Bennett, speaking from his side, addressed Lars, “Alright… Let’s start simple. Tell us what happened yesterday, from early morning until night. Try to remember as much as you can; any details you can think of, just say them. We’ll tell you if we think that you should move on to the next point. Is that alright, Lars?”

“I’m fine with that,” Lars responded. He noticed Mitchell taking out a notebook and pen, preparing to write down the victim statement.

Lars recalled and stated his account of yesterday’s events:

“I was in my office having a conversation with my wife. This was in the morning, shortly after the both of us had woken up. She had come to check up on me since she'd gotten up some time after I had—but I then invited her inside. After some time, we heard knocking coming from the door.

“We went to check who it was; I was the first to approach, opening and greeting the person behind the door. We were surprised to see it was one of our maids. Her name’s Victoria, a young girl with a shy personality.

“Vanessa was confused, naturally, and as soon as Victoria and her made eye contact, Victoria apologised for coming at an inconvenient time before leaving. My assistant came by the same time she left—so her surprise visit was quickly dismissed. Vanessa left the two of us—myself and Leonard—to speak in private. We talked about my business and decided it was best for me to take some time away to spend with my family.”

Bennett tilted his head, refraining from directly smiling but instead giving a knowing look. He asked without a change in his tone, “Do you have a guess as to why Victoria would visit your office?”

Lars maintained eye contact, not rushing to explain himself. He then stated, “Starting last month, I’ve been participating in an affair. Victoria was the other woman in this.”

Bennett’s eyes widened, the corners of his mouth struggling to remain unraised.

“You’re very honest, aren’t you, Lars?”

“I’m just straightforward,” Lars rebutted.

“Hm… Okay. Was your wife aware of this?”

“No.”

“Is she aware now?”

“No, it’s not my intention to bring it up currently. I plan to discuss it with her eventually.”

“I hope it goes well for the both of you.”

“Thank you.”

“Then let’s continue. What happened next?”

Lars returned to his story, picking up from the next relevant point. “An hour after Leonard left, another person knocked on my office’s door. Victoria had come again after no one else was in my company. She didn’t wait for an invite this time, instead choosing to open the door herself and enter—before immediately apologising for the action she had only just taken.

“She wanted to know if I was truly going to cut things off with her. Before this, I’d already distanced myself from her for a few days and expressed my intentions not to keep up this affair. Victoria was deeply affected by it, believing that I was abandoning her. I didn’t think it was fair to release her from her position—but I told her firmly that nothing would remain between us.”

“How did she react to that?” Bennett asked.

Lars recounted how she had looked in that moment. “Her expression was grave. It was obvious to anyone that she was disappointed and devastated, but she said nothing more after that. She left my office and I didn’t see her for the rest of the day.”

“You didn’t see her at all? Not even once throughout the day, or did you just not talk to her?”

“I didn’t see her at all.”

Bennett nodded in understanding, while Mitchell scribbled on his notebook.

Lars continued speaking, “I spent time with my family throughout the day. Later, I was in the restroom, washing my hands. That was when a servant entered with a handkerchief over his left hand. The details of that were discussed with the officers yesterday—but he attacked me with a steak knife, revealing his motives to be based around the stuff with Victoria.”

Bennett cut in, “And what did he say about Victoria, exactly?”

“He cursed me out, calling me ‘scum’ for throwing away Victoria. I don’t know what his relations to her were exactly.” Lars explained briefly. “After that, I was made to rest in the medical room. The family doctor, some servants, Vanessa, and Leonard visited me one by one. To avoid reopening the injuries, I decided to stay there overnight.”

Lars paused. His next words were the crucial point, where he had to decide carefully what to say. He started soon after, explaining, “At some point in the night, a voice called to me from my dreams. It told me to "wake up."”

Bennett’s eyes became more keen, hearing details that weren't expected. Even Mitchell paused his consistent scribbling and briefly looked up at Lars to see his face. Lars continued without minding their changed demeanours.

“I woke up, noticing a figure sitting above me in the darkness. The silhouette was only visible thanks to the moonlight. Since I hadn’t been discreet in opening my eyes, my first action was to hurl the figure off my bed and onto the floor.

“I got up quickly and demanded the figure to reveal themself. As I did, I reached for the carbide lamp beside me and turned it on. Victoria was revealed in the light. I wanted to know what her purpose in appearing now was, so I questioned her on it…

“But something strange happened. When looking at her, an otherworldly impulse overcame me. Everything that was important to me felt distant—only she remained. Victoria became impossible to resist. I don’t know how she did it… but it was like some kind of hypnosis.

“I only broke out when the voice spoke again. It said the exact same thing, “Wake up.” The trance was broken for an instant—but in that instant, my instincts kicked in. I grabbed the carbide lamp and struck her with it. My limbs felt sticky like glue, as if some force was trying to stop me from continuing, so I used all my strength to keep hitting her.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“When I was on the verge of breaking down, the voice spoke for the last time. It said, “Go to sleep,” and my eyes grew heavy at its command. The next thing after that, I was in the room, before the four of you. That’s everything I remember.”

