Chapter 1: Cavae Oculos

   Staccato tapping sounds echo stickily through the dark laundromat. Theo wipes sweat and blood from his face, panting as he pulls himself into an abandoned washing machine. It smells of detergent, body odor, and putrid socks. He gags—a strangled sound that was surely too quiet for Them to hear.

   He is mistaken. 

   They hear.

   And they are coming for him, those horrific creatures. Soulless disembodied eye sockets with fangs in place of lashes, oozing acidic saliva, inching toward him and leaving streams of slimy drool in their wake. 

   Theo wishes he'd never accepted that dare. After all, who knew just how creepy an abandoned laundromat could be?

As the creatures draw nearer, a faint humming sound becomes audible. Theo cowers in the rollicking recesses of the oversized machine, wishing he had the option of shutting the door on himself.

At this point, it is kind of too late for that. They have heard him. They sense him. They are coming. And there is nothing he can do about it.

Theo holds his breath, squeezing one eye shut—the eye that is bleeding. He doesn't want to see the creatures, but he also doesn't want to be blind to Their assaults. 

They loom around the machine he's in, the humming sound growing all the louder. It is soothing, but Theo fights the urge to be relaxed. Adrenaline pumps through his veins. Heart hammers inside his ribs. Limbs tremble. Head aches from the musty scents and lack of sufficient oxygen.

All of these things should prevent him from succumbing to the soothing hums emanating from the hollow eye sockets hovering around him. 

These things are not enough.