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Vanished
Daniel Corvus


The famous sculptor Ghislain unexpectedly disappeared for everyone. While the police are checking different versions, you, as a private detective, will have to personally sort out this issue. Your customer was very puzzled by the fate of the "rising star". And a little more – the fate of a certain ancient signet ring. With a rather strange parting word to check if the sculptor is alive and, if dead, by all means find and return the ring, you make your way to the mansion…





Daniel Corvus

Vanished





The author's word


This work is done in the style of "a story with a choice of actions". Although there are "blocks" of text in it, you are free to choose your path according to the choices provided and go to the chapters that are named accordingly.

The author sincerely hopes that you will not neglect this advice and will not read the text completely and immediately – because then the whole essence of the uniqueness of this work will be lost.




Part 1 >| introduction |<




You climb over the fence and get into the garden of the mansion. Although you understand that all this is illegal, but you do not have the authority of a policeman, and even those will not help you.

Involuntarily you look around. You are surrounded by trees and shrubs, but their appearance, considering that it is not autumn, is completely strange: the foliage on them has turned yellow and has completely fallen off on some. It would seem that it could be the fault of the servants who overlooked, however, even a superficial knowledge about plants to understand – the problem here is something else. These can be found in almost every garden and on the street, but their appearance is now significantly dissimilar. You can't help thinking that the problem may be in the infected land, but you need to move on.

As you know from the rumors: the owner of this mansion disappeared a few days ago, but what you see in front of you suggests that no one has lived here for several years.

Trying to move carefully so as not to catch the eye of random witnesses once again, you walked on through the garden. Eventually, you noticed a path that led, perhaps, further to the house.



– get closer to the mansion

– inspect the backyard

– bypass the mansion

– inspect the trees




Part 2 >| inspect the trees |<




You approached one of the trees, wanting to understand what could have affected such a strong plant. A simple bad weather did not affect them so much. However, the bark of the tree looked completely normal. You are becoming more and more confirmed in your guesses that the problem is in the soil. With the toe of your shoe, you push the leaves aside: the grass under them has turned into a liquefied something, a pleasant home for worms, but you can't remember a single toxic substance that could create such a thing.



– get closer to the mansion

– inspect the backyard

– bypass the mansion




Part 3 >| get closer to the mansion |<




You went on, presumably in the direction of the house. At some point, you actually notice a two-story mansion. Even at first glance, you notice: the building is relatively old, but you would never call it dilapidated. With its gloominess, the house did not stand out from the general atmosphere of desolation. Only when you get closer, you see that its doors are boarded up, and a cross is carved on one of them. It all seems strange to you, but you continue the inspection.

The path led towards the exit, where the porch and the gate, and then – bypassing the mansion. Not far from the door you notice an empty bowl, but even traces of any animal you did not notice.

In any case, right now it is difficult for you to open the doors of the mansion – it would be worth finding something with which to break down the doors or a workaround.



– inspect the backyard

– bypass the mansion




Part 4 >| inspect the backyard |<




Heading to the left side along the path, you came out into the backyard of the mansion. The same sickly appearance of the trees instilled in you a depressing feeling of losing something beautiful. In fact: if you only wanted to, you could imagine the former beauty of the garden. Although now it smells of death and desolation, yet you notice an elegantly executed gazebo made of white marble. Its thin columns were wrapped around withered branches of an ornamental plant, and you could hardly see the benches – under layers of fallen leaves.

In general, in this place you could not notice something more or less necessary for the case: the forgotten and abandoned things of the former owner and servants lay almost everywhere. From what there was a desire to leave this place as soon as possible.

For a moment you freeze when it seems to you that you saw a shadow at one of the columns, but after a moment you think about it: could it have just seemed to you? In any case, there are clearly no things that can help you get into the house – it's worth continuing the inspection further.



– get closer to the mansion

– bypass the mansion




Part 5 >| bypass the mansion |<




After some time you came to the most inconspicuous part of the garden. There was nothing interesting here, except a pile of tools, a rake and a broken scythe. The hatch cover leading down somewhere stood out a little. However, nothing more. The plants here looked no better than in other places. It all seemed extremely depressing, gloomy and completely lifeless. If you hadn't read the reports, you would have decided that this mansion was abandoned several generations ago.

