Six grunted as she pulled herself up another step. Her body was coated in a light sheen of sweat, despite the cold. Maybe Harry had the right idea giving her the jacket? Looking back, she reached down and helped him up the last step, watching with some amusement as he rolled onto his back, panting for breath.


    "Thanks," he breathed out. Those steps were much harder to climb than he thought. And he thought they''d be pretty hard to begin with. Each step was as tall as them, meaning they literally had to pull themselves up.


    "Your welcome," Six stated, looking around. They were on a flat area, with a door next to them. From what she could spot by looking up, there were at least four other rooms before they reached the top.


    She wasn''t sure if they should check the room or not, as the thing they needed was at the summit. But at the same time, they could use a break before continuing their arduous journey. And who knows, they might just find something useful inside.


    "Come on," she told him when his breathing mostly evened out. Harry watched as she stood up and made her way over to one of those creepy doors with the eye on it. He wondered if that was a common theme throughout this world, or was it just places connected to The Nest?


    Groaning, Harry forced himself to his feet, reluctantly mind you, and made his way over to his friend, who assumed the position. Not having the energy to argue, he placed his foot in her hands and she threw him up to the handle.


    The door opened with a loud squeak, causing them to flinch. Both of them darted away from the door, ready to hide somehow if something came looking. After several tense seconds, they released a sigh of relief when nothing came to hunt them.


    Making their way towards the room, they opened the door the rest of the way, trying to be as quiet as possible. Once there, they were greeted by what looked like a storage room of some kind, with all kinds of baubles and trinkets lining up several shelves.


    The room was damp, something they expected, and they could hear the constant dripping of a leaky roof. Or perhaps a pipe, they didn''t know.


    Slowly and carefully, they made their way further in, looking about every which way for danger. But besides the obnoxious sound of the dripping constantly ringing in their ears, there didn''t seem to be an immediate threat.


    "So, any idea of what we should be looking for?" Harry asked quietly. Six looked around the room, narrowing her eyes at all the seemingly useless things shoved into the room. Nothing was organized in any way, and most of it was just shoved onto a rack without a care.


    "The top room is most likely locked, so look for a key. Or anything that could be useful," she said, getting a nod from him. The two separated, each going down a different aisle. The room wasn''t very big, so they weren''t afraid to divide and conquer, so to speak.


    The two silently creeped along the floor, both doing their best to make as little noise as possible. Something that was instinctual to both of them at this point, though for different reasons. Six because of her experience in the Nowhere, and Harry from his experience at the Dursleys.


    Looking around, Harry noticed that most everything was broken. It reminded him of the attic. Who needs a box full of broken light bulbs? He''s heard of hoarding, but this really took the cake.


    Seeing a cloth covering a plastic bin, Harry carefully removed it…


    "Hss!"


    "Ah!"


    Only to jump back startled as a rat, with pitch black fur matted together, hissed angrily at him for disturbing his nap. The worst part was he slipped on the wet, slick floor, landing painfully on his back. He watched as the rat scurried away, out of the room, only to stop at the entrance to look back and give him a smug look.


    "You ok?" Six asked from the other side of the aisle. Harry sighed, resting his head against the cool, stone floor.


    "Yeah, I''m fine. Why is it always me though?" he grumbled, making Six snigger a bit. Harry looked up, and spotted something on the top shelf. It looked like a crank or a winch, he wasn''t sure.


    "Hey Six," he whisper yelled.


    "Yeah?"


    "I think I found something."


    Six abandoned the thing she was looking through, which was just a box filled with doll heads, making her way towards her friend. Seeing him laying there, relaxing on the floor made her raise one of her delicate brows at him. Seeing she was paying attention to him, he pointed up at something. Following his gaze, her eyes landed on the crank as well.


    "Think we''re going to need that?" he asked. Six hummed in thought. So far, they haven''t found anything of use in this room, and she hasn''t spotted any other exits either. No vents of cracks in the wall of any kind.


    "Probably. Wait here, I''ll get it," Six said. Harry nodded, which looked funny given his position. Six looked for the best way to climb up before she started her journey. She started on the left side, climbing up some boxes that were stacked together, going up a couple of rungs before she had to stop.


    She made her way onto the shelf, carefully avoiding all the broken things laying haphazardly across it. Making it to the other side she climbed onto a cage, climbing it to the next level. From there she made her way to the center, where she tugged on a rope dangling over the edge, making sure it was stable. Satisfied that it was, she climbed that up.


