"Alexi!" Anne rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" She struggled to help her, trying to pull her out of the hole in the stairs.

Gideon turned around at the sound and Anne's shout. He quickly placed his candle on the ground next himself and stepped down the stairs to help Anne pull Alexi out. Together they managed top pull her out and set her on the step below. "Careful," He said simply. He was straightening out when he sensed the weird sensation again. The hairs on the back of his neck raised up and he whipped around. Darkness. He bent down and lifted the candle up. Still he saw nothing.

"Come on..." He said with a small gesture to the others without turning around. He then made his way into the darkness.

Alexi was still covering her nose and blood began to drip from her chin. Regaining her bearings, she continued to follow Gideon up the stairs.

Kira was hesitant to follow the others. On one hand, she didn't want to go up there, but she also didn't want to be left alone. With one more glance at the door, she decided to just follow the others, hoping that they didn't find anything upstairs.

Gideon cast the glow of the candle into the dark room. It seemed to be a short hallway leading to all the bedrooms. Along the wall ahead were three doorways. At one end of the of the hall was another dresser. On top of it was a large, dusty mirror. Gideon couldn't help but jump when he saw himself in the mirror. He frowned and looked around the hall. Besides that, it was completely bare. There weren't even windows or pictures here. There was no where to hide for whatever that sensation was earlier.

He stepped in front of the middle door and thought. "Choices, left, middle, right..." He mumbled. "Which has the monster?" He continued jokingly.

-

Anne timidly followed behind the others. She silently begged to herself that there would be nothing scary up there. Her face went a little white when she saw blood from Alexi's chin, but she quickly realized what happened. stepping closer to her, Anne glanced at Alexi with concern. "Do we have anything for Alexi's nose?" She asked the others. She quickly checked her pockets, but she hadn't brought anything of use.

Kira stopped when she saw the doors. "I say we choose none of them and just get the hell out of here while we still have the chance." She doubted the others would listen to her, but she felt that she had to make herself heard anyway. When Anne asked about Alexi's nose, she shook her head. "I don't have anything with me except for my phone. Sorry."

Alexi's bleeding became worse, and the loss of blood made her weak. "i'm going to lay down." she said softly, making her way to the candle she lit. As she walked, Alexi staggered as if she were drunk.

"W-We don't know the way home!" Anne exclaimed at Kira's suggestion, "A-And what about the scream?"

Gideon just shrugged and stepped over to the closest one, the left one. He turned the dusty door knob and gently swung the door open. It creaked loudly as it opened. It was definitely a bedroom. The room was lit by moonlight streaming in through a window. There was a bed, a desk, and a dresser. It was all very plain, except there was a random piece of paper lying on the desk. Like everything else, it was exceptionally dusty. It must have been left behind at some point.

Anne carefully approached and peeked into the room. When she saw that it was empty and a bedroom, she hurried back to the top of the stairs. "Alexi!" She called down, "There's a bed up here for you lie down in!"

"Okay." Alexi groaned, slowly standing up and staggering her way to up the stairs.

Kira also peeked into the bedroom. It seemed like a pretty normal room to her, even though it was clearly dusty and probably hadn't been used in a very long time. "I'm starting to think that there might not being anyone living here," she said to the others.

Alexi staggered her way to the bedrrom door where Kira stood, the blood hard starting dripping from her neck.,"Is it bad when you stop feeling things?" She asked tiredly.

"Y-Yes, very!" Anne stammered. "Hold on, there might be something around here you can plug your nose with at least."
She turned and stared blankly at the room. There was nothing at all of any use that she could see. "Maybe there's a bathroom around with some TP," Anne said. She looked down at her hand and realized she still had the other candle. She quickly lit it using Gideon's candle and hurried back downstairs, carefully trying to not break another step.

She knew there were still two other doorways they hadn't explored. She shivered. She already regretted not asking someone to come with her. The building was so dark... No, she had to be brave. She took a deep breath and tried one of the doorways.

-

Gideon set down the candle on the desk and glanced at the paper. Before reading it, he decided to politely pull the dusty blankets off of the bed for Alexi. The bed underneath was well protected and almost completely free of dust. Without another word, he came back to the desk and brushed dust off of the paper. It was a page out of a notebook, no doubt. There was something written on it, but he found it difficult to read. The handwriting was awful, and the rest was faded. It took a while, but he finally deciphered what it read.

