Cassandra stood behind Leo as he held the door’s lock with one hand and the broom pole with the other. They exchanged a brief look accompanied by Cassandra’s nod of confirmation, before Leo turned the lock with the usual click. With a long and deep breath, Leo turned the handle and carefully opened the door.

Everyone in the room held their collective breaths as he took his first step forward and soon disappeared beyond the frame. Cassandra followed closely behind and once outside, carefully closed the door behind them.

The alley was almost the same as Leo had seen when he checked a few minutes prior. The only difference was that his sight had been adjusted to the light in the janitor’s room and things looked darker now than they had before. Still, he could make out the large metal container a few steps ahead and the more prominent garbage pieces on the floor.

The door behind them locked with a barely audible click and Leo almost yelped out in alarm, but managed to control himself enough to reduce it to a sharp inhale of air. If Cassandra had been affected at all, she had been quiet enough that he wasn’t able to tell.

Leo turned his face to look at her and pointed to the main road.

“We need to check the main door, see if it’s opened.” Leo whispered.

“I already did that, it isn’t open.”

“Oh… right. Maybe we should have discussed better what to do once we were outside.”

“Sorry…” Cassandra looked dejectedly at the floor. “I was upset and just wanted to leave the room. You wanna go back and discuss some strategies?”

“We are already here, right?” Leo said quietly. “We might as well make something out of it. Let’s explore the alleyway at least.”

Cassandra nodded and Leo smiled at the earnest look on her face. Suddenly she felt completely different than she had been in the room. The almost constant frown was gone and so was the cold indifference.

‘Is it because of that man, Ernesto? Just what is their relationship?’

The thought distracted Leo as the both of them started to take a closer look around the door they had come from. Leo saw a door on the wall opposite the building they had come from. It was further down the alley, closer to the blocked end, so they decided to avoid that one for now.

They stood close to the door to their room, but soon ran out of places to check at eye level. Leo looked up and almost slapped himself in the forehead. An emergency exit snaked its way from the second floor all the way to the top. The lowest level of the platform was high above street level, but maybe if he and Cassandra worked together they could reach out and pull down the retractable ladder.

“Cassandra.” Leo called out. “Found something.”

“What-?” She immediately cut herself mid sentence as she followed his finger pointing up to see the fire exit.

“Of course… Why didn't I think of that earlier?” Leo couldn’t help but chuckle as Cassandra echoed his own thoughts on the matter.

“Why are you laughing?” Cassandra asked with a frown.

“Nothing, it’s just that I had the same thought when I looked up.”

“At least you looked up.” Cassandra said with a brief smile. “What do we do now? How do we get that ladder down?”

“We could drag that metal container here and stand on it.” Leo said pointing to the large empty metal box. It had no lid, but the lips were thick enough that they could easily balance on top. It was shoulder height, which should be enough of a boost to grab the ladder.

“That could work, but it would probably be super noisy.” Cassandra said. “And, can we even drag that? It doesn’t seem light.”

“Maybe not a good idea, then.” Leo said as he turned back to look at the fire exit ladder. “The only other thing I can think of is if I boost you there.”

“It sounds like a good plan.” Cassandra said. “How do you wanna do it?”

“You can sit on my shoulders, maybe then you can reach?”

“I think it’s worth a try.”

Leo crouched under the fire exit as Cassandra awkwardly tried to sit on his shoulders. The situation was mildly uncomfortable for Leo as he held tightly on her thighs between his neck and cheeks.

‘I didn’t realize she had such thick thighs’

Leo’s distraction only lasted a brief moment as he huffed and stood up. He tried not to think much as he followed Cassandra’s instructions on where to move so she could approach the ladder.

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“This is not enough. I can’t reach. Put me down.” Cassandra said after gently tapping twice on Leo’s head. He obeyed and crouched again. She got off his shoulders and stopped squeezing his face between her thighs.

“What now?” Cassandra asked as she looked at Leo a little red in the cheeks.

Leo didn’t answer immediately as he looked away from Cassandra and back at the fire exit.

“How far were you from the ladder?”

“Maybe… This much?” Cassandra gestured to what would more likely be the length of her torso.

“We can make this work if you stand on my shoulders instead of sitting on it.” Leo suggested offhandedly.

“Hmm… That would be enough, but I don’t think I have the balance to do that.” Cassandra said as she fidgeted a little on the spot.

“There is an easy way to do it.” Leo said. “I can help with your balance with my hands.”

Cassandra seemed unsure at Leo’s proposition, but he tried to encourage her with a smile as he spread his legs wide in a sumo instance. He spread his arms wide and motioned towards his back with his head.

