeaaad! "

Despite his position, Samuel could tell that Thomas was uncomfortably tense, no surprise given the current scene playing out before them all. As for Samuel himself, he was irked from having to sit across from Janet.

"This is all my fault! I shoulda said somethin' to somebody! I shoulda reported it!" Janet buried her face in her hands.

"You shouldn’t be blaming yourself for this, Janet. You know that. You couldn't have known that something was wrong. Don't feel that anything was your fault," Elizabeth told her. Samuel sighed as he abandoned the idea of ignoring the girl and begrudgingly turned to chip into the conversation.

"She's right, Janet. We don't know for sure or not if anything's even really happened to her," Samuel commented, hoping to alleviate Janet's mood. Janet didn't respond but continued sobbing.

"Hey back there!" Thomas called out, quickly glancing at the group, Samuel looking to face him, too. "We're just about there, and…" His voice trailed off into silence, though Samuel briefly heard him swear under his breath.

Samuel looked at Elizabeth, who shrugged.

Getting up from his seat, Samuel approached the cockpit.

"Hey man, is something wrong? " Samuel whispered. Looking out the windows at the mansion below, he realized why Thomas had gone quiet.

The mansion and surrounding area had fallen into a noticeably great deal of disrepair. Decorative ivy, having snaked up the walls of the mansion unimpeded, threatened to invade the mansion by way of its filthy windows. The circumjacent hedges had become incredibly mangled from lack of maintenance, with any formerly present figures now reduced to unidentifiable lumps of shrubbery. A multitude of hover vehicles parked in the massive circular driveway had become filthy from lack of use, and though they might have been impressively shiny at one point, they were now caked in a grimy layer of dirt and dead leaves. The driveway itself was dirtied by a peppered assortment of dried mud and leaves. Clearly, no one had been around in a while.

"Janet's not going to like the look of this," Samuel quietly commented.

He turned back to the duo, both of whom were also looking out the windows. Janet had become eerily mute.

"I'm going to land us near those vehicles. Standby," Thomas uneasily announced as the ship approached the driveway.

The tension was overwhelming, which was further supplemented by Janet's unnerving silence. The only audible sound was that of the ship's engines powering down.

Climbing out of the pilot's seat, Thomas made his way to the others. They were all eyeing Janet, who had not yet moved from her position at the window. Samuel quickly cleared his throat.

"Alright, you know how this goes: Gear up, and then we move out," Samuel said, walking to the back of the ship. Thomas and Elizabeth followed.

As they checked and equipped their gear, Janet remained in her eerie stillness.

"Is she going to be alright? " Thomas whispered as he slung his shock rifle on his back, waiting for Elizabeth and Samuel to finish their armory checks. Usually engaging in some lively banter before a mission, the Team found themselves abnormally silent as a result of the unnerving feeling they collectively sensed.

"Does… does anyone else have a bad feeling about this mission? " Elizabeth grimly asked aloud, absentmindedly twirling her staff after having tucked her chosen pistol into her holster.

"You and me both," Samuel replied, inspecting his favored shotgun, weathered from use.

"For sure. Something just doesn't seem right about all this," Thomas declared.

The sound of the ship’s door opening surprised the Team. Collectively turning, they saw Janet had opened the hatch, her back to the group as she left her hand upon the opening button.

"What are you doing? " Elizabeth asked, slightly uneasy.

"I’m gonna look for my friend," Janet stiffly proclaimed with a ferociously determined tone. Knowing they had to stop her, Thomas spoke up.

"Hey, you should wait for us first you really shouldn't—"

Ignoring him, she stepped outside and began approaching the mansion, leaving the team in a moment of amused bewilderment. Elizabeth, habitually hugging her staff, turned to her teammates.

"I guess she doesn't wanna wait for us then," She speculated, a smile beginning to form upon her face. Thomas hummed and made a clicking sound.

"Well, she certainly seems a bit eager," Thomas commented in amusement.

"She's determined, I like that," Samuel stated.

"Shouldn't we… chase after her or something, though? " Thomas asked Samuel, who shook his head and waved his hand.

"I wouldn't worry about it. We're the only ones here, right? Worst case scenario she trips on a rock." Thomas and Elizabeth stifled a giggle.

Shrugging his weapon onto his shoulder, Samuel stretched his arms.

"Alright, we ready? Then let's go." Samuel clapped his hands and exited onto the unkempt estate, Elizabeth and Thomas following closely behind him.

Upon initial viewing, it had been immensely obvious the expansive estate had not been maintained in some time. Now that they were up-close, Samuel had a better look at the surrounding flora that had become extremely unkempt from the lack of maintenance, giving the once glamorous estate an overgrown, dilapidated appearance.

Across the expansive driveway, Samuel saw Janet looking through the dusty windows. It was to no avail however, as the curtains were drawn on every single one. Though they had been sent to investigate the mansion, Samuel elected to idle with his Team first to calm their nerves.

"Not to sound pessimistic," Samuel walked to the inactive fountain set in the middle of the circular driveway, "but it's pretty clear nobody's been here in a long time," Samuel drearily commented. Peering into the fountain, he could see that it was filled with filthy water and rotting leaves. "Gross."

Joining him, Elizabeth chimed in. "This place looks like it used to be beautiful." Wiping the fountain's edge, she sat upon it.

"Beautiful? Not sure about that, but it definitely might’ve been pretty fancy at some point," Thomas commented. "I know Caroline would love to live in a place like this, though." The mention of Thomas' wife reminded Samuel of a question he'd been meaning to ask him.

"Have you two finally got that landscaping dispute settled? " Samuel inquired to which Thomas was as pleasantly surprised to hear as he was to answer.

"Oh, yes. We got it resolved a few days ago. Although I've got to work on renovating the house before I start with all that."

"Thomas, you've been saying that forever now," Elizabeth noted, giggling. Thomas rolled his eyes.

