A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

They had returned to their table up in the one dining room. Anita hadn't really said anything. She just looked worried and would sip at her ginger ale. (F/n) tapped her fingers on the tabletop and listened to the sounds of stone being destroyed. All of her wanted to believe that it had been a shelf or something else falling over, but that pounding sounded too distinct to be an object falling. Sure, the wall muffled the sound, but she didn't think that a wall would affect the sound that much.

Maybe, she just was over thinking the situation, and it'd be fine. They'd have nothing to worry about once opening the wall, and they'd have more room to store items. She released a light sigh and ran her right fingers through her (h/l) (h/c) locks. Anita glanced over to her friend. "We should know soon."

"Yeah. The room probably was constructed horribly, and the previous owner didn't want to deal with it or something like that," (f/n) muttered before she met Anita's gaze and gave somewhat of a reassuring smile. "At least, the contractor doesn't seem worried about this hidden room. And, that hole he found probably had happened from age, or the stone had a defect in it."

"Exactly," Anita commented in order to add further reassurance.

Both of them shared a small smile with each other before they heard Jason calling for them. Getting up, (f/n) led the way. Jason had his tools set to the side, and they could see a hole big enough to walk through now in the wall. "It's ready. And, it looks like it was a shelf." He signaled them both to come down. (F/n) headed down first, and Anita stayed somewhat behind her, neither too sure of Jason's words just yet.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, they saw darkness beyond the hole before Jason turned on his flashlight and shone it into the space. "There is a light switch over to the left of this wall." He shone it in, and both of them looked over before Anita jumped and screamed. Instantly, she ran behind (f/n), who peered over and nearly screamed herself. There in the left corner by the light switch was an old male mannequin. "Ah, sorry about that." Jason gave them an apologetic look. "I forgot that some people don't like these things too much."

"It's not that; we just thought that it was an actual person for a moment," (f/n) clarified, but she did find the thing creepy, especially with only the flashlight illuminating it. There were cracks in its pale face, and a piece of plastic was missing from its left leg, revealing a bit of metal pipe.

"Ah, right, but it does look pretty old," Jason commented, stepping into the room and keeping the light on the mannequin. "But, it also looks pretty well made. It's jointed, which definitely isn't common for a mannequin that's this big. At least, in this area I haven't seen any like this." The mannequin was about six feet tall, and it had dark brown eyes. Its hair was in a gelled back style and was pitch black, but some of the color had faded with time. It also had sharp cheekbones, a pointed nose and square face type. Covering its torso and upper thighs was a sheet hanging on it loosely.

For a moment longer, he kept the light on the mannequin before he turned it away and walked further into the room. Both (f/n) and Anita were half-expecting the mannequin to come to life and attack Jason like in some horror movie, but it remained completely still. "Not much else in here but some shelves;" the flashlight shone over six wooden shelves in total, "however, this one seems to have been your problem." He faced them again and walked back towards them. Right by where the hole was, there was a shelf on the ground. The wood looked like it had collapsed in on itself. "Seems like time finally wore away at it. The other shelves in here aren't in too much better shape. Probably should get some new ones instead of using these."

Pieces of the wood did look like they had been ate away at by termites, and like Jason pointed, the other shelves seemed to have a similar issue. (F/n) stepped into the space more and crouched down by the shelf. She didn't really see how a shelf collapsing could sound like pounding, but it was pretty broken up. Her eyes glanced around the room, and there was nowhere in the room where an animal could've gotten in from. The stone wall was all intact.

"So, should I come back and tear down the rest of the wall?" he asked as Anita reluctantly stepped into the space before she headed over to the light switch. "Oh, I wouldn't turn that on just yet. Given how old that mannequin looks and the dust in this place," he and they had coughed a few times here and there, "the wiring probably needs to be checked for this room."

Looking back to her friend, (f/n) wanted Anita's opinion before she said anything. "Well, you might as well. It seems like the space is in decent condition, and if we can get the wiring checked out, we'll have a lot more room to operate with, which will be useful."Anita stared to the mannequin for a moment and poked it. It didn't do anything. She focused back on Jason and started to look like she was relaxing more. "So yeah if you could come back tomorrow, that'd be great."

