So that’s your fear, huh.

"I saw you three through the window so I asked Liam to fetch you," he said as soon as we got close to him and motioned us to take a seat.

Liam? That lanky man?

"How is it so far? Did you find anything? Anything amiss?"

"We haven't, everything seems normal. Nothing out of place at all, Mr. Logan." Alicia answered.

But sorry to burst your bubble, Miss Alicia. As soon as we entered Mr. Carlos' drawing-room, nothing seem to be normal at all! If anything, every single corner of Veritas Homes looks creepy. Even this grandiose manor has a blood-curdling vibe!

"I see. Would you like to take a break a little? You can have some tea," he offered.

"No, but thank you for the offer, Mr. Logan. We aren't tired yet," I declined. I don't know, but I somehow developed a little repulsion towards tea. Besides, we just had some at Mr. Carlos' house.

"What about your companions?"

"We're fine, Mr. Logan. Thank you for the concern." Dominick answered.

"I see. Then there's that. If you wish to circle around the manor, you can have Liam as your guide." He then turned to the lanky man who had been standing by the corner ever since we arrived here at the patio area. I'd almost forgotten about him!

"As you wish, Mr. Logan." he said as he nods slightly. After that, he returned to staring at the air. Literally.

He's weird.

"We'd gladly do, Mr. Logan," I answered before either of the two responded. Afraid that they would decline. Because if truth be told, I'm very curious about this young man. He appears to be calm and collected. He looks like he's not bothered by literally anything. But the air around him says otherwise. It made me curious. Not to mention that he doesn't have a thumb in his right hand. I wonder what's the story behind that. I'm not trying to be nosy here or anything but… I don't know. I—I just want to know.

"Great! And since you said you won't take a break for a moment, I will leave you to Liam." And with that, he excused himself.

As soon as he disappeared into the gigantic double door of the mansion, Liam approached us. "Where do you want to start?" he asked.

"Anywhere is fine."

"Then, we can start from the garden. It's dark in there so will be needing some lamps with you. As to not waste time, you can just take some of those." He pointed to the lamps hung on the walls of the mansion.

"Will it be fine? Mr. Logan won't complain once he sees some lamps are missing?" Surprisingly, it was Dominick.

He seldom asks questions.

"No, he won't. He doesn't really care about such trivial things. This lamp is one of those as well." He slightly raised his hand that was holding the lamp, the one he brought with him at the gate earlier. And now that he mentioned it, there was indeed a vacant lamp holder at the last row.

Without asking any more questions, just as he said, we each took a lamp with us and followed him.

Neatly trimmed hedges of around six to seven feet stood high and mighty—towering us.

In front of us is the only entrance that we can see. It is only wide enough for two adult males to fit.

"It's best if you don't wander away from me. This is the hedge maze Mr. Logan love so much. Or others would like to call the maze garden or garden labyrinth. It's already dark and I don't really want to go finding you lot if you got lost along the way," he reminded us in a monotone voice.

For some reason, I have a feeling that this lanky man and Dominick would get along just fine.

Without waiting for our response, he turned his back on us and started walking inside. And of course, not wanting to be left behind, we hastily followed suit.

Unfortunately, as beautiful and as elegant as this maze garden is, we can't truly admire its beauty since it's already night. It was only the moonlight and our lamps that are illuminating our paths. Not to mention, it's awkward to start a conversation with this guy's stoic attitude.

Sigh.

"There's a large lion statue at the very center of this maze. So if you got lost, it would be great if you find your way there."

From time to time, he would give us snippets of information about the manor.

Silently, we followed him. It's not that there's anything else that we can do.

And all of a sudden, I felt a numbing and tingling sensation in my insides. The same feeling I had while looking at the paintings. I felt so cold, but when I touched my skin, it was so hot. Shortly, a streak of sweat rolled down from my forehead. Good thing that I was at the back or else they will certainly notice my abnormality.

A choking sensation would attack me every time I breathe. It's painful.

And I literally almost screamed when I felt a chilling sensation in my left ear. As if someone was breathing really closely.

"So that's your fear, huh."