Joyce closed the door behind her, thankful for the peace and quiet that now reigned around her. She made sure to lock the door before she grabbed her Rose Red journal out of her bag. Carrying it over to the desk, she set it down before she moved over to the fire. Grabbing a poker, she stoked the dying embers, coaxing more life out of them than they seemed willing to give. Certain that the chill in the room wasn't going to evaporate as the night wore on, she tossed a few extra logs onto the fire, hopeful that that would be enough to keep her warm throughout the night. She forcefully ejected the idea of another way to keep warm from her thoughts. Her feelings for Steve had dissipated significantly and any outward sign of affection she showed him seemed to be mechanical and obligatory. She would have felt even more terrible if she didn't suspect he already knew of her cooling feelings towards him. However, they seemed to be keeping up the charade for now, which was just fine with Joyce; it was one less thing she needed to think about right now. When they left Rose Red on Monday, she would talk frankly with him about their relationship.
Sliding into the chair behind the desk, she flipped open her journal, finding the place where she'd last left off. Setting pen to paper, she started describing all the paranormal events that had occurred since they had arrived. She wondered why no one had yet called her out on her stated research goals. At her orientation, she had mentioned seeking a small twitch in the psychic phenomena of Rose Red, and she'd already gotten that, and far more. Yet no one had raised any objections to staying overnight in the house. Joyce didn't see the need to recount her goals to them. The longer they stayed here, the more opportunity she had to achieve her real goals. She suspected that Nick knew; he was a mind reader after all. Yet, he hadn't said anything to her or anyone else, but he had looked at her curiously many times as though to let her know that he knew. Joyce had felt certain that he would unravel her entire plan at the drop of a hat, but he stayed silent. He was only one of two people who could destroy everything she had worked so hard for. If Annie refused to cooperate in the manner Joyce intended, her plans for Rose Red could be ruined before they even began. However, if the day's events were any indication, Annie was behaving exactly as she should, better than Joyce could have even hoped for.
Joyce boldly underlined her statement: "Annie Wheaton is the key which will unlock Rose Red," before setting the pen down and closing the journal. Joyce wanted to dive deep into the darkened history of this accursed house. She wanted to swim through its bloody secrets. She wanted to caress each little tidbit of fact to reveal its mysteries to her. If she had had the money, she would have bought Rose Red from Steve in a heartbeat and immersed herself in the winding passageways of its labyrinthine existence, declining to open the house up to other paranormal researchers until she had completed her own research.
Slipping out of the chair, she meandered over to the bed, crawling underneath the covers. She could barely keep the smile from off of her face as she anticipated what tomorrow would bring. Tomorrow she would begin hunting for paranormal activity throughout the house. She would let the others find their own entertainment for the morning hours, while she conducted some solitary experiments in some of the quieter parts of the house. She was so giddy with excitement, she felt she would never be able to fall asleep.