"Alright, will the evening be a better time?" He adjusted the hard hat on his head a bit before he looked to both of them.

"Yes," (f/n) responded, standing back up. "We might work on cleaning up some of this dust in the meantime." She coughed a few times. "The dust in here is pretty bad."

"Okay, I'll see you both at six tomorrow." He waved to them and picked up his tools. "You can pay me once all the work is done." Jason gave them a polite smile before he headed back up the steps.

Anita followed him up and called down to (f/n). "I'll get some cleaning supplies. Be back in a bit." (F/n) sweat-dropped. Of course, she'd go get them. She sighed and let her shoulders hang a bit before she rested her hands on her hips and looked around again. Her eyes landed back on the mannequin.

"Hmm," she hummed out. Why would a mannequin be in the storage space? She got the shelves, but there only was one mannequin. Was it because it was damaged? Her eyes moved down to its hands. Hands could pound against walls. Suddenly, a chill went up her spine. What if ... No, that couldn't be it. Really, she needed to get her head out of the horror genre. It wasn't going to come to life and attack her.

Tapping her foot, she wondered why the prior owner even would have a mannequin. Hadn't the owner had a restaurant? Maybe, the owner dressed it up and used it for advertisement purposes? Curiosity and worry still nagged at her, though, and she stepped closer to it even if that seemed like a bad idea. She grabbed one of its hands and moved the fingers about. It really was made well. When she looked up and examined its face, she didn't see the eyes move or the head suddenly turn on her. Nothing of the sort happened; it just stared blankly back at her with dark brown hues and thin lips, which gave the mannequin a neutral expression.

Having been so focused on the mannequin, she missed Anita's steps on the stairs. "Jason left," she announced, which caused (f/n) to jump a little. Anita chuckled lightly before she looked to the mannequin. "I got flashlights, mops, rags and a bucket with water." She set it all down, and the water splashed a bit in its plastic container.

"So, you left me down here?" (F/n) raised a brow and didn't look amused.

"You're fine." Anita waved her hand dismissively. "And, it was the shelf." She looked to the mannequin. "Besides, that thing didn't come alive and start pounding on the wall."

"You were giving it odd looks earlier, Anita. You even screamed and jumped. I know that the thought went through your mind too," (f/n) pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. "And, what about practically bolting up those steps with Jason? I'm surprised that you're down here."

"Okay fine," she finally admitted and pouted a bit. "But, Jason reassured me when I followed him up that it really was the shelf and that the building is fine. He said not to worry and that the mannequin probably had been used as an advertisement scheme at some point, and it got put down here because it was damaged. The last owner didn't want it, so it got sealed up too." She shrugged and sounded much more casual than before.

"He really convinced you," (f/n) noted, raising a brow. "Something I should know about?"

"He's not my boyfriend if that's what you're thinking." Anita rolled her eyes. "Anyway, this place does still creep me out but not as much as before. Yes, I was jumpy earlier, but Jason made some good points." She hit (f/n) playfully on the upper arm. "Besides, I'm not going to let a mannequin get me over thinking and chase me out of the business that we've worked so hard for. I was getting too worked up before because we didn't have an answer to the sound." Pointing to shelves, she mentioned, "Now, we do. And anyway, it's a mannequin, nothing more, and we probably can use it to advertise also. It's made well, and we can cover up the leg with some pants. Some paint will work with its hair too." Her eyes fell on the cracks in its face. "Those, I'm sure that they won't be much of an issue. They're not awful."

Sighing, (f/n) hung her head a bit. "I suppose that you're right. I'm just letting horror movies get to me." She grabbed a mop and smiled to Anita. "So since you've seemed to have changed a new leaf, does this mean that you'll be coming down here to grab items too?"

Grinning, Anita grabbed her own mop. "Well, we'll have to see about that." (F/n) rolled her eyes before she smiled and shook her head. Of course, she would say something like that, and (f/n) pushed away negative thoughts for the moment. She'd trust her friend's opinion and told herself to stop worrying.