"It was a challenge getting that dispute settled, but I wanted to make sure everything was ready before I started working on the house. It helps to prepare for the future, and I very well can't ask my wife to do all the work," Thomas replied, chuckling. "It's certainly no mansion ," Thomas gestured to the impressive structure before them. "But it's our home."

"We need to come over again sometime, on one of our days off. Could help out with the renovations and unwind over some drinks or something," Samuel suggested, gleefully imagining the relaxing scenario. Elizabeth was of a similar opinion.

"Yeah! We could also play some games like last time, too! " Elizabeth joyfully chimed in.

A sudden shrill alarm emanated from within the mansion, startling the Team. Elizabeth hopped off the fountain, staff at the ready.

"What the? What is that? " Samuel asked as he looked at the mansion. The front doors were now open but Janet herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Janet? " Elizabeth asked, her voice raised. Samuel looked at her and shrugged as he deftly deployed his weapon.

"I don't know! I don't see her! " Samuel responded, louder than before. He began cautiously moving towards the mansion’s entrance, motioning for his teammates to follow.

"That alarm is starting to annoy me! " Thomas loudly grumbled.

As if it had waited for his comment, the alarm suddenly shut off, halting their advance. Samuel's ears irritatingly continued ringing afterwards.

Giving a quick glance at Elizabeth and Thomas, Samuel resumed their slow approach, shotgun still tightly gripped.

"Thomas? Analysis? " Samuel asked as he kept his gaze forward.

"One moment," Thomas replied.

"Mansion's alarm system was tripped when Janet opened the doors…" Thomas paused. "…and was subsequently also disabled by her."

"Did she mention she was a hacker? " Samuel asked with an expression of surprise. Elizabeth poked him with her staff.

"Did you forget that she was close to her friend? I'm not surprised she'd know the mansion's security passcode." Samuel and Thomas turned to look at Elizabeth, and then at each other, where they then both silently agreed on this notion.

"When you say close, did you mean close or close? " Samuel asked as they gradually neared the entrance. Elizabeth thought it over for a moment.

"I'm… not actually sure. I didn't ask her a lot about it, but she does seem like she loves her friend very much," Elizabeth replied.

"Loves? Sounds like you just answered his question, Elizabeth," Thomas commented.

Before Samuel could call out to Janet and properly assess the situation, the sound of her screaming effectively ended the conversation, sending a panicked shiver down Samuel's spine. If a new hire's unauthorized tag-along got injured as a result of his negligence, it'd be bad news for the Team.

"Oh no. I hope whatever caused all this didn't just get her too," Samuel groaned in concern. "Let's get moving, quick! " The group then sprinted the remaining distance and entered the derelict mansion.

Upon entry and with weapons at the ready, they found themselves in a neatly decorated foyer. Samuel and Thomas kept their weapons aimed forward while Elizabeth gripped her staff in ready anticipation. Realizing that the dark interior was threatening to dangerously obscure their vision, Samuel raised a hand to signal to stop. Listening closely, Samuel couldn't hear anything remotely hostile, only just the sound of his and Elizabeth's light panting and the light breeze blowing outside.

"Any lights in here? It's too dark," Samuel whispered uneasily. His enhanced eyesight, combined with what little sunlight came through, could only do so much to illuminate the tenebrous interior. Seeing a light switch on the nearby wall, Thomas tried it, to no avail.

"Light's not working. Let me scan the area," Thomas announced. Putting a hand to his temple, he activated his electronic field viewer. After a brief moment, he shook his head.

"Power's on, but barely. It seems that the alarm was the highest priority system because I'm not detecting any other electronics," Thomas declared, to which Samuel dejectedly sighed in response.

"Of course… Right, well, lights on then." Activating the flashlight mounted on the barrel of his shotgun, Samuel watched as his Team did the same with their arsenal. Elizabeth's staff illuminated as she cast a lighting spell under her breath.

Reaching behind himself, Samuel shut the doors, locking them in the process.

"If anyone else is here with us, we'll know. Now, let's go find Janet."

Shining his light around the derelict foyer, Samuel worriedly pondered on where to start their search, as the multitude of possible routes uneased him. To their right was a wide, bedecked wooden staircase that led to a balcony, directly ahead was a long hallway lined with a series of doors, and to their left was an extended entryway of sorts. Elizabeth, still awaiting Samuel's command, noticed his state of disquietude.

"Hey, are you alright? " Elizabeth gingerly asked Samuel. He turned to look at her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just…" He looked around the dark interior. "Not sure where to start from here. This place is huge . She could be anywhere ." Samuel tugged a bit on his armor. "It's also kind of cold in here." Elizabeth had noticed this too, as she had been slightly shivering.

"Cold? But it's barely cold outside," Thomas commented, peering at the watch on his left wrist to check the temperature. "Watch says it's fine in here. I don't see why you'd say it's cold." Samuel and Elizabeth’s breaths were now faintly visible.

"This cold of an interior can only mean one thing: Spirits," Samuel chattered; Elizabeth groaned in response.

"I knew I should have learned the Spirit Vision spell! I'm always putting it off," Elizabeth whined as she lightly knocked her head with her staff.

"Presence of Spirits means this family is dead," Thomas stiffly proclaimed, to which Samuel gave him an unamused look.

"Let's not get too hasty with conclusions, now. It doesn't necessarily mean it's the family whose Spirits are in here," Samuel replied, secretly hoping they wouldn't encounter any Haunt Spirits.

"What's the plan, then? " Elizabeth asked. Samuel thought this over for a moment.

"Place this big? Nothing to really do but search the place room by room," Samuel responded.

"We can split up; cover more ground that way," Thomas suggested. Samuel shook his head.

"No way. It'll be safer if we stick together," Samuel then concocted the best possible route, and illuminated the doorway to their left. "We can start there, and work our way around the first floor. If we don't find anything, we'll head to the next floor. Sound good? " Elizabeth and Thomas nodded in agreement. "Let's go then."