After thinking, you examined the pile of tools. In addition to the broken ones, there was a crowbar – you could easily break down the boards with it, as well as the doors. When you approached the hatch and tried to push it aside, you were surprised to find that it was completely unlocked. Whether someone tried to escape from home or they just forgot to lock him up – you couldn't say for sure. However, you need to go somewhere to continue the inspection of the house.



– go back and break the doors

– go down to the basement




Part 6 >| go back and break the doors |<




Approaching the tools, you pulled a scrap from the general pile. Unfortunately for you, he touched something and a white bone appeared in the light. You didn't touch it, just carefully examined it. Obviously, this is a bone of a fairly large animal, possibly legs. Completely gnawed, as if specially prepared by someone to intimidate guests. You wouldn't have given it much thought if it weren't for the furrows of strange cuts. It seemed that someone was wielding a knife on her, but could not sketch a decent pattern.

In any case, you preferred to leave everything as it is for now, and return to the door.

With an effort, you break into the boarded-up doors. You only need one more strong blow to open them. You understand that these actions are increasingly leading you towards too unpleasant events, but you intend to go further – after all, this is the only way you can understand what really happened here.



– entrance to the lobby




Part 7 >| go down to the basement |<




You opened the hatch with an effort, but only froze for a moment when you noticed a barely discernible dark spot. You tried to touch it, but it felt like a tree. The spot itself stretched from the hatch cover, along the edges of the entrance, slowly slipping away somewhere into the darkness. Still determined, you confidently step on the steps that lead down, although the fact of the strange spot still alerted you.

For a few moments you heard only the confident sound of your boots, until you went down to the basement, pausing somewhere in the middle of the stairs. You were strongly alerted by a barely discernible putrid smell of some kind of decomposition. You could call it sweet, but there were no exact examples with which you could associate it. Maybe it's a dead animal, maybe the waste of a strange substance that poisoned the soil in the garden, maybe something in between these facts, only in this darkness you could hardly distinguish the last steps and the floor. Everything that turned out to be on the sides of the basement is simply hidden in darkness.

The very last steps of the descent turned out to be uncertain for you – you had an extremely vague idea of where to go next and only guessed that the entry to the mansion itself would be somewhere ahead.

Almost blindly you had to move on. More than once you stumbled over something on the floor, but whether by the will of luck, but you kept your balance. In the end, you stopped when your shoulder brushed another staircase that led up. You went upstairs without hesitation, and only at the moment when your eyes began to distinguish objects again, do you realize that you have entered the warehouse. A completely small room where there was a free exit, presumably to the kitchen or dining room – the furniture indicated this, as did the kitchen items. The second exit was closed by an ordinary door. You didn't see the lock on it.

After a quick look around, you noticed that there are a lot of boxes here – on the shelves, as well as on the floor, which could have contained anything, but now they are opened and empty.



– entrance to the kitchen

– open the door to the writing room




Part 8 >| entrance to the lobby |<




– when entering through the doors -



You carefully pass on, still holding the crowbar in your hands. So far, you don't notice anything too strange, except for a dark spot on the wall on the left side. It's like someone burned something there, but there are no other traces anymore.

The hallway, as one would expect from a person who had wealth, looked decent, with a certain taste, but not too cluttered. Bench at the entrance: it was decorated with sculptures in the form of disc-shaped creatures resembling lions, however, the sight of the sculptures themselves for some reason made you want to stay away from them. The work of the master was felt so strongly in them that they seemed alive to you. And not too friendly. Burgundy walls, richly decorated with patterns, complemented several paintings. You also noticed two wall candelabra, but then you distinguished the outlines of the hall.

It is quite obvious that there was not a single door between the hall and the hall where the sculptor probably met the guests. However, they were still on the left and right. And led to different parts of the mansion.



– at the entrance through the kitchen -



Slowly you continued on your way. The silence of this place was broken only by the sound of your boots, as well as the barely discernible hum of the wind outside the windows of the mansion. In the twilight, you looked at the paintings that decorate the walls, empty candelabra, and stopped your gaze a little at a strange dark spot on the wall.

