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

With the light gone, the creature lowered his arms from his face. He blinked a few times before he welcomed the darkness again. His eyes were comforted by it. The creature peered down at his hand and noted the teeth marks there. Just barely, she had broken the skin. Only now were there thin drops of blood forming.

That was a first. None of his prey had bit him before. A steady smirk pulled at his lips. She was an interesting one. Maybe, he would save her for last. She had made an offer for him to take a bite before her death. Whether it was intentional or not didn't matter; he would enjoy it.

Licking the wound clean, he exited the room and headed down the hall. He could hear her running steps in the distance, but he didn't chase after her. No, he would go after another. The one who called her here would do nicely, and he wondered if she was still hiding on the main level. His nails scraped across the wall as he walked in the opposite direction of the prey that had just escaped.

~~~~~~~~~~

She didn't exactly know where she was going. (F/n) was running towards the center, but she couldn't remember the map completely. So, she went on instinct partially and hoped for the best. Her flashlight had been adjusted back to a lower setting to conserve the batteries' life, but she knew what worked against the creature. It only meant that her flashlight's life was all the more important.

Her ears picked up a dreadful sound. Hands came up to her ears, and she nearly dropped her flashlight. It was ear piercing and sent chills up her spine. Was the creature right behind her? Against her better judgment, she glanced over her right shoulder and pointed the flashlight in that direction. To her relief, she saw nothing. Perhaps, he had gone in the opposite direction or decided to take a different route to surprise her again.

Whatever the case, she wasn't going to remain standing in one place. She turned forward again and continued to hope that she would reach the middle. If she were lucky, she might catch up to Nick and Tara. They might've left her to die, but she probably would've done the same had one of them been in that room. Besides, she would rather be with them than be alone, especially since Nick had a map of the place.

Making another turn, she went down another hallway. At the end of it, however, there was only an old wooden door. She used caution and opened the door as though she were handling the most fragile thing in the world. Once fully opened, the flashlight wasn't far behind. It highlighted enough parts of the small room that she could tell that it was a bedroom.

There wasn't much to it, just a rusty metal bed frame, an old mattress and a worn, wooden dresser. She went over to the dresser and checked the drawers. They were mostly empty, except for some raggedy clothing. In fact, it reminded her of the clothing that the creature wore. (F/n) removed an old, long-sleeved and grey shirt. Holding it up, it appeared as though it would fit him. Were these some of his clothes?

Despite some of his characteristics and appetite for humans, he seemed to be more human than they were giving him credit for. Whether that terrified her more or less, she wasn't sure, but it meant that he might have human weaknesses too. If she ran out of light, it would be beneficial to have a few more tricks up her sleeve. She put the shirt back and closed the current drawer.

One last time, she moved the flashlight's light around the room in case she missed something. To her surprise, there were shutters at the top of the room. Their placement was too bizarre to pass up. Placing the flashlight in her left, outer jacket pocket, she began to push against the dresser. Once it was beneath the shutters, she stopped and climbed atop it.

Hoping that nothing would jump out at her, she steadily opened them. Behind them, there was a small path. She could fit through it if she crawled. At the moment, she couldn't see too far down it. (F/n) grabbed her flashlight and shone it down the path. Spider webs were evident as was dust. Her instinct told her to turn around and take another way, but the creature could be hiding something; something to open the gate could be down there.

After she placed her flashlight down on the path, she lifted herself up. Her arms rubbed against the dust, and she would most likely get a few spider webs in her hair. She hoped that no spiders would join them. A shiver ran throughout her body at the thought. Something crawled across her right hand, though. Nearly, she freaked out.

To keep herself calm, she told herself to move and not think about anything else. That was easier said than done, especially when something went across her hands a few more times. The other struggle was that she had no idea how long the tunnel was. She could be in there for a few more hours. Such a thought drained her some.

The flashlight, though, illuminated a possible exit. It looked like there two shutters ahead of her. She picked up her pace a little bit more, glad to be almost rid of the small space. That was the case until she smelled something awful, like rotting flesh. Nausea came over her, and she told herself not to throw up in the tunnel. (F/n) now dreaded opening those shutters, but she didn't wish to go back either. It could be the creature's stash, and it would make sense to have some of his food nearby.

Hands shaking, she pushed the shutters open. When she rested her hand back down, it slipped. She fell forward, but this caused the rest of her to slide forward also. (F/n) hit something soft, and she panicked at what it was. Quickly, she stood up and distanced herself from it. Her flashlight illuminated the object and revealed it to be a mattress. There was crimson on it, though. The light moved back up to the shutters, which unveiled a trail of blood. Someone had probably been trying to escape the creature through there, not to mention that it was fresh. What if it had been Laura?

(F/n) shifted her attention to the rest of the room. There was no body in sight, but that smell was hanging in the air. From her experience in the funeral business, the smell would've been coming off of a corpse that had been dead for at least a few days. Laura hadn't been in here that long, and the blood would've been dried had that been the case. Someone was dead in the area, but there had been someone else. They might still be alive.

Walking to the wardrobe, she pulled the doors open carefully. She was waiting for a body to come falling out, but there was nothing inside. Her eyes turned to the other door in the room. The flashlight caught sight of bloody handprints. A trail of crimson was also on the floor and led into presumably the bathroom.

Door ajar, she placed her free hand where the blood wasn't present, but she had blood already on her hand. Maybe, she could wash it off, but she wasn't hopeful. With the door fully open, she noticed that the bathroom wasn't in decent condition. Shower curtains were missing, and part of the tub was smashed through. Dried crimson was splattered over the scene, giving away what had happened.

Moving over to the sink, she saw handprints on the handles. They were both turned on, which meant that the sink wasn't working. Her attention changed to the other door in the room. It looked like it might be a small linen closet. There was a hole where there should've been a doorknob. Given that, she had no intention of putting her hand anywhere near that. She wasn't going to peer through it either. Her next action, though, probably wasn't the brightest.

"Hello?" she whispered quietly. She received no response. "Is anyone in there?" Still, no one answered. "I'm Laura's friend, (f/n)." Slowly, the door creaked open. (F/n) took notice of a bloody hand. As the door opened more, she recognized the red hair and light brown eyes. In truth, she was surprised to see him alive. After what Nick told her, she had assumed him to be probably dead.

Brent exited the tiny space and narrowed his eyes at her. "So, you decided to come here after all. What changed?"

"Long story short, Laura told me to help her when I called to check up on her. We're both stuck here and want to get out, so don't act like I'm an enemy here. We have the creature to worry about." She met his stare and refused to back down. (F/n) wasn't going to be pushed around by him again.

Momentarily, she glanced to both his hands and noticed fabric wrapped around them. They were soaked with blood, though. "Besides, you were probably looking for water. I know where some is, and I'm searching for the creature's supply stash."

Crossing his arms, he sighed. "Fine, I suppose that you won't be trouble. And ... it's nice to have some living company." She gave him a puzzled expression. He stepped aside and pointed to the closet. Within, there was a corpse. Its head was missing, and the rest of it was scarred terribly. (F/n) looked away almost immediately; she had seen enough.

"I didn't know if the creature had a good sense of smell, so I've been camping out with that guy. I tried to escape down the path through those shutters, but my hands kept slipping, and they aren't getting better. So, let's go where this water is."