The city's outskirts buzzed with activity, but the abandoned mansion loomed in stark contrast, its dilapidated facade casting an eerie shadow under the fading daylight.
A line of about fifty people snaked toward its creaking gates, their chatter a mix of excitement and nervous anticipation.
Baines, cloaked in the guise of a middle-aged man muttered, 'What is going on?' he thought, his sharp eyes scanning the scene.
The mansion, with its cracked stone walls and overgrown garden, exuded an unnatural gloom that set his instincts on edge.
"What's happening here?" Baines asked the man ahead of him, his voice low but firm.
The man turned, eyeing him as if he were a fool. "You don't know?"
Before he said further, Baines slipped a gold coin from his pocket and pressed it into the man's hand.
