Hello again!

Chapter 4, the point where we start the minor butterflies. Just of the causality type. To be fair, I did warn you, this was going to take a while to get going.

Now, as a pre-emptive heads up, Due to some serious changes to how my work is operating, I'll have very little time to write these next two weeks. This is the backup chapter I had ready from last week, since this was orignally meant to be chapter 3. Basically, my employer is doing some restructuring and expansion, and as one of the few people there my bosses trust to do the job, they figured I can handle the heaviest of the workload.

I mean, I'm leaving in 2 weeks, so it might just be them trying to get use out of me while they can.

Either way, it'll affect the schedule somewhat. It should only be a week, but if it's looking any longer, I'll just pull some all-nighters.

Again, many thanks to DreamyNatalie for the artwork. I still love the framing, and it just hints at whats to come so well. It wasn't something I commissioned either, it just a massive coincidence and I love it! www . deviantart dreamynatalie If you axe the spaces, that SHOULD work

Chapter 4

The door gave way with a surge of motion. Splinters and chunks of poorly chopped wood fell inwards as he let the axe carry him through.

He avoided falling over, stumbling as he dropped the axe and looked up to survey the room.

Mono struggled to see in the darkness, and he looked around fruitlessly as his eyes adapted to the moonlight. The downside of the light, but he wouldn't complain about it. Instead he let himself get used to it, and it took a few moments to do so. Afterward, he was greeted by the music box, the pale thing sitting there, discarded and knocked aside. It must have been pushed away when the girl fled from him.

Looking up, he saw the slightest sign of her, the barely visible hair and hands. Her dirty bangs drooped over her eyes, but he could see her watching him. Her breathing was harsh and quick, and he could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest. He must have terrified her, and he really wanted to apologise to her. But she looked too frightened to care about an apology at the moment.

No, instead she probably thought he was an enemy.

There were always stories of those who wore the garb of children, sometimes wearing their skin too, but were in fact monsters. He'd come across a few pictures too, and in one instance had seen a child who made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He couldn't explain why, couldn't even justify the feeling to himself, but his gut had told him that it was wrong. Maybe it was the way they had walked, with no attempt to sneak or hide, or maybe they had something about them he didn't notice but a bit of him had recognised.

The whys didn't matter, only that they had been… Wrong

If she had come across the same thing, then no wonder she found him terrifying.

Still, the sight confused him. Was under the desk really the best thing she could come up with? Had she tried hiding from things before? If she had run when he first attempted to knock down the door, then she would have had a bit of time to hide, and he could clearly see boxes and bags set up in the room. And despite that, she chose the fairly visible desk?

He watched her for a moment, before stepping forward. Mono saw her flinch, and she looked behind herself at the wall she was backing into.

It hit him that she probably felt trapped.

Made sense. An axe was a deadly weapon, and he had been unable to give her any real warning before he came barging in, so she was probably thinking he was a threat. And since the only ways out were a window she couldn't reach, and a door that he was in the way of…

Mono knelt down, and held his hand out. If she thought him a threat, then maybe showing her that he was here to help would work? He opened his mouth, and he felt his voice protest at his attempts.

"It's… okay." His voice was strained, and was no louder than his previous attempts. It was pathetic, but he could hardly blame himself for his lack of interaction. It was few and far between meeting people, and his voice was unused to being used. But without the music box to drown his voice, only the silence of the room and her desperate breathing, maybe she could hear him.

Despite this, she remained hidden.

He had to get her to come out, there was no telling how long it would take for that monster to come back.

He tried again, forcing his vocal chords to move. "Not going… to hurt you."

It was strangled and his throat was disapproving of the attempt. But he could hear himself better now, and he hoped she would listen.

He felt a part of him want to just pull her out and move on, to get this charade over with and get out of the building, but he pushed it down. It would only scare her more, and possibly make her lash out. Those were no ways to make friends, and she'd be unwilling to help him if they ever encountered each other again.

He tried again."Ple-"

Something loud slammed upstairs, and he cut off as he heard it. The temperature of the room dropped suddenly, and he stiffened up. Terror wormed its way into his chest.

