Lawrence hadn't seen this old place in many years and the passage of time hadn't been overly kind to this place. At least, that was what he initially thought. It took some inspection, but he soon realized that most of it was just cleaning and mostly minor fixes, nothing major.

While he was in his sixties, he had maintained himself well enough to be able to do much of the work himself. He had started on the second floor, and the proceeded to the basement, deciding to save first floor for last. He'd need more help with the various appliances and he wanted the less strenuous work out of the way first.

Soon, he was down there, working on the railing of the stairs when he noticed a light he hadn't noticed before. It was probably always there, just there were enough light sources to obscure it. He stopped his work, wondering if there was a crack he had missed on his initial inspection.

There was, but that was the least of his concerns. The light was being emitted from behind the wall, from a spot where no light should possibly be coming from.

He left and soon came back with a neighbor, a friendly, younger woman who found his renovations interesting and dropped in every so often to lend a hand or just chat. While she had been getting ready for a date, her date had to reschedule for later and she had some time to kill.

She held a flashlight and handed him tools as they worked to see what they could figure out. It turned out it was a false wall, and they found it out when they accidentally triggered a mechanism to open it. She screamed and he tried to shield her, but it was too late, whatever was behind the wall came at them quickly.

When he woke up, he found himself in the living room like this. Looking at an old mirror he was planning on restoring, he could see what it had done to him. As quick as he could in heeled boots, he searched for her, but he found nothing. She wasn't here, at least not where he could find her, and she wasn't at her house.

He walked back inside, losing his balance slightly and having to brace himself on the table as he fully stood back up.

He had joked with her just the other day that this place had two fixer-uppers: the house and him. Now, though...