Darkness engulfed the room as Leo closed the door, the dim red light streaming from under the door frame didn’t do much to dispel the sudden blindness. The room occupants didn’t dare make a sound, which only served to augment their perception of the noise from the creatures outside.

Their snarls and high pitched screams were terrifying, but in between there were also guttural and harsh sounds that flowed almost like a language. If not for the animalistic nature of it, Leo would swear the creatures were having a conversation as they approached the door.

Leo gently prodded around the door handle looking for a lock as he decided that there were more important things to worry about than the nature of the creatures outside. Despite Leo’s curiosity with the creatures, he knew without a doubt what would happen if they ever entered the room. His heart pounded furiously in his chest as his mind worked to find a way to survive their predicament.

‘Found it!’

His prodding turned out to be a good idea as he quickly found the door lock. With an audible click the door locked itself and Leo relaxed his tense shoulders a little. He still had one hand on the door handle just in case, but he no longer held it like their lives depended on it.

The seconds seemed to stretch for too long as they all waited in the disturbing silent darkness of the room. The creatures eventually got close enough that Leo could almost feel them breathing down his neck. He swiped an uncomfortable droplet of sweat that ran to his eyes as they all waited with bated breath.

When they first entered the room Leo wondered if the creatures would even be able to tell where they were if they kept quiet enough, but as they got closer he started to wonder that maybe they had already been found, or were very close to. The answer came not long after the creatures stopped by their door. The crisp sound of sniffing came from the bottom of it and Leo instantly knew they had been discovered.

More of the creatures sniffed under the door frame as the dim red light was blocked by, what Leo assumed, were their faces being pressed against the ground. Everything was quiet for a moment before it exploded in action. The creature’s snarling intensified and they started banging against the door with animalistic fury.

With both hands on the door Leo tried to feel its integrity. The door swung outwards and unless the creatures could break the door itself, they should be safe. It seemed to be made of iron or some similar metal, although Leo couldn’t tell if it was solid iron or had a wooden core.

‘At least it doesn't feel or sound hollow.’

The pounding on the door intensified, but Leo could feel that they wouldn’t be able to break through with that amount of strength. They seemed to be strong given their small stature, but no stronger than an adult human was. The pounding subdued and the screaming intensified. It was hard to tell from all the yelling these creatures were doing, but Leo had an impression that more of them had joined at some point.

When the pounding grew intense again, the screaming was subdued to some extent. The cycle continued for a while until both the pounding and the screaming were increasingly less pronounced. Leo had already sat down with his back to the door by the time the noises outside were not a shadow of its former self.

‘Only two or three of them are out there. They may not be strong enough to put down this door, but they sure are persistent.’

With no idea of how long had passed, Leo could only assume from his perspective. And from his point of view, it had been a long, long time with them stuck in the darkness trying to be quiet. Surprisingly, no one had tried to speak while the creatures were outside their door trying their best to get in. Everyone was probably too preoccupied imagining their own version of what would happen if the creatures broke in.

What they had been through had such an effect on everyone in the room that even as the remaining two voices outside moved further away from the door no one spoke or shuffled. Now time passed in almost total silence, their breathing the only sound in the room as the outside quietened.

“I am going to take a look outside.” Leo whispered after the long stretch of quietness had become unbearable to him.

“No!” Came a hoarse voice somewhere to his left. “What if they are still outside?”

“Relax, they don’t seem to be the kind to be able to keep it quiet.” Leo spoke with more assuredness than he honestly had, but after feeling like a trapped mouse for who knows how long, he felt a strong urge to do something.

“What if there are others that are?” A distinctly feminine voice spoke from farther in the room.

“I don’t know…” Leo’s eyes darted in the darkness but he couldn’t see anything other than indistinguishable silhouettes. “But I don’t think there are other creatures.”

“Why?” The woman asked again. “Why wouldn’t there be other creatures?”

“I… I don’t think so.” Leo said without as much of the assuredness he had earlier.

“That’s it? That’s all you have?” The woman inquired with more surprise than challenge.

“I don’t have much to go on and make a conjecture while we are stuck in this dark room, do I?” Leo started a bit louder than he wanted. “We can’t just keep hiding in the dark forever or nothing will change, for better or worse. I think the first step is to confirm that the alley is clear.”

