Delving Part 1

This will be a simple two-part series - couldn't shake the spooky vibes just yet!

Also, I was recently inspired by a clip I saw from the video game, Resident Evil: Village, which I haven't played so if you're an RE stan don't @ me! This shouldn't be considered canonical :> 

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Rose had lived in Westcreek her entire life.

She had heard the stories about Crescentwood Manor that lay on the edge of town - everyone had.

It was enough of an urban legend that folks loved telling the myriad of stories surrounding it, but none dared determine the truth of them.

The truth was uncomfortable. Stories were much safer.

Yet Rose only had stories. She had been adopted by her family as a very young girl, and even they seemed entirely unaware of her origins. It was after her eighteenth birthday that she started hearing the voice.

At first it had been a faint whisper on the edge of the wind, easy enough to dismiss at first but the more Rose tried to ignore it, the most pronounced it became. Soon she realized that the voice always seemed like it was coming from a certain direction... from where Crescentwood Manor lay.

She could barely decipher that it was saying, but she knew it was calling to her. Soon, Rose was hearing the voice almost every night and eventually reached her breaking point. She decided the next afternoon she would follow the voice, break free from stories and try and confront the truth.

The young woman was at last before the manor. It was quiet, dilapidated, almost as though the entire structure was about to collapse, pressed upon by some unseen weight. All around her was quiet, she could no longer hear the voice, like it was satisfied that Rose had come this far. There was a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye, and the girl could have sworn she saw a figure standing in one of the broken windows... yet there was nothing. As she stood at the threshold, she could feel the trees leaning in around her in anticipation. She turned on her flashlight and pressed against the heavy double doors, which moaned as they received her.

It was dark, yet a glow soon illuminated the dank, musty foyer as her flashlight sprung to life. 

"Hello?" She called out.

All she heard in response was her own voice, echoing throughout the halls.

All around her were doors that ventured off into different areas of the manor, and a wide staircase ascending to the second floor. Rose ventured forward and placed a single step upon the landing.

"Rose..."

It was clear. The clearest it had ever been.

"Who's there?!" She called out.

Nothing. No one.

She took a deep breath. The girl had come this far, she continued her climb and pushed through another set of doors on the second floor.

The floorboards creaked beneath her sneakers, errant sounds followed her throughout the old home, yet every inspection revealed nothing. The girl saw a door that hung on its hinges. With some effort, it pushed open, scraping against the tiles to reveal a dilapidated bedroom. Her torchlight scanned it - there as nothing here...

"I've missed you so much."

The blonde spun on the spot, her flashlight darting about the room, landing on a ruined bed, an old piano and wallpaper that had long peeled away. She thought of abandoning this and leaving but she couldn't suffer anymore with that voice in her head.

There was another exit from this room, this door in a better state than the last. With a trembling hand, she pulled the door towards her, her torchlight illuminating what awaited within.

Her heart stopped. Her eyes widened.

There was someone in here. Rose was about to speak when she noticed something strange; this person was wearing exactly what she was! Her hair even seemed similar...

Yet she was motionless. Asleep? Unconscious?

...dead?

Her breath turned to mist, the girl steeled herself and stepped into the room.

"Hello?" Rose's voice was hushed, cautious.

There was no response.

The young woman took one step forward, then another...

Who was she? What kind of sick trick was this?

Her hand reached out towards the cap...