𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝒫o𝓇𝒸𝑒𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓃

5. Burn In Hell

The dusty skeletal remains of who seems like Mr Vogel, judging by the similar clothing to his marionette counterpart, lay in the coffin-like box with a withering book gripped in its boney fingers. Could all of these boxes contain the corpses of Mr Vogel's family? August shivers at the very thought, wishing to not find out. 

August cautiously steps up to the corpse and grasps the book in its hands, believing this to be the journal Adryan needs, and tries to pry it from its grip with all his strength. After a few tugs, the skeletal hands leave go of the book, making August fall backwards to the concrete floor. 

He shuts the box and wipes away the dust from the journal to reveal numbers etched into the leather cover reading '5 14 4  20 8 5  4 5 1 12'. This must be the journal Adryan needs to finish Mr Vogel off once and for all. What could the numbers mean? 

However, with this discovery, August suddenly feels the urge to check in the three other boxes in the room in case there are any other important artefacts hidden within them. He opens two of the boxes, both containing the skeletal remains of Imogen and her mother. Imogen's mother has a small rusty knife barely poking out of its ribcage, so August pulls it out and pockets it for protection. 

There is one more box to check, seemingly for Adryan. Mr Vogel must have planned for Adryan to be turned as well but changed his mind last minute. Perhaps it is worth looking in, despite the high chance that it is empty. Unlocking the latch keeping the box closed, August cautiously opens the box and peers inside before feeling his heart stop right then and there.

"AH! Wh-What the f-fuck!?" August gasps, staring at the contents. 

Sitting limp with a blank, hollow expression is a life-sized porcelain doll with hair as black as a raven's feather and its lips stitched into a smile. It wears a horrifically similar attire to the clothing August had in his nightmare, with the pastel-blue lace-up shirt and white ruffle collar. This can't be...it just can't be...how did Mr Vogel do this? Why would he have this prepared?

August quickly slams the box and locks it tightly, breathing in and out in the suddenly claustrophobic room. In the heat of the moment, August hurls the box containing his look-a-like to the ground, hoping to destroy the doll inside. He glances to where the box used to stand and notices a now-visible ventilation shaft just wide enough for someone of August's size to fit in. 

Without a second thought, August removes the screws from the gate with his knife and enters the tight ventilation shaft with the journal under his arm. Further down the shaft, August notices a weak-looking ladder going up. Why would there be a ladder in a ventilation shaft? Could this have been made into a secret passageway for Mr Vogel to use? 

He decides to ponder on these questions at a later time and carefully makes his way up the ladder. 

After another crawl through the vents, August finally sees the exit up ahead and rushes to bust it open. He kicks the gate a couple of times before it finally comes off, allowing an exit for him. Dragging himself out of the systems and landing on the floor with a few deep breaths at the claustrophobia from within them, August looks around at the room he has entered and he gasps at the location; Imogen's room.

"Oh God...damn, I'm back here again?!" August cries, rushing to the door before Imogen comes back. He twists and pulls the door handle with all his strength, but he is denied freedom from Imogen's room. "Shit shit shit...where the hell am I going to-"

"AUGUST!!" 

Hearing an intense rattling coming from the ventilation system and Imogen's psychotic screams echoing throughout the shaft, August has no time to think and rushes to her closet with his knife clenched tightly in his hand and his other hand over his mouth to cover his heavy breathing.