"This place gives me weird vibes."

☆

Adam looks down on the rugged ground. He feels the stones imprint onto his palms as he acclimatises to his surroundings. He hurries to his feet, as the wind whips up his hair in a frenzy. The sky appears grey as he looks above. The sounds of water crashing against rock felt deafening as he places a hand to his ear. "Where am I?" He utters out aloud, as he looks around him, but he appears to be alone. Where was Isaac? Where was Miss Fine? Where was the house?

A sudden break in the clouds causes Adam to look up once again. A light of purest white appears. It makes him shield his eyes as he attempts to follow the brightness through his parted fingers as it plummets into the water, like a fallen star, before it reappears a few moments later. It rises to the surface, the brightness dulled by a black spot, like a blot on the white landscape, as it travels to a place on the distant ground.

Adam feels compelled to know more, to see more as he finds his feet begin to head in that direction. The hurried action begins to slow as an overwhelming sense of dread consumes him. It's as if he knows what is about to happen before time, as he sees a hand emerge from the light. It rested upon a lifeless dark figure, on the ground. The air fills with an almighty scream, so loud it pierces through the atmosphere like a knife and causes Adam to cradle his head.

He closes his eyes, as if not seeing the pain inflicted before him would somehow lessen the pain in his head. He knew he should look. To know what was happening to cause such screams, maybe he could help. Perhaps he could stop the scene unfolding before him, be a hero in the moment, but the fear felt all consuming. He was afraid, paralysed in place. The screams were so harrowing that all he could do was wait until they stopped. ...

***

"Adam....Mr White..."

Adam jumps himself awake. He opens his eyes, finding hinself back in the room. He feels the sunken springs of the couch under him as he focuses on the woman sitting opposite him. "What.... What did you just do?" He asks the woman. He glances across to Isaac, who looks back at him, matching a similar puzzled expression as he scratches the back of his head.

"I found myself a pen dear. Here, the documents are signed." Miss Fine smiles at the man as she passes back the papers.

Isaac glances at the documents in her hand. "Adam, if we are done, we should go." He stands up, wanting for Adam to follow.

Adam takes the papers, questioning the present reality. Had he just imagined the past moments? "Th...thank you. We will leave you in peace."

The lady stands up and reaches for Adam's hands, she places her own over his as she looks up to him. "It's in your hands now." She smiles and for a split second, it causes Adam to feel a strange connection, but then it gets lost as if he is a thread, trying to fit through the eye of the smallest needle, just missing the mark.

Her hands drop and Adam hurriedly puts the documents in the briefcase, closing it and taking a step towards Isaac, who was already halfway towards the door. "I'm sure Jojo will be in touch."

The lady nods as she watches the pair head to the door. Isaac turns the handle, not even bothering to turn around, with Adam a second behind. He dares to turn around to see Miss Grace Fine. Questioning in his mind why she looked a little different, as if she had a literal weight lifted. "Goodbye Miss Fine." Adam smiles out of courtesy as he turns away one last time. He heads through the door, closing it behind him and makes a quick step to catch up with Isaac, who was already waiting by the passenger door of the car.

"This place gives me weird vibes." Isaac finally says, with the words dying to leave his lips from the moment they had arrived at the remote location.

Adam unlocks the door as they both get into the car. He tosses the briefcase onto the back seat. He looks at Isaac, who was gazing out at the house once again like he had done before going in. " Isaac. Can I ask you something?"

Isaac looks at Adam as if he knows what to expect. "You were out like a light."

"What happened?" Adam questions.

Isaac shakes his head. "When I got back from the car, she was just sitting there in that rocking chair. She put a finger to her lips and went Sshhh he is sleeping. He will wake up soon. Can we just get out of here?"

Adam exhales a sigh through his nose, feeling a little frustrated by the lack of clarity from the other male. He switches on the engine and puts the car in reverse. As he buckles up, he takes a final look at the seemingly charming cottage. Whatever this place was and whoever she was, didn't matter. Deep down, he knew he wasn't coming back.

He heads away from the building, down the winding road from which they came. Not once looking back. Not seeing as the quaint cottage slowly began to fold in on itself, like a house of cards. With everything and everyone within, going with it...