Walking towards the indicated room, the Team found themselves in the mansion's parlor. Two couches sat in the middle, set apart by a small coffee table. A singular mug sat upon said table, Samuel being certain that any liquids that may have previously occupied it were now thoroughly rotten. Shining their lights around the room, Samuel spotted two doors on adjacent walls and a fireplace, which was a welcome sight.

"Oh hey, a fireplace," Samuel exclaimed. "Eliza, if you please." Elizabeth nodded, pointing her staff towards the fireplace. Whispering a spell under her breath, the top end of her staff glowed as an orange beam of light shot out towards its target, briefly illuminating the room in the process. The once dark parlor was now filled with a warm orange glow.

"Great. It won't be totally dark in here anymore," Samuel happily remarked. "Or as cold either, for that matter." Thomas then lightly prodded him with his shock rifle.

"What? " Samuel asked, turning to him. Thomas responded with a finger held up to his mouth.

"Quiet. Do you hear that? " Thomas whispered. They stood silent for a moment, the only audible sound being that of the crackling fireplace.

"I don't hear anything ," Elizabeth whispered. Thomas shushed her.

"Listen …" Beyond the crackling flames, they could hear…

"Crying? Is she crying again? " Samuel asked aloud, stupefied.

"That must mean that she found something, right? " Elizabeth exclaimed. "We need to find her! "

"If she's in here bawling her eyes out loud as she pleases, then that means she's just fine, which also means that we're the only ones here." Samuel sighed in relief as he unlatched the flashlight from his shotgun and holstered it. He then turned to his teammates. " Now we can spread out. Find Janet, and holler once you do," Samuel instructed. As they began to leave the room, Samuel abruptly stopped them.

"Wait. Before you two go; make sure to open as many curtains or windows as possible. It'd make looking around this place much easier."

"Got it! "

"Understood."

With that, they split up, each member collectively calling out for Janet; Elizabeth heading back towards the foyer, Thomas shuffling through one of the doors in the room, and Samuel entering the other.

In the foyer, Elizabeth shined her twinkling staff around the circular interior. While she tried to listen for Janet, she could only hear the distant fireplace and faint sound of her teammates' footsteps and calls. Gazing around the dark room only made her feel the same uneasy uncertainty that Samuel had felt earlier. Ignoring the stairs, she started towards the hallway.

In the other room, discovered to be a lavish dining area, Thomas continued to faintly hear Janet's crying. His search for Janet was disjointed by the mighty expanse of the room, sending her cries rebounding throughout its space.

Through the other door, Samuel found himself in an office of sorts. Aside from the immense amount of dust that had accumulated within, Samuel was taken aback upon discovering a massive number of papers littering the floor. The mess appeared to have a semblance of order to it, however.

"Whoever was here was looking for something," Samuel thought as he carefully stepped over the strewn-about pages. Kneeling down for a further inspection, Samuel noticed that a majority of the pages related to one another, as many of them shared some sort of company logo. Picking one up, he shined his light upon it and skimmed over the page. It was filled with the names and addresses of other people. People who seemed to be…

"Leading figures of the scientific community ," Samuel whispered out loud in shock. " Just like the Director described today ." Samuel shivered upon his eerie realization: the killer had searched through the office's documents to locate more victims.

As Samuel wondered how he'd go about bringing this discovery to the Director, the sound of Janet wailing brought him back to his senses. He had accidentally ignored the sound whilst he had been examining the pages. Her cries were much closer now that he was in the office, meaning she had to be somewhere nearby.

Setting the page down, Samuel shined his light around the room, revealing another door. Hurriedly reaching it, Samuel found himself exiting into a hallway, where Janet's cries grew louder. As he slowly lurked through the dark hall, Janet's crying gradually grew louder. He was getting close.

Turning the corner into what seemed to be the living room, Samuel was suddenly attacked with an awful stench, causing him to retch. Raising his sleeve up to his nose, he saw another light in the room and realized he had found Janet, who was knelt down by one of the sofas. Though the abhorrent stench was making his eyes water, he was nevertheless relieved to have found her.

"Hey guys! I found her! She's over here in the living room! " Samuel yelled out to the others, unaware of what Janet had discovered. The thudding of footsteps that followed signaled the approach of his teammates. Upon arrival, Elizabeth began gagging in disgust and immediately cast a spell to congest her nose. Regardless, she still called out to Janet.

"There you are, Janet! What happened earlier? "

"Whew. I thought we'd never find her. If you thought this place was huge, you should see the dining room," Thomas said, oblivious to his teammates' discomfort. Elizabeth, focusing on Janet's distress, ignored his comment and pushed past him towards Janet.

"Hey Janet, we were looking for you. You screamed earlier. Are you alright? Is everything okay? " Elizabeth inquired Janet, who didn't respond. Elizabeth looked at Samuel, who shrugged.

"Do you know … ? " Elizabeth quietly asked, pointing at Janet. Samuel shrugged again.

Walking towards her, they realized Janet had discovered a substantially decomposed corpse, of which was leaning against the sofa she had collapsed next to. Its putrid stench further assaulted Samuel’s and Elizabeth’s noses, making the two recoil and gag. Thomas walked over and kneeled by the corpse, studying it for a moment.

"Janet, this doesn’t look like your friend. Do you know who it is? " Thomas asked, looking at Janet.

Janet hiccupped and sniffled as she halted her weeping. Wiping her running nose on her arm, she finally replied. "It’s her dad… I think."

"I guess it would be hard to tell, seeing the state he's in," Thomas bluntly stated, rather distastefully. Janet covered her face with her hands and began sobbing again, to which Elizabeth and Samuel shot Thomas a dirty look. Thomas, realizing his mistake, quickly attempted to save face.

