AJ rose from the table where he'd shared a meal with Thomas and some of Millbrook's residents, picking up his sack.
They left the community hall, stepping back into the afternoon sunlight. Thomas led him through the settlement's winding paths, pointing out various buildings as they walked.
"That's our medical building," Thomas indicated a structure slightly larger than the surrounding homes. "We're lucky enough to have someone who knows basic treatment. Over there's the smithy, though we don't have much in the way of metals to make tools or weapons."
AJ noted each location, building a mental map of the settlement's layout. Millbrook was much more compact than Valentra. The organisation made sense for a small community, whereas Valentra was planned out with a much larger population in mind.
They reached a building near the eastern wall, single-story but longer than the typical homes. Thomas pushed open the door, revealing a simple interior with several beds lined against the walls.
"Like I said, nothing fancy," Thomas repeated. "But it's dry and the beds are decent enough. There's a washroom attached to the side but you'll need to get water from the well."
"It'll do," AJ said.
Thomas gave a small smile. "I'll leave you to get settled. If you need anything, the community hall's the place to ask."
AJ nodded as he left.
While he didn't actually need to rest, it was important to maintain the appearance of being human was important, hence why he made a sack and brought it with him.
He took a few minutes to look around, he then left the sack near one of the beds before leaving the building. The afternoon was advancing towards evening, the sun descending steadily towards the horizon.
Residents went about their business, some preparing evening meals, others engaged in conversation.
AJ noticed the touches that spoke to their small luxuries. Several homes had proper doors with hinges rather than simple coverings. A few residents wore coloured clothing, the children's laughter showed they had time to play and weren't needed to help with the work.
His wandering took him towards the settlement's northern edge. The buildings grew slightly more sparse, positioned with more space between them.
Then he noticed it.
A structure stood near the northern wall, positioned in what appeared to be deliberate isolation. The building was larger than the typical homes, two stories with an elaborate design that suggested it had once been impressive.
But time had not been kind to it.
The structure's exterior showed significant deterioration. Most windows had shattered, leaving only jagged fragments in their frames, while the roof sagged under missing or displaced tiles. Vegetation crept up the walls, vines threading through broken windows as nature began reclaiming the structure.
He glanced back at the settlement behind him, modest homes made with basic construction methods and materials, residents in their practical clothing. Their prosperity was real but humble, built from careful resource management and modest means.
Then his gaze returned to the villa. The contrast was jarring. Elaborate two-story construction, architectural detail that went beyond function into aesthetics. Who in this region had possessed the resources to build something so grand? And if they had those resources, why was this the only structure of its kind?
But what struck AJ most strongly was the atmosphere around it. The building emanated a presence that made his form uncomfortable.
This must be what the note mentioned, AJ realised.
The villa, for that's clearly what it had been designed as, stood empty and avoided. None of the settlement's residents moved near it, as if by mutual agreement everyone gave it a wide berth.
AJ moved closer, his curiosity overriding the discomfort the structure induced. The eerie feeling intensified as he approached.
The villa's architecture suggested it had been built with care, designed to be impressive rather than merely functional. Someone had invested significant effort and resources into its construction.
But now it stood abandoned, avoided, and radiating that unsettling presence that made even AJ's unconventional form uncomfortable.
"Wouldn't get too close if I were you."
AJ turned to find a man standing nearby, watching him. The man looked to be in his mid-30's, his clothing very similar to those of Millbrook's residents. However unlike most residents AJ had seen, this man carried himself with noticeable tension.
"Why's that?" AJ asked.
The man gestured towards the villa. "That building's got a bad reputation. I tried salvaging materials from it a few months back, figured the wood alone would be useful, even weathered as it is."
The man's jaw tightened. "Didn't get much out of it. That feeling you're probably getting right now? It gets worse inside. Started feeling sick after the first day."
He crossed his arms. "Took a few days to feel normal again. Haven't been near it since. Then a couple tried to claim it a few weeks back, the wife ended up kicking the bucket."
"What happened to her?"
"Don't know all the details," the man admitted. "But she went in there planning to clean it up and make it liveable. Few days later, some folks noticed she hadn't been seen around. They found her inside, dead. No marks on her, no obvious cause. Just... dead."
"Do you know who built it?" AJ asked after processing the information.
The man shrugged. "Building's been here since before most of us arrived."
AJ nodded slowly, his attention returning to the villa. For someone to die inside without obvious cause was surprising to say the least.
After some time AJ noticed the man's gaze had fixed on his face with unusual intensity, focusing on his eyes specifically.
The man's eyes narrowed slightly. "You alright? You're staring pretty hard."
"I'm fine, why?" AJ replied.
"I haven't seen you blink once this entire conversation." The man's tone held suspicion now, his earlier concern shifting to wariness. "That's... not normal."
Right, AJ thought. His form didn't require blinking, but he still needed to maintain appearances for the people around him.
"Just got distracted by the building," AJ explained as he blinked.
The man studied him for another moment, then shook his head. "That place has a way of grabbing your attention. Just don't let it suck you in."
AJ thanked him for the warning and the man wandered off, leaving him alone with the villa.
The sun was descending towards the horizon now, the afternoon light taking on the golden quality of approaching evening. The villa's weathered exterior seemed even more pronounced in the changing light.