Heavy foot falls, each one a crashing, echoing slam of boot on wood, dominated everything. The building didn't shake, but the boards bulged as something carelessly stomped its way through the hunters cabin.

Mono's first thought was to run and hide in the room with the girl, but he didn't want to move.

If he ran, the thing might hear him. While it might not seem possible, given the heavy sounds of hunter's boots, Mono didn't want to risk it. If the man heard, there was no way he would not notice the massive hole in the door or the discarded axe just behind it. If there was the chance that staying still would dissuade the man from coming down stairs, to give him no reason to come down, then he would take it. Otherwise he would endanger not just himself, but this girl.

Mono's gaze fell back upon her, and he saw her face, seeing she seemed to feel the same.

She'd moved outwards slightly, likely when he was staring at the roof. And she looked absolutely terrified. Her skin was pale and her eyes wide, all visible even through the grime and muck. She was shivering as well. It was like a lone deer realising it had been seen by a wolf, terror and paralysis. Even her fingers, with her palms flat against the wood, were digging into the woodwork.

What had the hunter done to her while she was trapped in here?

Or was it fear of what would happen now that he had released her?

The footsteps disappeared after trailing, if Mono's mental map of the place was anything reliable, into the kitchen. There was a deafening slam, and a sound of pots clattering with metallic reverberation. He'd moved to the kitchen, and the two of them now had their chance.

Mono turned back, and beckoned to the girl. The fear and panic was still there, but he couldn't let her stay here and she couldn't be stuck here because of her own fear. His throat was still sore, but the energy gave it more voice than it had previously. "We need to go." He stopped, and she remained still. He let the fear on his voice show, and hoped she'd understand. "Please."

He looked at him, unfrozen if still scared, and slowly began to crawl out.

From a distance, she looked sickly.

But up close she looked… Wrong.

She hadn't slept well, her brown eyes baggy and tired. The grime he thought to be recent was crusty and old. And he could see the bones of her face against her skin. It made him feel hungry and ill looking at her, his empathy reaching into him to feel like he thought she did.

But she was moving, and trying to go. That's all he could ask for.

She crawled out from the hiding spot, or what she thought was a hiding spot, and approached him.

It was slow, and the girl watched every movement he made. He moved his hand slightly, and she stopped, waiting until he stopped moving again. An unhelpful part of his brain thought of her as animalistic, but he knew it was simply distrust.

As she came closer, she ducked lock and he saw her eyes lock onto his mask. She turned her head, trying to look up at him before she reached out her hand.

His heart froze, and he felt his stomach knott. They didn't have time for this, something was upstairs and they needed to get out. He should grab her and run, to get out of there whether she agreed with it or not. Quickly too.

He knew this, and the sounds still coming through the floor echoed this.

And yet, he didn't want to.

Something told him to be slow, to let her figure out what she wanted before doing anything.

He gave her the time she needed, and he found her eyes staring straight up into his. She stopped there, and stared at him. Fear tried to worm its way in, and he wanted to move away to preserve his secret.

But he didn't.

And the flash of something hit her. Her breathing hitched, her eyes widened, and her lips tightened.

Before he knew what was happening, she was barging into him and shoving him out of the way.

He hit the floor, not hard, but it left him breathless. It was the impact, sure. It hadn't hurt him, even with the surprise. No, the real surprise had been her reaction.

Her face had flashed with recognition, and he could understand it. She realised that he was the one who had gotten her captured in the first place, the distraction that had cost her. Of course she would run, she probably saw him as a liability.

That made sense, but the look that crossed her face after the recognition didn't.

He could have sworn it was a look of anger, but it didn't say enough.

No, he couldn't pin it, it was just too… Hateful?

He didn't know.

He turned to find her completely gone. He couldn't even hear the creak of the steps leading upstairs either. She must have been incredibly fast, having made it up there before he had even gathered his senses.

He stood up and looked around, and patted himself down, brushing away the loose bits of wood and debris.

But he found himself pausing, even though his senses begged him to run away.

The room was covered in a multitude of different chalk drawings and marks.

The wooden wall behind him, to the right of the entrance, was covered in marks. Small white lines, aligned in rough rows and every four lines was scored through with a diagonal one.

