Days of being unable to get the images of Orsen Meister and June Baxter out of her head rolled from one into the next and before Evie knew it, a new week of work had started at Willowcreek.

Losing track of days was normal, or more had been since the loss of her mother. It was like her mind refused to keep up with the present and she'd find herself mentally trailing days behind. At the manor house, it seemed to be happening more frequently, as were her nightmares. They weren't always about the Blue House incident, but still nightmares nonetheless. That shouldn't have been surprising because the place was 'rampant with paranormal energy', so she'd heard one of the workers claim. But the last thing she wanted to do was put it down to that.

Monday morning was Evie's least favorite of any morning out of the week, it was most people's least favorite, but she dragged herself out of bed and even went down to have lunch with everyone as midday rolled around. And by everyone, that meant all of the men and women her father and uncle hired to work on the manor house.

They all gathered on the courtyard with little packed lunches and not a single person was dressed for the weather. The rain had let up on Sunday morning and the sun had been out, beating down on the area, soaking up all of the moisture the rain and storms had left behind. It was pleasantly dry but staggeringly hot for early October. All of the workers were in their fall gear, thick jackets and some were even wearing scarves, but loose and undone.

Amidst all of the talk about the weird heat, Evie was trying to listen to the conversation her uncle was having with a young man, probably mid twenties, about the maze. Usually, she only half listened when her uncle went on, however, this was different. The maze had intrigued her the second she heard about it. Two of her favorite movies were set in or involved labyrinths and she had been desperate to go and explore.

"Isn't the maze like the second most haunted part of the property?" asked the worker, much to both Evie and Eamon's dismay. Eamon heaved a sigh, tired of being asked that. But like always, there was no way anyone would catch him with a frown or serious expression on his face. Instead, he laughed a hearty laugh, nodding his head as the worker laughed awkwardly with him.

"Apparently, but I've yet to meet the shadow that stalks its green hallways," he joked with a slightly sinister smirk. Evie held her sandwich in both hands as she glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the maze.

"Hey, you guys talking about the Shadowman from the maze?" another worker chimed in, snapping Evie's mind back to the present.

Shadowman? Like...Meister?

"He's real brutal, has a thing for pretty young girls, too, so you don't go wandering or you'll be his newest victim," he teased, nudging Evie's side with his elbow. But that only gained him a wide-eyed look from Evie and a smack to the back of the head by the woman on the other side of him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" asked the woman, Evie's eyes wide as she listened to her chew him out, his mouth agape from the telling off. "Don't scare the poor girl like that. This place is probably frightening enough for her, all those stupid ghost stories flying around and you think it's funny to bring up the Shadowman? You're a fucking idiot."

"It's alright," Evie tried to insert herself to put a stop to the woman's rant. She looked almost ready to tear him apart and even if she hadn't wanted to hear more about scary shadowmen, the guy was only joking?

"No, sweetie, it's not," she was told, daggers being fired at the man to her left. "They're all idiots, I tell you," the woman insisted, extending a hand by the guy, her elbow connecting with his chest to push him back and make more room for her. "I'm Mari," Mari smiled, reaching her eyes and crinkling the edges. Evie quickly put down her sandwich to shake her hand and forced a smile. "And don't worry, I know you're Evie."

Mari was a gorgeous woman. Her dark brown eyes held the type of warmth that Evie found so comforting, like they could envelop her in a hug and all of her stresses would be forgotten. She had the coolest hair, as well, thick black coils that she'd evidently styled to make sure they didn't fly around. She'd pulled most of them back and tied them into a bun that she'd covered with a thick scrunchie. Small spirals of it framed her face. And the hand she extended to Evie was covered in scars and calluses, indicating she worked with them. It made Evie wonder if she worked with her dad or Eamon, but she figured out that she worked with her dad. The smell of sawdust just screamed woodwork.

Evie spent a little bit of time talking to Mari, finding out the guy beside her was called Douglas and he was as much of an asshole as his comment suggested. Douglas, of course, denied that. But Mari went on, "Doug thinks he's the funniest guy in the world, but he doesn't read situations well."

It wasn't the first time that Evie had been thrust into conversation with someone she didn't really want to talk to. She'd accidentally lost track of Ludo the day following the nightmare and she'd involuntarily been forced to listen to Boyd, the foreman, telling her more places she should probably avoid.

To say she listened was possibly a white lie, but Evie didn't want to be rude, even if everyone already thought she was a brat.