"Look, all I'm saying is, how do we know for sure that this corpse belongs to someone in the family? Given the state of the body, it's ridiculous to assume anything. For all we know, it could just be a random person who broke into an abandoned mansion and got themselves stupidly killed." Samuel was surprised to hear this, as it made for an optimistic explanation.

"You know… he does have a point," Samuel slowly commented. Elizabeth was further unamused upon hearing this, giving him a face that seemingly said " not you too ."

Walking over, Elizabeth placed her free hand on Janet's shoulder.

“Come on, let's go sit in the parlor and we'll talk there.”

Slowly, Janet rose and clung onto Elizabeth's arm, crying into her shoulder. As they began to leave, Elizabeth turned to Samuel and Thomas, the latter of which was making his way towards the windows.

"You two go on ahead and investigate the rest of the house. I'm going to stay behind with Janet," Elizabeth explained. Samuel gave a thumbs up.

"Will do."

As the pair left the room, Elizabeth yelled out one more comment: "Don't forget to start the incident report! "

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that," Thomas said, having opened the curtains in the room. Digging into his pocket, he retrieved his holopad and began logging information for the incident report. As he did so, he was oblivious to the fact that Samuel kept his gaze upon the doorway.

"So this body makes at least one fatality. Assuming that's the father's, we'll need to investigate the rest of the mansion," Thomas stated. Looking up at Samuel, he was confused at the uncomfortable pose his leader held.

"What's wrong? "

"Do you think we were a bit inconsiderate? To Janet, I mean." Samuel turned his attention to Thomas. "Her best friend is probably dead, and the poor girl just found out her best friends' dad probably is dead. Given the situation, we shouldn't have been so casual about it." Samuel lightly punched Thomas' arm. "We should keep an eye on that. Get better with showing some damn respect, you know? " Thomas awkwardly agreed.

"Empathy was never my strong suit, but I'll sure try."

Crouching down, Samuel equipped his medical gloves and inspected what remained of the rotting corpse, the newly introduced sunlight aiding his examination.

"For starters, it's definitely an adult, so this might just be the father," Samuel explained. He silently regretted having not brought his nose plugs, as the stench of rot was made worse by his upgraded sense of smell. He instead opted to hold his breath for the time being.

"They’re badly decomposed, but…" Samuel lightly moved the corpse's head. "If you look right here, you'll see some impact points, meaning this guy was probably bludgeoned to death. Come, look here." Samuel pointed at the corpse's caved-in skull as Thomas moved in for a quick glance.

"Looks like whoever did this beat his head in. Pretty brutal," Samuel explained, slightly aghast. Thomas hummed in agreement as he noted the grim revelation on his holopad.

"Know what? " Samuel looked up at Thomas. "Call in a Reaper. Seeing as this guy's death hasn't been reported yet, that means there'll definitely be at least one Spirit floating around here. And if the rest of the family happens to be dead in here, their Spirits will be roaming around here too." Taking off one of his soiled gloves, he reached into his satchel. "Give their department a call while I run a scan on this guy's identity, see who he is before jumping to any more unnecessary conclusions."

"Sure thing," Thomas replied. Taking his communicator from his pocket, he called the Institution’s Reaper department, to which they answered quickly.

Samuel looked back at the corpse. " Sure hope none of them were mages …" Checking around for any potentially identifying details, he noticed that the corpse's teeth were, in more or less, relatively acceptable condition. Samuel retrieved his Identifier Tool out from his satchel. Pressing some buttons on the gadget, Samuel held out the small handheld device and steadily hovered it away from the corpse. Pressing a button on the side of the tool, a green light projected and buzzed as it scanned the corpse's teeth.

"Hey, it's Thomas Wiltad, from Team SET; got a job for one of you," Thomas said to the other end. "Multiple Spirits possible, but we're still investigating; one confirmed so far. We're over at…"

Thomas looked down at Samuel, who was anxiously reading the results on the Identifier Tool.

"Hey, where are we again? I want to make sure," Thomas asked. Samuel stood up and placed the tool back into his satchel.

"Crytem Estate… C – R – Y – T – E – M ," Samuel slowly answered. Thomas nodded in response.

"We're over at 'Crytem Estate', just outside of downtown, by the river. Large place, you can't miss it. We'll be waiting for you here." With that, he ended the call.

"Alright, they said they'll be here soon."

"Good to hear it. Get your holopad back out, though. You'll want to mark this down," Samuel said, gesturing to the acrid corpse. Thomas nodded in response, holopad back in hand.

"I assume this has to do with the identity of the body? "

"Yeah… and it's not good news. Turns out…" Samuel turned and pointed to the corpse. "This is the father. Janet was right. Scan showed the body belonged to a Mr. Crytem." Thomas gave an uneasy expression.

"Are you sure? Maybe it was a false positive. Give him another scan, just to be sure," Thomas suggested, a hint of worry in his voice. Samuel dejectedly shook his head.

"Already did. Scanned him twice; same results. This is him, alright. Besides, the location matches, doesn't it? It'd be too coincidental for a false positive," Samuel stated. Thomas reluctantly agreed with the explanation.

"Assuming that the rest of the family is dead and inside the building, we're going to have to thoroughly search the place," Samuel drearily said. Thomas raised an eyebrow and hummed in thought.

"Were we not already going to do that? "

"Oh, we were. I'm just hoping that any more bodies will be as easy to find as this guy’s was. We could potentially waste a lot of time just looking for corpses," Samuel replied. His Team was unfortunately well acquainted with the tedious task that was cadaver searching.

"Elizabeth keeping an eye on Janet doesn't help things," Thomas commented. Samuel shot him a dirty look.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on her. Sympathy, remember? "

Samuel strode to the other door in the room.

"Sooner we get started, the better. I don't want to be here longer than we need to be."

"You're the boss, boss."

"Great. Let's get moving, then."