“Wouldn’t the first step be to explore the room we are in?” The woman spoke with a little condescension. “Maybe find the lights. Don’t you think that would be more important?”

“Ah… yeah. You are probably right.” Leo stammered out with a defeated sigh.

“It’s okay, I already did that. You can check outside.” She spoke to not only Leo’s surprise, but also the hoarse voice from earlier, who Leo recognized as the balding middle aged man that he had a brief confrontation with when they entered the room.

“What!? No! Just turn on the damn lights Cassandra!” Leo involuntarily flinched at how loud the middle aged man was.

“It’s also important to know what is outside. Am I right to assume you aren’t going to volunteer Ernesto?” Cassandra’s tone was final even as the middle aged man muttered his complaints.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t take too long. I am not sure about you, but I am not comfortable in this… darkness.” Completely different from the previous sentence, Cassandra's voice was softer, almost pleading.

Leo acquiesced with a nod, then realizing that no one could see him in the dark. With a muttered right he turned towards the door to unlock it. He glanced at where he knew Aya and Kando were sitting beside the door. Although he couldn’t see their faces, he knew they could make out enough of his silhouette to know he was looking at them.

The door unlocked with the same click as before and Leo grabbed the door handle with a shaking hand. He steeled himself with a deep breath and ever so slowly opened the door so he could glimpse outside. The alley was as dark as before, but after being so long in the room, the alley was almost bright in comparison.

Pieces of broken wood and garbage littered the floor and a large metal container sat against the wall opposite him some dozen meters down the alley. He could glimpse at the main road, but it seemed as quiet as the alley. He couldn’t see anything alive or moving in the direction the door opened.

As carefully as he could, Leo pushed halfway out of the door to look behind it. A wall closed off the other side and it was darker than the rest of the place. There was a small pile of garbage and construction refuse at the end but nothing moved for as long as Leo kept staring at it. Satisfied with what he had seen and unwilling to risk going to the main street, Leo pulled himself back in the room and closed the door. He locked it with the now familiar click and pushed his back against it.

“All clear.” Leo spoke to everyone as he tried to normalize his breathing. He had not realized how nervous he had been until he made it back in the safety of the room.

“Alright. Everyone, cover your eyes, I am going to try and turn on the lights.” Cassandra spoke. “Hopefully they work.”

Another audible click resounded in the room as the lights came on. Leo for some reason hadn’t followed Cassandra’s advice and instinctually closed his eyes at the painful glare of the light that covered the room. Other people seemed to be going through similar experiences as Leo heard groans of pain and muttered complaints from around the room.

Blinking multiple times to adjust to the light, Leo finally could see the room they were in. It was small and there was barely enough space for the six of them to keep a healthy distance from each other. There were shelves with plastic bottles of all sizes and colors, and as Leo started to form a faint understanding of what kind of room they were in, the two brooms and single mop in a corner were enough by themselves to answer the question.

“We are in some sort of janitor’s closet, or room.” Although Leo had reached the same conclusion, he wasn’t the one who voiced it out.

To his right, the young man who had been closing the door when they got in had spoken softly, but the quietness in the small room was enough that everyone could hear it. Now that they had light, Leo could take a good look at him. Bowl cut hair and with a pair of glasses hanging on the collar of his grey t-shirt. He had a short stature, but Leo couldn’t be sure how short as he was currently sitting down with one of the sides of his brown pants rolled up to his knee.

“Yes. And it seems this door here behind me would take us further into the building, but it’s locked.” Cassandra said directly opposite Leo.

Cassandra had bronze skin and dark wavy hair. She was tall, but no taller than Leo. She wore blue jeans and a dark shirt with long sleeves and some frills around the arm cuffs and neck. It was a nice outfit that Leo would have otherwise complimented, if not for the disheveled state Cassandra found herself in. Her eyes were sharp, but they couldn’t disguise the haunted look she carried.

Her thick black hair was a mess, and it seemed like it was partly Cassandra’s fault as she nervously pulled and twisted it between the fingers of her left hand. Her right arm was crossed under her chest and her whole body expression was one of clear distress.

Leo was happy he didn’t have a mirror, because he couldn’t imagine that he was doing much better than her at hiding his emotions through physical cues. He consciously stopped wringing his hands, something he was prone to do when uncomfortable.