I’m in a hallway now. It’s not so dark that I can’t see anything. That kind of light blocking only comes from pasting foil over all the windows. Double foil. And still you can see some pinprick holes in the foil if someone shines a bright light right at it. This place doesn’t have foil. My eyes are adjusting just fine in here.

White wall on either side of me. Black rectangle starting at the floor to my left, black rectangle starting at the floor at the end of the hallway. Black rectangle on the right, next to the black rectangle at the end of the hall. That’s the bathroom at the end, the bedroom next to it, and maybe a study on the left. Doors. Those are doors. What else would they be. This is easy. You’ve never walked inside your house when it’s all dark? Why the fuck not?

I amble to the door on the right. It’s not cracked so I can’t peek in. I stick my eyes right up to it. Time for some discovery. The knob looks strong. Not like the knobs that you can stick a small screwdriver in the hole on the outside and pop the lock. This is a hefty knob indeed. That’s good though. Less rattling when you fool with it. I grip it soft, then harder, and I’m lifting up on it while slowly pushing the door open. That’s for creaks in the hinges. Can't have a creaky hinges.

Refrigerator kicking on, yes. Creaky hinges, no. Hinges don’t creak on their own. Refrigerators make their own sounds so you don’t even hear them any more. The neighbors opening their dresser drawer at the same time at 630am is also like a refrigerator. People recognize the sounds in their own houses. I keep a steady pressure up on the knob and a steady pressure on the door going in. Then I stop and take my hands off of everything.

This is a new room. Need to listen and smell before going inside. It’s darker in here. Much darker. I can’t see any outlines of things that are usually inside a bedroom. Too dark. I think I hear something coming from the corner of the room, but it’s hard to tell. That could be a natural sound. Could be a mini fridge in the corner for all I know. This is exciting. Not knowing. Guessing.

I close my eyes since it’s dark anyway. Helps me focus. I imagine the room and where furniture is usually placed. My bedside table is next to my bed. Makes sense. Most rooms have closets. This room probably has a closet on the side of the room facing the kitchen. On the right. Wouldn’t be on the wall that’s next to the hallway. Unless the closet was about two inches deep. It would only hold socks. Beds don’t go against closet doors, so the bed is probably across from the closet doors on the other side of the room. I’m starting to see it clearly. Light switches are always inside the door for easy reaching. I can reach out right now and flip it if I want, but I don’t think I should. Or I could, then take off running right away? I can see things pretty fast and still keep them in my head.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

What am I doing? Do I want to see the man and talk to him? I don’t remember why I’m in here. I wanted to see what the deal was I guess. Where that shed went. It’s mysterious. I flip on the light. I’m about blinded. Everything is right where I thought it would be. There’s a small double bed neatly made up and next to it is a nightstand, but no drawers. I was wrong about that. I thought it would have drawers. Or at least one drawer.

Yep. There’s the closet. Across from the bed. Got those sliding cheap hollow doors that can smush your fingers if you’re not too careful. They’re also loud to open. Not going to do that yet. I leave the light on and head back into the hallway. I check the bathroom real quick since the door is cracked on this one. No nightlight, but I can see it fine from the light I left on the the bedroom. I poke my head in and there's the usual bathroom things, sink, mirror, toilet. Boring bathroom. I’m starting to think that the mouth man is either just a normal guy, or he never uses any of these things.

I flick on the light in there too and look behind the door, just in case. There’s a bathrobe hanging from the back of the door on a little white plastic hook you might get from the dollar store. The bathrobe looks frayed on the sleeves, but it looks clean enough I guess. It looks staged though. I go to the sink and run my fingers over the drain. Dry. I open the shower curtain slowly. There’s still that other room that he could be in. But I need to check this out before I go all wild and tromp into something dangerous.

No shampoo or conditioner. Not even the combo kind for the undiscerning. No soap, no hairs clinging to the walls or in the drain. This drain is dry too. I turn around and open the medicine chest over the sink. Nothing inside other than a cheap bar of soap. The brown wax paper kind that you might get from a hotel then leave up on the top shelf of your medicine chest, forgetting it when you move out because you were never going to use it anyway.

I get a bad feeling. I’m still holding the key tightly in my hand. I can just walk straight out of here. Lock the door, put the key back under the mat and go back where it’s safe with TV and snacks. I’ll walk like I own the place. Not like I’m sneaking. Sneaking gets attention.