Tania, well rested and prepared for a new day of adventure, heads to the French café for brunch.
Today she chooses an appetizing cheese and fruit platter.
Tania wonders what her assignment for the day is. As soon as she has completed her photographic duty for the magazine, she plans to relax at the nectary and spend her last few hours in France sipping the many delectable flavors. But for now, she’s scheduled to meet with Monsieur Pivert.
Monsieur Pivert is in front of his shop watering plants when Tania finishes her meal.
He greets Tania with a kiss on each cheek as if they are old friends.
Tania finds the greeting to be very charming.
Monsieur Pivert takes his time before talking business. He asks if she slept well and if she had a good breakfast. Tania answers yes to both questions. Satisfied with her answers, Monsieur Pivert gives her the assignment for the day.
Today, Tania is expected to begin exploration of a very old mansion called the Chateau du Landgraab. She meets with another contact, Berthe Girald, for more details.
Berthe turns out to be a very nice person who reveals that she has a crush on Monsieur Pivert. As Berthe hands Tania a key to the library of the Chateau du Landgraab, Tania promises her that she’ll put in a good word for her next time she runs into Monsieur Pivert.
Tania doesn’t have to be at the mansion until later on in the day, so she heads straight to the nectary.
At the nectary, Tania picks out another tasty combination of fruit nectar.
Tania takes a sip before heading toward her favorite table.
This sip is just as delicious as her very first. Tania is slightly conscious that drinking nectar could easily become a very bad habit. Isn’t that what her parents have always taught her? Right now she doesn’t care. It’s my life and I can do what I want, Tania thinks to herself as the nectar settles in and warms her from the inside out.
She glances at a clock from over her shoulder. She’s due to be at the mansion. However, she’s not in a hurry to finish the last bit of nectar in her glass. Something as good as this should not be rushed, she rationalizes in her head.
Moments later, a slightly tipsy Tania arrives at the Chateau du Landgraab just as evening settles into its nightly routine.
Any other time, the mansion would be very frightening to Tania, but the nectar has taken on another effect; it has settled her nerves into an unnatural calm.
Tania circles the mansion looking for a way in after she discovers that the front doors have been sealed shut.
She walks to the side of the mansion where eerie statues, which appear like specters in moonlight, greet her. She quickens her pace and continues walking around the mansion.
With her judgment altered by the glass of nectar, Tania decides to walk through the flower bushes when she gets to the back of the house. As spider webs and night bugs brush across her face and tickle her nose, she chuckles at her error. “I may need to lay off the nectar before assignments,” she says out loud - amused, rather than disturbed.
Tania finally gets to the back door. Luckily she notices the metallic rimmed holes on the porch. She cautiously examines one of the holes and sees that it’s a trap.
Tania looks through the bushes for some way of disarming the trap. Right under a light post, a few steps away from the porch, she discovers another hole. Inside is a switch.
Just as she hoped, the switched disarmed the trap and Tania enters the home.
Tania is awed by the impressive molding and ancient fixtures. She wishes her eyes were even bigger so that she can take it all in at once.
Without lowering her eyes, she grabs her camera and begins snapping pictures, not noticing the dark burn marks on the floor.
As she’s walking and snapping shots, she feels a sudden intense heat flow through her body. She realizes too late that she has stepped on an electricity trap.
Her body convulses and her camera drops to the ground. This is it… is the last thought that goes through Tania’s mind as the pain becomes so intense that her body goes into shock.
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