Bad End

As everyone shuffles further in, you find yourself drawn to the portraits hanging off of the walls. Carefully avoiding any holes in the floor, you navigate your way closer to the nearest one out of three. It's really nothing special...just a bit creepy. It just seems to be a painting of an older gentleman. He's wearing a long, velvety overcoat and a nice off-white suit as he sits in a chair with his arms folded into his lap. Dust cakes the surface of the portrait, but you can see that the eyes seem to be scratched out. Weiiiiird.

You move to the next portrait and you find similar. This time, it's a woman in an elegant red gown. She seem to be sitting in the same place and position, and her eyes are scratched out.

Moving on (with the group close behind you), you shine your light onto the last picture. There's nothing in this painting except for the chair you assume the other two were sitting on. This painting looks recent somehow. There's much less dust, and the colors have yet to fade. You feel your stomach twist back into knots and step away.
The portraits put you at an intense unease. You shuffle away from them as the rest of your party widens their eyes at the suspicious scratches. Backing away, you step over a hole and come face to face with one of the odd marble statues scattered throughout the room.

The marble looks old and worn, if not a bit dusty. In front of you is perhaps the cleanest of the three statues found within the room. It is very clearly the effigy of a fairly muscular man, sitting, with his elbow on his thigh. His closed fist is held up to his head. Or at least, where his head once was. The statue was decapitated. Yet, you swear you have seen something like this statue before ...

The other two statues are the same effigy, with the second vertically bisected and the third bearing a circular hole in its chest. All three are decapitated.

As you return to the first statue, Neku runs up to you.

|| Neku ||

「FELLOW NEWBIE! Oh my GOD this statue is SO COOL you won't BELIEVE where I HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE though! Like I forget the name but I THINK that maybe KROWLEY knows about it. But that's not really even the most important THING because you know the- the party is like, well the others- they're like glued to those paintings for some reason! HELP ME DUDE!」

You call out Vivi's name. It takes a few yells, but Vivi eventually snaps back to reality, and shakes the others awake. They walk drearily, zombie-like, to you and Neku for a moment. You ask them about the portraits. They seem to not recall any portraits until Neku points them out to them and warns them not to look at them.
The first to tear away from the portraits seems to be Krowley. For the first time ever, you see a spark of emotion in his eyes as he. Maybe he knows something? You shuffle towards him awkwardly.
[spoiler=Krowley's Conversation]
|| You ||

「H-hi there a-again, K-Krowley.」

|| Krowley ||

「...」
|| You ||

「I couldn't help but notice something... do you know anything about these statues?」

|| Krowley ||

「...」
|| You ||

「...」

|| Krowley ||

「Auguste Rodin.」
|| You ||

「Um...What?」

|| Krowley ||

「Artist. The Thinker. Associated with philosophy or some sort of deep internal struggle.」
|| You ||

「Oh, The Thinker. I remember now...But their heads. What is that supposed to mean? Kind of funny, really, you can't think without a head. AHAHAHA.」

|| Krowley ||

「...」
|| You ||

「...S-sorry.」[/spoiler]
You still don't entirely understand what's up with the statues, but you're thinking that with a few more clues you can start piecing things together. The group is oddly silent now, still a bit dazed from earlier, but staying in the lobby isn't going to help anyone. You turn your back to the statues, shining your light towards everyone else in a way that won't blind them.

Ready?

You and the party climb the twin staircases.
The further upward you move, the thicker the air seems to become. Three-quarters up the staircase, a wafting mist begins to appear. As you approach the balcony, you and the party enter a set of doors.

You reach the upper floor of the haunted house.

The mist here seems to be fairly thin, but still present. Yet, you cannot shake off the odd sensation you receive from this floor. It is as if your head is being buffeted by a heaviness, and your thoughts seem cloudy. You seem to hear some sort of dull whistling- almost like white noise. It may simply be the wind, but occasionally you feel you can hear voices. But it is probably just your imagination.

Though there is a mist, you can see relatively well. The passage here seems fairly different from the first floor. The floor, made of a speckled wood, feels very solid, but is scattered with holes that lead to dark spaces.

The walls are made of a combination of gilded white stone and intricately carved wood motifs. Complex patterns give way to gilded marbleThinkerstatues, inlaid into the walls andstill without their heads. The lamps remain unlit and darken the hallway, save for one or two. You look up, and you do not see the ceiling - only an inky shadow.

This baroque corridor is not very large, but enough to fit your party. On your left is a largearched window. Farther along the corridor to your right is asingle door, while a large set of plaincast-iron doorsseem to be at the corridor's end.

Nekushivers behind you, andSaximaputs an arm on his shoulder to comfort him.
Viviboisterously states that they should look for sleeping quarters tonight.
Though you assume the whistling is just your imagination, you find that it begins to bother you more and more with each passing second. You nervously scan your surroundings. Darkness. Mist. Statues. Shadows. You shiver and anxiously press your lips together in a thin line. Though Vivi is the first to mention something about finding a place to sleep, he's not moving any more than the rest of you are. Everything is just so unnerving.

A breeze tickles at your arms and the whistling grows louder, though no one else seems to notice. Youswear you can hear words. They're just muffled by the wind and the groans of the house. Can the others hear them? What are the voices saying? ...No, it's your imagination. It's got to be your imagination. That's right, then. Time to find somewhere to sleep--
You flinch, stumbling back into Vivi who recoils and shoves you off of him.

|| Vivi ||

「Watch it, kid! What's your problem?!」
|| You ||

「D-did you guys hear that? Did you hear the whistles? The sounds? The voices?」

You're shaking. Your heartbeat is rapid and uneven in your chest, and the oblivious stares being given to you you make it worse. Are you going crazy?