Tally marks. He'd seen them before. Commonly too. He counted fifty-three all in all and he figured that they must have been days stuck here.

No wonder she looks so weak and thin. He thought to himself. Over a month… nearly two months of being trapped here, and when she finally got out and escaped, she got recaptured because of him.

Ouch…

He looked at the other pictures, of stick people who were either scribbled out, or otherwise crossed out. Did the difference mean something? Were scribbled out dead, and the crossed out changed?

The desk snapped that thought away.

Emblazoned and central, dominating the entirety of the far wall, was the imposing and hungry art of his worst nightmare. The signal tower, in bold and steadfast style, stood out and challenged him to comment. Even in this inert, childish recreation, his head pounded painfully in recognition of it. It's hunger radiated from it, and he felt that intrinsic desire to approach it.

Did the girl feel the same? Was she drawn to the tower as well?

If she was, why?

He supposed the why's were irrelevant, but the sketch stood out all the same. A pulsing, demanding thing.

It took a lot of force to pull his eyes away, it was nearly stuck in his mind. Even mere drawings and pictures of it could grab you and hold them. It was why he had to get there. He turned away and left the room, even as he heard that static in his head. He had to follow the girl and make sure she got out safe. He owed her that at least.

Upon leaving the room, he saw her staring at him from the middle of the stairs. She quickly hurried up the rest of them, but the fact she had stopped made him confused. Has she waited for him to leave the room before continuing? If she was so afraid or distrusting, then why wait around for him? Or was it she was trying to figure out what he was doing? Even as he followed, hopping up the broken steps at the bottom, the fact she had stayed nagged him.

Maybe it was just worry about what he was doing?

Something else poked in his mind. Did she wait for the hunter, and notice me out of the corner of her eye?

Even as he squeezed himself between the door and the frame, he heard the movement in the kitchen. The angry grunting and loud sounds of scrubbing and pots being placed down. He panicked for a moment, thinking he might have left something out, but the lack of the hunter charging out and investigating told him it would be fine. It could be reasoned as if he forgot to close a cupboard or he misplaced something. And even then, Mono swore he made sure to leave it looking normal. Still, the hunter was distracted for the moment, and that's all he cared about in regards to the creature.

He turned his head away from the door, leaving the mad monster to his much needed cleaning, and caught sight of the girl again. He saw her bare foot disappear around the corner, and he went to follow after again. "H-hey!" He gasped out. "Wait..."

He went to round the bend and saw the door he had shut wide open. So the man entered using the front door… Hmm, could he trap the door?

No, it wouldn't really help him. The guy was too big, and the trap wouldn't do much, better used on an animal.

He turned back around and followed where the girl had gone.

He hit the wall of stench and nearly collapsed.

Three bodies, no doubt frozen in place following their death and… recreation, were seated at the table. More articles of rancid food were laid out on it, in a rough facsimile of a family sitting to eat. A single, flickering bulb lit them and mono watched them with mild interest and disgust.

The stuffing desk makes sense now. He must use it to make these things.

The bodies were made from a variety of parts, and they were rather… scary. Something innate told him that they were wrong, that they were not human. Even he knew what they were, stuffed replica people, preserved corpses through whatever means available. Missing parts were compensated with artificial, and extremely poor, replacements. The woman didn't even have a face, just a stretched wrap of animal flesh which was pinned tight at the front. The son's eye was a rotting, vile mess of stuffing, looking akin to a large weeping wound leaking muck out onto the table.

And the man had a single stick for a neck.

It was impressive that the girl had skipped them all, and just climbed up a shelf at the other end of the room. How did she ignore them?

Oh, right. She was held here before. It made sense with that idea, she must have seen it before, likely when being carried downstairs by the monster. So she probably was used to seeing it, if not then had long enough to get over the idea of the grizzly scene above her head.

She was a lot braver than him then.

The fleshy creatures caused his stomach to ache at their sight, and he quickly remembered he had to do something. He pulled the wet meat from his pocket and shoved it into the bag full of fine salt and gave it a quick shake, mixing bloody meat with fine powder. Would it work? Maybe. But he wouldn't know until he roasted it over an open fire, but with any luck it would at least help stop it from going wrong.

