allthekeys | Night 29

GO TO THREAT DOWN

|| NIGHT 029: GENERAL
The first chime of night is the only sound the house-guests will hear as they spiral into unconsciousness.

As one, they dream.

A child walks through an unfamiliar hallway, a lit candle casting uneven illumination on the area.

She is afraid, but there is little to alleviate the fear. Her friends were gone. She was alone.

Had she always been alone? It was hard to remember sometimes.

She reaches for the rail on the steps, standing on her tiptoes to grip properly before she can climb. Mother said to always hold the rail or someone's hand, but there was no-one's hand to hold.

So she had to climb the stairs alone.

Behind her something makes a frightening noise and she blows out the candle on reflex, watching between the slats of the steps as something large walks the hall she just left.

It didn't like to climb stairs, she just had to stay quiet.

Something moaned further in the house, and she pressed closer to the rails.

Just had to stay quiet.

The house-guests wake to an unfamiliar room, though they sense that they have all been there before.

Each will wake to find that their feet have been secured together, the chain binding the cuffs too short for them to walk properly or to run. The chains are unbreakable and quite inconvenient. They are also entirely smooth, as though the bindings were crafted on their ankles. They will also discover that they are covered in melting snow, and surrounded by the other guests of the house.

They have only what they were carrying with them when they fell asleep.

Perhaps most markedly among them are those that are not bound.

Jack Frost has been left in a corner close to the door to the room they have found themselves in. He is completely covered in lacy patterns of frost. His legs have been left unbound.

Ben Winchester is similarly unbound, though his hands and other injuries have been tended to and he has been wrapped in a warm woolen cloak. His right ear has been pierced, though it seems to have happened long ago, as the skin has healed. Even when he is still, the dangling pendulum always seems to move and the gears that make up the piercing never seem to remain in the same position. He will find that the impulse that kept him outside all day has faded, and that he wakes with his frog tucked gently into his arms.

Neither Winter or Lily have been bound, but Shion and Nicholas have, making their already unsteady steps a bit more tentative.

Though there is a fireplace in the room, it has not been lit and there is no wood provided to keep them warm in the quickly dropping temperatures. They will need to explore their new environment further to gather supplies if they wish to survive the night.

Calem has been left with the other house-guests, though he is dressed strangely and seems more distracted by that than he does by the chains around his ankle. He tugs at the overcoat, his gaze occasionally drifting to the dead woman on the floor. But he does not approach her nor seem to have any real clue why he is there.

Ami will wake with the small glass frog tucked against her cheek. Though it should be cold, it is surprisingly warm. It will not allow itself to be parted from her.

For just a moment as the house-guests awaken Lock will stand at the top of the Unfinished Stairs, watching them. His eyes are wide, his face is pale, and he looks terrified. Before any of the house-guests can finish rising, the boy turns and darts up the stairs, leaping over the gap to vanish into the shadows. The darkness in the upstairs area is absolute, the gloom impenetrable. Venturing into it seems unwise.

The rocking chair in the corner of the Den constantly moves, though nothing sits within it. Placing a hand on it will stop it for a few moments only. As soon as the hand leaves it, it begins to move again.

As they rise, they might notice what seems to be a fellow victim -- but will soon realize that it's the corpse of a woman. Written on the ground in front of her is a single word "Succumb", it seems to have been painted to the floor with blood. There is a small cut on her hand, but there is no other sign of death, though her body is now frozen with the cold. She is red-headed, with a faint dusting of freckles over her cheeks. Further examination will not reveal any obvious cause of death, though it will reveal great gaping sores on her knees, as though she had knelt on the floor for a very long time before dying.

Winter and Lily will both cry if anyone attempts to remove them from the room, and will fuss if their guardians attempt to leave them behind. They seem frightened, though they are perhaps the warmest of those locked within this new place.