    Finally, she only had one more level to go. She made her way all the way back to the left, climbing on some plastic crates. But there was a large, wooden box blocking her from going straight up, so she had to shimmy around the corner to climb up the side before finally making it to the top.


    Harry, who had been watching her the whole time, ready to catch her should she fall, sighed in relief. Not that he doubted her abilities or anything, but it was better safe than sorry.


    Six walked over to the crank, inspecting it. As far as she could see it was in working condition. She looked over the edge, seeing Harry staring up at her. "I''m going to throw it down, so look out," she called down. Harry gave her a salute, making her shake her head wryly at him.


    She picked up the fairly heavy crank, and held it over the edge before dropping it. Harry, who was over at the far end of the room now, winced at the heavy metal banging sound that echoed throughout the room. The crank bounced a bit, skidding across the floor before coming to a stop as it hit a shelf.


    "All good?" Six said.


    "I think so," he yelled back. Six nodded and started to make her way back to the ledge she crawled up on, when a loud bang made her stop in her tracks. It sounded like a door slamming shut.


    Harry down below also stopped, staring at the entrance of the room with trepidation. He hoped that sound was just a figment of his imagination, but his worst fears were realized when he heard the tell tale thumps of something big and heavy walking down the stairs.


    Something he heard everyday living at the Dursleys. But more importantly, it meant something was coming.


    "Quick, hide!" Six called out, diving behind the large wooden box next to her. She would have hid inside, but it was filled with hair. Doll hair, and not the kind that belonged to the human dolls The Pretender likes to play with.


    She hoped.


    Hearing her shout spurred Harry to action as he ran towards the shelf along the wall, intending to hide beneath it. But then he remembered the crank. It would look awfully suspicious if that was left out in the middle of the floor.


    Even if the monsters here weren''t the smartest, he''d rather not take that chance. So he quickly sprinted back towards the crank, even as the footsteps steadily got louder. He picked the thing up and stuck it on the bottom shelf, grunting at the weight of it.


    Looking towards the door, he could see a light getting brighter. Figuring he didn''t have enough time to make it back to the other shelf, Harry hid beneath this one, right underneath a box of junk. Hopefully that would be good enough.


    It didn''t take much longer after that before their guest made an uninvited appearance. Six, who was peeking out from behind the box, widened her eyes at the sight of it.


    The Resident came lumbering it, heavy footsteps thumping loudly in the dimly lit room, almost in perfect timing with the dripping of the water. Its feet were covered by large, thick rubber boots, colored a reddish brown and covered in holes. With every step, thick, greenish black ooze squelched out from them.


    His pants were a dark brown, and covered in innumerable stains. Six shuddered to think what, or who, could have made them. A large leather coat covered his torso, hiding his bulky form from sight. Two large pockets were sewn on either side of the coat, big enough for a child their size to hide inside. Not that she''d ever want to.


    In his left hand was a lantern, or at least something that resembled one. It looked like it was completely made of metal, and there was a large eye sculpted into it, shining an eerie light into the room.


    But the strangest thing about him was his head. Like most of the Residents, his face was warped and twisted, and his skin was a splotchy green. That, however, wasn''t the weird part. What made him so strange was the fact that his head was completely encapsulated by a glass structure that looked like a copy of the one on top of the lighthouse, the one that housed the beacon.


    He stopped in the doorway, looking inside, searching for whatever made the noise. Six knelt back behind the box to make sure she wasn''t caught. After staring at the room for a bit, he made his way inside, head inside the glass turning slowly to look at everything in the room.


    As he stepped neat where Harry was hiding, some of the slime from his boots splashed onto him, making him flinch back. Not just from the feeling of it, but the smell; like cabbage left to rot in the sewer. But in doing so, his foot kicked something behind him, making a startlingly loud scraping noise.


    Everything seemed to stop, and Harry unconsciously began to hold his breath, fear taking over. He watched the boots take those lumbering steps, turning to face him. Without a doubt he was looking for what made the noise. If Harry was lucky, he wouldn''t bother checking underneath.


    But since when was he lucky? He heard him checking above him, moving things along the shelves, searching, but when he didn''t find anything, he went to a lower shelf. If he moved the box Harry was hiding under, it was all over.