Whatever had happened to the woman who'd died inside was connected to that presence, and understanding it would require further investigation.
But not now. The settlement was still active, residents moving about their evening routines. Approaching the villa now would draw attention, raise questions he'd rather avoid.
AJ turned away from the structure and headed back towards the traveller's building. Evening was approaching, and maintaining the appearance of a normal visitor required following normal patterns. The villa could wait until darkness provided cover.
---
The traveller's building was no longer empty when AJ returned. A man sat on one of the beds, sorting through a worn pack.
"Evening," the man looked up as AJ entered. He appeared to be in his 50's, with grey threading through his dark hair.
"Evening," AJ replied, moving towards the bed he'd claimed earlier. "Just passing through?"
"Always am." The man continued organising his supplies with practised efficiency. "Name's Richard, you could say I'm a bit of a nomad."
AJ got settled into his bed. After a moment, he asked, "You know anything about that two-story building on the north side? The deteriorated one?"
Richard glanced up. "The villa? Only that locals avoid it, and that I will too. I prefer not to pry into settlements' problems unless it affects trade."
"Fair enough."
The man returned to organising his things. The evening light was fading steadily, darkness approaching as the sun descended.
Richard finished his sorting and extinguished the small lamp before settling into his bed. Within minutes, his breathing had slowed into the rhythm of sleep.
AJ remained on his bed, his form still in the darkness. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight, he checked in with Lily and the others while waiting for time to pass.
---
Three hours past nightfall, AJ rose silently from his bed. Richard's breathing remained steady and undisturbed as AJ silently moved towards the door.
The settlement was dark and quiet when he stepped outside. A few torches burned along the walls where guards maintained their watch, but the interior paths lay in shadow. The moon provided enough light to navigate, its pale illumination casting the buildings in shades of grey and black.
AJ moved through the settlement like a shadow himself, avoiding the open areas where moonlight was strongest and keeping to the spaces between buildings. No one stirred in the homes he passed, and the guards on the walls were focused outward rather than inward.
The villa stood silent in its isolated position near the northern wall. The structure's deteriorated state seemed even more pronounced in the darkness.
The unsettling feeling that had made AJ uncomfortable earlier was more intense now, as if whatever caused the sensation grew stronger during the night.
He paused at the villa's entrance, checking his surroundings one final time. The doorway hung partially open, the door missing its lower hinge and tilted at an awkward angle. AJ slipped through the gap, entering the structure's dark interior.
The entrance hall opened before him, far more spacious than necessary for a home. The darkness inside was nearly complete, moonlight penetrating only a few feet past the doorway before being swallowed by the interior's depth.
AJ waited, letting his form adapt. Slowly, shapes emerged from the blackness.
The entrance hall stretched out in front of him, with a high ceiling that disappeared into the shadows above. A staircase climbed the left wall, its steps still solid despite the building's decay.
Four paths lay ahead, the stairs, an opening straight ahead, and doors to the right and left. Through the opening, AJ could make out a room that extended deeper into the structure.
But what caught his attention wasn't the size or the former grandeur.
It was the quality of construction.
AJ moved to the nearest wall, examining it closely. The surface was smooth, built with a level of precision that only skilled craftsmen were capable of. The joints between boards were tight, the edges clean. Even after years of apparent neglect, the fundamental construction remained sound.
He moved to a doorframe, running his fingers along the wood. The fit was exact, the corners true. This wasn't rough carpentry assembled from available materials, this was professional work, the kind that required high level expertise and time.
This shouldn't exist here, AJ thought. Not in a small settlement barely a year into its existence. Not in the new world where most communities still struggled to produce basic tools.
He moved to one of the broken windows flanking the entrance.
Fragments of glass clung to the frame, reflecting faint moonlight. AJ picked up a fallen shard from the floor, turning it in his fingers.
Glass. Real glass. Not some improvised alternative. The manufacturing skill and infrastructure required to produce glass was beyond anyone's current capabilities.
Yet this building possessed glass windows, or what remained of them. Not only that but the glass was thick and seemed well-made, it would be up to the standard of the modern world from before the Wish Event.
AJ absorbed the shard and moved deeper into the villa. The central opening led to what had clearly been a main living area. The room extended the full width of the building. More doorways opened off the far wall, leading to what might have been a kitchen and additional spaces.
There was something that nagged at his awareness as he continued exploring the ground floor.
The level of deterioration was too severe.
The Wish Event had occurred less than 2 years ago.
Buildings shouldn't show this much wear in such a short period. Yet the villa looked like it had been abandoned for many, many years. The wood had weathered, the structure had sagged, vegetation had reclaimed significant portions of the exterior.
That degree of decay required time, far more time than had actually passed.
This wasn't simply an abandoned building, this was something else entirely.
The note's description of it as a "strange structure" suddenly seemed far more accurate than the man who'd written it could have known.
AJ moved towards another staircase. The steps were solid beneath his weight as he climbed, each one taking him further into the villa.
The upper floor hallway stretched ahead into darkness, with 2 doorways on each side, likely leading to the bedrooms.
The unsettling presence that had made him uncomfortable outside pressed against his form now, stronger up here, almost physical in its intensity.
Somewhere in one of those rooms, a woman had died.
AJ stepped forward, ready to discover why.