The Darkness Beneath the Hill

In a matter of seconds Max unlock the door. He seems quite surprise.

This lock was not locked, it was merely jammed. If we had push harder i would have opened.

He fully open the door and enter the kitchen. And he begins to scream

Joshua are you in ?

Peeking in from behind Max, Harmon peers through now opened door.
Perhaps he was too excited by the tunnel and went down there first. I am sure he won't mind us heading down. And in the off chance that he isn't there, we can at least get ourselves acquainted with the area.

"Something afoot?" Leland asks, coming up behind the group. "Another mystery to solve, it would seem, if I heard correctly, that Josh is missing?" He glances around the kitchen, concern growing across his face. "A rather ominous start to our little adventure."

Now now, we don't know that something bad has happened. He just hasn't answered our calls. He might have been in the tunnel and not heard us. thinking for a bit he continues,

Though with the tunnel being opened, perhaps someone came through... Nevertheless, we should procede with caution. Hopefully our concerns are unfounded.

He steps into the room while drawing his gun.

Gregory, rather than drawing his own pistol, lifts up a lantern and lights it.

"No need to consider malfeasance. It appears that Joshua has nearly taken an early start to our little adventure."

He makes his way to the hatch and peers down. "Joshua?" he asks--and begins to climb down into the darkness of the cellars.

Max is not far behind not particularly anxious.

"A moment, gentlemen," the Doctor interjects. He searches around for pen and paper. On it, Percival writes the following:

'5th of March, 1925
Just after 10 o'clock in the morning.

Joshua (or whomever finds this letter);

Joshua, my good man. We arrived as planned, to explore the tunnel you found beneath your home, and you are not here. We let ourselves in, as we are unsure if you stepped out for provisions and are running late, if you are in the tunnel and lost track of time, or -- God forbid -- something happened to you.

We are heading into the tunnel out of concern for your well-being. However, as we are unsure where you are currently, we leave this note. Hopefully, we shall see you forthwith.

Respectfully,

Dr. Percival Cross'

Under his signature, the Doctor lists the others in the party before placing the letter on the table and a cup on the upper corner of the letter for weight and laying the pen across the page.

"Do be sure to shut the back door, won't you? he advises, before putting on his miners helmet and lighting the lamp. Picking up his caged canary with his off hand, he readies himself to descend into the unknown.

With an uneasy feeling in his stomach, Pablo gets his lantern ready. He looks around the room, and does a sweep of the first floor to see if anything else is amiss.

Not seeing anything, he joins his companions down the stairs.

Leland closes the kitchen door behind them. He takes out his meager flashlight and follows his companions down into the depths of Winscott House.

Once in the cellar he begins to put his mining helmet and look around, searching to see if he can find a trace of Joshua's recent passage.

Gregory raises his lantern as he descends the stairs, peering around keenly with a trained parapsychologist's eye.

Descending the stairs, with a keen photographer's eye, Pablo looks to see if he can find evidence of Joshua.

He sees a squirrel, nibbling away at a ... my god, is that a human finger! ... nope, just a stick. Wheh.

Revolver in hand, Harmon descends the stairs. He squints as he tries to look around, hoping to find a trinket or historical item.

Unfortunately he is too far from the light source, so he is unable to find anything.

Gregory, crouching down next to a depression in the ground, notices it is a footprint. He indicates it to the group. "It appears Joshua did indeed already leave before us, the blighter."

"I'm... honestly not sure how I feel about that," Percival muses aloud.