Several minutes passes as Aya regained her composure. She remembered that she was in a hurry. She didn't have time to dwell on this, no matter how upsetting it was. She felt queasy again as she stared at the bloodied saw. She doubted she'd ever see it the same way again. She reluctantly collected the saw and headed down the stairs to the right.

It was a short staircase leading to more glass vats. Three were empty, while one contained a glistening gem. Aya approached the vats and as she did, bloodied handprints appeared on the insides of two of the empty vats. Front right, and bottom left. Aya didn't want to think about what or who had been held in them, or for what.

Past the vats was another door, which lead to a small room with a metal catwalk ending in a set of metal stairs. Several dolls lay on top of shelves and crates stacked underneath. Suspended from the ceiling was what appeared to be some sort of man-pig hybrid. No, it had clearly been a man once, that was clear enough, but he had a pair of boar-like tusks and his features had been heavily modified to resemble a pig, or perhaps a goblin. His skin had turned green and leathery. The man roared at the top of his lungs.

HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! NEVER FORGIVE! NEVER FORGIVE!

Aya timidly raised her saw. Her arms were shaking. There was no way she could fight this thing and win. She quickly made a b-line for the stairs. As she did, the dolls sprang to life, and slowly began to follow her.

Aya realized too late that the catwalk was a dead end. The dolls hadn't yet made it to the stairs, but they were close. Aya saw the rope suspending the man. Having no time to think, she sawed through the rope, barely processing how insane this plan was. Her subconscious berated her for acting so rashly, but she had no other choice. There were simply too many of them.

The man shrugged off the ropes and stomped towards the dolls. They turned to him, poised to strike. One sprang at him from the crates, only for him to grab it in midair by the head. He crushed it to dust effortlessly, painting his hand red. Two more went for his legs. He stomped down on one of them and punted the other towards the wall, where it shattered on impact. Two life-sized dolls, a girl in a pink dress and a boy in dress clothes, charged him from either side. He grabbed the boy by the throat and bit down on his head, piercing it with his tusks. The head shattered blood splashed on the floor. The girl found herself in a headlock, and the man popped her head off like a cork. The final doll, far to small to be any threat alone, hesitated. It attempted to run for the door, but as it jumped up to the handle, the man punched it against the door, breaking it to pieces.

Aya had forgotten her previous terror and was now grinning madly with sadistic glee at the sight. There was a certain beauty in how the man fought, how he brutally tore through everything in his path. She couldn't help but wonder how her father had managed such a thing.

The man barged through the door, throwing it open and letting out a mighty roar as he unleashed his rage on the vats outside the hallway. Aya heard the shattering of tempered glass as the stomps grew ever more distant.

Once she was sure it was safe, Aya cautiously made her way back to the storage room. All but the front right vat had been demolished. Glass was scattered across the floor. Aya had to step carefully to avoid stepping on any large pieces. Her flats weren't meant for protection. As she passed, she found the gem in the remains of the front left vat and carefully collected it, making sure to avoid the sharp fragments still affixed to the base.

In the main room, Aya found that little had been disturbed save for the skeleton, which had been knocked over. Finding nothing else of note, Aya exited the storeroom and headed back into the hallway.

Aya entered the main hall to find a large stain of blood where the old man used to be. A small nightcap lay in the center. She followed the trial of blood from the stain to find the man slumped on a support pillar. Aya slowly approached the man, only for him to slump over, and fall to the ground. His throat had been slashed. Aya shuddered, and quickly walked away from the corpse.

Aya decided to see what the rest of the hall contained before she explored the other side of the archway. It didn't seem too much longer. Before leaving, she opened the barrels with her chainsaw, shuddering a bit at the sound now. One on the right contained supplies for the staff, while one seemed to contain nothing but blood, while the one on the left was empty save for a tiny gem, bringing Aya's total to sixteen.

At the end of the hall was a large bathroom. That explained the Mirror at least, though why it was so far from the sink, she didn't know. The bathroom contained four stalls separated by stone brick walls. Appallingly, they didn't seem to have doors. At the entrance was a sink with water still in the basin, and a brass shower, with no barriers for privacy whatsoever. Aya would have to have a word with her father about the staff's working conditions later. One of the stalls contained a skeleton, who's skull snapped off as Aya approached.

Strangely enough, one stall at the end was boarded up, and seemed to contain an actual flush toilet rather than the simple outhouse ones in the others. Aya reluctantly took a saw to the boards. She had a feeling if anything of note was in here, it would be there.

Aya inspected the toilet. There was a small key at the bottom. Aya stared at the key in resignation. She took a deep breath, reached down and…

Nope! No way, not doing this! There has to be a better way!

Aya had her limits. They were odd limits, but they were hers. She could handle all the blood and gore in the world, but this is where she drew the line. She wracked her brain trying to think of another way.

Remembering the crate she saw earlier, Aya got an idea. She hurried back to the storage room. the Aya walked over to a large crate and sawed it open, acquiring a pair. She was growing used to the sound of the device once more, but it still sent shivers down her spine.

With that, she headed back to the bathroom, bracing herself for the worst. She felt like a warrior of old preparing to meat her maker in a Valliant last stand. She placed the chainsaw outside in the hallway, drew the forceps, and pinched her nose shut. She reached into the water with the forceps and plucked the key from the murky depths. She very carefully carried it to the sink, where she washed it for about ten minutes with generous amounts of soap before she felt comfortable touching it with her hands. She discarded the forceps and took the key. It had a label that read "cellblock".

With that, Aya collected herself, and headed back towards the archway. The only way forward was through there. Aya was firmly convinced that it was all up hill from here. No number of horrors that lay beyond could possibly compare to what she had just faces. She had stared into the abyss, and the abyss, and it stared right back. She was ready for anything now.