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

Hand resting on the doorknob, it slowly turned the object. Held up by her other hand was the lamp. She was ready to hit whatever was on the other side if anything was there. (F/n) threw open the door. Again, she scanned both ways. Nothing was there. After another inhale and exhale, she swiftly closed her door and dashed off towards her friend's. Once she reached it, she threw it open, closed it behind her and locked the door.

Given her haste, she didn't notice what was on the other side of her door. She didn't see him there even as she ran towards Anita's room. (F/n) had been too focused on her reaching her friend that she hadn't even caught sight of him standing right in the hallway. An amused smirk was on his lips, and he walked along the hallway until he reached the stairs and headed down. The entire time, she heard light creaking in the hallway, and she stood by the door with the lamp at the ready.

The creaking was getting quieter, however, which was a good sign? Maybe? She didn't know, but she heard movement behind her. (F/n) peered over her left shoulder and saw Anita sitting up on her bed. Anita rubbed her eyes and looked on in confusion. "... (F/n)?" Her light brown optics glanced to the lamp. "Everything okay?"

"I don't know." Slowly, (f/n) relaxed and set the lamp down on the ground as she moved a little bit away from the door. Worried, Anita got out of bed and walked across the beige carpet. She seated herself on the ground and patted the space in front of her for (f/n) to take a seat. (F/n) glanced to the door before she looked back to her friend and seated herself. No longer could she hear the creaking sound.

"That creaking sound from the storage area, I heard it up here. It was in my room, and I saw something leaving my room. I even it heard it as I came in here." She pointed to the lamp. "That had been moved without my doing so." (F/n) rested her hands on her knees and clenched her grey pajama pants. "I came in here because I was worried."

Concerned, Anita hummed in thought. "Are you sure?"

"I think so. I don't know. I might be tired and just hearing things, but I hadn't been dreaming either." (F/n) tightened her hold on her knees. "I just don't know what to make of it. I kept hearing it, and the lamp moved. Nothing was in the hallway, though, but I had seen my door close on its own."

"Well, we either have an intruder or," Anita met her friend's gaze head on and knew what (f/n) was thinking of, "that mannequin came to life." (F/n)'s (e/c) optics widened, but Anita gave her a reassuring smile. "I doubt that's the case, though." She leaned over and flicked her friend playfully on the forehead. "Right now, we don't hear anything out there, but to be safe, we should stay in here. Come morning, we'll check if anything was stolen and if any windows or doors are unlocked and/or opened."

Anita stood up from the ground. "I have my cell phone with me. We can call for help if anything else happens." She walked over to her nightstand and picked up her phone. "It'll be plugged in the whole time too so that it doesn't run out of battery. Okay?"

Not entirely convinced, (f/n) felt silly for asking, but she needed further reassurance. "And, if it's the mannequin? Then what? We won't notice in the morning if it moved or not since it might've moved back into its spot."

"Well if it is moving, do you think that it's really safe to head back out there?" Anita pointed out, crossing her arms and raising a brow. "I'm not going out there. I'm glad you came in here, but I think that we should wait until morning. You know how small that stairway space is, and I don't want to get caught on it with some living mannequin." She seated herself on her bed and pulled some of the covers over her. "You know how I don't like small spaces."

"I ..." Sighing, (f/n) hung her head and nodded. "You're right. It's probably back there already. We've been in here too long. No use checking now."

"If we don't find anything odd tomorrow, we carry on, but you can stay in here for the night if you'd like." Anita smiled kindly to her friend. "If nothing happens for the next few nights, then you probably were hearing the house showing its age. There might be some old pipes or something we're not aware of." She shrugged, and (f/n) gave an appreciative smile for her friend's efforts to ease her mind. Patting the other side of her bed, Anita added, "Anyway, we need a good rest for tomorrow. You coming up?"

Nodding slightly, (f/n) got to her feet and went to pick up the lamp, but Anita mentioned that she didn't need to that and that they could get it in the morning. Fine with that, (f/n) came over and climbed under the covers. Briefly, her (e/c) eyes glanced to the room door, and her ears listened in closely. Nothing. It was like the sound never had been out there.