    He started to think of what he could do. His magic was always an option, one which it was looking like he would need to use. Judging by his appearance, Harry could hazard a guess and say the glass structure holding his head was his weak spot. So if he could just break that…This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    He heard the box above him rattle, and knew he didn''t have the time to consider his options more closely. Once the box was moved, he would be forced to act.


    Six, who had been watching this, thought of her own plan to get him out of trouble. Luckily, the big oaf wasn''t looking in her direction, which gave her pretty much free reign to do as she pleased.


    Her thoughts on his weakness mirrored Harry''s own, so she looked for something heavy she could throw at it. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find anything like that. Releasing a frustrated sigh in her mind, she looked to see what she could use.


    That''s when she had her lightbulb moment. Literally. She spotted an intact lightbulb just begging to be thrown. That would make for a decent distraction.


    Carefully making her way towards it, taking every measure to ensure she didn''t make any noise that would give away her position, she picked up the lightbulb and faced the door. Using all of her strength, which was a surprising amount given her stature, she chucked it, watching as it sailed in an arc, crashing to the floor just in front of the door.


    The monster immediately turned to face the noise, lantern held high, the beam of light shooting out from the eye in its center, making contact with the shattered remains of the lightbulb. But that wasn''t the only thing. It seems the rat had chosen to make an appearance, getting caught in the beam as it entered the room.


    It immediately began turning into stone. It let out a pitiful squeak of agony before it was completely petrified. Six, who had knelt down to hide behind a stuffed, grotesque, teddy bear, watched this happen almost spellbound. She thought the lantern was just a lantern, but this…


    This was bad. Those eyes were a pain when they were stationary, let alone mobile. She watched as the monster walked up to the stone rat and picked it up, turning it around in its thick, putrid green hands. After a moment, it made a grunting noise, before squeezing, shattering the poor animal to pieces.


    With that, it began to trudge outside, plodding along slowly. Once outside, it turned left heading back up the stairs. Six watched as the light from the lantern slowly disappeared from view.


    Several tense seconds went by, with neither of them daring to move until they could no longer hear his footsteps. Once that happened, she left her hiding space, staring at the entrance with trepidation.


    She saw Harry climb out from underneath the shelf, shaking dust out of his wild head of hair. If she weren''t so rattled by that encounter, she may have found it amusing.


    "Hairy, you ok?" she whispered down to him. He looked up at her and gave her a shaky thumbs up. Sighing in relief, Six began her somewhat arduous journey back to the ground. Not for the first time she cursed how small she was. Made hiding easy, sure, but everything else was a bit of a pain.


    Once she reached the ground, she walked up to Harry, who was standing by their prize, the crank, which they had no idea if they would need it or not. Six was banking on yes, if for no other reason than to make all the trouble she just went through to get it worthwhile.


    "I hope this was worth the trouble," Harry muttered, echoing some of Six''s thoughts. And their struggle was only just starting, because now they would have to somehow get the heavy, metal object up the stairs.


    Six walked up to the crank and picked it up. "Need some help with that?" he asked. Six shook her head, making her way towards the door. Once they were there, they couldn''t help but stare at the pile of dust and rock that used to be a rat.


    "I kind of feel bad for it," Harry said, not stopping. Six nodded, though she was mostly upset that they lost a potential source of food rather than any real empathy for the rat. She''s seen what they could do if they were hungry enough, and it wasn''t pretty.


    Still, being turned to stone wasn''t the best way to go.


    The pair made it to the stairs, and they took a moment to gaze up at the daunting challenge ahead of them. Seeing them up close, Six realized there would be no way for her to throw the crank up to the next step.


    "Hairy do you think you can get up on the next step and pull this thing up?" she asked, slightly out of breath. They may not have had to walk very far, but the distance was more than enough while carrying this thing with her.


    "Oh, right. Gimme a second," he responded.


    "No rush," she snarked back, making Harry roll his eyes. He jumped up and grabbed the ledge before hauling himself up. Once there, he turned around, grabbing the lever of the crank before hefting it up.


    Six was relieved when the weight left her arms, rubbing some feeling back into them. She heard her companion set the crank down before seeing his mop of messy black hair leaning over the edge. He reached a hand out for her to grab so he could help her up to the next step.


    Six smiled at the sight. "Always thinking of me, aren''t you?" she thought, jumping up and grabbing his hand. He helped her up, and they sat there for a minute, mostly so Six could catch her breath.


    "By the way, thanks for that in there. I wasn''t sure what I was going to do," Harry said, giving her a grateful smile.