While Mari spoke, an eerily large group of black birds flew overhead, cawing and shrieking as they went. Douglas made another comment about the Shadowman and Evie's skin genuinely began to crawl, goosebumps running the entire length of her arms and neck. She'd never had a problem with that type of bird until he reminded her that a group of crows was called a murder, which he insisted made them perfect as the Shadowman's calling card.

Ludo padded to the big chair in Evie's temporary bedroom, sniffing in her bag for treats. She always kept them in there when she took him for walks. He was disappointed to not find beefy treats but instead a little bag of something he did not like the smell of.

Pulling his snout out of the bag, he knocked it off of the chair to the ground, startling himself. The man by the door, who was watching him closely, just laughed and shook his head at him. The man had been outside when his girl had been upset on his walk. Ludo paid him little attention, until the other one stepped into the room.

"The beast is making a mess of the room," said the other man, bristling Ludo's scruff on the back of his neck. The dog growled at him, telling him to leave.

"Leave him be," said the kinder of the two, stepping past the other and striding quickly across the room. "He is the best thing for her here," he insisted, crouching in front of the dog, distracting him from the other man and scratching behind his ears.

They had been around the mansion since Ludo had first seen the kind one outside of the house. He didn't quite like that both were near Evie's room so often. The kind one didn't bother him, but the other always angered him. He was not okay to be around his girl. Ludo didn't like him. Not at all and he'd made sure he knew that whenever he showed up.

"That beast better do what you think it can," the other man grumbled. Ludo's ears went up as he called him a beast again. He didn't quite like that term.

"He will," the other insisted, patting Ludo's head again and standing up straight. "Most of them are afraid of him, he can see them." Them? The other strange scented people that had been around this house. These two smelled just like them, but for some odd reason, it was stronger. They made him need to sneeze whenever they were around for too long. Like right now. His nose started to twitch and he sneezed, loudly, wetting the floor and making the other back up in disgust.

"Well, if he does that, it'll definitely keep any of them with sanity away from her," he grumbled and turned out of the room, disappearing down the hallway, leaving the nice one with Ludo. The dog looked up at him and he smiled down at him, crouching once again and scratching him one more time.

"Pay my brother no mind," said the man, scratching his scruff and laughing. "You are very important, you will keep her safe," he added and Ludo responded, with a nod and gruff harumph.

Well, of course he would keep his girl safe, why wouldn't he? Evie was his favorite person. She loved him and fed him snacks. He couldn't tell her but he loved her just as much, so much more, that he would do anything to protect her. She was his person. "And for that, I am grateful. I need you to go downstairs, though, can you do that?" Ludo tilted his head to the side as the man disappeared for a second, appearing in the doorway, waving the dog over. "Come, boy," he beckoned and Ludo obeyed, following him out into the hallway and down the stairs to the front courtyard.

Somewhere along the walk, the man disappeared, but Ludo followed the smell of the food, bounding out into the courtyard. However, he didn't go in search of scraps because something else caught his attention. That strange scent that those men had, he usually didn't smell it out here, but he could definitely smell it and it was strong. Somehow stronger than it was on the men. It put Ludo on edge and he had to find out where it was and what it was coming from.

By the end of the day, while vans filled up to take all of the workers home, Evie realized that she hadn't seen her dog all afternoon.

She went up to her room and found her bag on the floor, and because it had fallen over, she expected to find him under the bed. He always hid when he did something he knew he'd be told off for. But he wasn't there.

She panicked a little, thinking about the rules that she'd been given upon his arrival. The first and most important was to always know where he was, keep track of the dog, and make sure he doesn't cause any messes inside or outside of the manor.

Running downstairs, flustered and trying to contain the panic in her eyes, she avoided her dad and Eamon talking in the parlor and headed straight for the kitchen. "Mrs. Garroway!" she called, hurrying in and almost tripping over her own feet. "Mrs. Garroway, is Ludo in here with you?" asked the girl, checking underneath the small kitchen table and in the pantry that was sometimes left open. He hid in there his first night at the manor and Evie had thought he'd gotten out.

"Evelyn, love, calm down," hushed the older woman, towel slung over her shoulder as she patted the girl's back. "He hasn't been down here all day, he must be in your--"

"He's not in my room! I was just up there, he isn't there," she insisted, that panic bubble popping and almost making her cry on the spot. "Dad's going to be so mad if I don't find him." On the verge of tears, a dawning realization hit Evie while looking at the old woman. Had she seen him at all this afternoon? Had she seen him before the workers went home? Her heart stopped as she stared at Mrs. Garroway and thinking, what if he actually got out? "I have to check outside," she told the old woman, but she protested. It wasn't raining, but the heat from earlier in the day was gone. Mrs. Garroway told her that it was best to stay inside and to let her dad or her uncle check for the dog. But Evie couldn't let them know that she'd lost him. If they found out, then she'd be packing her things and being sent back to Baltimore.