“You come from the back. Climb my thighs, then my shoulders. I will assist you with my hands and then I will help stabilize your legs when you go to grab the ladder.”

“I am not sure…” Cassandra’s eyes were filled with apprehension as she eyed Leo.

“It will be fine.” Leo said. “And it’s not like we have another choice, unless you have a better idea.”

“I don’t…” Cassandra eye’s suddenly lit up. “What about the other door? We haven’t checked that! Maybe we can find something.”

“Surely we will find something, but shouldn’t we focus on exploring this building before moving onto the other one?”

“What if they have a ladder we can use, or maybe their door is unlocked?” Cassandra insisted as she tallied off possibilities of her fingers.

“What if the building is overrun with critters? What if it's a trap?” Leo countered. “You know we can spend hours listing good or bad possibilities. We have a real avenue to explore here. Let’s stick with it.”

“I know, I know.” Cassandra said as she looked to the floor and fidgeted with her hair. “It’s just that… I am afraid of heights.”

“Pfft…” Leo managed to stifle his laughter barely in time to stop himself to make a fuss.

“Why are you laughing!” Cassandra's voice was almost too high to be a whisper. “It’s a serious phobia, very common as well.”

“I know, it’s not that that is funny.” Leo said as he recovered his composure. “It’s just that, from all the things that happened recently, this is the one that gets you caught up? Heights?”

“When you say it like that…” Cassandra said and then chuckled.

“See? It’s funny isn’t, it?”

“It’s funny, but that’s not what I am laughing about.” Cassandra said. “How long are you planning on holding this… pose?” She said as she pointed at Leo still holding his sumo instance, although his arms were relaxed now.

“Until you get over your fear and we get that ladder down here.” Leo said with a huff and a playful smile.

“Just… alright, alright. You win.” Cassandra threw her hands in defeat. “But if I fall flat on my face and hurt myself, I am holding you accountable.”

Leo chose not to answer as the both lay down their broomsticks at his feet and Cassandra made her way around him to climb up. They held hands as Cassandra placed an unsteady foot on Leo’s thigh. Her hands were small and soft, with a nice warmness to it. As Cassandra hoisted herself up and placed another foot on Leo’s thigh he had to do his utmost to help her keep her balance.

“I don’t know if I can-” Cassandra started, but Leo cut her off.

“I got you, you can do it.”

A few seconds passed as Cassandra finally managed to steady herself. A sharp inhale of air to strengthen her resolve and Cassandra lifted her left foot and placed it on Leo’s shoulder. His instance was as low as he dared go, and Cassandra just barely managed to keep herself steady as she hoisted herself up again and stood with her two feet on his shoulders. She swung like crazy and Leo had to take a couple of stabilizing steps to keep them both from falling. Neither spoke, too busy concentrating on not falling over.

“I got it!” Cassandra spoke aloud.

“Great! Now pull it down so we can climb up!” Leo allowed himself a smile as he held Cassandra’s shins to help her stability.

“I am on it, but I think it’s stuck.” Cassandra said. “Maybe there is a latch somewhere?”

A rustle from further down the alley caught Leo’s attention and his heart froze as he saw movement on the closed off end of the alley. A silhouette stood from the pile of refuse that was placed at the end of the dark corridor. It clambered down the pile with barely enough coordination not to fall.

“Cassandra, hurry up!” Leo pleaded.

“I am trying. I just can’t seem to find this damn latch!”

Leo could now hear a faint gurgling sound as the creature shook its head and looked around in evident confusion.

“Cassandra! Hurry up!” Leo said louder.

“I am! Why are you in such a hurry?” She said as she glanced down, which she quickly regretted as she grabbed tighter on the metal frame of the platform.

The silhouette locked eyes on Leo and Cassandra’s form. Leo saw the two beady red orbs staring right at him before the creature gave a high pitched scream and charged.

“Because of that!!!” Leo shouted back as Cassandra finally saw the charging creature coming at them.

“Aaah!” Cassandra screamed. “Put me down, put me down!” Cassandra lost her balance as she frantically tried to get down from Leo’s shoulder, but she held onto the frame as she wildly kicked with her legs.

“Climb up! Go up!” Leo told her as he ducked under her dangling feet and grabbed his impromptu wooden weapon.

The creature was closing in on him fast, and the noise it was making wasn’t going to make things easier for them later. If there was one of them here, surely there must be others around. Leo raised the broomstick at the charging menace as he slowly paced back towards the door to the janitor’s room. Unfortunately, he doubted he would be able to get there in enough time to get it unlocked and opened before the creature was upon him. The only thing left then was to fight it.