<span style="font-size: 18px">'<i>Might as well put on a brave face and go inside,</i>' thought Sarah, as Evie griped.  Sarah sighed, it was sunset, after all, and it would probably be a good idea to set up '<i>camp</i>' with what little light was left besides their torches and lanterns.  <br/>
<br/>
The front door knob of the mansion turned easily enough, but Sarah had to force the door with her body a bit to get it opened.  Probably just the years without maintenance and exposure to the outside had made the door stick somewhat.  There was the sound of old metal rubbing against old un-oiled metal and Sarah had a hard time decided if she was spooked by the mansion or just the awful little sound of the old hinges.<br/>
<br/>
Entering the foyer, she saw that the settled dust inside the mansion caused every color to become muted.  The exposed woods looked either black or gray.  The carpets might have once been some shade of red between rufous or vermillion but were faded and covered with their own film of dust.  Sarah mentally cursed at herself for not considering ahead of time that she might want a face mask of some sort.  But unless things got unexpectedly active, she imagined she'd be okay.  Hopefully Evie or Mary wouldn't be instigating a pillow fight, or anything like that.<br/>
<br/>
From the foyer, not looking to see if the other girls were following, Sarah walked in to the main salon.  She imagined, as if she were watching a movie, about how this hall might have looked all cleaned and polished up for an proper party with the guests elegantly dressed.  Paintings were hung where the empty spaces hinted at their placement.  Was someone playing a piano?  But her imagination was interrupted as she stepped on a squeaky floorboard and her attention was refocused on the here and now.  <br/>
<br/>
The light through the windows was almost nonexistent so Sarah quickly moved to the center of the room, unpacked the electric lantern and turned it on.  It cast a good deal of light in her immediate area, but the darkness of the room seemed to swallow the illumination after about ten to fifteen feet.  Her torch would easily throw light a farther distance, if needed.  She unpacked the rest of her gear, except her pajamas, and unrolled her sleeping bag.  Maybe there was a still a nice bedroom in the mansion, but she doubted that she'd be sleeping much and if they did need to run out of the house for some reason then Sarah wanted a clear path to the door! <br/>
<br/>
Feeling like she had a handle on the situation, Sarah looked to Evie and Mary, put on a brave smile, and said, "This is going to be easy, right?"</span>