True, deep darkness.

Charlie felt his heart pumping faster. He started breathing harder.

Then he heard something.

… beep… beep…

“Ty, is that you?” he called.

“Yeah, it’s my stupid beeper,” came Tyler’s familiar voice. “It’s gone off about a million times. If my parents had given me a phone, then maybe I could have called them and gotten out of this hole, but no, I’m not responsible enough. Even though I do all the work around here.”

The darkness in front of Charlie’s eyes appeared to swirl. A shadow separated from the others. A silhouette.

“You’ve been on the thirteenth floor the whole time?” asked Charlie.

“Yeah, and I’m not the only one, brainiac. Brack’s here too. But I think he’s hurt.”

“You think? Don’t you know?”

“I can’t see him,” said Ty.

Charlie’s heart began beating harder again. “There’s no lights in here?!” he said.

“Well, there aren’t any windows on this floor, but there’s a few lights. But that’s not the problem. He’s locked behind a door and neither of us can open it. So I’ve been looking for a way out for hours!”

Light burst above them. Charlie could see that he and Ty were sitting in a hall that resembled the others in the hotel.

The secret rectangular door had re-opened overhead and slanted toward them. Annie and Cozette ran down the carpeted ramp.

“Tyler!” exclaimed Annie. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Yeah!” said Ty. “Now we can get out of here.”

But as soon as the two girls stepped off the ramp, it sprang quickly back into place, and out of reach.

“Don’t worry,” said Charlie. “I think I know how we can get out of here.”

“You do?” said Ty. “Then why did you take so long? I’ve been starving!”

“I waited so long because I just figured it out,” answered Charlie.

“We just figured it out,” said Cozette. “I was the one who turned that weirdo lily thing.”

“We need to get Brack,” said Ty

“I’ve got a phone,” said Cozette. She turned it on and its pale blue light helped guide them through the hallway.

Tyler Yu looked the way he always did. Spiky black hair, jeans, boots, and a scowl on his face. He stopped before a door. “We have a slight problem,” he said.

“Now what?” asked Annie.

“It’s locked,” Ty said. “Brack’s inside.”

“I have a passkey!” Charlie said. He pulled the keycard out of his pocket.

Charlie heard a low moan from the other side of the door. “Brack!” he called. “It’s us!” Cozette’s phone light made it bright enough to see the door.

Charlie looked at the door and then stopped. “Uh, where’s the slot for the passkey?” The old wooden door had a traditional lock and keyhole.

“These old doors don’t have the new electronic system,” said Annie. “We need an old-school metal key.”

“And that’s probably been missing for fifty years,” said Charlie, groaning.

“Now that you mention it,” said Annie, “there are some old keys hanging behind the desk.”

“You mean these?” asked Cozette. She held out a small ring of dark metal keys.

“How did you —?” Annie started.

“I figured if we were going into the old part of the Hocus Pocus, we might need them,” said Cozette.

“You’re smarter than you look,” said Ty.

“Stand aside,” said Cozette. She tried a few of the keys in the lock. Finally, there was a click.

The door opened, and in the phone’s blue light, they saw a closet door just inside.

“Brack!” called Ty.

A groan came from within the closet. Ty twisted a deadbolt knob on the door and opened it. The four companions saw an old man on the floor inside, his thin back against the wall, his wrinkled face stretched in a grimace of pain.