Leaving the fetid corpse behind, they entered the door which led them to an impressively spacious kitchen. To equal parts delight and disgust, Samuel could immediately detect another corpse nearby.

"Augh, that stench . I'll never get used to the smell of dead people," Samuel gagged.

"Things like that make me glad I can't smell anymore," Thomas replied, slightly smug.

"Question remains, though: where is i— oh, there it is," Samuel said, spotting the aforementioned corpse slumped against the cabinets. Where once were spotlessly clean surfaces, was now occupied by a grimy layer of dried blood and dust.

Approaching the body, Samuel held his breath and moved to pull out his gloves again, only to be stopped by Thomas' hand on his shoulder.

" Don't . I'll do it. You can use the holopad instead," Thomas declared, handing it over. Samuel exhaled in relief.

As Samuel fumbled with holstering his light and holding the holopad, Thomas crouched next to the corpse and began his inspection.

"Just by looking, I can already tell this was an adult woman, so considering that we just discovered the father, it's most likely the mother's," Thomas stated, his built-in night vision assisting him.

"I'll take your word for it," Samuel remarked, his breath tightly held as he handed Thomas his Identifier Tool.

While Thomas worked on the identification, Samuel used the holopad to search the Institution's database for any mention of the Crytem family. Locating a matching file, he began reading their entry.

"I'm going to do some research on this family. With a place this fancy you'd think some stuff would've been stolen, right? " Samuel said. "Other than the fact this place is abandoned, it doesn't look like anything was even taken from here." Samuel looked at Thomas over the top of the holopad. "You didn't notice anything stolen did you? " Thomas paused his inspection for a moment before chuckling and turning to look at Samuel.

"Now, how would I know what's missing, if I don't already know what was meant to be here in the first place? " Samuel rolled his eyes and looked back down at the holopad.

"What I meant by that was: did you notice if anything looked like it had something missing? Like an empty spot in a wall where a vase might’ve been? Or an emptied safe? Or maybe a—"

"Diamond ring? " Thomas interjected. Samuel blinked in surprise and looked back up.

"Yeah, a fancy ring also works. Did you see anything missing like that? "

Thomas gave him a studying look before raising Mrs. Crytem's rotting right hand. Set upon her fingers was an impressive assortment of several rings adorned with various gems.

"If the killer wanted to steal something, they definitely would've taken the rings off the person they killed," Thomas stated, turning the hand as he inspected the jewelry.

"You'd be right about that, then," Samuel replied, staring in awe.

"Did something look like it was missing? Is that why you're asking about it? " Thomas asked, gently lowering Mrs. Crytem's hand.

"Not really." Samuel looked back down at the holopad and continued reading through the family’s file. "Earlier though, when I was in the office, there was this mess in there; papers all over the place." He scrolled down a page on the holopad. "Papers with addresses and stuff. You know what that means, right? " Thomas got up and wiped his hands clean with a disinfectant rag.

"The killer was looking for more victims? " Thomas guessed, to which Samuel nodded, a grim expression of worry on his face. "But what's this family doing with all those addresses in the first place, anyways? "

"Well, based on what I've read, it seems like the dad was a part of one of those sneaky science teams from this system's federation, working on who knows what. Though from what I could dig up, it had to do with stuff involving the Underworld. Research like that definitely explains all this wealth," Samuel remarked, waving his hand around.

"Do you know who's at risk, specifically? "

"Not a clue. The papers were covered with a lot of names so I'm not even sure how many of them are at risk now. I would've picked them up and read through them all but I was focused on finding Janet at the time. We can always go back and gather up the pages before we leave, though."

"If that many people are at risk like you say there are, we should hurry and wrap this mission up."

"No kidding," Samuel stated as they left the kitchen and headed back towards the foyer.

"Alright, so from my research, only four people lived here; Mother, Father, Son, and Daughter. We've already found two of them so far, so that makes this mission half accomplished. Let's finish searching this floor and then we can move up to the next one," Samuel said.

On their way through the ashen entryway, they passed by the parlor, to which Samuel spared a passing glance. Inside, he could see Janet sitting on a chair continually sobbing while Elizabeth sat in front of her, attempting to comfort her.

Lurking around the first floor, they conducted their search while also opening curtains whenever they could. After having found nothing but dust, Samuel and Thomas concluded that any other corpses would be found upstairs.

Once again entering the foyer, Samuel shined his light at the stairs as he gestured towards them.

"Alright, time to go upstairs. If there're any other bodies, they'll definitely be up there."

With that, they made their way towards the second floor, completely unaware of what they would soon discover.

***

Screaming, terror, blood, torment, and agony.

The gruesome events of the night had endlessly replayed in her mind as she lay dying in a pool of her blood, all while she yearned for death to overcome her and end her suffering. As her vision faded and she closed her eyes, she accepted her death and expected her end to come shortly after.

Much to her bewilderment, it never did.

Stranger yet, she found herself unable to recall what exactly had transpired, and although her memories of the night had faded, the feelings remained, sending a frightened tremor through her psyche. This, coupled with an unusual twinkling gleam that enveloped her mind, encouraged the girl to wake up.

Victoria Crytem opened her eyes.

She found herself sprawled about, face-up on the floor of her room, but was unable to remember why. Blinking her eyes, Victoria attempted to recall the reason to no avail, as her mind was undergoing a foggy state of disorientation. As Victoria further considered the odd situation, memories of the night abruptly invaded her mind.

Bolting upright in sheer panic, Victoria's eyes darted around her room, searching for her assailant. Expecting to see the killer lurking in the shadows, she was relieved to find herself alone. Turning her attention towards the door, Victoria steadily approached it, finding solace in seeing it already closed. Locking it, she backed away only to take notice of the room’s considerable chill. As a sudden realization overcame her mind, the trivial issue of the room's temperature fell away.