From further examination of the lobby, you were distracted by a creaking at the front door. You immediately looked back in that direction, but saw only a bench with bronze sculptures of strange creatures resembling lions. At one point, you even thought that one of the creatures was staring at you. Although you did not attach any importance to that – the sculptures looked in different directions – however, one of them was looking in your direction, while the other is peering at the closed doors. And because of the sculpture that was looking at you, an unpleasant feeling begins to oppress you from the inside. You wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. It doesn't matter where exactly.



– entrance to the hall

– entrance to the workroom

– entrance to the kitchen




Part 9 >| entrance to the kitchen |<




– from the warehouse side -



Going further, you noticed several tables located close to each other. Closer to the wall that leads to the exit from the kitchen – bake. After a cursory glance at the open and empty cabinets, shelves, you realize that even at that time, while the owner of the house lived here, they did not meet many guests, as well as residents. Most likely, the sculptor lived here alone, having maybe no more than five servants at his disposal.

You were only surprised to notice that the tables are full of dirt, as well as patches of grass left at random. It was nothing like the usual state of the kitchen. You didn't see any traces of animals either, but you couldn't say for sure who came up with the idea to leave the kitchen that way. Unless it was someone who very much wished evil to the owner of the mansion itself. Did that mean he was still here?

Carefully stepping over the dishes and cutlery scattered on the floor, you approached the door. After hesitating for a moment, you pull her by the handle. With a prolonged creak, the way has opened up for you further. You are greeted by cold and silence, as well as a view of another closed door…



– from the lobby side -



Opening the door leading somewhere to the right side of the mansion, you notice that you have most likely got into the kitchen. Several closely spaced tables, an oven, as well as dishes scattered on the floor – clearly confirmed this. However, the general appearance of the room left much to be desired: mud was thrown everywhere, mixed with earth and grass. It seemed: who would allow such an absurdity in their right mind. Although you didn't remember all the details of this case, but it should have been only a few days. It is unlikely that the new celebrity did not have enemies, but you would not believe that one of them was able to get into this house only to create this mess.

Then, behind all this mess, you notice another passage. From here, you couldn't tell exactly where it leads.

After taking a few steps in that direction, you suddenly hear another dish fall from the shelf. It took you a moment to shift your gaze in that direction. Nothing unusual: just an aluminum saucepan. It still continued to shudder and ring, when another sound was heard from the same shelf: it was as if something heavy had fallen, but you couldn't see what it was. You began to look around desperately, trying to find the source of the new noise. When suddenly footsteps were heard. Heavy, measured, it gave the impression that this creature was in no hurry to attack, but it was definitely heading in your direction. Every moment the distance was getting shorter, until at one moment you saw footprints on the floor. It would be difficult to describe them in simple words: it's like paws, but still somewhat resembled the trail of a bird of prey.

In any case, you didn't wait any longer.

You quickly backed away, but at the same moment the creature, whatever it was, quickened its pace. At the last moment, you managed to run to the door, run out into the lobby, but the moment you tried to close it, something hit you in the back. Immediately after, a rumble was heard, and after several boards fell from the ceiling, blocking your way to that room.

It looks like we'll have to look for another path.



– entrance to the lobby




Part 10 >| open the door to the writing room |<




As you approach, you scroll through the door handle. With a creek, it opens, and at that moment you notice a large table with a pile of papers. Nearby: dressers, bedside tables with other accessories, such as ink, spare pens. After taking a few more steps, you are completely in the room. Just noticing the fact that this room is quite spacious and looks more like cabinet or a place where a sculptor could safely write letters to his customers and draw up documents, you felt something alien. At first you did not attach any importance to that, but then you heard a screeching from the other side. Turning around, at first you didn't notice anything until the sound was repeated again. It was more like something was being dragged across the floor. And this something else had something sharp. Maybe a pitchfork. That's just it came from somewhere outside this room – in the end, you noticed another door. Whoever was behind her, he knew for sure that you were here. For a moment, you had the feeling that this something was watching you very closely.





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