Wait, was he supposed to cook it then throw it into salt?

He couldn't remember the exact steps, but it didn't matter. The city itself would contain more plentiful supplies, since a large number of people live there. While he'd prefer a good meat before getting there, he could hold out for the day it took to reach the place.

The problem was the river, and he was far from a good swimmer. Capable of keeping head above the water in a slow moving river, sure, but a multi-kilometer wide one? Not a chance.

He could figure that one out when he was at the river though.

He watched the girl climb into a small hole close to the top of the room, and she jumped clear into the next one.

Mono couldn't trust the bodies though, they were uneering and extremely creepy. He went around them, watching for movement, before scrambling up after the girl. He felt like if he wasn't watching, they would turn to him, to watch him, to grab at him. Even in their states. He just couldn't trust them. The dead had a nasty habit of not being dead enough. Things could be crushed and destroyed, and only when they decided that they should would they finally expire. His brain thought that was wrong, that once something was injured it should give up and flag, but reality would call him a liar and prove otherwise.

As he finally finished climbing to the vent, the room was bathed in darkness as the lightbulb flickered out. There was still the light from the next room, glowing through the small opening in the wall. But the bodies were all dark and stationary.

His worries kicked in, and he quickly threw himself through the hole and fell onto the otherside. It was at that moment, the light flickered back on, and the room was kept as bright as ever. He wanted to say he saw something, that they had moved in the dark, but in honesty it was just a learned fear. The darkness was rarely kind to people, and being in a room with things that didn't make sense with the light out? No, not happening.

In the much safer and much nicer moon light, he felt that initial paranoia fade from his mind.

He took the chance to look up, and straight to the dangling legs of the girl. It took him a few moments to realise what she was doing. She was hanging off of a large pulley hanging from the ceiling, connected to a huge and stubborn door in the ceiling. She was pulling it down, kicking her legs in an attempt to pull the handle down further and further, but the pulley system was stubborn and refused her.

Was she too light, or was it too stiff, Mono couldn't tell. But since it was made for the hunter, a brutish and heavy man whose body was nearly twenty times his own mass, then her attempts wouldn't likely shift it.

He got up from where he was and moved towards her. It was slow, and he held his hands up in front of him.

"Hey..." His voice caused her to look down at him, gasping as she did so. A couple of emotions flash across her face, but he fails to catch what they were before she lets go and flinches back. He felt annoyed at that, he hadn't hurt her, and he really felt bad about the capturing thing, so her constant running and fear was… Tiring. When she dropped from the ceiling, she held her hands up.

"Stay." He hadn't tried to move towards her, but she had likely said it as a warning. She watched him and he could tell she was sizing him up. Her gaze was judging, watching every tiny twitch he made. "Why come back?"

Her voice was tight, and it was a lot lighter than his. Softer too, despite the strain of her talking. She must be suffering the same as he did, her voice hoarse from lack of use. And the rest of her condition only served to amplify the strain on her poor tired throat.

She was staring at him, and he realised she had asked a question.

"Hunter got you, I distracted you." He smiled at her, even if she couldn't see it. "My fault."

"Okay…" she said, and she looked straight at him, and after a few quiet moments, pointed straight up. "Help with this."

It had been easier convincing her that he was friendly then he thought it should be. Most people were a lot more distrusting, or expected you to want to betray them. He figured the whole 'saving from the hunter, and taking the blame' helped prove his character. But it might have simply been a desire to move on more than anything. If she was as terrified of the Hunter as she seemed, even if the man had some kind of vested interest in her being alive, then it was for the better that they both get out of their. And since she seemed incapable of opening some doors and such by her self, working together was better.

He blinked at her, and looked around the room. There was a door to the left, although he didn't know where it went, from what he saw the corridor didn't lead to another door. And to the right, there was another one, although with a deep black, obvious lock.

So instead of going straight out the door, she had figured that upstairs would offer a better escape route? Possibly.

"Way out?" Mono asked, and she shook her head.

