12. The Mansion
Amy reaches out and grasps one of the bars of the gate. She pulls and finds that, with some effort, it opens. A loud CREEEEEEEEEAAAK rings out as she swings the gate open.
“So much for the element of surprise,” Amy thinks to herself.
She steps gingerly through the gate, expecting at any moment that something hideous will happen to punish her trespass. The moment her body crosses the threshold, she takes off down the path to the house at a run, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if some evil has been unleashed. When she sees nothing, she slows from a sprint to a run, then to a jog, then to a quick walk, and at last returns to a walk. Maybe that crazy tree got into her head. Maybe this is just a big spooky abandoned house and all the danger is just her imagination playing tricks on her. Amy chuckles at how silly she's been acting. Convinced that all the danger is an illusion produced by irrational thinking, Amy straightens up and continues her quest to find Shannon.
Amy stands before the supposedly haunted mansion. The dark building is pocked with cracks and chipped paint. Rows of windows line each of four stories. A turret arises at the front-right corner. A gabled roof hangs out, somehow casting an already depressing place into even more shadows. Amy knows in her gut that Shannon is in here, somewhere. She just has to be found. Now the question is how to get inside. Amy starts by trying out the windows, since the front door just seems too obvious. The windows are too high for Amy to reach, and the windows she can see into the basement are blocked by iron bars. She sees a narrow path winding around the house to the right. The front door looks heavy. The door stretches probably twelve feet high. A grotesque, demonic face is carved into the door at around eye level. The demon has a giant door knocker inserted through the septum of its nose, like a cartoon cow. Next to the door is a small bell. A plaque is attached below it that reads “Ring for Deliveries.”
What should Amy do?