Snippet #1479386

Saiyu's brown eyes wandered down to the girl, catching the sight of the crowbar dangling from her hand. At first, she was almost startled. She hadn't noticed when she pulled that out in front of her. But being near a boy with a sword, she knew that a crowbar was of no threat to her. It actually would be an advantage to have at this time, like if they needed to get through a door that was unable to be opened, or a something was to block their way that they couldn't move.

She raised her free hand, tugging down on the white blouse, pulling it further over her shoulders. Already she could feel a chill run through her body, just from standing still. She felt the needed to do something with her hands. Mostly because she felt nervous and anxious, even a little bit excited. Which was odd. Usually her emotions didn't stir so much, she usually never had these feelings before, probably because...she had never been on an expedition like this. An abandoned mansion, where three people went missing.

With a small step forward, she extended her arm towards the handle of the door. Just by resting her hand on the door, she could tell it was made of a light wood. The front had a sort of tatami mat pattern weaved into it. The door handle was flat, and she was barely able to slip her hand underneath. She gripped onto it firmly, the flashlight beam casting a small circle on the door. With a quick tug, she pull the door to the right, expecting it to take a lot of strength to slide open. Yet it opened with ease, like it was a brand new shoji door. Just as easy as her fusuma doors at home. She was surprised that it was able to open like that.

She was faced with a pale gray wall, which she assumed to have been white before. But of course, the consequence of time had caused the wall paper to rot and the color to fade. It was the end of the hallway she was staring at, with the rest of it continuing down to her right side. Saiyu let go of the door, lowering her flashlight, and taking a step inside the hallway. It was narrow, probably only able to fit two people in it side by side. The corridor was dark, yet as she turned to face the end of the hall, she could see the glint of a dusty mirror at the end. That was when she began to notice the details of the hallway. Her gaze started at the floor. The floorboards were laid at a vertical angle, and over to the right near the wall was a hole in the floor, like someone's foot had fallen through. Saiyu raised her eyes as well as the flashlight beam.

And instantly, her heart seemed to stop. She pressed herself up against the back of the wall, feeling the uneven grime and dirt up against her back. The high ceiling had long wooden beams stretched across, yet that wasn't what frightened her. It was what was hanging from the beams. Long, thin ropes were tied around the beams, and dangled down in the hallway in front of her. They seemed to be swinging side to side just the slightest. The ends were cut off the ends of the ropes before they were able to touch the ground. Being a small girl, the ropes probably reached to Saiyu's waist. There were about 10 ropes in total, all dangling down in the middle and the edges of the hallway. The mirror cast a reflection of everything in the corridor.

Saiyu's breathing was short and shallow, panicked. Why where...ropes hanging from the ceiling? No normal household ever did that. The first thing that came to her mind were people, with ropes tied around their necks, hanging in the hallway...but no. That was impossible. There were no bodies, and no one; no one killed themselves in this place. That would be horrible, the police would have investigated the place long ago if they heard that murders were committed. She lowered her flashlight, letting her arm rest by her side as she tried to calm herself. It was nothing to worry about, probably just some...odd family traditions.