Getting out from the hover, Doavin thought the air almost felt electric. He imagined the bright transporting space of the Instance would feel similar and wondered if it could have seeped inside the vehicle and stuck its strange magic tightly to his skin. He wasn't sure why, but the idea spooked him, and he moved with the odd gait of one who was over-aware of his surroundings, steps crunching loudly on the gravel under his feet.
Sev and Vasil walked ahead of him, Vasil shooting Doavin a sharp look as they passed. Sev was the first to reach the bunker and she pulled out her keys, shaking them a bit as she separated the proper one from the rest of its pack. She stopped when she reached the front door, however, frowning when she turned to face Vasil and keeping her voice in a low murmur when she spoke. “It’s unlocked.”
Vasil’s only response was to pull his gun from where it was hidden against his side and offer Sev the weapon they’d pilfered from their attacker earlier. He waited for her to take it before pushing her away from the door and beginning to move inside.
The lights were turned off, leaving everything inside enveloped in darkness. Sev toggled the light switch, but the soft clicking sound of the plastic didn't brighten the staircase. She narrowed her eyes, shifting her grip on her new weapon and not turning around as she gestured for Doavin to wait. Then she and Vasil slowly moved down the stairs, keeping the lines of their hips and shoulders against the wall for support.
Doavin watched them descend. When he couldn’t see them any longer, he turned and looked back toward the hover. Alone above ground, he felt the hair on his arms prickle underneath the sleeves of his jacket. He made it for all of thirty seconds before he crept closer to the door. Keeping his hand on the door frame, he squinted down into the darkness. He couldn’t hear anyone; neither Sev nor Vasil made any noise.
Worrying his lip between his teeth, he finally stepped inside. He counted the stairs as he went down. Step sixteen was the one that tricked him. Steps seventeen through twenty-five went by in a blur. His ankle twisted underneath his weight, and he fell to the floor with a soft cry.
Doavin had never been afraid of the dark before, but when he got his wits back around him, he found he wanted nothing more than for a lamp to turn on. Pushing himself back to his feet was messy; his ankle protested and hesitated to carry his weight. Navigating the stairs would be difficult if not totally out of the question, which meant the only place to move was forward. He kept his hands braced in front of him, feeling for furniture. The hard surface of the dining room table greeted his fingertips, and he realized he’d turned into the kitchen.
He had just passed the head of the table when there was a soft scuffling sound to his right, and Doavin wheeled around so quickly that he nearly fell down once more. He thought he could hear Sev murmur something indistinct and began to limp in that direction. His fingertips brushed against the wall, and he kept in touch with it as he headed down the hallway.
He was halfway between the kitchen and the spare room when he heard the scuffling sound a second time. He turned his head in its direction, froze, and then began to back away. Directly in front of him was a pair of eyes that glowed eerily in the lack of light. They watched him unblinkingly before beginning to move closer.
Continuing to creep back, Doavin felt behind him for the kitchen table and used it as a landmark to stay oriented. He would later berate himself for not thinking to grab a knife from one of the drawers, but at that moment he could only think of putting as much distance between himself and the creature as he could. He shuffled backwards, moving into the living area and back toward the stairs to the exit.
In the end, his ankle was what ended it. Doavin took a bad step and felt it buckle, leaving him slouched against the wall with tears in his eyes. When he tried to push away toward the staircase, he found his leg would no longer bear his weight at all. He was stranded just feet away from the exit as the creature advanced, eyes announcing its location as it drew near enough to touch him.
It did just that, and Doavin screamed, shoving it away and feeling one of his hands come into contact with something wet. He couldn’t hear the pained noise underneath his own cry, but ultimately he wouldn't need to. The lights came on in unison before he had even closed his mouth, revealing Sev who was standing in the doorway, gun leveled in his direction. The "creature" lay on the ground where it had fallen, bleeding from a wound over its ribs near where Doavin's hand had connected when he shoved it away.
It was Lars. He was glaring up at Doavin through the hair that hung in his face. “What the fuck is wrong with you people?” he demanded, looking between Doavin and Sev as she lowered her gun down to her side.
“We thought…” Sev let the sentence trail off feebly.
Lars scoffed, “Like hell you did. Did you even try the damn light switch?”
Whatever Sev might have said in response was clipped when Vasil walked into the room holding a small glass bulb. He shook it a few times before tossing it to Sev. “Blown fuse.”
Lars pushed himself up from the ground, hand feathering back to his bullet wound. “Fucking imbeciles,” he glared at the three of them as he made his way back to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
