The walls were covered with dark wood panelling. It rose from floor to ceiling and covered all of the walls in the large space. The floor was a patchwork of parquet wooden blocks that made a lot of noise when walked on and that were worn and cracked in places, but somehow that only added to the overall look and charm of them. Aiden went to the bottom of the stairs to see if he could hear Lisa, but he heard nothing. As he stood and strained his ears for the slightest bit of sound coming from above, he became aware of a faint odour somewhere on the grand staircase. He breathed it in trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from. The first deep breath he took didn’t arouse his sense of smell enough to determine what it was. He exhaled and took another long sniff of the air and inhaled the smell deep into his lungs. The stench hit him instantly like a punch to the stomach and it violated his senses. It smelled like rotten meat and it was so strong he could taste it. He felt the bile rising at the back of his throat and he knew if he didn’t get some air he would vomit.
