Claude walks up to the door and grabs the cold metal knob with his dominant left hand. However, just as he was about to twist the knob and push the door open, his mind stopped him just in the nick of time. He realizes that he didn't have a plan as to how he was going to kill the demons inside the home, if there were any. He didn't have a weapon, after all.
He immediately pulls back and takes this moment to think before heading in. Claude's mind raced with two questions. First, where is he going to find a weapon that could do serious damage to these demons, and second, how is he going to get it?
A few solutions quickly popped up inside his head. The first solution was to leave the area and go find a suitable weapon somewhere else. There was a near-zero chance that the house had anything useful to offer. His selection would be limited, providing him a disadvantage.
But unfortunately, Claude didn't have much time on his hands. If he leaves the area to find a better weapon somewhere else, his mother's odds at survival plummet. Plus, there is no guarantee he would find anything. He doesn't even know where to look!
The next best solution would be to find something inside or nearby the house. Although this severely restricts his choices, he had a better chance of getting something, all while saving a lot of precious time. But that begs the question: what is the best weapon he can find inside the house?
Fortunately for Claude, it didn't take him long to cook up a plan. Inside the kitchen, there should be a set of Damascus kitchen knives his mother bought online. Its sharp blade, pointy end, and great durability would make it the perfect weapon to use against the demons.
"Alright, I know what I need. Now the question is, how am I going to get there?" He thinks to himself.
As he thought of a route to get to the kitchen, Claude realized that he could gain access through the garage. The kitchen was built right next to the garage and thus had a door there that would lead him straight inside.
He seriously contemplated whether he should take this route, only to stop himself once his brain came up with the drawbacks. Although this route would get him to the kitchen a lot faster, it would definitely attract and alert the demons inside. Claude knew just how loud the garage door is, because every time it opened, he could hear it from the other side of the house.
If demons are as strong as he thinks they are, then he is going to need the element of surprise to maintain the upper hand. Moving into the kitchen through the garage would mean compromising that advantage. Thus, Claude ends up going against the garage route, preferring to take the riskier, yet more rewarding, front door route to the kitchen instead.
If everything goes according to plan, Claude would be able to acquire his knife without alerting the demons that he is inside. That, in the long run, is the best possible outcome he could have. With this plan in mind, Claude tightened his grip on the knob, slowly twisted it over, and then gave the door a gentle push.
As the door opens, it slowly reveals the gloomy and chaotic interior of the home. Everything, from the bulbs on the ceiling to the lamps on the floor, was turned off. As for the sunlight, its rays were heavily dampened by the curtains covering up the windows. Although it wasn't dark enough to blind him, it filled the house with an eerie, gloomy atmosphere.
Before Claude takes a step inside, he leans his head forward and starts looking around the place. Most of the fragile furniture, like lamps, vases, and paintings, has all been thrown to the ground, their many pieces shattered and spread across the tiled floor.
Deep cuts were found etched into the walls of the room everywhere by what appeared to be razor-sharp claws as long as his thumb. Parts of the wallpaper itself had been chipped away, ripped apart, and torn to shreds, only to be left littered all over the floor.
But worst of all, the air inside felt rather strange. Instead of the warm and rosy fragrance he got when he leaned his head inside, his nose got attacked by this cold, musty aroma—a strange aroma that reeked of tobacco and urine, mixed in to create an unholy and repulsive scent strong enough to send his lunch halfway back up the gullet. It was a vile stench Claude had never smelled before.
Any doubts that Claude had in his mind about whether the demons were actually inside the house evaporated the moment he first laid his eyes on the grim state of the estate. His anxiety immediately flares back up again and tries to convince him to head back to the car. Claude ignores these silly little voices in his head and proceeds onward into the building.
As he moved through each room, taking steps as light as a cloud, Claude remained vigilant for any signs of demons in the house. He assumed that his mother and dog were already in hiding and that anything else that makes a sound is likely a demon wandering the place. It was the only way he could be sure he could live—to get the upper hand in any encounter.
