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JD looked at Hank, their eyes locking for a moment.

Hank perched a brow at him. “Something?”

JD opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and shook his head. He started into the room, then stopped again, turning to Hank.

Wendy and Dillon crashed into his back, pushing him headlong into the room and knocking the wind out of his lungs.

“Hey!” he cried. “Jeez, you guys, it’s like being with The Three Stooges!”

Wendy’s weak smile unfurled behind a brilliant blush. “Sorry — you stopped.”

“Dude — whatcha stoppin’ for?”

“We’ll just be down the hall a few steps if you need anything,” Hank’s voice carried to them as the door shut with a solid bang. The lock clicked shut.

The dark was almost palpable. A tiny sliver of light squeezed under the door for a few inches, but only served to accentuate the black.

“Dillon, get the light, would you?” JD was groping forward, trying to get his bearings in the space.

“Me? Why me?”

“Will you just get the light, please?” JD thought he should be approaching some sort of furniture, but only the blindness greeted him. He waited for his eyes to adjust but couldn’t see much except amorphous shapes around him. He wasn’t able to tell which were real and which were shadows.

“Dude.” Dillon sighed hard and loud, and JD heard his footfalls heading off.

“It’s on the wall beside the –”

There was a loud THUMP!, then silence.

A low, soft groan came through the dimness. “OOooooooowwwwWWwww …”

JD froze. “Did … did you just run into the wall?”

“Um … nnnn-ooooo …”

“Dilly, are you hurt?” Wendy’s concerned voice was somewhere beside JD, moving away from him. He heard her palms raking over the wall and suddenly light stabbed through their eyes when she flipped the switch.

JD shielded his eyes for a moment, blinking in the glare. Wendy was squinting as her eyes adapted to the bright, clean light.