“ I died …”

Clutching her chest, Victoria stared down at the several slashes and puncture wounds she had received. Although they had all stopped bleeding, the injuries nevertheless appeared to be fresh, as though some invisible bind had materialized to prevent further exsanguination. Tentatively sliding a hand across her blood-splattered clothing, Victoria made contact with the sticky, red liquid responsible for her attire’s foul state. Though the blood both looked and felt fresh, it left no remnant upon her. Remembering that the killer had slit her throat as well, Victoria slowly slid her hand across her neck and felt the deep wound the killer had inflicted, yet she felt no pain. In fact, Victoria felt nothing at all. What was going on?

Clasping her hands together in bewilderment, Victoria took notice of the odd appearance her arms had undertaken. Something was off but she couldn't deduce what it was. Going to her mirror, she inspected her face. Something was definitely wrong with her. Terrified, she rubbed her eyes for a moment and looked again. Upon opening them, she was met with a brutal discovery that decimated her mental state.

Her hair was floating—waving around as if she were underwater. Her body had become slightly translucent, and was dimly illuminated a light blue color. In a state of deep panic, she looked down at her legs, where everything below her knees had disappeared.

Filled with distressed confusion, overwhelming dread, and immense terror, Victoria screamed.

***

Thomas knelt by the newly discovered, decaying body of Andrew. Samuel was casually leaning on the hallway walls noting the details of their newest discovery upon the holopad, silently cursing at himself again for neglecting to bring his nose plugs.

"Young male, this one, which makes this body… the son's." Thomas shook his head in remorse. "Poor kid. None of them deserved thi—" A sudden shrill scream erupted from down the hall, interrupting him.

Samuel, flinching in fright, dropped the holopad and began backing away towards the stairs, a wavering expression of fear upon his face. Thomas immediately stood up and placed his hands upon the frightened man's shoulders in assurance.

"Settle down, Sam, settle down. You're alright. I know how you feel about hauntings, but we're here to investigate everything, right? "

Breathing heavily, Samuel looked at Thomas with widened eyes before hanging his head. With bated breaths and a nervous gulp, Samuel shook his head and gave Thomas a fresh look of determination.

"Right. Let's go find that Spirit."

***

Janet held her head in her hands sobbing as Elizabeth tried her best at comforting her.

"You shouldn't assume the worst of things, Janet. She might've escaped and survived."

Janet raised her head, her eyes red and puffy from her near endless stream of misery. "I really do wish that were true 'cause—" A shrill scream from upstairs startled the duo, ending the conversation.

Elizabeth looked towards the stairs. "Wh—that was—" She turned back to Janet. "That didn’t sound like Sam or Thomas," She exclaimed, confused.

Meanwhile, Janet was in hysterical elation.

"That sounded like Victoria! She's still alive! " Jumping out of her chair, she ran towards the stairs, Elizabeth, following right after.

"Wait, wait!" Elizabeth hoped to stop Janet before she could reach the stairs. It was to no avail however, as the redhead continued her manic sprint. Well acquainted with the dangers of Haunt Spirits, Elizabeth quickly unsheathed her staff and reluctantly cast a binding spell upon Janet, the latter of whom had already reached the foot of the stairs. Janet, to great exasperation, immediately realized what she had been hit with.

Elizabeth ran over to meet Janet, who was glaring daggers into the mage's eyes. As Elizabeth skidded to a halt, she chastised Janet for having carelessly run off.

"You need to stop . I get that you really miss your friend, but that could have been a Haunt Spirit. You might not understand the risk involved with things like that, but I do. And so does Samuel."

Elizabeth walked over and stood on the first step as Janet struggled against her invisible bonds.

"We need to wait and see what he says before we can go upstairs ourselves. Grief isn't worth getting potentially attacked over, especially if the Haunt Spirit happens to be your friend." Janet's vehement desire to advance was clearly visible in her tearful eyes, to which Elizabeth took notice.

"I… don't… care." Janet responded through gritted teeth, futilely fighting back another wave of tears. With a sigh, Elizabeth looked up the stairs and called out towards the next floor.

"Samuel! " There was a momentary pause until her leader responded.

"Yeah!? What's up!? " Samuel yelled from somewhere down the hallway, Elizabeth unsure of what direction he occupied.

"We heard a scream! Was that a Haunt Spirit!? Is it safe to come up there!? "

Another painful pause followed, much to Janet's impatient chagrin.

"We don't know yet, but we heard some crying! Thomas tracked it to a door here in the hall but it's locked! " Janet's heart leapt in her chest.

Nearly choking on her breath, Janet fervidly called up the stairs, Elizabeth eyeing her closely.

"The door! What's the door look like!? "

This time, Samuel responded much quicker.

"It's, uh … white, and it's got some gold marks on it! There's some fancy carvings on the sides, too! "

Janet's heart practically vacated her body as she hopped in place. Sputtering a flurry of words, Janet finally formed her desired sentence.

"Th-that's her! Victoria! Victoria! "

Turning to Elizabeth, Janet frantically pleaded with the mage to release her magical bonds.

"P-please let me go I-I gotta see her I-I d-don't care if she's a specter or what I gotta go see her." Janet's strained response was the winning factor in convincing Elizabeth to reluctantly undo her magical bonds, a motion that the mage did not readily relent to doing.

"Okay, okay. Hold still," Elizabeth whispered as she raised her staff.

Murmuring the counter-spell under her breath, a flash of light occurred, Janet immediately sensing her intangible binds falling away. Without hesitation, Janet pushed past Elizabeth and expediently ascended the stairs at full speed, a steadfast Elizabeth following right behind her. Despite allowing Janet to possibly face a Haunt Spirit head on, she would do her best to protect her.

"Victoria! "

***

Victoria crumpled to the floor sobbing in immense distress, horrified at the state of herself. Rolling onto her side, she covered her face with her hands. How could this happen? Was she dead? As she lay on the floor crying, she suddenly heard a man's voice from out in the hallway.

