The Rot reached out inside the painting just as it did through the matching iron grating of the door to the right. It was hard to tell which had been created first- was The Rot a creature in its own right and the former owner of the manor had somehow trapped it here via his painting or had the nightmarish painting simply come to life one day?
It wasn't his problem to solve. He was only meant to rid the place of pests before the building team were due to come by and renovate the rest of it for sale. The Rot was more their problem than his and at first he doubted it would even do anything to him when fat,juicy rats kept running by.
Any chance it got, it swung those pustule-covered arms and lashed out at the rats, usually snaring one and knocking a couple more into the walls were they would lay in little heaps of panting fur until it had enough space in its mouth to cram another one in.
He kept out of arms reach and carried on setting traps like it was the most normal thing in the world while it slowly followed along behind him. As he made his way around he would stop every now and then to note down more rodent holes or droppings and prop the painting against a wall to see exactly where The Rot was in relation to him.
It was never very far behind, though the further they both traveled, the more disheveled both their appearances became. He was sweating bullets, arms and legs aching from keeping on the move without a single break for fear of The Rot catching up. The Rot accumulated rat's blood like a fresh coat of paint.
He barely made it out unscathed, hobbling his way to the front door in a daze, vaguely remembering to drop the painting by the front door as he locked it up seconds before The Rot arrived clutching a fresh rat in one hand and lazily waving at him with the other.
It wasn't his problem now, he thought, soon as the report gets turned in it'll be up to the builders to fix it.
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