The four of us walked around the house, each calling out whenever we found another noisy floorboard. By the time we finished scouring the last room, we were using our phones as light sources, the sun long gone and the moon barely making a difference through the dusty windows.

Finally, the last squeaky piece of flooring we could find had been pulled up. Unfortunately, the underside was as empty as all the rest.

Maddie yawned into her elbow and rested her head on Daniel's shoulder as Roy stood up and frowned, lightly kicking the wood to the side.

"Don't hate me for saying it, but I think we should go," Daniel suggested.

"You're right." I sighed, leaning against the wall. Of all his concerns of the night, this was the one I agreed with most. My body was exhausted, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for my parents, who I knew were probably waiting up for me. "I should've been home hours ago, and I'm almost out of battery to keep texting excuses to my mother."

"It doesn't make sense." Roy shook his head. "It has to be here somewhere."

"We've moved everything in this house that squeaks," Madeline said, a frown heavy on her lips. "It's hopeless."

"We can come back tomorrow, when it's light again," I offered.

Roy let out a heavy breath, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, okay. I'll drive you guys home. We can meet after school tomorrow-- hopefully everyone else had trouble with their tasks, too."

We trekked carefully down the stairs, the exuberance we had upon arrival no longer there. Our shoulders were slumped, heads down in defeat. I didn't want to go home empty-handed, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to look, especially in the dark.

I shivered as we left the house, the crisp autumn night prompting us all to walk quickly to the car. My lower body thanked me when I sat down onto the cracked leather seat, finally giving it a rest. We all buckled up in silence as Roy started the car, turning on his headlights for the drive home-- and that was when I saw it.

Against the house, underneath layers of ivy, a section of red brick was just barely visible.

"Hold on," I demanded, hurriedly unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door before he started backing up.

Roy tore his eyes from the rearview mirror and looked at me in confusion. "What? What is it?"

"I see something," I explained, maintaining vagueness. I didn't want to raise anyone's hopes and turn out to be wrong.

The others followed me out of the car, which Roy left running, the headlights lighting our way through the tall grass. I headed over to the side of the house and moved foliage away from what turned out to be exactly what I thought I saw: a storm cellar.

"Holy shit," Roy exclaimed, optimism already returned to his voice. "How did we miss this?"

"It must've been too dark when we got here," Madeline guessed.

Daniel nodded. "Either that or we were just so distracted by the state of the house."

I leaned down and grabbed a hold of one of the handles, Roy taking the other one. As we pulled them open, loud creaks and groans emitted from the hinges. A smile passed between all of us, except Daniel.

"This seems... dangerous."

Roy pursed his lips, turning on his phone's flashlight. "Hasn't stopped us so far."

A short ladder was revealed in the light, the cellar evidently not very deep. I crouched down as Roy aimed his phone into the room and of course, at that moment, of all the moments it could've picked, a bat flew out from it's resting place under the roof of the house.

Madeline yelped and clutched onto Daniel. I lost my balance, falling from my squatting position right onto my tailbone. Roy cursed, the animal flying right past his head-- and as he swatted at it in panic, his phone flew from his hand, right into the cellar.

"Shit!" he swore again, both of us hovering over the doorway, the screen of his phone still lit up and shining back at us. I couldn't help but notice his wallpaper: it was the same dog from his profile picture. His affection for the dog was pretty endearing, and I had to hold back a smile, knowing it probably wasn't the right time to be grinning.

Without a warning, he began descending down the ladder, obviously worried more for his phone than his safety. His feet hit the concrete with a dull smack and he crouched over to pick up the device. 

"Is it okay?" I asked.

He examined the screen, looking for cracks, and then swiped it a few times to make sure it was still responsive. "Seems like it."

"Anything down there?" Maddie questioned, coming over to kneel next to me.

"Yeah, a few things." He shone his phone light around again, and I could see a cot connected to the wall, an old writing desk, and a chest in the corner.

I turned around and made my way down the ladder, eager to find the code. We scoured the house for hours and came up with nothing-- as far as I could tell, the code had to be down here. There wasn't anywhere else to look.

I got out my own phone, brightening up the space even more. 

"I'll start with the desk drawers," I offered, walking over to the wooden table. Roy nodded and headed over to the chest, kneeling down and undoing the latches.

"Need any help?" Maddie asked from above. 

I started by pulling out the smaller drawers, checking all the sides for any numbers before putting them back.

Roy closed the chest, which I guessed was probably empty. "I think we-"

"It's here!" I interrupted him, looking over to see his wide eyes. In the largest desk drawer, taped to the wood, was half a sheet of paper. A random series of numbers and letters were printed on it boldly.

He was by my side in an instant, hovering over my shoulder in the tiny space. I could feel his breath on my neck, and I tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling that traveled through me- it was probably just excitement from finding the code.

Roy laughed, looking at the paper with a gleam in his eyes. "Holy shit! We found it- you found it! Oh my god, okay, okay- what do we do?"

"Read it to me! I'll send it to the group chat and see if they respond," Maddie suggested, beaming from ear to ear as she pulled up the app.

"Okay, just say when," I said, snapping a few pictures of the paper, just in case.

"Ready!"

I read the code aloud and she typed it, repeating it back to us. Roy and I confirmed it matched, exchanging an excited glance as she sent the message. I felt giddy and full of adrenaline-- and as my heart pounded in my chest, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I had this much fun.

We all seemed to be holding our breath, waiting for something, anything-- and then our phones went off, a notification delivered to each of us.

A new message from The 7 had been sent to our chat.

YOUR TEAM NAME IS: FOUR OF CLUBS

BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE YOUR FIRST GRADED TASK TOMORROW AT 6PM.

♧