I have to go save father! Aya's previous doubts had been replaced with a surge of determination. Maybe her father wasn't a great person, but that didn't mean she could just leave him. Suddenly, a large bird landed on a gold, chalice-shaped platform underneath one of the wall candelabras. She always wondered what those were for. Aya eyed the bird curiously. A crow? She thought to herself. What's a crow doing inside the mansion. Aya quickly realized that this was not the most pressing concern at the moment. Still, the bird gave off a comforting aura. She'd always liked to play with the crows that would gather near the mansion. Some of the kids in town would always talk about how strange it was that they seemed to gather there. Perhaps they were attracted to the smell? Crows are carrion birds, so maybe they were waiting incase a patient died. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to wait by the practice, the bodies were generally shipped to the cemetery, where it was normal to see crows. Given what she knew now, she wasn't sure she wanted to think about it any longer.
Aya made her way to the foyer, down the large marble stairs in the center of the room. Crystal chandeliers hung uselessly from the ceiling; their candles snuffed. She turned right at the stairs, and entered the hallway underneath that looped around to the other side of the stairs. The north side of the hall had two doors, the right lead to the kitchen, and the left to the cafeteria. Between the doors was a large inlet containing a statue of Zeus with a large, metal torch on either side. The south side had the stairs to the basement. That was where Aya needed to go. On her way to the stairs, she noticed a doll that had been left in the middle of the floor. Fortunately, she noticed it just in time before she stepped on it. She didn't know why, but something about it gave her an odd feeling of dread. She set the doll next to the statue, and headed down the stairs.
Aya entered the stone catacombs that made up the basement. A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled her dreams from earlier. A feeling of regret overcame her. She knew why she couldn't tell anyone, but still, she should have done something. She made her way down the hall, only to be blocked by something.
Dolls, dozens of them all piled in a heap. Aya considered moving them, but there were far too many. She would need to find another path. Reluctantly, she started back up the stairs. As she reached the top, she saw the doll from earlier. It was standing. Aya froze in fear. The doll gave her an aside glance, and seemed to be smiling. It gave a truly unnatural laugh as it sauntered off. A shiver ran down her spine. Why was that doll moving? Was that part of the curse too?
Aya decided that it would be prudent to go the opposite way of the doll, back the way she came. She slowly made her way into the foyer, checking to make sure the doll was gone. Aya headed towards the stairs. She wasn't sure, but maybe that strange salesman would have some advice. He seemed to know quite a bit, maybe he knew another way to the lab?
Suddenly, a ball of light tumbled down the stairs and rolled until it landed near the front door. Aya ran over to inspect it. It was another one of those strange gems. As she slipped it into her skirt pocket, she heard a noise from behind, the same shriek she heard when she first saw the ghouls. She turned around to see the two monsters scrambling down the stairs. The Brunette tripped and fell, rolling down the stairs and crumpling to a heap. The Blonde jumped from the staircase, landing right in front of Aya. She lunged, but Aya strafed to the side and darted up the stairs. The Blonde tried to follow, as did the Brunette, who had risen from her fall. Aya noticed that a few of the stitches around her neck had torn. Their efforts were in vain, however, as they struggled to coordinate their movements enough to climb them. Aya ran back down the hall to her room.
Once she entered, she found that the salesman was gone. Disheartened, she began to pace around her room, wracking her brain, trying to think of a plan. Suddenly, she heard a scratching noise come from her top dresser drawer. She turned towards it. The large stuffed bear that rested atop it looked downward, as though noticing the noise too. She approached the dresser, and suddenly the smell of decay assaulted her nose. She was reminded of the ghouls down below. She cautiously opened the drawer, and out popped a cat! The cat was a ghastly sight. Its ribs were exposed, and underneath its matted white fur, the tissues were decaying. Aya stared in horror at the sight. The cat was similarly afraid of her, and bolted under her bed, desperately seeking shelter from the girl. Aya looked under the bed, the cat Stared, eyes wide in terror. Aya was suddenly filled with regret.
Aya recalled finding the animal a few days prior. It had been run over by a cart, and didn't have much longer to live. Aya took the cat home to her father, with tears in her eyes, pleading with him to help it. Sadly, there was nothing he could do. Aya spent a while comforting the poor creature, but then she got an idea. Maybe father couldn't help, but maybe she could! Father wasn't a vet, but she had plenty of experience with animals. She had, after all, done several surgeries on Snowball, and every time, father would take him to recover, and he's come back good as new. She ran to get her chainsaw. Her father always told her to keep away from that, but this was an emergency!
After she was done, she hid the cat in her drawer. She didn't want her father finding out until the cat healed. She'd left the drawer slightly open so it could breathe. Now that the animal was finally free from its prison, it seemed less than satisfied with the results of its surgery.
Aya could feel tears welling up again. Why didn't it work? What went wrong? She sighed, and went over to Snowball. She didn't know how well cats got along with rabbits, so she thought it was best to take him along. She scooped the rabbit up in her arms and slid him gently into her skirt pocket. "Snowball loves Father too, don't you?" Indeed, he did. Doctor Drevis had, after all, raised him from birth. He was his father too, in a sense.
Aya was about to depart when she remembered the ghouls in the foyer. She needed a plan to get past them. She looked around the room, trying to find something, anything that could help in this conundrum. She ultimately settled upon a wooden chair, one of the two by her writing desk. She took a deep breath, and headed out the door, dragging the chair along with her. Che caught one last glimpse of the cat, its eyes glowing underneath the bed. "I'm sorry" she spoke finally, as she headed out the door.