    "Probably something reckless," Six responded with a little smirk. Harry gave an affronted huff, turning away from her, which only made her smirk more. He sure as heck wasn''t going to admit that''s exactly what he was about to do.


    "Whatever, let''s just get this stupid thing up the stupid stairs already," Harry said, picking up the crank with an angry groan. Six sniggered a bit before she got up, climbing to the next step.


    The two would continue this alternating pattern of holding up the crank while the other hauled it to the next level. It took them far longer than they would have liked, but they weren''t willing to take a break either, knowing that The Lighthouse Keeper could show up at any minute.


    Eventually they manage to reach the next floor, huffing and puffing from the excursion.


    "Finally… We made it…" Harry huffed out. His small, emaciated body was not meant for such strenuous exercise. His stomach roared loudly, almost sounding like the thunder that rumbled outside.


    He held it with his hand, rubbing it softly, idly counting his very visible ribs as he did so. He was really regretting throwing up earlier. "Think they have food in this place?" he asked, giving Six a sidelong glance. She gave him a nod, "Yeah, they must. Where there''s rats, there''s food. And that rat was pretty fat."


    Thinking about it, he couldn''t help but agree. That rat did look well fed. Sure its fur was a mess, but that rat itself looked as healthy as could be. Kind of made him jealous.


    "So we just need to find the pantry. Think we''ll get lucky and it''s behind that door?" Harry asked, gesturing to the door with his head.


    "Knowing our luck it''s probably locked," she commented.


    "You just jinxed it, I hope you know that," Harry accused, making Six roll her eyes. She forced herself to her feet, dusting her clothes off, before offering Harry her hand. "Come on, let''s see for ourselves," she said. He grabbed it and let her haul him to his feet.


    "Fine, but I reserved the right to blame you if it is locked," Harry said.


    "Whatever makes you feel better," Six said, smirking as Harry grumbled as he followed behind. Once they reached the door, she tossed him up, watching as he grabbed the handle, which refused to budge.


    Harry then dropped to the ground, giving Six the stink eye. "I blame you."


    Six rolled her eyes again, giving him a lighthearted push, "No use complaining. Come one, let''s keep going," she said, making him groan.


    "Do we have to take that thing with us? We don''t even know if we need it," Harry complained. Six raised an eyebrow at him. "And what if we do need it? Do you really want to climb back down here to get it?"


    It wasn''t like she enjoyed the workout, but she was almost certain it would save them some grief in the long run if they just sucked it up now.


    "No…" Harry moaned in a defeated tone. Six gave him a head pat to make him feel better, but he just swiped her hand away with a petulant pout.


    The two then continued their journey upward, making slow but steady progress as they did so. Their arms and legs were burning by this point, and their lungs felt like they were on fire, but still, they made it to the third floor.


    "Look… at that… we''re… halfway there… already…" Six wheezed out. Harry would have responded, but he was far too tired to. He couldn''t even think of a snarky comeback in his mind. All he could do was lay there and suck up oxygen.


    Several minutes went by before they managed to force themselves onto their feet. It was more time then they should have taken, considering the danger that lurked above them and not knowing when it could return, but they just couldn''t force themselves to get up.


    Not even Six.


    But eventually their rest ended, and they made their way to the door, with Six throwing Harry at the handle again. Unlike the door below them, this one opened up easily enough. Unfortunately, it also let out a loud, grinding squeak as it did so.


    Harry dropped to the floor, and the two of them stood there, waiting with baited breath to see if The Lighthouse Keeper would make an appearance. The sound of a door above them opening with the same sound as the one in front of them gave them their answer.


    "Quick, inside!" Six whispered, as the door above them squealed shut. She quickly ran over to the crank and grabbed it before looking up. She could see the light coming from that accursed lantern slowly making its way down the stairs.


    Not wasting any time, she darted back towards the open door, with Harry waiting just on the other side. Once she was inside, he pushed against the door, shutting it tight. No reason to give the monster a clue to where they are. With any luck he would just move on and check the floors below.


    But just in case…


    They needed a place to hide. Turning around, he saw the room he was in for the first time, having not paid much attention when he first entered. When he did, he couldn''t stop the shiver that ran down his spine.


    It was similar to the ritual room in that it was covered with cages of mostly one size. Sure there was some variation between them, but it was clear they were meant to house someone of his and Six''s size. Some of them were tipped over on their sides, others were dented or broken, and some were so rusted they would probably never open.