For the first minute, he heard nothing but his own lungs, taking in deep breaths to keep him calm and focused. Although his movement was slow and nimble, he was as quiet as a whisper being carried by the wind, slipping through the silence without leaving a trace behind.
Suddenly, muffled sounds of a sharp, metallic wail echo throughout the halls of the home and reach his ear. Although the screech was a little quiet from where he stood, its monotone voice kind of captivated his attention for a bit.
Upon listening to the tone for a second, Claude quickly pieces together that it was just the Emergency Alert System. He guesses that it was informing the citizens about the current catastrophe unfolding in New York and why they should evacuate immediately.
But then, the distant, sharp screech of the alarm system is suddenly joined in by some heavy footsteps. It moved along with the sound of metal scraping against the tile floor, and it got ever louder the more Claude waited. He pinpointed its location near the corridor, en route to Claude's current position.
Thinking on his feet, Claude quickly moves and takes refuge inside a nearby walk-in closet. There, surrounded by a veil of complete, blinding darkness, he stood alongside the mops, brooms, and countless bottles of chemicals inside the cramped space, just waiting for the beast to pass by.
His heart moved like a jackhammer, sending shivers across the entire body. His lungs went into overdrive to collect as much air as possible to keep his fragile mental state alive. The footsteps got louder and louder before they suddenly stopped.
For a moment, Claude's mind went blank, wondering what had ever happened. Is the creature outside, examining the door? Was it suspicious that Claude was inside? What is going on? Claude moved his hand to touch the metal knob to see what was up.
However, the moment his skin came into contact with its surface, he could tell that it was already being twisted by something on the other side.
Claude quickly grabs the doorknob with both his hands and tries to stop the demon on the other side from unlocking the door. However, as it exerted more force, the knob kept on turning. For a moment, Claude thought that this was the end, that he was about to get found out. He was about to scream in fear and crumble into bits as the knob kept on turning.
"SGV5ISBXaGF0IGFyZSB5b3UgZG9pbmc/IEdldCBvdmVyIGhlcmUhIFdlIGZvdW5kIHdoZXJlIHRoZSBzb3VuZCBpcyBjb21pbmcgZnJvbSE=" He heard a disgruntled and raspy voice on the other side of the door. The language was unintelligible, sounding more like jumped up letters and sounds being spoken fast than an actual coherent sentence.
"QWxyaWdodC4gSSBhbSBjb21pbmcuIA==" he hears another, louder voice, speaking back. The knob stops turning, and he hears those heavy footsteps again. This time it moves away from him, up until it disappears deep into the house. Claude then breathed a huge sigh of relief, thankful that the demon didn't find him.
As he was about to exit the closet, fear crept back up from behind and started whispering in his ear. It begged to leave the house to get back into the car. He still had a chance, it said. They still didn't know he was here! He was lucky to survive this encounter; maybe he shouldn't push his chances. He still had the opportunity to escape and drive away!
Fear was followed by anxiety again, which starts drawing up vivid scenes of a giant creature holding a huge blade with the tip scraping off the floor. It then spots him, just standing in the middle of the hallway. It then lunges at him and slices him in half with its giant blade. It then proceeded to show more graphic depictions of the creature encountering him and horrifically dismembering him with its large blade.
At first, Claude contemplated the decision to leave. Doubt began to settle in, trying to convince him that he wasn't man enough to pull it off and that he should just do what he always had done and run away.
However, upon thinking about all the times his mother helped him out of a sticky situation and how she raised him despite the hardships they both faced, ultimately decides to remain in the house and continue onward to find and save his mother. He had let fear trick him too many times. Not anymore.
Claude slowly opens the door and looks out into the hallway. There was no sign of the beast to be found. The rooms were as barren as he originally found them. It was when Claude realized that creatures might be walking towards the television, where the television was emitting that sharp, screeching sound. This might have provided him the perfect opportunity to head to the kitchen and grab that knife!
Although it took every bit of his willpower, Claude exits the closet and continues to walk towards the kitchen. He continues to sneak down the hallway, approaches the wooden door leading to the kitchen, and heads inside.