"Where's that coming from? " The voice sounded like a young man's; an electronic-sounding deeper voice shushed him right after. Victoria immediately stifled her cries to a sniffling standstill as she attempted to get a better listen to these unknown visitants. Who could these men possibly be? Sitting up, she could hear footsteps approaching from down the hall.

"Did you hear that? It sounded like crying," the electronic voice stated." That Haunt Spirit's nearby."

"Can you tell where it came from? I didn’t hear it well enough."

"I heard it from over here. It definitely came from one of these rooms." As their footsteps came closer, Victoria gaped in silent horror. They were headed for her room. She couldn’t bear having someone see her in this state, much less complete strangers. Were they perhaps other lethal intruders? Just like the killer?

The strangers opened the door opposite hers, to which Victoria gasped. She knew she needed to hide lest she be discovered, but given the nature of her room, there were little opportunities allowing her to do so. Noticing her wardrobe laying on the floor from when it had been blasted out of the way earlier, Victoria decided it would work as an impromptu hiding spot. Remembering that she had no legs, she got on her stomach and began her hastened crawl towards the fallen wooden closet. Silently opening one of the doors, she hurriedly climbed in and shut it just as her doorknob rattled.

Above her raised breaths, Victoria could hear the muffled voices of the strangers from inside her messy wardrobe.

"This door's locked. This is definitely it," the electronic voice declared. Some muffled noises followed.

"You sure about this, man? " A silent agreement followed.

"Well, then I'm sure they won't care if I break the lock."

Expecting her door to be broken in, Victoria tensed up. Before the strangers could force entry, a woman's voice from somewhere downstairs suddenly appeared.

"Samuel! "

The brief respite that followed allowed Victoria to breathe easier, allowing her to consider the difficult situation she was in.

Only moments earlier had a murderer entered her home and killed everyone. Victoria herself had been stabbed, slashed, slammed into the wall, thrown to the ground, had her throat slit, and was left to bleed to death. Victoria explicitly remembered every horrific detail of that night, and even recalled closing her eyes and accepting her death.

So how then, was she still alive?

Even now, more people had come to intrude her home: two men, and now a woman. Victoria knew her voice had come from downstairs, having recognized the exact echo yelling made whenever it came from the first floor. While Victoria had no idea who these people were, she at least knew one of their names: Samuel.

"Yeah!? What's up!? " The younger voice yelled to the newly revealed member of the intruders, revealing his identity.

The young man is the one named Samuel .

"We heard a scream! Was that a Haunt Spirit!? Is it safe to come up there!? "

We? There were more trespassers downstairs? This revelation further unsettled Victoria's already heightened nerves, prompting her to shut her eyes and hope that whoever these people were would just leave already. They could pilfer her home as much as they'd like, she just wanted them gone.

"We don't know yet, but we heard some crying! Thomas tracked it to a door here in the hall but it's locked! "

Victoria integrated this new information into her mental notes.

Thomas … the other unwanted guest was named Thomas .

As Victoria kept intently listening so as to possibly uncover any more names, a new voice appeared, belonging to someone that Victoria never thought she'd see or hear again.

"The door! What's the door look like!? "

Victoria's eyes immediately flew open in utter disbelief.

That voice… Victoria would recognize that delightful accent anywhere.

Opening the wardrobe, Victoria egressed and gradually approached the door, uncaring of the fact the mysterious strangers were on the other side.

It had to be Janet. It couldn't have been anyone else.

"It's, uh … white, and it's got some gold marks on it! There's some fancy carvings on the sides, too! "

Janet's darling voice immediately followed.

"Th-that's her! Victoria! Victoria! "

Victoria held a hand to her mouth as her beloved's voice reached her ears. It was her. It really was her.

"Should we even let her come up here yet? " Thomas quietly asked Samuel, who seemingly gave a noiseless response.

Before Samuel could evidently reject the idea of Janet's inessential arrival, a flurry of thudding footsteps became audible, making it clear that she would not accept a refusal of appearance.

"Victoria!" Janet called out again over her slamming footfalls. Judging by her volume, she had now reached the top floor. A lighter set of footsteps arrived after, clearly belonging to the unknown woman.

"Hey, what are you doing, we're still investigating here! " Samuel admonished the redhead as she rapidly approached the room.

"This could be dangerous, you shouldn't be here." Thomas added in equal, irritated measure.

"I don't care! Let me through! I gotta see her! " Victoria chuckled at Janet's lively response, knowing just how fiery the redhead could be.

An audible series of scuffles soon followed, the entire trio now clearly attempting to hold Janet back.

"You have no idea how dangerous Haunt Spirits can be! It's not safe for you here! " Samuel castigated Janet over the sound of their tussle.

"I don't care about that! I need to see her! " The doorknob rattled as Janet landed a hand upon it, only to apparently have her hand wrenched away.

Given the tense nature of the situation, Victoria understood why Samuel was vehemently refusing Janet further entry. She had read several articles and had been recounted several stories upon the horrors of Haunt Spirits. Regardless, she silently judged Samuel for his abrasive mannerisms.

As the acrimony of the ongoing dispute continued, Victoria was further driven to reveal herself to the group. With a determined breath, Victoria readied herself.

"Let's not keep them waiting, Victoria! " Victoria cheerfully thought to herself with a smile as she placed a hand on the doorknob.

As Victoria began to unlock the door, she suddenly felt a glum wave of despair set over herself as she realized she had been neglecting to acknowledge a pertinent factor of the situation.

Victoria looked back down at the state of herself. Transparent, bloody, and resembling a walking corpse; she had undertaken a ghastly appearance. Looking back, she took notice of the massive dried blood pool that had accumulated where she had awoken. Combined with the structural mayhem that the room had endured, these factors blended together to form a truly grisly scene. Even without seeing Victoria, no doubt would Janet sufficiently freak out, having assumed the worst. Looking back at the door, Victoria came to a difficult conclusion.