"Trap-man has a key. Probably upstairs." She sounded really confident about that fact, and he tilted his head. She saw him, sighed and gestured at the lock. It was dramatic, and almost impatient. "Needs a key, but he doesn't carry it on him, no key in kitchen otherwise you would have it."

He nodded along, even if her tone annoyed him. She was saying it as if it was explaining to a baby. "Shouldn't place it within reach of us, but can't be beyond the door otherwise you can't get past. Locked out. So, upstairs, since we can't get up there alone."

Even with the strain of speech, she was blunt and concise. It was kind of insulting, actually. Was she the kind of person that would make a good travelling partner? She seemed smart, but was rather rude.

He could…

No, freedom first, thoughts on anything else later.

She waved him over, and Mono looked at her. She dropped to one knee, and stared at him. "Boost."

Oh, he was to pull the pulley down. He was heavier, he supposed, but it barely budged when she did it, so he failed to see just how much difference it would make. Still, he moved over to her and let her lift him up to grab the handle.

As he expected, the whole system dropped slightly, his weight pulling down the pulley slightly. It wasn't enough, even though they weighed differently.

He looked down to her, and went to ask what now.

Before he said anything, she jumped up at him. She tightly wrapped her hands around his clothes, fingers tightening on the leather of his coat. There was a moment he thought his fingers would slip, but he managed to keep hold, and after a few seconds, the steps came crashing down from the ceiling.

Dust and cobwebs, thick and musky, fell from the unopened attic. Even splinters of wood came crashing down from the wooden frame. Maybe the air had caused the frame to shrink around the stairs, so opening it causes a hail of splinters to get ripped from it? Mono couldn't say. Still, it was evident that the man hadn't been in the attic for a long, long time. Was it safe to go up there, considering its lack of disturbance would probably let local pests grow to obscene sizes? Even spiders, a nuisance most of the time, could grow to child hungry abominations if left unattended.

Another sickening sign of the tower's corruption.

He turned to the girl, and spoke up. "Do we go"

"Shut up!" She hissed out a sound that was both a growl and a hush of silence, a bitter noise that was harsher than her words. "Listen!"

His mouth clicked shut. Again, her speech was a stabbing one. Did she really dislike him that much? That was a question for later, and he indulged her. He listened out and kept his mouth shut, even as she proceeded to start climbing up the steps into the ladder. Her movements let out soft creaks, which almost masked whatever he was listening for.

He didn't hear anything, and he was beginning to suspect she did it just to stop him from talking. Her attitude would support it. The building was eerily silent, and even the hunter's clacking and crashing pots and cleaning was completely inaudible from where he was. But that was probably because that was on the opposite end of the house, and the walls were incredibly thick here.

He sighed and stopped, and turned to look up after the girl. She'd just scrambled away in an attempt to get away from him again. If she didn't want him around, she could just say. If she thought he was a liability, then she could just do it herself. Instead she was leading him around, waiting for him to catch up and then moving again. Like she was leading around a pet. He'd get her dis…

His grumbling mind shut off as something pierced his thoughts. He didn't recognise it at first, as the sound was deep and slow. But it was enough to disturb his thoughts, and he snapped to attention.

It was masked by the creaking of the escapee, he realised, and only now it was closer did he actually catch what the noise was. A deep, throbbing, laborious groaning, like air being pulled into 2 vast bags through an opening that protested the effort. A guttural groaning, which tapered off to an echoing wheeze. It gave away to the heavy sounds of the boots on the wood, the man not walking but dropping his boots against the wood as if to just create as much noise as possible.

Mono couldn't tell why, but he could think about that after he got clear of the approaching threat.

He ran over to the ladder, and scaled it as quickly as he could. His arms ached, as he effectively sprinted up the ladder. Behind him, he saw the bright piercing light of the hunter's lamp punch through into the room, gazing in from the window. The lamp light darted around the room below him, and he pulled himself into the attic at the top, before cramming himself onto the side that was hidden by shadows from the moonlight.

Second later, the light flashed straight up the ladder, and Mono held his breath as the beam scanned inside it for a moment. It can't reach me. I won't be seen. I'm invisible. He repeated over and over in his mind.

And true to form, the shadows kept him hidden.

