The trip through the forest went surprisingly well so far, thought Smythe as he was limping behind. Ivan took the front along with Carter who had a good idea of which path they need to take in order to reach the mansion. Annabella was trying to gather some mushrooms along the way, while Pickman and Leah debated whether digging up fossils equaled sacrilege for the species that they belonged to.

"Would you like it if someone dug up your son’s grave?" Leah said and immediately regretted it.

Pickman stopped, looking him straight in the eyes. Unable to bear the stare, the doctor continued along the trail.

"Come on ...  you know he didn’t mean it like that," Annabella put her arm on the archaeologist’s shoulder.

"Yeah ... he didn’t think ... yeah ... " he looked up at the sky, slowly shuffling onward.

The sky through the trees was still grey and strange, but at least there was no rain or wind. The inside of the forest was eerie quiet and the team’s footsteps and voices produced an almost unnatural amount of echo.

After midday, they finally saw the lighthouse in the distance.

"The mansion shouldn’t be far now," Carter smiled at the rest of them.

They were all exhausted from the trip so far. The boat ride through the storm and sleepless nights had this long walk put on top of them, and the meals, when they had them, were neither luxurious nor plenty. The slab of dried meat was long gone, along with any bread.
The mushrooms now only needed some fresh fish to go along and lunch wouldn’t seem like such a distant dream anymore.

"There it is!" exclaimed Carter, half relieved half proud of his achievement.

The house was both surrounded by the forest and almost leaning over the sea. It was built on an old rock, just high enough to avoid being splashed by larger waves.
It was an impressive building indeed, with many windows and a proper roof, featuring what almost looked like a pointy tower.

As they neared the large house, the air began to feel heavier and the smell of the sea more prominent.

"It reeks of fish here ... " Pam Carter held his nose, waving with his hand.

"Good. Ivan catch fish. We eat good tonight," said the bald man and put some of the belongings down on the floor.

Everyone gazed up at the house, waiting for Smythe to catch up to them. He approached the door slowly as if to mock them and their steady step, for, without the key to the mansion, no one could enter it.

"Excuse me," he made his way to the large door and after a satisfying click of the lock, opened them wide, "Welcome, dear guests. It was a long trip to get where we are now. But this is just our springboard that will launch us into the unknown. Nevertheless, I do hope you enjoy your stay. Pick any room you like, there are excess rooms here, as we were meant to be stronger in numbers, alas, gods wouldn’t have it that way ... "

He turned around and tried to find a good room for himself downstairs since stairs were his natural enemy. Everyone else seemed to do the same, except Ivan who already found some fishing equipment that he was going to put to good use.

Annabella decided to remain on the ground floor as well. In fact, she stayed in the room right next to the professor’s, only her room looking into the forest while he had a view of the seaside as well, being the one on the very corner and close to the entrance.
After placing the mushrooms onto a small desk, she opened her book and carefully searched for the species, wanting to make sure what they are going to eat isn’t poisonous.

In the meantime, Smythe took it upon himself to explore the mansion and see what was it exactly he bought.

"Not bad ... not bad at all," he wore a satisfied smile, marveling at the sheer number and size of the rooms. There were two toilets, one on each floor and they both had a shower and a bathtub. The kitchen was enormous and right next to the dining room which made it convenient. Turning the tap, Smythe was a little disappointed as the thing didn’t let out a single drop of water. Nothing but a hollow sound.

"That ...  might be a problem," he frowned.

Checking upstairs, he found a ladder that led up to the attic and probably into the tower, and he would surely check it out if he only could find the long pole with a hook needed to pull the loft ladder down.
Quitting that idea, for now, his curiosity was drawn toward another peculiar room. Just as one was to enter the mansion, if following the hallway straight through, one would reach a door that was locked.

"Where might this lead to?" he thought, trying to pull the handle as if using force would somehow unlock the massive door.

Not even Ivan could break this one down ... unless ...?

He made his way toward the pantry. There was enough food there to last them those two days that they would wait for the icebreaker ship to pick them up. unfortunately, there was no sign of water anywhere. Unless they were to cook the water from the sea, which was not recommended in the first place, Smythe couldn’t figure out how they were going to stay hydrated.
He grabbed an axe from a corner and closed the pantry, locking it with a key and putting it into his purple coat. He couldn’t risk anyone finding out about the water problem and the possibility of backtracking to the village that it implied.
He decided to circle the mansion, as much as it was possible at least since one side was literally over the water. He was especially interested in what was outside the room that he couldn’t get into.