No. She simply couldn't let Janet see her like this.

With silent tears flowing, Victoria let go of the doorknob and stepped away as she gradually lowered her arm and walked back towards her self-established point of exile. Judging from the lack of noise, the light scrimmage seemed to have ended.

"I do hope you'll forgive me for this," Victoria solemnly thought as she climbed back in. Settling herself within, she pulled the wardrobe door shut just as the doorknob rattled again.

"Alright, just relax, will you? It's locked. Let me just blow the doorknob off," Samuel huffed.

"Can't you just have me unlock it? " Elizabeth questioned, a light double thump of some object following right after.

"If a Haunt Spirit's waiting for us in there, I'd rather have my gun ready and waiting for it."

Janet began to object but was swiftly cut off by Samuel.

"Look, just back away, alright? Eliza, keep her away ."

An odd sound followed, along with a fierce growl emanating from Janet.

"You're doin' this to me again?! "

"Standby. Breaching in three … two …"

Despite fully expecting it, Victoria flinched and shut her eyes as an intense gunshot Victoria recognized as belonging to a shotgun blasted her door open. A duo of footsteps entering her room followed.

"Do you see anything? " Samuel asked, audibly panting.

"Nothing yet. I'm going to move in closer."

Victoria kept her eyes shut as Thomas moved to the other side of the room.

"What a mess …" Samuel murmured under his breath.

"Nothing still. No Haunt Spirits detected so far," reported Thomas. The sound of the curtains opening followed, along with his footsteps reporting his return to his initial position.

"Well this was where we heard that crying. Not to mention it's still cold in here. That Haunt Spirit's got to be around here somewhere." Samuel commented, a hint of unease in his voice. His voice placed him uncomfortably close to the wardrobe. Keeping her eyes shut tight, Victoria stifled her diminishing sniffles and desperately hoped they would not discover her.

"Is she in there? Say something! "

Samuel's breath caught in his throat as he anxiously sighed.

"No, she's not in here. Eliza, you can let her in."

Another odd sound occurred, immediately followed by Janet's rapid entrance. A choking gasp erupted from the girl as she took in the macabre scene before her.

The remnants of a bloody scuffle were apparent. Though Victoria was not as tidy as her parents liked her to be, she always took great care in arranging her domicile as she personally saw fit, showcased by way of a large number of trinkets and baubles lining her mounted shelves. Combined with a variety of paintings that lined her walls, Janet knew Victoria well enough that any miniscule error in her preferred organization would swiftly be corrected. Unfortunately, the gruesome scene currently present in the once pristine room wiped away all semblances of this fact. Several of Victoria's trinkets had fallen to the floor, many having broken upon impact. Large speckles of dried blood dotted the walls and floor, with a massive, dried pool of the once red liquid having occupied the space next to Victoria's four poster bed. Her wardrobe, formerly standing near the door and known to Janet for being the prime hiding spot of Victoria's illicit material, was now lying on its backside. In addition, Janet spotted one of Victoria's several spellbooks fallen near the blood pool, its pages near entirely stained crimson. Shockingly, the wall opposite the door had been caved in, giving the impression that someone had been thrown into it, Janet hoping it hadn’t been Victoria.

Unable to take it all in, Janet groaned and crumpled to the floor, weeping in despair, the sound of her anguish threatening to affect Victoria in equal measure.

Victoria cursed herself as she repressed further tears. How could she have left all that blood sitting out like that? Especially knowing full well the effect it'd have on Janet's already heightened emotional state.

"Get Janet out of here. She doesn't need to see this," Samuel somberly commanded, a newly wailing Janet doing nothing to help the group's heightened nerves.

“What about that Haunt Spirit? ” Thomas asked as he helped carry out Janet. Samuel waved his hand.

“We can worry about it later. Right now let’s just get Janet out of here.”

With a series of timid assurances, the group helped Janet out and left. It was only then that Victoria realized Samuel had not followed suit, his agitated breathing telling of his presence. Victoria nervously awaited his exit but it never came.

" Huh …" Samuel mumbled as he seemingly pieced something together in thought.

Setting his weapon on the floor, Samuel kneeled above the wardrobe, much to Victoria's apprehensive dismay. She shut her eyes tight as she could manage while thoughts of being as plausibly concealed as possible flooded her mind.

" I wonder if …"

Placing a hand on the wardrobe door with a light rap of his fingers, Samuel slowly pulled it open.

***

Looking at the empty wardrobe, Samuel was relieved he had not discovered another corpse to further assault his senses. Oddly enough, however, the imprint of a body lay within the mess of clothing that occupied the wardrobe.

"Well that's weird. No blood in here at all," He commented, digging a hand into the various extravagant garments. Though the outfits were impressively lavish, they were impertinent to the mission.

Not bothering to close the wardrobe, he collected his weapon and stood up. Taking one last look around the room, Samuel noticed a bloody knife lying on the floor near the door. Taking it into his hand for a quick inspection, Samuel pocketed the blade, slung his weapon over his shoulder, and left the room.

***

Victoria wasn't quite sure what emotion to feel.

Her eyes flew open in conjunction with the wardrobe, and while she had fully expected to see Samuel, however the man looked like, looking right at her ready to reveal her presence to the others, she was instead met with nothing but the slightly blood stained ceiling.

Keeping her breath held, Victoria stared upon the blood flecked plafond, expectedly awaiting the man to appear at any time, but he never did. In fact, despite Janet having begun wailing, she wasn’t audible either.

Peeking her head out, Victoria cautiously surveyed the room but was strangely unable to detect the presence of neither the crew nor Janet.

Though she was utterly baffled, Victoria shook her head and vigilantly climbed out of the wardrobe for what she hoped would be the last time; a steadfast goal setting itself within her.

"Wherever they went matters not. I must get out of here and find help."