Welcome to Hemlock Falls

[Atrus]

The drawer contained a pair of old, musty gloves and a slightly ornate metal case with a fern motif. Inside the case was a handful of calling cards with the name "Arabella Harpes" still visible on it.

The paintings seem juveniles - well executed on a purely technical level, but without much flare or imagination. They depict nature scenes presumably from the surroundings, including the famous waterfalls.

The photographs are split: on one side of the corridor there is the family, either single portraits of group shots; on the other side pictures of the mine and the mill factory during the decades. The family photos are clearly vintage in their original frames, while the others are a mish-mash of original, printed scans, and color photography. They were probably part of some historical exhibition thought up by whoever tried to renovate the house.

The stairs going up seem safe, while those going to the lower floor are missing a few consecutive steps - probably another repair job that never got finished.

 

[Craft]

Craft studies the case for a moment, lifting a calling card from it to get a better look, examining front and back while trying to commit the information to memory. Replacing the case in the drawer, he turns his attention to the stairs. Photographs and paintings mean little to him.

"Guess maybe we should go up?"

 

[Marcos Medeiros]

"You go ahead," Marcos tells Craft. "I'll look around the rooms down here." He glances at Sarah, at a nearby painting, and then back at Sarah, trying but failing to keep that devilish smile off of his face. "I think that one just winked at you."

 

[Craft]

Craft shakes his head and tests the banister of the staircase before starting up it. "I'll be sure to yell if I fall through the floor. Don't wanna land on any of you." He had to grin at Marcos bravado.

While Craft himself wasn't particularly worried, he'd learned in the past it was best to be cautious in old houses. He systematically swept his small flashlight across the stairs ahead of him as he climbed, keeping an eye for any telltale signs of rotting wood or exposed nails. Tetanus wasn't a concern any more, but the childhood memory of stepping on an exposed nail in an old barn which punctured clear through his foot had long ago always jumped to the forefront of his mind in old abandoned buildings. As soon as he got high enough on the staircase to look down the hallway, he shone his flashlight down the corridor and looked at what awaited him.

 

[Atrus]

Ground floor:
The first door to the right opened into what was likely a dining room, judging from the hanging chandelier - emptied of anything but its frame - and the big, wooden table covered by an old, semi-transparent tarp. Actually several items of furniture were covered by tarps or sheets. This was probably one of the rooms that was getting ready for renovations before the funds dried.

There were a door and a fireplace on the southeast wall, and another door to the southwest, in addition to the one they had entered from. The southeast wall was ajar, and something like soft music, or the wind playing through the windows, could be heard from the other side.

First floor:
Craft managed to walk the stairs without too much trouble, and his flashlight illuminated... a wall.
Turning the light around, he saw a small vestibule that opened into a long corridor that ran along the front face of the building. The stairs also continued to the upper, smaller floor.

If he continued up the stairs and down either side of the corridor, he'd see that the floor was once richly carpeted, now mostly ruined by humidity and moths. A few doors on either side led to what were presumably bedrooms or bathrooms.

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

Sarah stays downstairs, growling at Marcos' comment about the winking painting. She can't help but look suspiciously at the paintings and photographs, however, before looking into the dining room.

Horror movies or not, she does start to walk towards that Siren Song.



(((Couldn't resist.)))

 

[Atrus]

The room where the music seemed to come from was probably a great living room, once. Though bare now except for a mouldy chaise longue and another great fireplace on the left side, one could still see the signs of a gay wallpaper on the walls and traces of paint on the ceiling - although a good portion of the plaster on the right side had crumbled down to the floor in small pieces.

The wooden floor creaked under Sarah's feet, partially illuminated from the light that filtered through the great windows overlooking the mountains. The sound was clearer here now. If she was not completely mistaken, it almost sounded like the notes of Carry me back to old Virginny.

 

[Marcos Medeiros]

Creepy old music playing in a creepy old mansion which probably hasn't seen any electricity in decades? Marcos doesn't like this. He doesn't like this one bit. And he doesn't like that Ms. Presumably-a-Mundane is walking right to it. He casts an uncertain look at Molly and Rourke before following along behind Sarah, hands in his pockets.

"You heard it too?" he says. He carefully tests the floor ahead of him the toe of his boots before putting his full weight on it. "Usually this is the part where we run." Marcos smiles crookedly, but he does actually seem a touch nervous.

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

Ms. Presumably-a-Mundance nods to Marcos. "Yeah." She tilts her head, in multiple directions, the way people do when trying to identify exactly where a sound is coming from. "Sounds to me like it's coming from there." She points to wherever she's decided it's strongest.

"It's gotta be the wind. But maybe one of the kids overheard that you lot were interested in the mansion, and snuck an old MP3 player in here."

If she's not the Best Actress In The World, she really is expecting an MP3 player. Or a trick of the wind. Or maybe she's a great actress.

 

[Craft]

Craft swings his light across the vestibule, and decided to continue along the corridor that ran along the front of the building. The stairs going up could wait a bit longer.