"Ah, that makes sense," he was delighted as he spotted nothing less than a water tank right above the locked room. That would explain why no water source or supplies were available in the pantry. The water was probably gathered and stashed in the very room he couldn’t check.

"No matter.  We will open you. One way or the other," he gripped the axe, "Well, at least Ivan will."

* * *

Sitting around the dining table and enjoying freshly grilled fish and mushrooms and some wine, everyone seemed to relax a bit. Their chatter and laughter would go uninterrupted for some time.
They even laughed at Ivan’s imitation of Rahn Lester the IV, the king of Emnikatia. None of them were from there, except Ivan and it wasn’t really a secret other nation didn’t really care for the cold kingdom. Ivan used this to his advantage and gained popularity by making a mockery of his king.

"Rhan no like a nomad. Rhan crush!" he lowered his fist onto the table and knocked down a glass of wine onto Annabella.

"Oh! Ivan sorry ... " he tried to help, but in his drunken state only worsened the situation by touching her awkwardly.

"That’s ... that’s ok Ivan!" she pulled her turtleneck over her head, heading into her room.

Smythe noticed Carter looking after her while her naked back was exposed.

"Ivan help. Just get water. Mr. Smythe, where is water?"

"About that …" Smythe stood up, limping toward the door. Behind them, he took out the axe and started slowly walking toward Ivan.

The tall man took a step back, "Ivan sorry to ruin miss Annabella's shirt—"

"Here," Smythe offered him the axe, "Follow me."

As Ivan went behind him, the rest also followed them to see what Smythe was up to.

"See this door? behind it is our water stash. I’m certain of it," he pointed a thumb at the large locked door behind him.

"You sure?" Ivan raised an eyebrow, scratching his scar.

"Positive. You and that axe can get to work. The rest, go clean the table or whatever."

"I’d rather stay here," Pickman crossed his arms.

"M-me too!" Carter sided with him.

It would seem there was no turning them away now. Thirsty and intrigued seemed to be a far stronger combination than the power of money that Smythe held over them. He couldn’t order them around until that door went down.

"As you wish, gentlemen," he bowed mockingly and moved aside.

Ivan swung with a combination of pity for the beautifully polished wood and the incredible joy of wielding an axe, almost like a child given permission to destroy a sand castle.

The wood was thick and it took more than a dozen swings to finally break it down. Ivan wiped his bald head and moved back. Then, he ran to the door and knocked it open with his shoulder.

"Aaaargh! What this!?" he tried to stand up but slipped and fell into the dark substance yet again, this time with the majority of his face.

"Ugh!" Carter held his nose once again, this time sure that the stench from before was coming from this very room.

Inside the room was darkness. But not any darkness. The room was filled with what looked like strands and veins of mold. Dark almost root-like shapes were making the room look almost like an abyss.
Smythe held his head with both arms, realizing that the only source of water they had was deemed useless, as the water tank was not only contaminated as well but most likely a source of this contamination. Whatever it was that entered and died in that tank was not taken care of in time.
His eyes fell on a large closed entrance that looked as if it led to a basement, but he had more pressing matters to attend to now.

"We have to burn this."

It was ironic that of all people, the one who he didn’t want to argue with over even the simplest matters, but actually tried to get along with, would recommend the one thing that he feared would cross their minds.

"We have to. If this spreads ... I mean, it’s not even safe to stand this close to it," said Annabella and cowered her mouth and nose with her arm.

Everyone else did the same instinctively. Only Smythe remained frozen in place.

Why?  ... Why is this happening! Every. Single. Thing!

His demeanor on the outside didn’t change, but from the lost look in his eyes, one could see the rage piling up inside of him, and his attempts to not let it show made him that more stiff and maddening.

"We will burn it. But not tonight. Too much risk. We will properly prepare and use the water tank itself to put out the fire. We can’t risk fire going out of control and this place burning down on us. For now ... if you want to sleep outside, by all means. I am going to sleep in my room. If this thing is as dangerous as you say, miss Annabella, then we are beyond saving anyway."

With these words he limped away through the hallway, leaving everyone else to stand motionlessly and look at the dark room from a distance.