The Strange Mansion

Chapter 3

The room was quite small, but it was still bigger than my bedroom. There were a small white bed, cabinets, dolls, a nice painting of a woman, and medicines. The dolls had creepy eyes. For some reason, I hated dolls when I was little. They gave me chills everytime I looked at them. Even now...

I assumed this was the nursery. Then I attempted to ignore those dolls and moved on. I took a quick look over the cabinets. Nothing seemed interesting. Suddenly, I felt cold air went pass my back. It was coming from the window near the painting. I didn't like that, so I gently closed it.

Still quiet as always. I stood there and stared at the painting. It was beautiful, indeed. I softly gave it a touch. Out of a sudden, the painting slightly moved. I flinched as I took a step back. Perhaps there was something behind it, so decided to move the painting aside.

As expected, a safe soon appeared in my sight. But it was locked and needed a code. I tried some random numbers. They sure didn't work.

"What could it be...?" I said in a soft tone.

I started seeking around the room to find the code. Not a single clue to be found. Then I thought of something. It could be the numbers in the back of the photo that I've seen back in the library. I tried my best to remember it.

"One... six...," I mumbled, "one... two...?"

The door creaked open. I smiled in happiness. Felt like I have just achived something new. I looked inside the safe as I discovered a small silver key.

Where could this fit? I asked myself.

I closed the safe and placed back the painting to where it belonged. Just like that, I left the room. Mr. Porter wasn't there. I wondered where he was. The next thing was to find the correct door for this little key. I remember there was still a room I needed to check out. It was right next to the nursery.

Unexpectedly, it was just a bathroom. Pretty nice, actually. But there were stains on the wall, looked very much like blood. A small old chest quickly caught my eyes. It was laying next to the sink--locked up.

I knelt down as I began checking the chest out. Its lock was rusty, not really good looking. I took out the silver key that I've found and used it on the lock.

"...?"

"It won't fit..."

If the lock was rusty, its key must be rusty as well! At least that was what I thought. I slipped the silver key back in my bag and stood up. My next target was to find that rusty key.

I turned my back and was about to leave. Someone seemed to show up in the mirror once again. Confusedly, I rubbed my eyes to make sure, but the person soon disappeared. That was weird, so I quickly left the room.

The hallway was still quiet, no windows. I walked straight downstairs. The note I saw earlier wasn't there anymore. However, I spotted Mr. Porter at the end of the stairway. As soon as I walked down, he greeted me.

"I do hope you like our house so far," Mr. Porter said.

"I do," I replied, "but, um... have you seen any rusty key?"

"A rusty key," he said, "perhaps the one you're looking for could be in the storage. It is next to the cafeteria."

"... Thank you."

"Glad to help, Miss Ellen."

And I was on my way to the cafeteria. As expected, another room was there. But it was locked. Once again, I took out the silver key and tried it on the door. Luckily, it did work this time, and the door creaked open.