And so we marched, through the dank and dusty basement. I wondered to myself, how can a basement be both dank and dusty? Wouldn’t the dankness keep the dust down? Well, it was dark, anyways. And it smelled like turpentine and warm earth. There were spider webs in the corners. Erianina could hardly contain her excitement.

SPIDER! LOOKIT EVERYONE! I LOVE SPI—

As the rest of us drew in a sharp breath, Nocturnal’s hand clamped down over Erianina’s mouth. We all waited. Silence.

We continued forward into the gloom, eventually reaching a door. Looking around, we saw no other exit. I grasped the handle, and…

DAMNIT! LOCKED!

Frantically, I twisted the knob back and forth, but to no avail. I rattled on the door. Nothing.

“Edwards, you’re the lock guy. Please tell me you brought your tools.”

Edwards smiled nonchalantly and sauntered to the door. He opened his bag, and carefully selected a tool. Funny, they all looked the same to me. He slid it into the keyhole and started wiggling it.