Monsters and Men

Into the Night

WARNING: There is a mildly graphic description of a dead body in this chapter. If you'd like to skip this portion, it starts at 'Squid jumps forward as the painting lands onto the floor' and ends at 'The trio immediately run out of the room.' Please don't force yourself to read this portion if you think you will be uncomfy with it. There is a full chapter summary at the end of this chapter.

I'm into the black / Into the night, there's no turning back

~~~

Immediately after entering, Justin is struck by the ornate decoration of the place. It's just as extravagant as the outside, with the overwhelming feelings of blue. A navy carpet is draped over the floor. Soul lanterns are placed identically spaced across the wall, and they are the main source of illumination. There is a staircase in the back middle of the hall, which leads up to the second floor. There doesn't seem to be a visible staircase to the third floor, but it appears to still exist. More spruce doors open the way to more rooms of the mansion. From what he can see, at the top of the stairs there's another double door. He can't hear a thing, it's eerily silent except from the wind and the wood.

Looking at the other two, Squid is kicking some rocks on the floor around, not caring about the clicking noise they're making. James has gone pale and looks positively terrified.

"Creepy." Justin comments. His voice echoes slightly.

"Indeed." Squid chuckles slightly. "Dan really went all out on this."

"You still think this is just a prank?" He doesn't mean to sound angry, he's genuinely curious.

"Yeah, I think so. But again, if I'm wrong, sue me." Squid laughs, putting up his hands. James sinks further into his jumper.

"Right, let's look around some of the rooms here. We might be able to find Dan." He puts away his weapon, and Squid does the same. James still keeps his weapon firmly in his off hand.

The floor squeaks as the group trudges along to the nearest room to the right, where Squid lead the way. Squid kicks open the door only for a pillager to lunge out, a vindicator with it's axe.

"Ah-!" Squid jumps back and he fumbles for his weapon. Justin pulls his axe out as fast as he can, but James is already on the pillager and has sliced it a few times already. Justin helps from the back to finish it off, and it groans and poofs into dust. James only appears to get more scared, gripping the axe tighter.

"You alright, James?" Justin asks, concerned.

James' response is muffled by his mask. "This place terrifies me..."

"Don't worry, man. I'm sure someone'll flip on the lights soon." Squid reassures, before fully opening the door to the room.

It appears the room is the most normal out of all the mansion, obviously not having been modified like everything else. The lanterns are their normal yellow-orange and give off a warm, comforting light. James pops his head out of his hoodie slightly, but doesn't pull his mask down. A few familiar paintings are scattered across the walls, but they all feel off in some way. A chest lays at the end of the room, and Squid rushes over to open it, ignoring the loud swing of the hinges.

"Score!" Squid yells, and James whips around, as if he's checking that no one heard. Justin looks at the ninja. This place seems to be affecting him a lot, but hopefully they'll be able to get out of there soon. "There's a bunch of diamond weapons in here!"

"What luck." Justin comments, before going over to the chest. Squid's right, there's two swords, a bow and arrow and an axe. Justin takes one of the swords, Squid takes the axe, and James takes the bow and arrows. His sword's heavier but a much nicer weapon. He can swing it with ease.

"Think that's all in this room." Squid says while Justin nods. Squid tosses his wooden axe to the side, ignoring the toppling sounds. James trembles again.

The group leave the room and move onto the next, this time bracing for an attack as Squid swings open the door. It never comes and when Squid looks inside there's nothing in there. Just a bunch of paintings and a cornflower centered right in the middle.

"Nothing in there- hey!" Squid starts, before James slides past him to inspect the cornflower. He looks at the flower and sits down, pulling it out of the ground as his friends stand beside him. Justin and Squid exchange glances of confusion and concern.

James looks down at the flower and inspects it.

"This thing looks...suspicious. As if there's someone inside it. I'm gonna pull it apart."

Justin is mildly concerned, and he hopes this is something innocent, maybe to help James get over his fear. James' voice isn't joking, it's perfectly serious and sounds as if he's going to scream. Petals fall to the ground, laying flat as the ninja slowly pulls apart the flower. Squid blinks twice, and mouths to Justin to ask what James is doing. Justin shrugs in response.

James sighs as the final petal falls to the floor, causing nothing. He looks at the other two silently, as if expecting a reaction.

"...Okay, I..don't quite understand the point of that, but if it helps..." Justin says, to break the silence. James shakes his head slightly.

"Again, I'm sure it's nothing. Dan is smart, he wouldn't die that easily or get trapped." Squid leans against a painting behind him, and then the noise of a piston sounds.

Squid jumps forward as the painting lands onto the floor, and then something else falls with a sickening squelch. The smell of it is unbearable, like ten dead bats smothered in feces. Justin tries to wave away the smell as it nearly chokes him. Then he looks at the thing that lays in front of him.

Their - no, its flesh is rotting beyond recognition. It looks as if their face has been raggedly torn off and then sewn back on again using a dainty hand, but the skin healed over the stitches. Its hands are covered in scratch marks, and the blood...oh god the blood squirts everywhere. The blood spills out of its stab wound in the centre of it's chest. Justin swears some of it is on his face.

Everyone's scared into shock as they get a full face of the sight in front of them. A dead, very dead body.

Justin has to gulp back a scream and shuts his eyes tight. He can see Squid flinching in his disgustion in the corner. James has backed up against the wall, shaking like mad.

"I-is that Dan?!" Squid quietly whispers, voice crackling slightly.

Justin opens one eye and looks at the body again. It's not human, for one. The wings and two antennae streaming off it's head confirm that, even if one has been torn off. Its white and brown fur has been stained in blood, and so have it's blue shorts. It sure is dead, but it sure as hell isn't Dan.

"No, that can't be.." Justin says, trying not to choke on the smell and stay stable. "Let's get out of here."

The trio immediately run out of the room, Squid slamming it shut, causing James to flinch and accidentally slap his other wrist, mumbling something to himself.

He's pulled his hood back up and is sunken even further into the comforting warmth of his clothes. Justin can't help and shiver, and he's got goosebumps. He wishes he had leather armour, something to hide in at least.

"I-I'm sure that's just a prop, right guys? R-right?" Squid tries to stick to his idea that it's just a prank, but now he doesn't sound so sure. No one responds to his attempt and he shakes his head. "I-now we need to find Dan."

"Let's." Justin gets out once he's inhaled enough of the clean air. "We don't know how he is, but if that body is any indication, we need to find Dan ASAP."

Silence shows agreement sometimes, and this is one of those times.

~~~

A/N Summary: The group go into the mansion and find better weapons in one room. In the next room, there is a flower which James pulls apart. Squid leans on a painting which reveals a dead body, which isn't Dan. The group up the search.

Sorry if this chapter was a little *too* graphic, and thank you for reading!