A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

 Just up ahead, there was the left turn towards the next secret entrance. (F/n) held the lantern up more, and the light illuminated that the path also went off to the right. If she headed right, she would walk into a deeper and odder part of the tunnels. That was because of how the right path led into a circle before the path split again into another circle and a straight path. The second circle seemed to descend down into a pool. Maybe, it had been a bathing area in the past, but she doubted that the water remained clean unless the pool was formed from a constantly flowing stream under the town.

Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about that option, so she made the left turn and glanced to her left side of the new hall. Already, she could see the door to the storage closet. It was closed presently, but the doors to the two bathrooms were gone from their hinges. Rather, the old wood rested on the ground and was broken in various pieces. The old doorknobs were some distance away from the wood, and the metal on them was rusted, and she swore that she saw a spider crawl over one of them.

Hopefully, it wasn't a poisonous one, and she didn't even want to think about that thing possibly crawling on her. A chill slithered up her spine at the thought, and she hesitantly advanced forward. Occasionally, she would glance over her shoulder to make sure that whatever had been in the other hallways wasn't behind her presently. Each time, no ghost or other terrifying being met her gaze. Only the darkness stared back.

As she approached the storage closet, however, she was tempted to ignore it, but she noticed that the candle in her lantern only would last her so long. It was possible that other candles were in it, and she didn't know if she even would be able to get through the nearby secret entrance. (F/n) didn't want to think of that possibility, but it was an unfortunate truth that she might face soon. And if she had to travel to the next secret entrance, it would be a lengthy walk. Not to mention that she might encounter more terrifying things if she ventured further into the tunnel system. At least, Cankerfell only had the creature. She didn't know what the h*ll was in the current tunnels and how many of whatever it was there were.

Gulping quietly, she reached out towards the storage door. The hinges creaked horribly, and they sounded like a shrill cry of someone dying. (F/n) looked to both sides of her, but nothing dreadful greeted her gaze. So far, she was alright. When she had the door fully opened, she held the lantern up and noticed that there were two candles on the highest shelf, which she wouldn't be able to reach unless she climbed up.

Judging by the wooden shelves' state below it, climbing would be foolish. All it would do is break those shelves, and she'd fall. Maybe, she could jump up and break the wood if her hand gripped onto it. That risked stabbing herself with the wood chips even with her gloves, but she could blow out the current candle and swing the lantern. If the lantern broke, though, she'd only have options with open flames. Given what happened recently, she'd rather not dash through the tunnels like that. It was too easy to picture the flame lighting her surroundings or her on fire.

Perhaps if she checked the bathrooms, she would find something of use to her. About to turn around, she froze. Heavy breathing sounded right behind her. Strands of her (h/c) hair blew around her, and her heartbeat increased tenfold. She shook horribly, and she couldn't find it in herself to turn around. The breathing continued, and she shut her eyes tightly, hoping that she only was experiencing some awful hallucination even though it felt too real for her liking.

Soon, only her heartbeat pounded in her ears, and it took her a moment to realize that the breathing was gone. When she finally did, she steadily opened her eyes, and she moved like a snail when she faced the hall. No one or nothing was there. The hall was as quiet as it had been before. Maybe, she would check the secret entrance first and only retrieve the candles if it was locked and/or blocked. Deciding that sounded reasonable, she took hesitant steps down the hallway and made sure to avoid the doorknob where she had seen the potential spider from earlier.

Nearing her destination, she noticed concrete steps leading up towards a stone wall. Towards the left side of the wall, there was a lever, which was much like the other one at the clothing store entrance. Before she pulled on it, she listened for sound behind her, but nothing met her ears. She breathed in before she exhaled and grabbed the lever. (F/n) tugged down on it, and she heard the wall shift. Dust fell down from the movement, and she coughed in the process as stones pulled out of the way.

What greeted her on the other side, however, was less than desirable. She felt her heart sink, and her stomach drop. On the other side of the doorway, there were massive metal crates. (F/n) tried to move them, and she even pressed her right arm against them despite the pain. The strain on her left thigh wasn't aiding her either. None of the crates would budge, though, and there was no way to move around them. Whatever the things were storing were heavy, and she expected that the crates themselves weighed just as much if not more. Honestly, though, why did a home need such storage?

