Lilith couldn't help but curse under her breath as she stepped into another hole. She had brought a lamp with her when Sol mentioned that the way in was dark, but she wasn't expecting how creepy the place is, especially since it's practically below their own house.
The air was damp and she could hear something scurrying on the walls around her, the silence only making the echoes of their movements echo louder. The large beams that holds the place looked old and she could see some signs of decays on them, but miraculously they were still unbent. The floor had already changed from wood to stone, and she wasn't seeing any dust on them unlike what she initially thought, seeing as her cousin mentioned that it's such a secret place.
The entrance on this place was hidden in their wall, behind a decorative cloth, just a little off to the right. No one could probably even realize that there's a door there unless you already know it's existence.
Which begs for the fact why Sol knew about this.
The first steps she'd taken she had almost turn around with a promise to rip Sol a new one, but her curiosity of where the dark passage goes kept her going.
After all, she had thought she knew her own house like the back of her hand, but now she found out this secret tunnel had been under her feet all this?
Curious indeed.
She kept her left hand on the wall, once again wondering how such a place exists without people noticing yet still felt like it's been regularly kept?
The road were starting to get easier to walk on, Lilith only realizing that the old stone steps were now change once again. Color-worn carpet were now what she was stepping on, and the walls now felt more like a wall.
She had her light closer to the surface and notice the patterned drawing of a wallpaper that was halfway torn. Her elbow bumped into a nightstand with a candlelabra holding three used candles.
Huh, maybe Sol left it here?
Thinking that it'll be more effective than her solitary candle, she took the candlelabra and lighted all the three candles, lighting more of the room for her investigate.
She appeared to be inside a hallway. Much likely a grand one back on its days, seeing how elaborated the decoration of the wall and the floor were despite its washed-out state. Many of the furniture were already damaged or on decay, but like the pathway earlier, there wasn't any sign of dust in any of them. Actually, given the state of the place, the hallway feels clean.
Now thoroughly curious--because what are the chances that you'll find out that your current house was actually built on top of an older house?--she started peeking through the hallways, wondering where each of them leads. She followed one that led her to what must be a kitchen, then a dining room, which was a door away. She found small rooms filled with more chairs and furniture that made her thought of a sitting room, and she think she found the library, though it only had two very large shelves inside.
She also found a painting of a couple in one of the wider halls. It was roughly around Lilith's shoulders in height, and some parts of the painting was already damaged by bugs, but the faces of the subjects were clear enough for Lilith to see.
It was of a man and a woman. The woman, wearing a lovely dress was sat on a chair in a straight pose, her hands clasped on top of her lap. Her eyes were of brown, and her dark hair was tied in an intricate curls swept to her shoulder. She was a beautiful woman, but the coldness of her gaze reminded her too much of her grandmother.
The man had blond hair that almost reached his shoulder, tied in a lose ribbon. One of his hand was placed on the woman's shoulder, his posture as straight and perfect as that of his partner. His eyes were of lighter shade, and unlike his partner, his showed more emotions.
The man looked sad here, Lilith thought as she observed the man in the painting. Is this a picture of one of her ancestors?
Something to her right shifted and made the rocks roll, alerting their presence. Lilith quickly turned to the direction and yelled, "Who's there?"
She paused, straining her ear for any sound that came. The silence was almost sufficating here, but it also meant that any small noise would ten times louder.
Probably just a rat, Lilith thought as she relaxed for a bit. Despite what she claimed to Sol earlier, she didn't actually know anything about self-defense. If there's actually anything more in this place, she'll probably just end up running around in circles blindly.
This is ridiculous. She needs to go back up. Obviously, despite the curious things around the place it is not as safe as one could expect. This is probably just one of Sol's pranks, trying to scare her by sending her in such a dark place.
Something shifted behind her and she turned without thinking.
A face appeared by the light of her candles.
Llith's shout echoed through the place and scared off the bat's hanging by the ceiling. Dropping both the candlelabra and the lamp she'd brought, she darted to the opposite direction and followed the halls blindly while still shrieking. She twisted around corners whenever she saw one, and zigzag around wooden columns without much coordination movements.
Right now, the only thing that was on her mind was to get away from that thing.
As there was no light for her to see her way, her foot bumped into something and made her trip, but as she tried to use the other foot for balance, all she felt was air, sending her diving feet first in what was actually a hole on the ground.
Lilith managed to grab something on the side to stop her fall, but it wasn't strong enough to carry her weight. As she hang there thinking of something to do, the sounds of footsteps was getting closer to where she was, followed by the light of a candle.
"It's okay. Here, grab my hand," a voice sounded above her, her face shrouded in the dark due to the angle of the candle.
With not much strength left, Lilith took the offered hand and felt herself being slowly raised towards safety.
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Author's Note: never run off to unfamiliar places, kids.