"Mom, what are you doing?" Violet asked her mother, frowning as she walked in on her sitting in a circle of candles.

"Addison Apartments is said to have a long history with The Devourers of God, honey," the woman explained. "If I can just summon a spirit or two, I could get some valuable information."

"Does Dad know you're summoning ghosts in his living room?"

"He'll get over it."

Violet, along with her father, didn't believe in The Devourers of God. Watching her mother put so much time and energy into researching it was frustrating at times. Nonetheless, she tried to be supportive of her.

Letting her backpack fall off of her shoulders, she headed into the kitchen for a juice box. The counter was stacked with boxes, as was much of the checkered floor. Violet had a feeling it'd take quite some time for her and her parents to fully unpack. With her father's demanding work schedule and her mother's obsessive research, she was the only one able to help out around the house.

"Honey, please close the fridge. I need it to be as dark as possible in here."

"Well, excuse me," she mumbled, stabbing a straw into her juice box. "I'm going for a walk around the building. Text me when dinner's ready."

"Shh!"

Slipping into the hallway, Violet let out a sigh of relief. As much as she loved her mother, part of her wished that she was different--that she wasn't obsessed with demons and cults. None of her friends back home had a parent like that.

> > >

The teen decided to use her free time to explore. More specifically, she was curious about the fifth floor, which was supposedly undergoing renovations. Ever since her father mentioned pressing the wrong elevator button and ending up in a dark, creepy hallway, Violet was dying to see it for herself. As she made her way there, numerous warnings from her parents flooded her head.

"You don't know how stable the floorboards are. What if you fall through them?"

"There are probably nails everywhere. You could step on one."

"There are reasons for caution signs, you know. Don't become one of them."

Though Violet was quite sure that she'd come out of this adventure in one piece, she did worry about the consequences of her parents finding out about it. They didn't regard the idea of their only child putting herself in danger fondly.

As soon as the elevator doors pulled apart, Violet found herself staring into an eerie darkness. The light from inside the elevator was the only thing allowing her to see a mess of peeling wallpaper and cracked floorboards. Something about the thick layer of dust hanging in the air told her that this floor had been vacant for quite some time.

"So much for renovations," Violet whispered, turning on her phone's flashlight. Careful not to trip over wooden boards, she stepped into the hallway. The air was damp and smelled of mold, bringing a cringe to Violet's face. She struggled to understand why the owner failed to neglect every floor, but this one. There were no renovations in this building's future.

The elevator closed, leaving Violet encased in the darkness with nothing but a weak flashlight. Ignoring the chills creeping up her spine, she ventured forward. Just a few feet from the elevator was a door labeled 503. Violet reached forward and tugged at the doorknob. It didn't budge.

"Why would it be locked?" She asked herself. "What's there to steal? Rotting planks of wood?"

Deciding not to waste her energy on it, she moved on to room 504. While it was unlocked, there wasn't much to discover other than a heaping pile of old newspapers, a locked bathroom door, and a spider on the wall. At this point, the only thing keeping Violet from losing interest was the uncanny darkness surrounding her. It made her feel strange, almost as though someone was watching her.

Just as she stepped back into the hall, she noticed a dark figure coming her way. Every muscle in her body tightened as she tried to decide whether to run or scream. She screamed, stumbling backward and falling onto her rear.

She rose her flashlight. "Please don't hurt me, I—Sal?"

Standing before her was the notorious blue-haired boy, his eyes wide behind his mask. All he carried in his hands was a strange device that emitted green light.

"Violet? Are you alright?" He gently took her arm into his hand, pulling her off the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I just moved in. I was exploring."

Sal shook his head. "You really shouldn't be here. Let me take you back to your place."

"Is it because I don't have an alien device?" She asked, referring to the object in the boy's hand. "That's hardly fair."

"It's not an alien device. It's a Gear Boy."

"Doesn't look like a Gear Boy to me. What'd you do? Tape an antenna and a battery pack to it?"

His eyes glinted with amusement in the light of the Gear Boy's screen. Violet could have sworn she saw his mask shift ever so slightly as if he was smiling. "More or less, but it sounds better to call it an upgrade."

The two headed toward the elevator side by side in somewhat comfortable silence. Sal was able to step around planks and other barriers without even looking while Violet couldn't take her eyes off the floor without tripping. This was obviously not his first time up here. Or his second.

"So, Sal," Violet began as they waited for the elevator to arrive, "what brings you up here?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "The same thing as you, I guess. When did you move in? I didn't even know you lived here until now."

"A few days ago. We've been keeping to ourselves mostly. I take it you live here as well?"

"Larry, Todd and I all do. I'm actually planning to hang out with Larry right after this. Care to join?"

Violet grinned. "Yeah, I'd like that."