Bennett nodded, his casual demeanour replaced for a grave countenance. He attempted to remain calm, asking Lars, “Have you heard the voice you mentioned again, at any point after that?”

Lars paused. Tension filled the room, only broken when he finally responded: “No.”

Mitchell put down the notebook, changing the quality of the air to something different from before. He stated curtly, “I apologise, Lars. But things have changed. I’m going to have to ask you to remain in this room with us until Siegfried arrives.”

Lars was confused by this sudden turn, but Bennett actually went on to question this, asking, “Wait, why are we waiting here for him? We should get him now—I can stay here, while you go get him.”

Mitchell shook his head. “Two of us have to remain here. We can’t split up.”

“Why not?” Lars asked, curious about whatever it was that was preventing them from separating. It seemed that not even Bennett knew the exact reason behind his judgement.

Mitchell looked hesitant to explain his reasoning while Lars was in the room, but the severity of the situation overcame such worries. He explained, “In cases with considerable signs of abnormalities or corruption, officers are required to remain together at all times. It’s already below the recommended crew size with the two of us. If someone gets left alone, there’s no guarantee the isolated officer will be found upon returning.”

Bennett nodded in clarification, “Right… Yeah. Then we have no choice but to stay here until Siegfried comes to inquire about our status...”

Lars furrowed his brow, asking what was on his mind, “If you can’t split up, then why don’t the two of you go together?”

“It’s an obligation of duty to stay here and watch the abnormality. We can’t move it from its original spot, so the three of us can’t go, either,” Mitchell explained.

And I’m the abnormality you’re talking about? Lars frowned, pondering his choice to reveal the voice to the officers. He had been told to ‘Let them know’, but what was the intended outcome? Was it related to Siegfried?

Furthermore, their reliance on Siegfried specifically coming to the scene was interesting to him in its own right. What would happen when the strange man, with expertise in the supernatural, eventually showed up?

An hour passed in troubled silence. Then, another hour passed; with Bennett starting a conversation between him and his partner. Lars remained quiet; around twenty minutes later, someone knocked on the door. His words expressed his impatience despite leaving everyone in the room waiting for all this time.

“If this door doesn’t open in three seconds, I’m breaking it down. Three… Two… One…”

The door opened, Mitchell holding onto the handle and revealing Siegfried behind it. His expression looked bored and unconcerned as he looked in. His eyes first went to Mitchell who was closest to him, then to Bennet, and then they finally landed on Lars; the two locked eyes; Lars’ troubled expression that was trying to remain calm met the genuinely unbothered face of Siegfried.

Siegfried broke the prolonged eye contact first, raising his chin slightly and asking, “What’s going on here?”

Mitchell recounted his writings of Lars’ statement, putting most of the emphasis on the voice which had spoken to him. Siegfried then compiled the key points in a few words for each utterance.

“It was alerted by the satyress, waking him before it attacked; it could then break its spell with merely two words; and finally, it could force him to sleep against his will.”

“Right...” Mitchell concurred.

Lars paid special attention to the mention of Victoria, in which the term ‘Satyress’ was used. It seemed that Siegfried was less apprehensive when it came to speaking directly about these things in front of him.

He tried to recall what it was, finding the term to sound like another mythical creature: the ‘satyr’. The addition of ‘ess’ to the end implied a female variant; then the goat-like features, seductive qualities, and chaos-inducing, trickster nature of creating an elaborate affair reminded him of the male satyr nature spirits. Lars didn’t know much about them because he wasn’t too interested in this sort of thing, but he had seen mention of them in various media beforehand and could barely recall their existence through the apparent similarities.

Is that the true identity of Victoria? Lars mused, before bringing his attention back to the main topic. He was very interested in what Siegfried had to say about the voice. Even without mentioning his concerns related to what the voice wanted from this, he found that this was an unmissable opportunity to gain insight through what an expert and native of this world could say of it.

“Alright,” Siegfried sighed. “Bennet, Mitchell…”

The two officers waited tentatively for his words, unnerved by his sudden directness.

“You two go get the priest. Then, leave with him and report everything you’ve gathered.”

Bennett queried, “What about you?”

“I’m going to stay here. For the next few days, I’m going to live in the mansion and keep watch.”

“Huh…?” Lars paused, wanting to rebuke his statement that hadn’t asked for permission. However, he stopped before he could. Thinking back to the voice’s advice, to ‘Let them know’, he finally came to a realisation. This circumstance in which the mysterious Siegfried insists on staying in his residence was something that wouldn’t occur unless the voice was exposed.

A cold sweat broke out, understanding the purpose of this. For some reason, it was imperative, or at least highly recommended, that this man took up residence in his mansion for the next few days. That meant that the incident involving Victoria wasn’t over with her death.

There was something else yet to be uncovered—and the enigmatic voice deemed it necessary that Siegfried was here to confront it!