A bad feeling crept into her veins, and she hoped that the town hadn't been the location of cult as her mind imagined the crates to be storage freezers stuffed with bodies. If that were the case, the creature would be celebrating. Her stomach sickened at the thought of corpses in there, and she had to face the other way as she pulled on the lever. The wall closed back up since she presumed that the creature could move those crates if he truly wished to, but she hoped that he hadn't heard the sound of the wall moving. Then again, he hadn't followed after her into the tunnels it seemed.

Right now, though, she needed to grab those two other candles and keep moving before that breathing or the thing(s) from before decided to reveal themselves again. As she traveled back down the hallway, she just passed the full bath nearest to the stairs when she heard metal scraping against metal. It was coming from that bathroom, and it was clear that the metal was rusted. The sound of water dripping followed before the scratchy voice from before called out, "Hide! Hide!"

"Sh*t!" she shouted quietly before she headed to race down the other path, but wood flew straight past her face. She didn't dare turn around, and her panicking mind urged her towards the storage closet. Instantly, she slammed the door behind her and searched for a lock, but there was none. Her eyes widened with pure horror, and she wished that she had kept racing down the hallway. Multiple curses left her lips as she heard footsteps out in the hall nearing the closet.

With not many options presented to her, she set down the lantern, held onto the doorknob tightly and hoped that the thing wouldn't rip it out again. She didn't want those worm-like fingers touching her. The footsteps stopped right in front of the storage closet, but the door didn't move. Her fingers remained gripped around the rusty metal, and she remained thankful for her gloves since her hands were sweating immensely from fear underneath the fabric.

Suddenly, her whole body felt paralyzed. Her hands shook, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Awful scraping sounded on the other side of the door. She could hear the wood chipping and peeling back. The action continued, and she half expected the door to be torn to shreds. Much to her relief, the scraping did stop after several more of the attacks, and the footsteps headed off into the distance.

Before she could relax, however, slamming erupted through the tunnels. It sounded like the bedroom doors were being ripped open and thrown closed. Her hands continued to shake on the doorknob, and she hoped that the thing would continue to head in that direction. Maybe, it was a different one, though, since before the doorknob had been ripped off. That thought worried her all the more, and if she had to deal with two bloodthirsty ghosts, she didn't know if she'd make it much farther. Makes you want something, doesn't it?

No, not now. Her hands fell from the metal knob, and she shook her head lightly. The light from the lantern flickered ominously in the closet. I know that it does; you know that it does. Why don't you just accept it? She backed into the shelves, and the wood moaned under the pressure from her weight against it. (F/n) placed her hands over her ears. That's not going to work, and you can't get rid of me like Brent. No, you're stuck with me.

Fingers glided over her shoulders before they tapped lightly at her neck. Her throat constricted, and she saw the delicate appendages travel up her skin until they rested on her cheeks. Unless ... "What?" she asked, her eyes wide with absolute trepidation. Well, you know what I'm going to say. Tell me what I want. (F/n) shook her head and gripped the fingers before she ripped them away.

Hurriedly, she grabbed the lantern. Without a second thought, she leaped up and pulled down on the shelf. It broke, releasing the candles, and she luckily didn't get any wood chips in her skin. She picked the candles off of the ground fast and didn't spend another second in the closet. Out in the hallway once more, she practically raced off towards the circle part of the tunnels as she opened her backpack, shoved the candles inside and zipped the pack back up. Her ears caught onto laughing behind her, but she didn't glance back. (F/n) didn't even look down the hallway with the bedrooms; she didn't want to see what horror lurked down that way.

All she wanted was to escape the tunnels alive. It felt like Cankerfell, except she didn't have Nick's help, but she wouldn't wish what was happening currently to her upon him. Her thigh protested against the quickened speed, but she paid it no mind. She'd tend to it later and let it rest when she could. In the distance, she saw the hall curve, but the laughing from before morphed into that scratchy voice. "You're not hiding." Instantly, her legs desired to freeze, but she didn't halt her movement. Rather, she bit back the pain in her thigh and increased her speed all the more.