Their conversation hushed, Mike and Sei at first talked about where they might find candles, but then it gradually shifted to what they might find upstairs. Reaching the top of the stairs, Mike said, "Hey. I dare you to find something better than me. 'Cause. I betting you can't," a huge shit-eating grin on his face as he told Sei this.
His friend, unable to see the look on his friend's face, retorted, "That's not much of a dare. I do that all the time," as he also grinned like a maniac in the direction of his friend.
Mood light, the two started to make jokes and attempts out do each other as they headed down the semi-dark hallway. Somewhere close by, the way occasionally was lit by the flicker of lightning, which was followed by booms of thunder. Unable to hear how hard the rain was falling, the two assumed it was still coming down as they started to push other. Spotting a door, Sei crowed, "First dibs," and laughing, he rushed toward it.
"Nuh uh. If anyone is going to find something cool first, it's me," his sixteen year old friend replied and not wanting to be left behind chased after the other sixteen year old and grabbed at his friend's damp jacket in an attempt to slow him down.
Their laughter started to get louder and as they both reached the door, they jokingly shoved one another out of the way before finally Sei lightly said, "Okay. You go first. But I bet you aren't going to like what you find. Bet it's something real gross, like a bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in years."
Refusing to allow himself be baited by his friend, Mike ignored him and yanked open the door. The two peering in, they could just barely make out some steps going upward. Disappointed, Sei stepped back and said, "Damn. It's only the stairs going up to the third floor."
His best friend peered intently upward and for a brief moment, thought he heard something. Curious, he held a hand, then, realising Sei probably couldn't see this, he announced, "Hold up a minute. I want to take a quick peek," and before Sei could say anything, he dashed up the old, wooden stairs, which creaked every so often.
His interest not entirely invested, Sei watched Mike disappear upward. Dust began floating about and after a moment, he called out, "Hey, dude. I'll only give you a couple minutes. Then I'm going to look around elsewhere."
No answer from the other sixteen year old and Sei watched as the door slowly swung shut. Reaching out, he opened it, watched as it, again, gradually swung shut and turning away, he began to restlessly pace back and forth. Spotting another door, he walked over to it and opening it, he peeked into a room that was bathed in total darkness. Disappointed, he shut the door and started to wander a few feet down the hall. Returning to what he thought was the door Mike had gone through, he huffed, "Come on, dude," and thinking his friend was trying to prank him, "Like he's pretending to be lost or something," Sei muttered, he marched over what he was sure was the door they had opened only moments ago and yanked on the door handle.
With a long drawn-out creak, which, that along should have told him it wasn't the right one, Sei opened the door and stared into the darkness. Not seeing the stairs, he extended out his leg and began tapping the air with his foot. As he did this, he called out, "Mike? Come on, dude. Ain't no way I am going to fall for some stupid prank of yours," then, after receiving no answer, "This isn't funny," as he took a couple steps into the room.
Certain it was likely a bedroom he'd stumbled into, Sei whispered, "Dammit," as he heard something click behind him. Realising that the door had swung shut, curious why it hadn't made the same noise it had when he opened it, he spun around, stumbled a couple steps and extending his arms out, he took a couple steps back the way he'd come.
Unhappy with the prospect of being in a dark room he was unfamiliar with, he thoughts on only the door, he was taken by surprise when he felt the tips of his fingers brush against something soft. Clapping a hand on it, he began feeling it, lifting up on it and thinking that he had somehow found a weighted curtain, he tried to pull it back, hoping that if and when the lightning flickered, it would allow for some light. Grunting and straining, he was disappointed to discover that the curtains wouldn't budge and figuring that it probably required a pull-cord, he muttered, "To hell with it," and turning away, deciding that finding a way out of the room and discovering what happened to Mike was his biggest priority.
Back the way he came, he forgot to use his hands to feel his way forward and, in the process, managed to miss the large ornate bed that dominated a great portion of the room. When he slammed into a wall, he grunted again, angerily mumbled, "Ow," then began patting at the wall until he found what he thought was the door. Locating and twisting the knob, he pushed on the door and when it swung silently open, he poked his head through, thought it was awfully darker in the hallway then he remembered. Shrugging it off, he began feeling his way forward.
Slowly, carefully, he moved toward what he was sure was the hallway wall opposite the bedroom. Unaware that he was moving in slight curve, Sei found himself wondering why footfalls sounded strange. Thinking that everything for some reason had an odd echo, tempted to call out to confirm this, he again cursed when he came to another wall. Glad he hadn't been walking too fast, and that the tips of his fingers warned him, he patted at the wall, thinking that, if he didn't know any better, that it felt like tiling. Finding a handle, he snapped, "What is this shit?! Another door?" and twisting and pulling on the handle, he jumped back and uttered a howling noise.
Deluged in a sudden blast of ice cold water, his clothes going from damp to soaking wet, Sei started uttering curses as it came to him that, somehow, he'd stumbled into a bathroom and, in the process, wandered into a walk-in shower. Uttering, "Son-of-a-bitch," and, "Just fucking perfect," he gritted his teeth, stepped back under the flowing water and waving a hand about, he located and shut off the shower. Shivering, listening to the water flowing off him and down a nearby drain, he toyed with the idea of stripping down, figuring that it was dark and nobody would see him buck naked anyway. But not liking such an idea, figuring the first thing he should do was get out of the shower, he reached a hand out to his left and feeling the wall, he turned the other way and took a full step forward.
With a loud, echoey, "BAM" Sei slammed full force into the shower door that he had miraculously missed when he had stumbled into the shower. Cursing at the pain, he took a step back, intent on finding a way out. His soaking wet shoes failing to find purchase on the now slick floor, Sei slipped and extending out his arms, he tried to find something to grab onto. Missing everything within grasp, he slammed full force into wall behind him, bashed his head on wall-mounted dish for soap, spun about and slammed face first into knob that activated the shower before crashing to the floor.
Lucky not have broken anything, but not lucky enough to remain conscious, Sei suddenly felt like he was drifting. Slipping into a blackness that he knew had nothing to do with the room he was in, he had one final thought - "Motherfucking bathroom!"