He took each steps slowly, listening to the creeks of the floor. Falling through the floor was not a part of his plan today.

"You're nothing but a creepy ol' house aren't you?" He said to no-one in particular. He started to lower his guard a bit as he continued to search the first floor.

 

[Molly Dufrene]

Molly is jumpy again, with the creepy sounds echoing through the house. She follows Sarah and Marcos despite that.

 

[Atrus]

If there is an MP3 player, it is very well hidden, and the faint sound seems to come from everywhere at once.

When they are all three in the same room, though, the door they just went through suddenly slams shut, and the temperature drops abruptly. The sound gets clearer now, words sung by a gentle, young contralto:
"Day after day in the field of yellow corn, no place on earth do I love more sincerely..."

All three of them can hear the song, but only Sarah sees the spectral figure, clad in a wedding dress, absent-mindedly making her way from the fireplace and toward her.

*

Upstairs, Craft makes his way down the left side of the corridor. The floor seems stable, although creaky. Open doors lead to a bathroom and to rooms that were presumably bedrooms, from the remaining furniture and bed frames.
He gets no answer to his question except the loud slamming of a door downstairs.

 

[Craft]

The sound of a door slamming in an abandoned, dilapidated and possibly haunted house is not something you ever want to hear. Immediate Craft turns at the sound and dashes back to the stairs an downwards. His previous caution is abandoned, as he clamours down the steps, his heel slipping at one point, causing him to slide down the final stairs.

After letting loose a barrage of expletives he picks himself up from the floor, quickly making his way to the now shut door and grasps the handle trying to see if there's any give.

 

[The Dullahan]

Its ironic that Rourke missed the splitting up discussion, considering he is already off on his own. He walked over to the staff entrance and tried the door to see if it would open. If it did, he would go through. If it didn't, he would squeeze himself through that first floor window. He would make sure to clear away any debris that would harm him first.

((would Rourke be able to hear the music from where he is entering?))

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

Sarah yelps, jumps, looks around, all within the same microsecond. It's amazing what adrenaline can do. Then she shakes her head and calls out "This isn't funny!" Her local accent is stronger now. "Stop this or I'll tell your pa......"

She stops immediately she sees the ghostly figure. She shakes her head several times, then turns around and looks for something - a projector? A ... what could make this? It's a hologram or something, right?

She turns her head back, looking at the figure, then starts walking backwards. "I'll tell your parents. Stop this ... whoever's doing this...." Her voice is starting to get a bit shaky.

 

[Marcos Medeiros]

Marcos doesn't look all too surprised by the turn of events, but he certainly does look displeased.

And more than a little creeped out.

But as much as he wants to scramble for the door, he knows that he can't. Molly's in here with him, and if that incident at the Firs is any indication, she'll start panicking at any moment. Sarah seems well on her way to that, too.

Three panicking people in one small room? Not good.

"Someone is getting grounded," Marcos grumbles in an attempt to ease the tension, even if only a little. He... well, he doesn't scramble, at least, but there's definitely some urgency to his walk towards the door. He tries the handle, half expecting it to knock him back.

 

[Atrus]

Craft and Marcos try the door handle at the same time, but both to no avail. Either the lock is jammed, or something invisible is holding the door close. Given the eerie music, likely the latter.

The ghost in the wedding dress seems to hear Sarah's words, and stops singing halfway through a strophe. Slowly she turns her head towards the other woman, and takes a few tentative, floating steps towards her. "My parents. Yes, my parents. Someone told papa about me and Denzel. Was it you, Arabella? Was it?"
It looks like the spirit, if that's what it is, mistook Sarah for the Arabella Harpes whose calling cards they found before.

*

Rourke shakes the door handle a little, and it gives in. The lower floor is completely dark but, between the light filtering from outside and the torch on his phone, he can make out two rooms to his right, while on the left side there are a closed room, a corridor, the stairs going up, and another door frame.

((Reminder that only Sarah can see the spirit! For everyone else, the song stops abruptly after Sarah calls her out.))

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

((Oh, that's just mean! In a good gamemastery way, of course.))

Sarah's expression and mannerisms just say 'wait... what?'

She turns around again, as if trying to look for something, then stares at the spirit again. She can see straight through it! She moves sideways, as if trying to circle around it. Her eyes have gone disbelief-wide, her head is shaking. "Who's doing this? How?" She looks at Marcos and Molly. "You can see it, right? I ... I'm not going mad?"

 

[Craft]

Craft raps on the door, as it won't budge and raises his voice:

"Guys? Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

He waits for a response, while trying to figure out how to get through the door if needed. He figured a door in an old abandoned mansion shouldn't be durable. But it was securely held shut, so there was likely some other forces at play.

He'd wait for a response... at least for a little while.

 

[The Dullahan]

Rourke's training kicked in and he held his flashlight out in front of him as he moved with efficiency to the right rooms first to clear them. Keeping his head on a swivel to make sure no one was going to come up behind him without him knowing.