You brush yourself off and make a move to stand. When you do, you hear and earsplitting crack!, and find your hand slipping down into one of the various holes of the floor. Your breath catches in your throat and your stomach flips. As you find more and more of your body being engulfed in the darkness below, you desperately reach your opposite hand out.

Vivi.

The leader of your team. Steadfast and strong; determined with a slight streak of stubbornness. He was a good leader because he was decisive about his actions. Though he always seemed ornery, you could tell he had a heart that looked out for the most people. You looked up to him, even if it seemed he looked down on you.

And he was the closest one.

With all of your strength, you slowly reach your arm out over to him. It takes some effort, but you feel you can do it. You call out his name. He seems frozen, unable to hear you and in a trance - is that, fearand indecision you see on his face?

Your fingers begin to slip. You desperately call out his name again, your legs freely dangling in the inky space below.

He rushes close to you and extends his hand with a panicked look on his face. Your hands cannot reach each other - the space is too much. Vivi quickly takes off his leather jacket and lowers it to let you grab it. You grip the springy fabric with a tight hold. You will be saved!

But Vivi sees the flashlight strapped to you, and something changes.

His eyes grow wide. His hands begin to shake, and he peers up at nothing in particular as the mistgrows thicker around the party. At this time, the rest begin to scramble around to try and help Vivilift you to safety. Vivi lowers his head, and looks at his shaking hands holding the taut jacket.

|| Vivi || [whispered]

「Useless.」

Neku rushes over to help Vivi pull you to safety. Vivi viciously raises his head at the oncoming Nekuand elbows him in the stomach, sending him sliding sideways across the wooden floor. The mistgrows thicker. Misty lets out a yelp.

|| Misty || [yelling]

「You idiot! You asshole! What the hell are you doing?!」

|| Saxima ||

「Vivi! Be reasonable! Stop, or I'll force you myself!」

Saxima rushes over to Vivi and tries to wrench Vivi's arm up. He kicks her backward, and she knocks her head on one of the Thinker statues. With his free hand, he pulls a chunk of sharpened,jagged wood from the hole's rim and begins to cut through the jacket. Vivi's hands shake violently, and he seems to be whispering to himself. You panic and try to climb upwards on the leather. Vivifalls forward and lets out a gasp of air. He stabs your hand with the piece of wood, the jacket onlycut partway in half. A searing pain shoots through your right hand and you are forced to let go.

|| Vivi ||

「You stupid, useless fresh meat! This is all your fault anyway! We don't need you. It'll be good if you just die and stay dead. You're dead weight. Give me the flashlight, and I'll save you.」

You cannot reach the flashlight. You try. Your hand is bleeding. It hurts to even move it. But you cannot reach your flashlight.

|| Vivi || [yelling]

「Give me the flashlight, or I'll let you fall to your death. Come on! Idiot, what's taking so long? Give me the damn flashlight, or do you want all of us to die you dirty-」

Misty lets out a yell. Krowley tries to restrain her, but with a swift movement of her fist, she knocksKrowley out.
She tackles Vivi from behind, another piece of sharp wood in her hand. She breathes heavily. The force startles Vivi, and he rolls close to your hand.

|| Vivi || [yelling]

「Damnit! Damnit, look what you've done now! Your voice keeps hovering in my ear like a fly! A fly! You're like the wind! You're a pest! A goddamn pest! Get out of here! Get out! GET OUT! 」

He jams the wooden stake into the hand that keeps you on the edge of the hole. You let out a gasp of pain.
Blood drips down your fingers, and reaches your cheek. At first, you feel nothing in your hand, but slowly - slowly, like the wind and mist around you, the pain becomes worse, and worse, and worse and worse and worse and dear god you cannot take it anymore you really need to let go but you can't because you'll fall but the pain is horrendous and you cannot take this anymore so you let yourself, fall.

And you fall, and bring the leather jacket with you.

The place where your hand was once hanging from the hole's rim is now stained in blood. Misty lies on Vivi, her eyes wide in horror.

|| Misty || [yelling]

「You asshole! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU LET HIM FALL! 」

|| Vivi || [crazed, yelling]

「Get the hell off me, bitch! WE'RE BETTER OFF WITHOUT HIM!」

|| Misty || [crazed, yelling]

「I'LL KILL YOU, YOU USELESS SHIT! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL STAB YOU!
AND STAB YOU!」

She stabs Vivi in the back.
「AND STAB YOU!」

She stabs again.
「AND STAB YOU!
AND STAB YOU!
AND STAB YOU! 」

She keeps stabbing.
「AND STAB YOU!

AND STAB YOU!
AND STAB YOU!

AND STAB YOU!」

Misty's hate drives her, as she repeatedly stabs Vivi with the bloodied, jagged chunk of wood.
Vivi lifts up a shaking, bloodstained hand towards Misty's scarf.

Misty keeps stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. And stabbing. Vivi grows more and more dim. Drops of his bloodcontrast on Misty's face with her crazed, widened eyes. She lets out a crazed, sadistic giggle.
「AND STAB YOU!

AND STAB YOU!

aahahhahAHHAHAHhAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHA! I'LL STAB YOU AND STAB YOU! AND THEN YOU'LL SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH FOREVER!」

But Vivi grabs on to one end of her bloodstained scarf.

With his last ounce of strength, he moves his mangled corpse closer along the edge of the hole, and drags Misty and her scarf along with him. Misty drops her jagged wooden stake and moves her hands close to her neck, as Vivi slowly strangles Misty with the scarf.

|| Vivi ||
「mmAybE ...
you can shut youR goddAMn mouth as well.」

He launches himself, and Misty by her scarf, down the hole.