Recorded April 19, 2017, 12:52 a.m.
The camera trains on Grace, moving purposefully down the dim hallway. She mutters to herself as she moves, counting turns. Anthony and Mel walk in the back of the group, the others shuffling along ahead.
MEL: I feel like she’s leading us in circles.
ANTHONY: How would we know if she was? We can’t even tell what hall we’re in. There’s no guarantee a hall is the same every time you look at it. [Pause] Is it just me, or is she . . .
MEL: Kind of nuts? Sure, but after God knows how long in a place like this, you’d have to be. Why, you don’t trust her?
ANTHONY: I didn’t say that.
MEL: Because I sure as shit don’t.
ANTHONY: So it’s not just me.
MEL: No, and I . . . Hold on. I know things keep shifting—okay, this sounds weird, but I’m really good with spatial stuff, right? And I think we’re not just following a route, we’re making it by making certain turns. I think the changes are predictable. And I think she knows it, too.
ANTHONY: Meaning what, exactly?
MEL: I can’t be sure. But I think the way we’ve been turning, it’s making the house into almost a loop. If she turns up there . . . Yeah. If she turns right, we’ll walk right up behind ourselves.
ANTHONY: Is that possible?
MEL: Here?
ANTHONY: Good point. What does that mean?
MEL: I don’t know. Except—
Grace halts. The others follow suit, confusion and alarm evident. Grace stands just past a dark hallway—deeply dark, a dark immune to light. Kyle stands right behind her, a frown creasing his features.
Grace stomps on the ground twice.
It’s like knocking on a door, and the answer comes quickly. The spider erupts from the dark: milk-pale, legs like blades. Eyeless face twisting, jaw working side to side as the tongue lashes. It dives for Grace and Kyle, but she grabs hold of Kyle and freezes, and Jeremy doesn’t, the others don’t, stumbling back on instinct.
The spider moves in stutter-step, joints clicking, clattering into the hall and dividing Grace and Kyle from the others. It turns on the older teens. They do the only thing they can—they run.