When she looked back over to Anita, she noticed that her friend already was drifting off to sleep. Slightly, (f/n) sweat-dropped. Anita really wasn't reliable for situations like this, but she hoped that what happened tonight wouldn't be reoccurring. Maybe, she just had imagined the door opening in her sleepy state, and she had forgotten that she had moved the lamp over on her own. That'd be the best outcome. Releasing a light sigh, (f/n) rested her head on the pillow and fell asleep shortly after.

Alarm going off, Anita groaned and reached out her left hand to shut it off. (F/n) rolled over onto her right side and pulled the covers over her head, only to have them snatched away soon after. "Come on. We need to get everything ready. Plus, our staff will be here in the next hour." A slight tired glare fell onto (f/n)'s countenance, and Anita poked her in the right cheek. "You're the one who got up last night. We still have to check all of that stuff too, remember?"

Last evening coming back to her, (f/n) sat up and rubbed her eyes. It felt like she barely had gotten any sleep, and she probably had given the interruptions. "Right." (F/n) hopped out of bed. "I'll get dressed and be ready in ten." She picked up the lamp from the ground and faced the door. When she paused, Anita rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly before she opened the door and signaled for (f/n) to go out. "You'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're not the one leaving the room," (f/n) commented back, and Anita made a shooing motion with her hands. "Fine. Fine." (F/n) held up her free hand in surrender, and as she left the room, she heard Anita close the door behind her. How kind. Perhaps next time, she wouldn't check on her, but she knew that Anita would come running out if she yelled for Anita. Still, she hurried over to her room, shut the door and locked it behind her.

Setting the lamp back down on the nightstand, she headed into her closet and grabbed her outfit for the day: black pants, navy blue blouse, black belt, black dress shoes and a black ribbon tied around the collar. Once dressed, she headed into the bathroom and finished her morning routine swiftly. On her way out, though, she paused and glanced to her clock. It was stopped, and the hands indicated ... that it was a little after one. That had to be around when she had heard everything last night, and the batteries were new.

"What the h*ll is going on?" she muttered to herself. She took the clock off and checked the back. The batteries were slipped slightly out of place, and the backing just was hanging on. (F/n) pushed the batteries back in and secured the backing. "Could that have happened on its own?"

Furrowing her brows, she set the clock back on the wall and stared at it a little longer. "What could have?" She jumped somewhat at her friend's voice and caught Anita rolling her eyes, but an amused smile was on her lips. Anita had her chef's outfit on, and her hair was pushed back behind her ears. Soon, Anita stood right by (f/n). "The clock?"

"Yeah." (F/n) sounded worried. "The batteries weren't in all the way, and the backing was ready to fall off. They hadn't been like that before I went to bed."

"Some pipes in the wall could've knocked them out of place," Anita pointed out, not sounding too concerned. "We're in an old house. Weird stuff is bound to happen because of the structure."

"You sure that Jason isn't your boyfriend?" (f/n) teased, one of her brows raising.

Hitting (f/n) on the left upper arm playfully, she answered, "No. Now, stop that. He made good points, and they're helping me to realize that I was too paranoid earlier." Anita grinned. "Maybe, you should date him since you keep bringing him up. He might get you to stop worrying so much."

"Yeah no. I'm fine." Anita gave her the expression of really. Sighing roughly, (f/n) held up her hands. "Fine, we have loud pipes, and they knocked the backing and batteries out of place. Can we just go check the rest of the house? Then, I'll get to work."

"Good. I need my manager to help with the customers, and my friend to relax with after service." Anita didn't wait another moment and headed out of the bedroom. (F/n) gave one last glance to the clock before she headed out of the room as well. Much to her relief, Anita and she began to check the windows and doors of the house, making their way to the first floor.

No more creaking sound greeted her ears, and it was quiet except for their own movement. Maybe last night, she really had imagined all of that and just had been half asleep at the time. Honestly, she wouldn't mind that result at all.