𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 was a whole other place on the inside. It looked pretty elegant, and a little old-fashioned. Maybe that was what made me calm down as we entered. It had a nice fashion choice.

It was a just a normal house. Maybe we overreacted.

I rolled my eyes at the thought.
Did you forget about the article ?
I scolded myself.

The others were cracking jokes as we explored the place. It was pretty useless, to say the least. But it worked for a crackhead like me.

"So guys, how about we add the background here? I think it would look pretty cool."
Adam commented. Ellen shook her head in disagreement.
"No, I think it would look better over there.."

They kept discussing different things loudly. I took the chance and told them that I was going to explore the mansion.

I didn't wait for them to reply, obviously. I wandered off, and concentrated on checking every part of the house.

As I kept walking, I kept glancing at the walls, for some unknown reason. Finally, I stopped at an old black-and-white portrait. It had a man who was dressed in a formal old-fashioned suit, and next to him was a woman, with dark hair and a forced smile. She was wearing a long, black dress.

However, as I kept inspecting the portrait, I felt quite uncomfortable. Something was deeply wrong with it, in a way.

I didn't know what, of course. But I was planning to find out.

. . .

Twenty minutes later, I was done with the second floor. I had this one painting on my mind that I would come back to see it, but not until I was done.

I realized that Noah, Aidan and Levi were exploring the house as well. I had heard their loud voices, talking while I passed by.

Of course, the last thing I want them to see was a dumb me staring at a random portrait, so I climbed the stairs to the third floor.

I would have to look at that portrait later. I thought.

I inspected every room closely. In my humble opinion, I found that the third floor was more eerie and darker than the rest of the mansion. I didn't know why, but it gave me chills for some reason.

As I came out from the last room on the corridor, I felt my heart beat quickly.
Something was deeply wrong with this house. All of the false safety and confident feelings were now gone. I had no idea what was going on, and I didn't like it one bit.

I wanted to find out. I wanted to know everything.

I guess I just had to.

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