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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 decidedly much spookier on the inside than on the outside. The further in they went, the more uneasy Lily felt. The sensation that she was being watched wasn't going away, it was getting worse. She felt like every move she made was being made under the watchful eye of someone or something. It was a warm afternoon, yet goosebumps prickled across her forearms.
"This house gives me the creeps" She announced, "What exactly are we meant to be looking for?" She asked, shining her flashlight across a cobwebbed ceiling again.
"I don't know" Nancy replied, "Clues, signs, anything".
"It's a good job I trust you to know what you're doing" Lily frowned, "If anyone else had dragged us all the way here to look for nothing in particular, I'd call their bluff".
"That's a compliment, by the way" Robin said, to Nancy.
Nancy chuckled, "I figured. Thanks, Lil" And when Lily looked a little taken aback by the younger girl using her nickname, she added, awkwardly, "I guess I've been hanging around with Robin and Steve too much lately".
"No, it's okay" Lily assured her, "We've been fighting monsters for four years. We're not strangers, Nance".
"I'm sure you guys have more in common than you think" Robin interjected, "I mean, you've both dated Steve, you live on the same street, and your mom's are best friends. Maybe when we go back to school we could all hang-"
"Rob, stop rambling" Lily laughed.
"I'm sorry" The younger girl replied, "It's just, I've never had a proper group of friends before".
Lily smiled back then, she caught a glimpse of the sleeve of Steve's jacket in the room ahead of them. From where they were, she could see he was examining something on the floor. Without telling the girls where she was going, she broke away and slipped into the room. Whatever Steve had found was bound to be more interesting than aimlessly walking around with no idea what to look for.
The room she'd stepped into seemed to be a bathroom and a very dirty one at that. Steve was crouched over a small metal grate in the floor. Without announcing herself, she walked over and knelt down next to him.
"Hey, loser".
Steve jumped so hard he almost fell over, "Jesus, Lil!"
