A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Traveling through the various halls of the lower level, Nick kept track of where they were going. He marked the places on the map that he had of the tunnels and drew in changes where they occurred. The creature had obviously made adjustments to the tunnels over the years. What caused things to be even more difficult was the vast size of the lower level. Compared to the lower, the upper was a small apartment while the lower was several mansions put together.

Even now, they had only covered maybe an eighth of the whole level, and that had taken a little over a day's time. Technically, it had been Nick who had explored that much, but they knew that it was pointless to go back to those other areas unless they were running from the creature. Thankfully, it seemed to have no interest in attacking them currently. That boded ill for Laura and the other investigators if they were still alive.

Another pressing issue was their flashlights' battery power. They didn't have an indefinite supply, and Nick had lost his extra batteries when his lock picking gear had been stolen. As for their phones, the creature had broken Nick's, and hers was dead. She had forgotten to charge it before leaving since she had been in such a rush. Needless to say, they had to get Nick bandaged quickly and find a way to unlock the gate before they lost light. The creature already had too many advantages over them; it didn't need another.

Looking out ahead, there was a metal door to their right. Both of them stopped and checked the map. It was an inconvenience that the map didn't have any details about the rooms on it; it only gave the basic layout. "Do you think that could be a kitchen or bathroom?" she asked, walking over to it slowly with Nick.

"It's possible. We haven't come across a door like that one before. It almost looks like it could lead to a freezer."

"Well, then there must be a kitchen nearby. It could also lead to the kitchen." (F/n) handed her flashlight over to Nick and grabbed the handle. She hoped that it wasn't locked. It turned and creaked loudly. If the creature were anywhere in the vicinity, it just learned their location. Almost, she had yelled at the door when that had happened, but the door did open.

She took her flashlight back and illuminated the room inside. Metal shelves lined the perimeter of the room, and expired food rested on some. A rotten smell radiated out from the space since the freezer had stopped working. Covering her nose, she advanced in as she saw another door. That had to be a kitchen on the other side.

The door creaked shut behind her and locked. She spun on her heels and shone the light on it. Nick looked back to her, and she sighed in relief. It made the most sense that it had been him, but she never knew with that thing. Turning and heading back to the door, she found it unlocked as well. This one didn't make as loud as a sound as the other door, but it still gave them away to a degree.

Her flashlight highlighted the contents of a kitchen. Metal counters and tables were throughout the spacious room while more expired food existed. Nose remaining covered, she went further in. She directed her attention over to the metal cupboards. Dust covered the knobs, but that was better than them being coated in crimson.

As she opened the first few, Nick closed the door behind them once more but couldn't lock it since no lock was present. "Anything yet?" he questioned, going to some of the cupboards himself.

"No, all of them are empty." She looked to the counter below it and noticed several split cereal boxes. Nearly, she jumped at the sight of little bugs crawling through the old, sugary pieces. (F/n) distanced herself from the counter, but something crunched under her feet. It sounded just like the noise that cereal would make when stepped on, so she paid it no mind. "What about any of those?"

"Nothing." He reached over to the nearby sink and tried the faucet. To their surprise, water came out, and it looked clear enough. "Well, I might just have to use some of my clothes to bandage the wound, but at least we have water now." Nick faced her way and shone the light over. In the process, the light caught what was under her feet.

Noting his expression, she glanced down and saw what she was really standing on. Beneath her, there was a human skeleton. Quickly, she got off of it and moved closer to Nick. The need to hurry out of the area only increased. "Just use your shirt at this point, or I can tear off part of mine. I don't care. I just want to keep moving." She received a swift nod from him, and he went to work on his injuries.

(E/c) eyes directing themselves to the main kitchen doors, she noted that they had no locks on them. They were swinging doors. There was a small circular window at the top of each, and she could easily picture the creature looking in through one. To the left of the doors, her flashlight caught something else.

Hesitantly, she shifted the light over more. Once it was fully on the far left corner, blood drained from her face. She nearly stumbled back into the counter as her legs grew weak. Dried blood was splattered all along the two walls of that corner and across the once white tiles. In a pile, several skeletons were stacked. Why one of them had been dragged to the other side of the room was beyond her, but she knew that once Nick was done she would bolt it out of the room with him.

Something glinted off of her light. More dread filled her. When she moved the light fully over to whatever it was, she spotted several knives hanging from the ceiling. Blood decorated some of them, but it wasn't much. Nausea still hit her, however, but those knives could be used as a defensive measure.

Moving her eyes from the scene, she opened one of the cupboards and set the flashlight down on one of its shelves. The light kept on the knives, and she made her way for them. Nick at first wondered what she was doing until he saw the weapons as well. His brown eyes found soon found themselves on the pile of the deceased, though. He gulped and wrapped his wound with more speed. "Grab a knife for me to. That thing might be coming to eat here again."

"I hope not," she answered as she carefully climbed up onto one of the tables. Her right foot accidentally stepped in a rotten tomato. She could feel her foot sink into the putrid item. Stomach reeling, she forced herself not to think about it too much.

Two knives in her hand, she stepped down from the table and placed one on the counter near him. "I don't know how you find this line of work exciting," (f/n) remarked, placing the knife in her inner jacket pocket. "All I feel is sick and scared to death."

"Well, this isn't a usual investigation." He tied off his makeshift bandage and placed his shirt back on. His jacket covered him next, and he placed his knife in a similar place as hers. "We weren't even planning on capturing the creature; we only wanted a few more pieces. That was enough. We didn't think that it would be so active."

Raising an eyebrow, she nearly laughed. "You're kidding me? Did you not read the warnings about this place? I tried to warn Laura, but she was just as obsessed as you other three."

"(F/n), our line of work may seem crazy to you, but we typically know what we're dealing with. We didn't think that the warnings would be so accurate. We were wrong, and we're now in this mess, but you pointing out our mistakes isn't helping. I know that you're angry and that you're worried about Laura, but there's nothing you can do about what had occurred. Not dying is our only priority now."

Holding up her hands, she replied, "Fine, you're right. I'll hold off for now." She rested her hands in her outer jacket pockets. "Where to now? We need to find a way to open that gate."

"There probably was something in here given that all of the drawers were removed. We need to find the creature's stash. I don't know how we're going to find that before our flashlights run out, though. And, we can't work out an efficient path since the creature may have changed something ..." His speech went into a series of curses, but it fell short upon her ears. A loud scream erupted throughout the area, and he immediately went silent. His eyes widened. "That was Tara!"

Both of them looked back to the freezer. Loud bangs sounded on the locked door. "D*mn it, d*mn it! Open up! Please, open up!" Her shouts morphed into pleading cries as the handle shook. Nick ran in and raced towards the door. Swiftly, he undid the lock and pushed the door open. Tara bolted in and crashed into Nick, sending them both to the floor. Their flashlights rolled across the floor and shone on the open door. The delay possibly leading to their demise, (f/n) darted over to the door and grabbed the handle.

Closing it, she found that it wouldn't latch. Fear grew in intensity, and she spotted the reason for the massive problem. Thick nails were in the way. Her heart pumped loudly, and she pulled back harder on the handle, but the door opened regardless. She didn't give up. Rather, she let go of the handle for a moment before she latched her hands onto it and ripped it back towards her. The door slammed shut, and parts of the creature's nails collided with the ground.

(F/n) hurriedly locked the door, but her terror didn't disappear. They were completely exposed on the other end. As if to mock their situation, a high-pitched laugh was heard on the other side of the door.