Evie pleaded with the housekeeper to let her out and promised she'd come back if the weather turned, or if she couldn't find him within the half hour. Mrs. Garroway didn't look too pleased with her begging, even if it broke the woman's heart. It wasn't safe outside when it started getting dark. Dusk was not a good time to be out there. And she insisted this to the young girl, but Evie just kept pleading with her.

The grounds had been deserted, all of the workers had gone home, her dad and uncle were inside, Mrs. Garroway, too. And the fact that it was so empty created an uncomfortable, eerie atmosphere everywhere. There weren't any lights outside of the house and of course there weren't any kind of street lights nearby. It was getting dark, the sun hadn't completely disappeared beneath the horizon. It hung just enough to mix the deepening blue with tinges of pink and orange but it wasn't producing enough light for Evie to see all around her.

She'd gone against her word to Mrs. Garroway that she'd keep looking inside. And she knew the woman was going to be disappointed in her, but it was better than being sent back home. She'd grabbed a flashlight that had some amount of dust on it and as it started getting darker, the girl turned it on.

It illuminated at least two feet in front of her, not strong light but enough to see. Evie pointed it in the direction she felt she should check and found herself heading toward the maze.

It wasn't news to her that there was an area of water on the grounds, a lake as Eamon had told her, specifically instructing her not to call it a pond. It may not have appeared so, but it was deep, deep enough to be considered a lake and he made sure that she knew that.

Evie didn't know how to swim, she had tried when she was younger but she preferred looking at bodies of water rather than being in them. She had no intentions to go for a dip or even get close enough that she could see any ripples.

That was, though, until she was looking for any signs that Ludo had come this way. Maybe there would be paw prints in the mud near the edge. She was hopeful, but as she walked the edge of the lake, all she saw was leaves and more mud.

All that was visible in the beam of the flashlight, that was. Evie hadn't realized the sun had sunk entirely. She hadn't realized how close she'd gotten unti her foot felt wet. "Oh man," she groaned, stepping back and shaking her foot to get the water off of it. She raised the flashlight just a little and in the dim light, she caught sight of something but she didn't focus on it. She had more concern for her shoe and whether or not it was going to be covered in dirt. The cawing off to her left, the flapping of wings overhead made her lift her head.

And then she focused.

Beyond the embankment, at the end of a poorly constructed wooden pier, a tall shape stood staring at the opposite side of the water. Registering that this was a person, she moved closer to the mouth of the pier, pointing the flashlight at them. She didn't want to startle them, in case they fell in, but Evie couldn't just walk away. Even if her mission goal was finding someone else entirely.

"Excuse me?" she called, softly, a sliver of fear trickled into her voice. Wind rustled the hanging leaves of the willow tree, it almost sounded like a whistle, and it created an uncomfortable chill around Evie. "Um, you probably shouldn't be out there," she went on, keeping the light, as little of it as there was, on them, stepping closer to the pier. Would it hold both theirs and her weight? "I don't think the pier is safe."

Dawning on her that everyone had left for the day, Evie stared at the person and wondered how no one noticed or came back for them.

The water gave off a not so nice smell, that was to be expected. It wasn't like a pool, they couldn't filter it. But it didn't smell exactly like really stale and gross water. Distracted by the smell of possibly rotten eggs, Evie didn't notice the person turning around. The flashlight lowered just a little bit as she made sure she hadn't accidentally stepped in something vile, like dog turd or other wild animal turd, only to see...not a person standing at the end of the pier and staring at her now.

Instinctively, Evie took a step away from the pier. What she'd thought was a person had turned into some kind of ghost story creature. It seemed to grow at least a foot in height and its limbs did the same thing. Evie watched as its hands developed these really long finger-like talons. The scariest part wasn't the elongated limbs or the fact that it was growing as she looked at it. The scariest part was its face.

Or lack of a face.

It had no features, no eyes or nose or mouth. It was completely blank. Even though it was at the end of the pier, fifteen feet at most away from her, Evie could tell that it had no face.

She didn't want to wait for it to come any closer to her, so she backed up until she touched the trunk of the tree, hiding among the hanging leaves. If she hid, maybe it would leave.

But just as this crossed her mind, she heard a bark. And she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

Looking for Ludo.