Manhunt

Chapter 27

The front entrance had grand double doors made of dark varnished wood, its handles and door knocker a weathered gold. Although inviting, the two weren't going to take the entrance in case of direct observers. Instead, they traversed through the forest to swing around the back area of the estate. It was already getting dark out, and although the back of the property was both eerie and discomforting, Red didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"Why, exactly, do we have to sneak in through a window?" Julia whispered, watching Red mess with the lock on it before opening it with ease. "No one lives here anymore, so why not take the door?"

"We don't know if this place is still unoccupied."

"It seems unoccupied..."

"There's no room for ignorance, Julia."

"I know, I know, I'm just kidding." Hands up. "Geez."

"Just get in," she hissed before gracefully throwing her legs through the opened window, followed by her body. Rolling her eyes, Julia did the same thing and left the window partially opened. If there were people there, they'd need an easy escape option. "Where do we start?"

"Good question." Looking around, Julia spotted a flight of stairs leading to the upper floors. "I think we should start with the top floors moving down. I don't want to miss anything." They glided towards the stairs, carefully maneuvering around loose floorboards and stray furniture. Despite the creaking from the stairs, the whole house was quiet.

"Left doors first?" Red asked once they reached the fifth floor, ticking her head to the first door on their left. It was slightly opened, but no light was seen inside. Nodding, they moved towards the door as Red unhooked a flashlight from her belt loop. With a click, a strong light illuminated the room that they entered, traveling over the walls and floors.

"Wait a minute!" Julia hissed intensely, causing Red to stop. "Go back to that wall, I think I saw something." Moving closer to the wall, she waited for Red to travel back to the spot she wanted. Julia swiftly pulled out the copy of the code, sliding it next to the mark on the wall. "I didn't think we'd find something so soon."

"What is it, Julia?"

"I see a symbol from the letter on this wall."

"Already?" She asked in disbelief, walking over to where she was. Taking glances between the piece of paper and wall, she started shaking her head slowly. "You're right—some of the letters match. But unfortunately, there isn't a translation." Julia pulled her phone out and took a picture of the symbols, hoping to identify a pattern that could help with decrypting the message.

Finishing up with the first room, they continued to search the rest of the rooms on the left side of the corridor. When there was nothing to uncover, they moved on to the rooms on the right, coming to a dead end. This continued for the fourth, third, and second floor of the mansion.

"There's nothing here either." Red sighed, getting up from her crouching position. "Let's move down to the first floor. Then, we'll head to the basement." Exhaling heavily, Julia followed her out of the room and trudged down the stairs, her confidence in finding clues deflating quickly. Reaching the ground floor, they entered what once looked like a large living room with an open kitchen and dining room. Splitting up, Red took the left side of the floor while Julia took the right, using the flashlight app on her smart phone.

Julia searched through the cabinets in the kitchen, but she'd came out empty handed. Once done with the kitchen, she moved along to the hallway and searched the walls for markings. Red checked the dining room and looked for any etchings on the furniture, blowing off dust as she searched. Julia started looking around the living room space and met Red halfway, sighing when they found nothing.