CONSIDER OPTIONS
back
You look back towards the door, then to the conservatory. Something is in there, and you want to see what you're up against first. As you slink towards the conservatory, something else slinks forward, and down, a sound of shifting dirt and tearing roots and an unearthly growl. You peer around the doorframe, barely able to see anything in the dark room, and what you can see is deeply unsettling.
The cages you could see on top of the garden beds were meant to keep something in. This was clearly a temporary measure, as they've burst open, a vine of roughly conjoined flesh laying limp through the bars. Something is terribly wrong with this situation, in more ways than one, and you can't quite remember why. Before you can move away, more than one - there's more than one of them! - of the flesh ropes begins writhing against each other, serpents making a mockery of a mouth.
I'm here
Here in the necropolis
Waiting for you
The beast turns, and you catch a glimmer of its stolen eyes. You suddenly realize you haven't seen a single ghost since stepping inside, as if they've all been evicted by this... This deathtrap.
AND NOW YOU'RE HERE
A wall of water crashes in from above you. You don't understand, everything suggested you were already underwater, from the tint of the surroundings to the lack of air in your throat. You struggle, thrown around the room, against the ceiling. There's a ringing in your ears. You look down to the beast below to see that it's tossed about by the waves as well. As the rushing waters push you closer to the door, your eyes catch on the bodies rooted at the very end of the beast's 'tail'.
They're not fully merged with the creature, struggling to free themselves from the grave and the beast alike. And past them...
You tried to forget about that.
You're pushed out of the conservatory as soon as the thought strikes, and as you cross the doorway, a strange sensation coats your skin. There's no water on you - there's nothing on you, no sensation at all. You blink, and look into the conservatory. The beast sulks into the shadows, becoming still once more. Unsure of yourself, you back up into the hallway.
As you turn around, you notice a shadow around the height of something you thought you left behind. Puzzled, you rub your eyes, and focus on a little fuzzy fellow who looks up at you in surprise, their grey and white face's features partially eroded - incomplete. They've only just started to die.
"I see you've run into the groundskeeper," the little creature quips, their face warping as they speak. They take a good long look at you, then in the room behind you. They look almost like they're pitying you. "Listen, it's gonna be rough going in that room for you. Gonna be rough going back out there, but for different reasons. I've just got medical training, so there's only much I can offer for the roughest stuff, but for what it's worth, I'm here if you need me."
You look past the little creature at the door to see what they're standing watch in front of. The room looks like it might have been the entrance to a public washroom once - an exit from the Necropolis is wide open near the back, with a door to the toilets beside it. This room just has sinks and mirrors. You look at the creature's face again, their eyes gazing up sadly, and you almost know what to expect in those mirrors.