I peered back at Lore when he started up his magic tool, intending to only glance back. Unfortunately, the pretty laser distracted me for a full minute. Then I realized that I had just behaved like a dumb moth. If I kept staring, that enthralling light would inevitably get me killed.

It took a bit but I returned to surveying the area around me. I constantly checked the ceiling and the various small niches in the room for signs of the monster that lived in the chute.

Loud crashing sounds came from the main room. Cautiously, I made my way to the doorway. The messy storage area appeared to be a bit messier but there was nothing out of place from my point of view. The only thing different were the piles of random supplies that had fallen all over Eldin.

“Is everything okay?”

“I saw something.”

Growls echoed through the room and seemed to surround us. Fuck. Was there more than one monster in here?

Shit! Those cages from earlier… They’d been used before. What if they had still been in use just someone or something opened them to release whatever made that threatening sound?

From the right, I saw a shadow moving behind some shelves. By the time I pointed to it, the thing had already passed by. On instinct, I tried to take out my swords.

Warning! This is a social area with a strict violence prohibition. No fighting is allowed. You can still use self-defensive skills.

That was right. Fuck. Okay, think. If a game had a location where you couldn’t use violence then the problem must have a nonviolent solution.

The cages. Then how to get the creatures to go back into their cages without using any attacks?

“Eldin, protect Lore. I have an idea!”

“No, you’re too weak. I’ve got this!”

Just then a panther-like thing darted out, slashed at his back, missed, then vanished into the darkness.

Two shadow-panthers bore down on my location near Lore.

“They sense your weakness.”

“First of all, no shit, Sherlock! Secondly, fuck you, Eldin. My idea can work. Now, get the fuck over here and protect my partner!”

He hesitated for far too long. Did this asshole want me to get eaten?

“Fine.”

“About fucking time.”

I took a step out of the door to see if they would follow me or go after Lore. Their heads turned. Yellow reflective eyes didn’t blink.

Perfect. I ran like my life depended on it because it did. I dashed through the maze of boxes, old furniture, and various weird things.

The creatures followed after me. They were definitely faster than I was, but I assumed that, like real cats, they wanted to play with me before they ate me.

Once I reached halfway across the basement I found the cages. I picked the largest one and ran until my hands hit the bars in the back.

The two shadow panthers paused at the entrance as if sensing something off.

They darted forward, claws raised in tandem to murder my ass. But I’d been prepared for that. I teleported to right outside the cage and slammed my hand down on a big black button that had, ‘Emergency Close’ written in a large friendly font. The door slammed down and locked in place.

The fooled shadow kitties rammed against the sides. They snarled and stuck their translucent claws through the bars to slash at me.

I took a couple steps back then turned, searching for more panthers. Had it really been only these two? Maybe the other one escaped?

I trotted back to where Eldin protected Lore. His eyes grew wide when he saw me. I must have looked disheveled from my run.

“Well done,” he said.

“Thank you.”

We both quietly waited inside and my partner soon finished his task.

“What happened?!”

“Well, you see...” Then I told him.

He sighed. “Excellent work, Mia.”

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, then yawned. Damn. This night was going to be rough.

“Well, we have two hours and, at this point... twenty-six minutes to look for clues and get to our next task.”

I glanced back at the shadow creature infested messy room and grimaced. “We have to look for clues in that mess?”

“Well, I’d say those shadow creatures are a big clue, wouldn’t you?”

I shrugged. “I mean, it would be nice if these things were what’s killing people off, but since I was able to take care of them, I doubt it.”

“Then let’s go take a look. While they likely aren’t the killers, we still have to check them out.”

“You two go do that. I was in the middle of something here,” Eldin said and started rummaging again.