Anastasia's Pyramid

ALICE WILKINSON, 30, crosses choppy seas on her way to the island where she will work as a tutor for the children of the only family living on it. The boatman tells her about the island, a place with some peculiarities like its thick winter fog. When she arrives at the beach, she is greeted by two Dobermans, ready to attack. As she backs away, a man's yells out "freund"- German for friend - and the dogs become docile. He introduces himself as EDMUND WELCKER, 50, the man who hired her, and takes her on a tour of his odd home, with a beautiful garden consists of fake grass and plants. Alice is also introduced to the other inhabitants of the island: NICHOLAS, 8, his sister SARAH, 5, her governess FRAU SCHILLER, 55, and the two household servants. While taking a walk together, Edmund and Alice come across a pyramid near a tethered red boat. He explains that it is a monument to his teenage daughter, Anastasia, who drowned at sea several years earlier and asks her to not talk to anyone about the tragedy. Alice begins giving lessons to Nicholas, much more advanced than the typical boy, but oddly subdued. While celebrating Sarah's birthday, piano music begins to drift down from the attic. Alice is spooked, but she accepts Edmund's explanation that it is his wife who is suffering from an incurable bone disease. Her mental health is not good and she does not deal well with meeting new people. That very night, Alice sees a shadowy, tall figure outside her window. Then a heart-wrenching scream comes from the attic...