The clattering noises produced by the whirring machines is deafening in the workroom. Clapping a hand to your ears, you rush over to the machine Cain stepped on the lever to and examine it. It's a medium sized machine made of bright brass, green rust having taken over half of it. From the dust billowing around the room in thick clouds, it's obvious these machines haven't been used in years, decades, probably. The strangely-given-the-state-of-the-rest-of-the-room bright brass gears on the machine mesh and turn together, performing some unknown task.
You angrily scoop up Cain and hold him up in front of you, his back paws squirming and his tail wagging. "Cain, I know you can understand me. Why did you do that?" you ask sternly. Cain's head falls to the side of your hand gripped around his midsection and opens his mouth, panting. Signing angrily, you set him down and motion him to follow you over to Leona. Given his response (or lack thereof), it was probably the old childlike curiosity of "what will happen if I press this?" credo. You sigh. "Look, these pounding gears and machines whirring away is going to attract someone or something eventually, so I think we should get out of here a soon as possible." Nodding, Leona agrees with you. "Yeah, after my incident in the halfway, I'm through with meeting new surprises." She says. "Well, great." You reply. "Let's..." but you are cut off by the sudden act of all the lights in the room switching off, plunging your trio into a hot, sticky darkness full of the sound of clattering, clanging machines.
"Uh... did you bump the light switch?" you whisper to Leona. Cain yips happily from below you and you feel his paws on your bare foot. "Uh, no, we're standing in the middle of the room, how could I..." you can almost feel the wave of horror spreading over her face. "If I didn't turn out the lights, and you didn't turn out the lights, and Cain can't... then who did?" she whispers to you. Suddenly, the cold feeling of being watched sweeps over you like an icy, bitter winter wind. "Hide." You whisper to Leona before you start backing away, scooping up Cain as you do. "What, what do you me..." she stammers. "Just trust me. Hide." You whisper back. Then, turning, you run with Cain in your arms down an aisle and spot a desk with a small green curtain covering the part where the chair is supposed to be pushed in. You dive underneath the desk, pulling the curtain closed, awkwardly positioning yourself with Cain your lap, a hand over his muzzle to stop him from barking or yelping.
A short bout of scuffling and scraping from somewhere else in the room alerts you that Leona has found a hiding place as well. Suddenly, a loud banging noise from across the room, like a door being kicked open, shatters the clattering hum of the machinery. It reverberates off the walls and into your ears. Heavy, slow footsteps, like a giant wearing thick boots, soon start, thunking and scraping along the wooden floor. You hear the sharp click of a switchblade knife being opened and realize how dire the circumstances are. A low, soft voice whispers, falsely sweet, "Who's in my workshop?" Now you clap a hand over your own mouth to stop yourself from screaming, You don't even want to know what Leona is going through at the moment.
A clicking noise follows soon after and you can see, through the cloth of the curtains, a small ray of light, constantly twisting, turning, and getting closer to the desk where you and Cain hide. The supposed owner of this workshop has a flashlight. As the beam searches the rows, getting closer and closer to yours, you pray that Leona has found a good hiding spot. Four more rows and then he'll be searching yours. You gulp. Three. The footsteps turn down your aisle and you almost gasp in shock as a dark leather boot hits the floor in front of the desk you and Cain are hiding under. It stops for a moment as if the searcher has stopped and is looking at something. Then, it starts again, slowly, the heavy footsteps traveling to your right.
Taking the opportunity, you dive out from underneath the desk, set Cain down quickly, and begin tiptoeing towards the mirror. The flashlight beam is all the way across the room from you, parallel as well, and you try to hurry, dragging Cain along by the scruff of his neck through the dark aisles towards the mirror. Another dark shape heading towards the mirror in the dark tell you that Leona has left her hiding spot as well.
Suddenly, the voice of the searcher booms out, "Who's there?" His flashlight drops from his hands and hits the wooden floor with a loud clang, going out. You can see the dim outline of him about an aisle and a half in front of you, but the light is too low to tell you any physical attributes. Closing your eyes and gulping, you silently pray to the gods for the searcher to keep searching somewhere else. But to your intense dismay, he says, "I know someone's over there. Do I have to go over there and find you?" He asks in a bored tone, as if all this is a routine. Gripping Cain in your arms, with the whirring machines and inky blackness all around you, you try and decide what to do.