The beam tried fruitlessly for a short while longer, a couple of minutes maybe, before the hunter's breathing started up again and the man moved on.

Letting out his breath, Mono stood up and looked around the dingy attic.

Dark, damp and cold, the room itself had that same tang from earlier. Something was rotting up here, and he could taste the decay on the air. Maybe another doll like the little dinner table, or it could be another dead child somewhere. Either way, he didn't like it and he wanted out. Well, he wanted that, but the girl was up here and he wanted to help her. If she could help them get out, then no matter how she acted he was with her.

He found her standing by a large suitcase, waiting for him. With a quick gesture of her hand, she pointed at it and whispered something in her tired and weak voice. "Move it." He looked past it and saw the large wooden panel blocking them. A wooden board with scratch marks at the top, which prompted a couple of questions in his mind. But instead of thinking about it, he just walked over and tried pushing the massive case.

The girl watched him, and his efforts proved fruitless, only helping after he had shown he was incapable of doing it alone. He gave her a look afterwards, and she ignored him before jumping up and climbing through to the wide open space past the panel.

After climbing up himself, he realised it was a set of drawers, ones stuffed with clothes. Someone had been, or maybe still was, living up here. Maybe that's where that smell was coming from, a person who had died of something and left to their fate.

Still, he hadn't even hopped off the furniture before he saw the glinting golden key dangling from the roof. Looking down at the girl who was making her way to another pulley, he couldn't help but feel impressed by her. She had been right… Again, how she had known even made sense too, even if she had said it rather rudely. She was really clever, and honestly that could outweigh any negatives from her attitude. And she might actually ease up a bit and be nicer if he could stay around her.

And honestly, having anyone was better than being alone.

She turned around to him and beckoned him over. "Hey. Come." He looked at her for a moment, and then slipped off the drawers, stumbling a little from the fall before walking over to her. She pointed to a bag that was hanging from a second hook, before drifting her finger over the winch system before pointing at the single empty slot. She was trusting him to follow along, expecting him to know what it meant. "No lever, we need to find it."

She looked around briefly, and he did the same. The room itself seemed smaller than it should be, since it looked like the entirety of the second floor was dedicated to this space.

Wait, wasn't there a window outside?

He remembered the building had a visible room from the outside, and the space he could see lacked it. There must be more space visible further up. The only thing he could see was a large series of shelves behind further stacks of furniture. Behind that, there must be more of the room. He looked at her, and she was staring straight at the bags hanging from the ceiling.

It took a moment for him to notice the small herd of flies zipping around it. Oh… They're body bags... After a moment, he decided it was better to tell her of the idea he had, rather than the realisation that there were several rotting corpses hanging up from the walls.

"The cabinet." he pointed at the far end, where there was a single wooden pane with further scratch marks. People must have been here before, and climbed up them repeatedly. Maybe rats too, since they could jump quite high and their tiny claws would probably wear down the wood over a long period of time. When the girl heard this, she looked at it and nodded once. "Boost?"

She looked at him, and took a moment to think to herself, before shaking her head. "I'll stay." He looked at her, and she moved over to the cabinet. Once again, he trusted his foot to her hands.

The way she lifted him was practised, if a little clumsy. He figured she must have been used to it, although with smaller people than him. Her fingers dug into the dirt, gripping his skin and holding tight, and the sensation made his foot want to wriggle. His feet were probably filthy, he figured. To be honest, he was, and he knew that kids once used to wash themselves quite regularly to keep themselves clean and healthy.

But something about having someone else touch him made him feel… Guilty? He couldn't tell, not really. It was an alien feeling, and he didn't understand it well. But having her hands on him, it made him feel like he was wrong for being in that state. It was probably because he was spreading it to her, and if he was mucky then she would share that mucky. Something innate told him that he should look after himself, to keep himself looking clean.

Why… He couldn't really say, it was a base feeling.

She coughed below him, and he looked at her. Her eyes were boring into his, and she looked impatient. "Sorry." Mono muttered, before pulling himself up onto the other set of drawers. She brushed her hands together and looked up after him, and he didn't stick around to see what else she would do, he'd wasted enough time with his thoughts.

