The Hallway

It took a few minutes, but he made his way to the top of the staircase in the main foyer.

He was starting to get used to walking with his limp he also held onto the knife that had caused it.

It wasn't like he could put the thing in his pocket like the other items, but he also didn't want to leave it behind.

The good news was that he could still walk without too much difficulty.

The bad news was that he knew he couldn't afford to move too quickly as it would only speed up the bleeding that he had managed to stifle.

It could also loosen the bandages. He had done his best but it had been a while since the first aid course and if he was honest he hadn't paid much attention at the time.

A fact that he was currently sorely regretting.

On the upper balcony he found two doors, a quick peek into both revealed practically identical hallways.

They were positioned so that he would be exploring the area above the hallway he had entered the foyer from.

Since whichever path he took, he had no way of knowing which was better. He decided to pick the one further from the room he began the nightmare in.

With that, he stepped into another part of the horrifying mansion.

Then…

Nothing happened.

'Well, it's not like the other rooms had something happen straight away.' He thought to himself as he limped down the surprisingly well-lit hallway.

The corridor was similar to the ones he had encountered when he first left the starting room, yet there was one core difference.

Detail.

Specifically, as he walked down the hall, he noticed a total of 6 paintings, supposedly of the original residents of the household.

The first was a vibrantly painted family portrait, including the house staff.

Of the people in the painting, he recognised 3 instantly.

The first were the 2 nobles he had already seen in separate portraits—the man in the dining room and the woman in the basement.

The third was the butler, which he had seen in the basement along with the woman.

Upon further inspection, he could also recognise the chef due to his clothing and finally got a look at his actual features.

The people he could not recognise were the group of maids that were headed by one beautiful young woman.

There were also 2 children in the photo, a boy and a girl. Judging by the positioning, the parents were the household owners, the nobles from the other portraits.

The head maid was undoubtedly a breathtaking woman, not in the same way as the woman who he now realised was the mother.

The mother projected a more regal beauty while the head maid ironically put forth a more maternal feeling.

The children were dressed similarly to their parents, with high-quality clothing contrasting their childlike looks.

The boy matched his father's suit, and the girl a simple version of her mother's white dress.

Despite this, the children were vastly different from their parents in that they wore the high-end clothing like they couldn't wait to get into something more comfortable.

What was slightly concerning was that all the other paintings were identical.

This would have been less concerning (albeit still abnormal) if the current time period wasn't considered.

Every other part of the house showcased that the current year was somewhere in the late 1700s, maybe early 1800s.

The technology to accurately reproduce artwork in colour with this level of consistency did not exist.

In fact, due to a school project, he knew that the first colour photograph wasn't properly developed until around 1860, and it definitely didn't have the quality level that the paintings displayed.

Regardless Jacob turned along with the corner in the hallway and once again moved forward, storing the information in case it was needed later.

When rounding the corner, he noticed 2 other things: a door at the end of the hallway and a cabinet on his right in a small alcove.

A quick search of the cabinet revealed that none of its 6 drawers would open, and the small lamp resting on top of it had no light switch, making it impossible to turn off.

Jacob realised there was nothing to gain from the cabinet, at least not without some item or information that he currently did not possess.

Knowing this, he limped to the end of the hallway, opened the door, and stepped through it.

To his surprise, the moment he stepped through the door, it slowly but steadily closed behind him, and he came to a shocking realisation.

He was standing at the beginning of the hallway he had just walked out of.