In the Plastic Hallway, several people sit huddled on the floor, as though cold. Their heads loll sporadically, as though they no longer have control of the movement. Hands and legs twitch, but they do not rise until someone enters the hall, their eyes empty of all life, their bodies desiccated by injury and rot. What little they wear in the way of clothing has nearly sloughed off their frames. The Zombies are slow, but persistent, though they will luckily not enter the Den once triggered.

There are six Hellhounds in the Guest Room, though one is so newly born that its eyes are not yet open. Its mother lays curled around it, mostly hidden by the bed. They will kill any injured people that enter the room, but seem entirely unwilling to venture into the hall, though they can often be heard baying if someone is hurt or dies. They instead seem content to distract themselves with shredding pillows and gnawing on furniture.

The Rats can be found throughout the house in every room but the safe rooms, watching the house-guests and the monsters with a degree of detached apathy. The monsters do not touch them and they do not move from their chosen perches.

There is light pouring from under the door to the Empty Bedroom, and any medium or high sensitives who are Not Lyhn's Students or Jack Frost will feel themselves drawn here. Within the room sits Senja, her eyes hidden from view by a veil and her face serene.

A large black dog lays curled with Claire on the old mattress, his head resting on her lap and his gaze directed towards the door. The child is clearly terrified, and the dress she wears is not at all suited for the cold of the room. She keeps her hands buried in the fur of the dog for warmth, and does not look up at all.

The Frozen Woman sits on the snow covered pile of forgotten stone on the Patio. She looks outward, though the house is surrounded by impenetrable mist. She is quiet, and there is a strange sort of stillness to her, almost as though she has been carved from ice. She will turn to anyone who exits the house for a moment, extending her hand as though inviting them to watch with her, but will not chase them if they refuse her touch. Whatever she sees in the mist will not become apparent to the house-guests, though the brutal cold outside will likely chase them back into the house, rather than remain looking with her for very long.

The Glass Dogs and their pups seem to have followed the guests to the new house, and they as well as Tyler play almost carelessly in the piles of snow, yipping and bounding after each other as they enjoy the cold.

The adults will snarl at any adult from within the house that tries to join them, but seem to have no problem with any child who wishes to play with their puppies.

In the Abandoned Nursery among the rest of the clutter sits a doll. Unlike much of the rest of the room it is devoid of a layer of dust, as if it has somehow arrived recently.

Something hides in the shadowed places of the Pillow Room. The drapes move constantly, twitching as something moves beneath them. The laughter of a child can often be heard, but no child ever appears. Occasionally, the house-guests might see a dark figure curled in one of the corners just out of the corner of their eye, but the moment they turn the shadow has vanished.

The open area of the Poet's Room has been filled with hunched, battered figures. They rock slowly but make no sound as the doors to either side of them are opened. That is, of course, unless one of the guests makes a noise near to them. Then they begin to scream. Their screams are unnerving, cutting deep beneath the skin of those that hear it, and easily deafening anyone who lingers for longer than a moment.

Despite the screams, they seem otherwise harmless. They are noisy, however, and their noise will quickly catch the attention of the zombies and other beasts that haunt the halls.

In the Ruined Apartment sitting away on the ground facing the blood-soaked bed is the familiar form of Estella. She hugs her legs, gaze fixed straight ahead and unblinking. Although she is in fact breathing she appears unaware of her surroundings, will not respond to anyone who tries to address her or so much as flinch. It is, however, quite possible to drag her about and move her if someone is so inclined.

The sound of hammering and sawing can be heard quite loudly from the Workman's Room, however opening the door reveals that the tools are covered in a fine layer of dust and nothing in the room seems to have moved for a very long time. Perhaps the only thing out of place is a single boot print pressed into the dust, it is small, clearly not that of a man. But there is only one, so fresh that the edges of the print still crumble.

Of the person that made it, there is no sign.

