Let's get to the Botto- er Top of this!

Velma figured that wherever Daphne might be, she was probably not on the first floor. She had done this long enough to know that either the basement or the attic were often the typical places to hold someone captive. She could easily envision Daphne sitting in a prison cell in the depths of the estate or locked in a tiny room in the tallest tower. After all, she had done this sort of thing plenty of times and in her experience evil masterminds were surprisingly predictable. It was a fifty-fifty shot. Since she didn’t really see any obvious path downstairs and the idea of delving into the bowls of this place wasn’t an all too appetizing idea anyhow she chose to start upstairs. Besides, if she was wrong, she figured sooner or later, she would blunder into a trap door that would conveniently send her into lower levels of the estate and therefor, closer to Daphne anyway. From her perspective, villains sure often lacked creativity.

She made her way over to the staircase and just before she took the first step, she peered down the long corridor just to the side of it. There was just something a little too foreboding about it, an odd feeling that wherever she chose to go, that way would only lead to misfortune. Something about those columns set off her internal alarms something fierce.

She slowly ascended to the second floor, the only sounds echoing throughout the house being her own footsteps on the wooden stairs. Typical, no carpet meant that her unseen enemy would easily be able to hear her movements. It might have been cliché but she had to admit it was an effective tactic. At least they didn’t creak like every other spooky house she had traversed with her friends over the years.

The stairs led to a think hallway, empty of furnishing other than a few more of wall sconces like the ones in the main hall and a smaller spiral staircase leading up to the next floor. There was even less light up here and Velma looked up and down both corridors suspiciously. There were only two doors, both at the end of either hallway and Velma realized she had another choice in front of her.

She figured that going as far upwards as she could was the best option presented to her and she abandoned the two doors for the smaller staircase. She rose quickly to the third floor of the house and felt claustrophobic as the spiral stairs led her upwards and she was shrouded in darkness for a moment. The loss of light made the sounds of her shoes on the wooden steps almost deafening in the cylindrical corridor. After another full rotation, she was at the next level of the house.

The stairs continued upwards but Velma was momentarily distracted by the large room that she had come out on. It was better lit then the rest of the house, a single bright light bulb hung from the ceiling, it was an otherwise empty but spacious room shaped in a half circle. Lined side by side along the rounded edge of the room were 13 doors. Each one was ornately decorated in different colored paint and had different symbols engraved in the wood. There were no windows or other furnishings in the room.

Velma groaned to herself, every creepy house had “that” room, a daunting place where you had to make a choice where to go next and it never ended well. It was that mandatory twist in the narrative that complicated matters and often led to someone being chased by a monster. One or maybe two doors led somewhere important but the others led to either a dead end, danger or sometimes both. Velma regarded the doors for a brief moment. Sure, getting to the top floor had been her priority but now she debated whether the kidnapper had stowed Daphne away behind one of these doors. It was definitely a good way to make her waste time. She stood there pondering her options, hidden cameras catching her facial expressions in great detail.

You were breathing hard now, no longer in eager excitement at the thought of Velma succumbing to the horrific effects of the house but now genuine anxiety. There were so many horrible things for her to suffer through on the lower levels and she had chosen to brazenly charge up to the third floor, evading so many of your oh so passionately crafted traps and devices designed to break the adorable nerd’s spirits. Still, things hadn’t gotten too far off the rails yet. She could still suffer a multitude of delightful tortures if she dared to try her luck on any of the doors in front of her.

However if she choose to go up to the fourth floor, that was going to be quite a cause for concern. If it came to that, you knew you had **** but to intervene personally. There were far less automated cruelties on the upper levels, those had been designed with a more personal touch in mind and if she went too much further, you would have to take measures into your own hands and herd her down another path. Still, you admit to yourself that such an event could be fun, to get up close and personal to your future ****. After all, she needed to be punished for getting too close too soon. Still, you were hoping that Velma’s own curiosity at the row of doors in front of her might detract her from going up to the fourth floor.