I cannot live like this anymore. Every night. Every single night. I hear his breath, I hear his voice. It speaks my name and my family's. I know he's there, but I fear to open my eyes. His bloody claws.
He is the Rake.

"The fuck is this..." Gideon mumbled adjusting his glasses.

"I don't know." Alexi groaned, "I'm gonna try and rest until this bleeding stops." She then laid down in the bed and used the TP to plug her nose. She didn't want to admit it, but this room in particular, freaked Alexi out. The energy she felt was dark and somewhat evil.

Kira stood behind Gideon as he read the paper. "What the hell could that mean?" It certainty didn't make her feel any more comfortable. "I think whoever lived here before left in a hurry, which is why all this stuff is still here. What do you think?"

The room Aexi was in grew very eerie, as she laid there, she felt that she was being watched. Alexi then sat up, holding her hand over her nose. Her eyes scanned the room, but nothing. "Maybe it's my mind playing tricks." she said to herself, trying to stay content.

Anne cheered silently to herself as she found a door that led to the bathroom. The room was just as dusty as every other room in the house. She looked around and found a roll of toilet paper. She unrolled it a little, trying to get the dusty paper off. She tried brushing it off the side to no avail. She looked around for a moment, hoping there might be another roll that wasn't so dusty, but there was none. She sighed. This would have to do.

She turned and started heading back to the stairs. At the doorway, she stopped dead. It felt as if her heart had completely stopped. Her breath caught in her throat. She whimpered and collapsed to her knees, dropping both the candle and roll. He stared at her, motionless and silent. It felt like an eternity, but at last he turned and crawled up the stairs at a horrifying speed. Anne finally felt her heart, and remembered how to move. She screamed loudly, realizing where the creature was going. She tried to stand, but stumbled and fell to her hands and knees.

-

Gideon shrugged. "Probably. I wonder what chased them out." He flicked the page around, thinking there might be something on the back, but the paper was otherwise completely blank. Suddenly, he heard Anne scream. He whipped around, alarmed. "Anne?" He yelled. He ran to the door and to the top of the stairs. He spotted her there, on her hands and knees. "Anne, what's wrong?" He called to her as he stepped down the stairs. He stopped when he glanced at the stairs.

Along with the footprints of their shoes were... handprints? He crouched down and studied them closely. They weren't ordinary. They seemed strangely shaped, and long claws seemed to protrude from every finger. He also spotted another print, though he wasn't exactly able to identify what it was. He turned slowly and looked up the stairs. The handprints continued all the way up the stairs to the hallway. And yet.. There was nothing.
"Anne..." He said slowly, "What's in here with us?"

Alexi looked at Gideon. "What is it." She asked, now a bit concerned. "What are we dealing with?" Alexi's vision began to blurr and blood kept pouring from her nose. "Guys...." She said tiredly. "I feel cold."

Kira saw the handprints as well since she too ran out of the room with Gideon to check on their friend. Her heart leapt into her throat. "Oh my God . . ." She looked at Anne. "What did you see, Anne? Tell us, please!" She was scared, but she felt like she had to know the truth of what Anne had seen.

Gideon didn't reply. Gideon turned back to the hallway and lifted his candle, illuminating most of the room. He pulled the kitchen knife out of his belt. There was absolutely nothing in the hallway. It had disappeared. He turned back to the stairs and found the tracks in the dust. He carefully began following it. It lead across the hallway and... right into the middle door of the hall. He didn't understand. How could it have been so fast? How did they not hear the door?

"I think we better get out of here." Gideon called to the others.

-

Anne, mostly recovered, quickly picked up her now dead candle and the roll of TP. "I-I don't know!" She replied to Kira. "I-It was... I don't know..." She remembered her task, and hurried upstairs to Alexi. "Here, just try to plug it," Anne said, handing the somewhat dusty TP to her. She turned back to the hallway and timidly tiptoed over to Gideon, who was frowning at one of the other doors. "I-Is it in there?" She whispered.

"...Yes. I think so." He replied, "We had better get out of here. It's not safe here."

"Anne," Alexi said, holding the tp on her nose. "What the hell is going on?" Alexi was a bit disoriented, but her bleeding began to calm down since she plugged her nose. She got up and slowly walked her way to the door and she peered into the hallway. "Ya see a ghost or something?" She asked, slowly regaining her senses.

Kira nodded. "You don't have to tell me twice. I've been ready to get out of here since we entered this stupid house." She glanced down the stairs before looking at Gideon again. "I think we should hurry before whatever Anne saw comes back."