    The initial sight of them caused his heart to quicken, and for a moment he felt lightheaded. Just remembering what happened in that place was enough for his brain to shut down.


    But a noise broke him out of it, and he stared at the form of Six, who had dropped the crank behind a box. Shaking his head clear of the fear, he quickly made his way towards her, and together they made their way further back, squeezing through a gap between two cages.


    Now hidden, they once more waited. Soon enough they heard the sound of The Lighthouse Keeper''s footsteps against the backdrop of rain and thunder. They stopped in front of the door, and Harry cursed their rotten luck.


    The door opened with another screech, and that terrifying light illuminated the room. They ducked behind the cages, making sure not a single part of them could be seen. If it was, the monster would know for sure where they were.


    The light passed over every inch of the room, with its handler gazing insided, hoping to find something. But when it couldn''t find anything, it gave a huff, before turning around, slamming the door shut and continuing towards the floors below.


    Six and Harry let out sighs of relief. They waited until his footsteps disappeared before coming out from behind the cages.


    "That was close. That guy needs to get a better hobby," Harry said, as the two stood in the center of the room, next to a large pillar. Now that there wasn''t the threat of danger, they could observe the room in its entirety.


    Six looked all around, trying to spot anything that was out of place, with Harry using his flashlight to get a better look. The room was fairly dark, with a dull lightbulb above them their only source of light.


    "Look, there," Six said after a bit of looking. Harry followed her line of sight, and saw some kind of indention in the large pillar.


    "What is it?" he asked, walking closer to it.


    "I''ll show you," Six said, in a tone that Harry would classify as smug. He watched as she made her way back towards the crank before picking it up. She then headed straight for the pillar, giving Harry a pretty good idea of what was about to happen.


    His theory was proven correct as she slid part of the crank into the slot, leaving the lever outside. Once that was done, she started to turn it, slowly, as quietly as she could. From above them, a hook connected to thick chains descended. Once it reached approximately their height, she stopped.


    However, when she released the crank lever, the chain began to rise up. Seeing this, Harry grabbed onto tit to prevent it from doing so, but mostly just to keep the noise down.


    "Looks like it was a good thing we brought that crank up here after all," she said, saddling up next to him, a haughty, pleased look on her face. Harry rolled his eyes at her, "Yeah, yeah, good job. But what exactly are we supposed to do now?"


    Six hummed in thought before grabbing the flashlight from Harry, who was too preoccupied to use it. She focused the light on the chain, following where it went, which turned out to be into the rafters above the cages. From there she wasn''t sure, but there was likely a path up there they couldn''t see.


    But first, they needed some way to hold the chain down. They could attach it to the crank itself, but that would angle the chain, making it harder to climb. She supposed they could separate as well, with one of them operating the crank to raise the other one up, but she didn''t want to do that either. They were stronger together.


    She began looking around for something to use as a counter weight, when she spotted a cage slightly sticking out from the rest. Not only that, but there was a ring on top they could stick the hook through.


    That would work, the only problem was the noise. There was little doubt they would be heard even with the storm outside masking some of the sound. And this time, it was unlikely The Lighthouse Keeper would be so blasé about looking for them. Once they attached the hook, they would need to climb fast.


    She explained the plan to Harry, who looked nervous, but agreed. Harry brought the chain over as far as he could so he could attach it and help her drag it over faster. They didn''t want the climb to be harder than it had to be, so they wanted the chain as straight as they could get it.


    Not wanting to waste anymore time or let doubts sink in, Six made her way to the cage, turning back to her friend. "Ready?" she asked.


    "Ready," he answered. That was all the confirmation she needed. She grabbed the cage and began to pull, wincing at the incredibly loud squealing noise it made as she dragged it across the ground.


    It was somewhat slow going, as the cage was pretty heavy and the stone floor was not the smoothest thing to drag it across, but she was making steady progress. When she was about halfway there, Harry shoved the hook through the ring before running to the other side and pushing. With his help, it didn''t take them long to make it to the center.


    "Alright, we did it. Now we just have to-" but Harry was interrupted by the sound of footsteps making its way up the stairs. They gave each other a panicked look, before Six called out, "Climb!"


    She jumped on top of the cage and began to climb. Once she was on the chain, Harry followed right after. They didn''t have too far to go, but they were still in a race against time.


    Would they be able to make it?