He dropped down a sloped plank of wood and slipped beneath some extremely dusty shelves. This whole place hadn't been touch in ages, but that alone was odd. The room downstairs seemed at least lived in and moved, but how had anyone gotten in if the door was padlocked. Maybe there was another entrance to that section of the house, but in that case why weren't they leaving using that route. If that room was inaccessible from another point in the house, then it should be just as dusty as the this room.

So, how did they hunter get into the room? He couldn't fit through the vent…

Mono stopped and sniffed deeply. That same, intense smell of death punched him in the nose, and he recoiled slightly before moving out again and looking.

The dead old corpse sat propped at the window was a bizarre sight.

This was evidently older than the ones downstairs, bits of cloth and fabric appearing from the bursting flesh. Her slumped neck led way to a wriggling face, sagging and drooping on one side, likely as whatever moved beneath its flesh pooled together. The stench was atrocious, the smell of detritus and rotting skin, along with decaying fabrics. Its rigor mortis kept it sitting there, in the unmoving copy of a mannequin, leaving it staring straight out into the world. Maybe if the light ever did truly snuff out, the woman would get straight back up and begin its deadly march to attack people… Although he'd never seen such a thing, it must be possible, especially for a thing such as this.

A glint of metal in his hand caught his attention, and he found a large metal lever sat in its grip. The shape of the slot on the metal, a carefully cut square, told him this was the right one. But staring at it, the sight screamed that it was wrong, and his instincts made him feel anxious.

How had the corpse managed to get the winch over here, through the stacks and stacks of shelves and boxes, and why did it take it out in the first place. The idea of the shadow moving monster was a lot less safe now, and Mono knew he had to get away from it no matter how quickly.

Get the winch and go… He whispered in his mind.

If the facsimile of a woman was still alive, getting out of there was the best option.

It took both hands to pry the winch free, and even as he did it, the fetid example of a limb it was connected to came free with a sickening tear of stitching and decaying skin. Bits of stuffing filled the air, and Mono couldn't help but cough as he breathed. The hunter loved these recreations it seemed, even going so far to over stuff them to make sure they looked as plump as they had in life.

He looked down, and found a leg trapped beneath the rotting body part, and he kicked the broken thing away with a slight panic. The massive limb was light and effortlessly booted, but it was still a loose arm. It made him feel somewhat queasy. And while one got used to seeing death, it still took time to get used to a limb that once touched people falling directly on top of you.

He reached over and grabbed the winch, and ran back the way he came.

Before he got under the shelves, a noise caught his ear, and he turned around.

The body shifted, likely due to the sudden movement, and it's head bobbed lazily off to the side. Dull, fake eyes stared directly at him. They wriggled and pulsed, and it looked like the body would burst apart to let a swarm of maggots go pouring free. But the worst part was the whole 'Staring right at him'. His breathing paused, and he slowly backed back into the shadows and left the body where it was.

There were more shuffles, and mono made a mental mantra to not look behind him and just move on.

He reclimbed the cabinet, but instead of going straight over, a nagging thought made him pause and just peak over the top. Some part of him wanted to see what the interesting girl was doing, when he wasn't there. He couldn't justify it, nor explain it, it was just a thought that crossed his mind.

So he poked his head over the top, and looked around for the girl.

She was still exactly where she left him, but sat down. She was curled up, legs pulled against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She was… Burying her head in her knees… And he could hear her softly humming the same tune the music box was playing. It was a sombre sound, when hummed by her tiny frame.

She looked, even from this angle, extremely tired. Her skin was pale, and when she rubbed her head against her knees, he could see the dark bags under her eyes. The skin was sunken too, and he wondered when she'd last eaten or drank clean water. Her state made him feel uneasy. She was smart, but exhaustion would be a lethal thing to suffer from.

She needs to sleep. The thought slipped through, and he had to agree with it. He couldn't imagine how difficult it was to sleep, trapped in the basement by a monstrous stomping hunter. You could never turn off, wondering if he would just come barrelling down the stairs, gun in hand, and blow you apart with the heavy blast of a shotgun.

Should he offer her that? Should he tell her to sleep, now that they were free from the trapping dungeon?

