Day 032

[allthekeys]

|| Day 032: GENERAL Day dawns bright and cheerful, with the smell of flowers and recent rain heavy in the air. The storm has moved on, and the sunlight is quite bright and peering through the windows. The monsters have vanished from the house, leaving no trace of themselves behind. Something seems to be wrong in Dave's bar. Glass shards scattered around behind the bar over steaming pools of liquid, and the barkeeper himself is holding a towel to his heavily bleeding hand, glaring at the mess. There is no indication as to what has happened, and nobody in the bar can remember hearing anything. The activity in the Bakery has ceased, though fresh bread and pastries are still there for the taking. The room has a sort of sleepy air to it, and those who eat the bread will find themselves seeking out a place to nap. It seems to do them no harm, but those who go back more than once will find that it seems like a wonderful day to do nothing but sleep. In the Empty Kitchen the piles of candy remain, though much of the mess has been cleaned away. The candies offer a sweet temptation for anyone who comes through the kitchen, and those who eat them will find themselves full of energy. Almost too much energy, as it becomes almost impossible for them to sleep as they make their way through the houses. From a distance, there is a faint figure still visible in the Gazebo, the pale figure out a woman who seems faded in the light. As any houseguest approaches though, she seems to fade into the light. Perhaps she was only a mirage. In the Second House the Crawling Boy is gone, though the mess of broken bones and trash remains on the floor, adding an unpleasant smell and sound to those who wish to make their way through here. The Lonely Ghost Boy and the flock of crows have vanished from the house entirely. The small, bloody baby is gone from the Pool Room and the two that were in the Bar have also vanished. There is no sign of where the child and his strange entourage have gone. The Priest's Room is in disarray. A mix of silvered and iron weapons, wooden stakes and odd tools, and empty, open vials are scattered around the room, a case that looks like they mostly belonged within it laying open. Some of them seemed to be in the process of being oiled, cleaned, or sorted, the task left half-done. Available surfaces that aren't cluttered that way are occupied by books, the religious texts open to passages on demons and lost souls, images of saints treading on devils and hellscapes. Scattered in among them are loose pages with half-written notes; “Why won't they stay dead?”, litanies of herbs, exorcism prayers, and on one piece slipped in among the tools, “Is this Hell?”. The sermon on the desk has several lines added, the previously half-finished page now almost two-thirds covered; the handwriting on the new passage is looser, an occasional part of a letter missing and drops of stray ink, a litany to steel against the darkness, be wary of 'friendly' faces and demon-spawned lies. There is a heavy air in the room, as though someone hostile is watching anyone within. Anything moved will return to where it was as soon as a guest leaves the room. Anything removed, weapon, book, or otherwise, will vanish a few doors away, to reappear back within the room, but the person responsible will find themselves with the feeling of being watched and judged lingering off and on for the rest of the day. Kipps will find himself losing awareness for the briefest of moments at the turn of the day, a dizzy spell and nausea that seems without cause. When he regains his senses, however, he will find a pair of bright, inquisitive eyes staring up at him. They seem strangely alive for the Wax Girl, and they are matched by a rare, if tentative, smile. She balls one hand in his coat, the other still in a fist by her chest as it always is. Anyone who enters the First House will immediately notice that something is wrong. There are chains clinging close to the ceiling in the upper floor, and anyone who pauses to watch will soon realize that the chains are moving creeping further outward from their point of origin. The chains seem to be coming from the Trophy Room , and have completely filled the hallway outside of it, making it impossible for anyone to go though that hallway or into the Fairy Room. The only way to the lower floors of this house is through the reopened Library Standing at the end of the hall is the Mute Ghost Girl, she holds tightly to her rabbit and watches the chains with concern, but makes no sound. The moment anyone approaches her, she vanishes, reappearing on the other side of the chains. Those who dare to touch the chains will find that they are warm, retaining someone's body heat. Down the hall from the Mute Ghost Girl is Don, alive once again in earnest and as neatly pressed as if the past several days and nights had never transpired. He seems somewhat distracted, perhaps even unnerved, but for the most part his attentions remain on the little girl. He sits at the greatest distance possible from any of the chains on the floor, his sketchbook in his lap so that he might draw the girl and anyone else who might pass him by without staying to talk. The smell of salt fills the air, and those who linger close to the obstruction will be sure that they can hear something moving within the walls. Throughout the house, the chains have broken through in random places, appearing as though they belong on the fixtures they are slowly taking over. A blazing fire burns in the fireplace in the Parlor, and refuses to go out. It makes the room rather uncomfortably warm. Those who walk past it will be sure they saw the figure of a man burning at its heart, but when looked at directly, there is no sign of the man. There are no chains in this room. A child sits in the very middle of the Ballroom their arms drawn taunt around their legs and their face hidden from view. Traced around them is a strangely distorted circle of what seems to be blood. Neither the child nor the circle is visible from the Loft Bedroom. Those who might wish to approach the child will discover that they cannot cross the bloodline, or get close enough to see anything about the child on the floor. The doors to the Study remain locked. Lock has appeared on the couch in the Library, though no one will recall seeing him in there before. He has been wrapped carefully in a blanket, with a roll of film and a pair of glasses placed next to the rest of his things. He seems to be waking up. The Doctor has returned to his post in the Basement, though he seems oddly preoccupied. He continuously makes a point of avoiding the Nurses and seems more concerned with straightening out the office areas than anything else. The baby he had been cradling is no longer present, which only seems to exacerbate his anxiety. He is not alone, however: the Surgery Ghost occupies a seat in the Waiting Room and the Doctor pauses to speak to him from time to time, offering him a smile and some quiet, kind words. The Nurse has returned to her post, and works steadily on her computer, barely looking up to acknowledge the patients. All seems strangely peaceful in the houses today. The Third House remains locked fast.