It’s okay,” I’m whispering to Steph, pushing my hand down on her hip so she doesn’t get up and run into them as they wait in the corridor. “I’ll check on Hayden.” It’s only when I’m halfway across the floor, my shin crashing against the sharp lip of a low coffee table that shouldn’t be there, that I remember we’re not at home. Still, I can’t see anything and I can’t exactly remember right now where we are. “Where is she?” Steph’s saying behind me, somewhere in the dead darkness. I hear her fumbling, something clattering onto the floor, and at the same time I’m feeling around the unfamiliar walls, which are tacky with an icy sweat. I find a light switch, but when I push it, nothing happens. My hand bumps into a picture frame and a mantelpiece and then at last Steph’s found her phone and the light from it is startling. We both remember where we are at the same time, and Steph sighs out the breath she’s been holding. “Why’s it so dark?” she says.
