Maine, North America, September 1st, 1888

”Thought you said it was just going to be a routine house cleaning!?” Beth hissed.

”I did, but now Josephine’s missing. Anyone know who was with her last?” Cassius asked.

”I think Xyun was.” Lythros chimed.

”Look, don’t go thinking I killed her. Last thing I heard was her screaming before something dragged her off. We were in the library when it happened. Only thing I could recover was her lantern, well, what was left of it anyway.” Xyun sighed.

”Someone should go look for her instead of all of us just sitting around.” Luxcious groaned.

”Bastard’s right, we shouldn’t just wait here. Either we find it, or it finds us.” Beth sneered.

Cassius sighed as he, Lythros, and Xyun scurried off to the foyer, leaving Beth and Luxcious to themselves.

”When was the last time we were here anyways?” Xyun asked.

”Years ago… Man it’s been a while.” Lythros smiled.

Cassius walked over to the fireplace and bent down to examine it. Only to get his hand burnt as the fire quickly roared to life.

”What the- !” Cassius yelled.

”Forgot that thing was enchanted.” Xyun groaned.

”Stop trying to cook yourself, please.” Lythros cackled.

”Not. Funny.” Cassius hissed as he stormed back to the kitchen for ice.

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Lythros sighed as he left before trotting over to Xyun who was preoccupied with dusting off one of the banisters.

”Thought we were supposed to be looking for Josie.” She smiled.

”Also supposed to be cleaning too.” Xyun answered.

”And that’s more important than finding your sister?” Lythros snapped.

”She’ll turn up eventually, no need to fuss over her.” Xyun sighed.

Lythros sighed and went upstairs to search the bedrooms, seeing as Xyun wasn’t much help. She was just about to enter the master bedroom when she heard someone screaming downstairs. Lythros hastily darted down the stairs, only to be greeted with Xyun’s lifeless corpse slumped over one of the chairs. Moments later, Cassius returned, along with Luxcious.

“What in the Hells happened here!” Luxcious screamed as he pointed to the corpse.

”I.. I don’t know.. I went upstairs to go check the bedrooms, then I heard her screaming so I rushed back down here.” Lythros sighed.

”Still not any closer to catching the killer..” Cassius groaned.

Luxcious glanced at him before going over to examine Xyun’s corpse. Her rib cage was broken in, and her skull was fractured. Yet neither of these things explained all the blood on the floor.

”There’s no trail either, how odd.” Luxcious muttered.

Lythros groaned and began to sniff the air, yet her senses didn’t yield any promising results. Just the scent of charcoal and homemade chicken soup with a hint of rain. That was until her nose got a whiff of something that smelled akin to whiskey with a touch of wet earth.

”Something is in here with us..” she hissed.

”Well that’s just great.” Cassius groaned.

Lythros looked around, her eyes hastily moving from one end of the foyer to the other. Then something darted out from the corner of her eye and quickly pounced on her. Lythros tried to scream, but all she could manage was a small yelp as she was pulled into the darkness.

”What was that?” Luxcious asked, having only heard Lythros’s yelp.

”Some beast most likely, could only see its claws and not much else.” Cassius groaned.

Luxcious sighed as he and Cassius returned to the kitchen. Only to be met with Beth sitting down drinking a cup of coffee.

”Xyun and Lythros are dead.” He said.

Beth looked at him and put down the coffee as her pupils shrunk. She swallowed the coffee before walking out into the foyer and quickly heading back to her seat in the kitchen.

”Any ideas as to what that thing is?” Beth asked.

”Some sort of animal maybe.” Cassius sighed.

Luxcious just sat there for a moment, not really sure what to do.

”There are only three of us left, no use in trying to find out what this thing is. Better to get out of here while we still can.” He blurted.

“Why’d you say that like we’re trapped in here? I have the keys right here in my pocket.” Cassius said as he patted his vest pocket, feeling the hard metal of the keys inside.

Beth just looked at the pair and sighed before continuing to drink her coffee.