In the Boarded Room there is something very clearly out of place. A music box sits on the covering that has been stretched over the dressing table, its wood surface clear of dust. It seems familiar to those that behold it, as though they have all seen it before. Engraved on the bottom is a simple etching. "For Rose"

There are no footprints in the dust that surrounds the room, nor any indication of how this box has gotten here. The room seems empty, and cold, and like it has been abandoned for a very long time.

The narrow stepladder that leads up from the closet seems unnaturally long, and no matter how high the house-guests climb they never seem to reach the top. Anyone who tries will find that something appears at the bottom of the ladder, gripping the bottom rungs as though it will follow. Although it is child shaped, it has no face -- only a wide slash of a mouth that is filled with teeth. As the house-guest climbs, the not-child follows.

If they begin to climb down, the child will eventually vanish beneath the hatch. But with every step they go up, the creature creeps closer, its mouth pulled into a shark toothed grin.

A splashing sound can be heard coming from downstairs, in the Leaky Basement, something forging through the water and causing it to lap against the walls. It comes closer, then closer still, to the base of the stairs and soon the heavy sound of breathing can be heard as well. A low growl sounds, a deeply pitched noise suited only to the largest of beasts.

Before it comes into sight the hanging bulb in the basement bursts, raining shattered glass and sparks into the water below. The bottom of the stairs is completely bathed in darkness -- but it does not stop the creature. Soon its claws can be heard scraping against the wood, its heavy body dragging against the wood that groans and splinters under the massive weight.

The monster hauls itself onto the first floor with a thud of its body. Almost as black as the shadows it rose from, dark scales glisten with the putrid water it had crawled through. Its body remains low to the floor, short legs not supporting it enough to avoid the long, slow scraping of its tough skin against hardwood. Its wide-set eyes are bright and intelligent, staring out from above a small snout and long thin lips pulled back into a perpetual grin with strangely human teeth. The arms it uses to pull itself forward are longer, letting it reach and stretch, the claws on the end of its deformed extremities long enough to grip and pull and tear.

It sits on its haunches and brings itself to a full height, almost reaching the ceiling, and draws in a deep breath with flared nostrils, saliva dripping from between its teeth. Smelling something, it drops back to the floor and begins to move, almost slither, forward, its hoof-like back feet scraping and propelling it forward.

The beast is slow, but it is relentless. It is the guardian of this place, and it will not be stopped. It will follow them through the house, and there are very few places it cannot go.

The mud in the basement is moving, lurching upwards as though something is trying to escape. At times these strange shapes appear almost human, at others they are only formless movement. There is a sound, almost like a dying engine trying desperately to work.

For some reason the monsters seem to grow confused as they approach the Lily Bedroom. They hesitate to enter it, and once the door is shut seem to forget that it was there at all. It does not stop them from chasing the guests the moment they reappear, but the behavior seems almost as odd as the room.

The house is surrounded by a dense fog, and it seems impossible to find their way back to the familiar halls of the other houses. The snow offers a further danger, as it disguises holes that would otherwise be obvious from the unwary stepping into it. To make matters worse, the fog seems to be full of dogs. They are like nothing the guests have ever seen before, though any who look into their eyes will be reminded of hellhounds. They are sleek, grey, with hound like faces and great dark eyes. Any who stray too far from the house will find themselves being chased back by these creatures, always sure that they are just about to catch them.

They vanish the moment they grow close enough to the house to be seen.

There will be no return to the other houses tonight.

All new arrivals and those returning from the dead will appear at the top of the stairs to the Leaky Basement.

|| THREAT DOWN

Fifth House

1. Patio 2. Rough Hall 3. Poet's Room 4. Old Bedroom 5. Pillow Room 6. Bathroom 7. Empty Bedroom 8. Forgotten Storeroom 9. Mildewed Hallway 10. Broom Cupboard 11. Den 12. Unfinished Stairs 13. Abandoned Nursery 14. Boarded Room 15. Plastic Hall 16. Outside Door 17. Bachelor's Kitchen 18. Garage 19. Workman's Room 20. Guest Bedroom 21. Lily Bedroom