The trio circled the whole estate, dispatching the hordes of phantasms and searching for any sign of life. After about an hour, however, they began to tire, and sought shelter inside the mansion. They forced open the nearest door, ducked inside, and bolted it shut behind them.

“…M-maybe we were wrong,” said Lucy, leaning against a cupboard. Apparently they were in a kitchen. “Maybe there’s n-no one here.”

“We can’t last like this, in any case,” Pitch replied. “We’re beginning to attract their attention; it’s only a matter of time until they start attacking us on purpose. And considering how many are already here—”

“We’re toast if they do,” Lucy finished. She yawned, and let her pack slide off her shoulders. “Could we rest here? While we s-still can…?”

“I’ll take first watch!” Dreadli exclaimed.

Pitch looked at her intently. “…So you can keep looking?” she asked.

Dreadlilocks didn’t answer.

“Look…whether or not we find anyone, I think we’ll have to leave tomorrow,” Pitch said. She took off her own pack and placed it on the floor. “…Wake me in exactly three hours. And don’t do anything foolish.”

~~

Dreadli sat alone by the backdoor, watching the night. The void had already began to creep up on the sky, covering the horizon with a white band. The stars were nowhere to be seen.

She sighed, rubbing the beginnings of sleep from her eyes. She still felt there was someone here to save, and she knew she wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving without them in the morning. So for the next three hours, she promised herself that she would watch like a hawk.

But it wasn’t long before her concentration was broken by a sudden voice: “There’s no food in this kitchen at all…!” it hissed.

Dreadli turned around. A pair of opal-colored eyes stared back at her from the doorway.

“…Lucy!” she cried. “You’re supposed to be resting! This is my watch!”

“Your watch is my watch. Everyone’s watch is m-my watch,” she replied. “It’s not like I get to sleep.”

“You can still relax…”

“Forget relaxing. Anyway, listen: there’s no food. N-not even a little. It looks like the kitchen’s been abandoned for years…how can anyone be l-living in a house with a bare kitchen??”

“…Maybe they keep their food somewhere else. This might not be their house.”

“Then why are they still here? Why defend it??” Lucy scratched her chin. “Y’know…m-maybe they don’t even need food. Because they’re already dead…!”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, m-maybe this is a haunted house! Ghosts always protect the places they haunt, right?? Even from the phantasms…a g-ghost could fight the phantasms basically forever.”

Dreadlilocks thought for a minute. She wasn’t sure she believed in ghosts…but it would explain why they hadn’t seen anyone. And why the phantasms seemed unable to destroy their target.

She was actually beginning to accept the notion…when all of a sudden, she heard footsteps approaching.

The sounds came one after the other, slow and steady. Lucy and Dreadli gripped each other’s arms as they listened. The steps were definitely getting closer.

“I’ll go get Pitch…!” Lucy hissed. “D-d-don’t die before I get back!”

Dreadli nodded, and just like that she was alone again. She held her axe close.

“…Damn you,” growled a low and turbulent voice. “Damn you all to hell…! As if I don’t have enough to worry about without you…people…!!”

A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the dark.