While they were discussing options, they didn't notice the purplish black ichor dripping from beneath the apparatus. The villainous essence puddled beneath the iron catwalk. Then it started to vibrate, then undulate, and finally, it began to move in an amoebic fashion across the floor to an abandoned rat hole in the baseboard.
It hissed and whispered to itself plotting and scheming how to regain a body or bodies to resume it's purpose. It needed solidity. A rat scampered along the wall, it paused and skittered, something was making it nervous. It looked left, and right. It sniffed, and it smelled something rubbery metallic, and sweet? A shadow moved toward it. It froze, and the shadow rose up, a black oily substance and enveloped the frightened furry creature.
"Ah, I was afraid it was a lesser being? But it wasn't really a rat at all, but a transformed person. I guess, I am not the only entity having fun in this abandoned manor house. Uh, now first, I need to make this body human again," the entity said as he rose up on his rubberized hind legs.
There was a noise. It froze, as footsteps approached.
"So Johnny, do you really think we'll find an answer in this hallway?" Kayne asked.
"Well, Rex, and my buddies are checking out the garden. I thought this was a fake haunted house, when I-" Johnny said as he paused and looked at the black rubber rat, "See here's a haunted house prop- a rubber rat," he said picking up the villain.
"Yes!" hissed the rat as Johnny's gloved hand closed on it. Then realizing there was no skin contact, it shrieked, "No!"
Johnny dropped the shrieking rat, and jumped backwards as it scampered off into the darkness.
He looked a Kayne who stood there staring agape.