It wasn't safe, but it was safer. And it seemed the hunter wouldn't care to check the attic properly anyway.

He slipped down slowly, and brought the winch down as quietly as he could. He didn't want to panic her by making loud noises next to her, so the slow and silent approach was probably easier. He then made his way over to the winch, and slotted it in himself. It made a soft grating noise of metal on metal, before clicking properly into place.

The girl gasped, and looked up, before sighing at seeing him. He clearly wasn't as quiet as he wanted to be.

But still, they were set. So she began to rise, and Mono put his hand up and whispered. "Wait… Sleep?" He pointed at her face and, for the first time since he'd seen her, a confused look spread across her face. Her fingers came up, and probed at her skin, rubbing over her face and testing herself. She bawled her hands up into fists, and tried crushing the sleep and fatigue free from her eyes, and failed. "You look tired."

She shook her head, and whispered something he didn't catch. He wasn't sure if he was meant to hear it, as she looked at her feet while saying it. She looked up, and stared at him. Her face, her lips more precisely, quirked up a slight amount and she let out a small quick breath. "Not yet. Not safe." The expression, too minute to really identify, faded quickly and she moved over to the winch, grabbing it with both hands. "Climb up the bag. Jump when you can reach."

Mono stared at her for a few seconds, and moved over to the body bag. He could feel the flesh in the bag, his feet sinking slightly into the bag of rot. Wiggling and writhing, but stable. The girl winched the whole bag up, not even straining much, such was the effectiveness of the winch. The key was an easy grab, although he let it slide back and slip straight off the hook. He hit the ground, and collapsed to his hands and knees to lessen the impact on his legs.

His partner grabbed the key out of the air, or so he guessed since he didn't hear it hit the ground. When he turned around, she was looking at him. She didn't meet his eyes, and was instead staring at his chest and stomach. He looked down, and didn't see anything wrong. He wasn't injured or had any visible marks. He patted himself down, careful not to mess with anything he had on him.

He found nothing visibly wrong.

Looking up, his voice croaked out. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, and opened her mouth a couple of times. Was she trying to figure out what to say? He didn't get the chance to interrupt her.

"I was… Going to give you it. But you haven't got space."

He looked at her and tilted his head. Space? He looked down at the large metal bear trap he wore, and realised what she meant. Ahh, she means where I'd normally keep keys. Makes sense. He looked at her and shook his head. "We can carry the key, I just figured the trap would be useful."

She mouthed an 'oh' back to him, and then moved away, leaving him to pick himself up from the floor. She made her way out of the attic, using a drawer to give herself the height to throw the key onto the top and climb up herself. He stared after her, and gave her a few moments before beginning to follow her.

He didn't even get a few steps out before she called out. "Oi, hurry up."

Sure, her voice was cracking and somewhat broken, but it still had that same demanding tone. If she stuck around, he figured he could get used to it. Even if she was a little nagging, and quite impatient, he figured it was better for now. Someone else being there, even if they were rude and mean, was better. It made him feel a little more…

Satisfied?

Complete?

He couldn't pin it, but whatever it was. It made him happier.

GLORIOUS, OH GLORIOUS CHARACTER DIALOGUE DEAR GOD I NEEDED THIS. I may not be much, only a small amount, but still words and interaction! It's like a shot of caffine to the system.

Side note, and a little shilling, if you got some thoughts on the story, make sure to drop a review. I'm always curious how improve myself, and frankly I want this story to be as enjoyable to read as possible. So I'd love to read them if you got thoughts. I've always been a fan of long winded and indepth stories taking the time to explore the environment, but that might just be me being a weird bugger, and if you guys have other preferences or ideas to improve, throw 'em my way. You might even notice that I did try to pick up the pace a little in the later part of the chapter.

Right, as I said there'll be a one week delay on the next chapter. This last week, and this coming week, have been and are going to be hell. Honestly, I just wish my employers accept that you will have some loss from staff being less efficient than one another, not squeezing every little bit they can from their workers. I mean, it's not even about money because they are expanding my hours to cover for the other staff. And they aren't planning to replace me either.

Next release should be the 4th of August. But If I can get the next chapter done and checked earlier, then I'll throw it up.