A faint low rumbling sound traveled through the hallway behind us. A chill went shooting down my spine, and, by the looks on the others' faces, they were experiencing the same sensation.

"Wind," Tyrone said to himself as much as to any of us.

Wes chuckled nervously. "A relaxed meal may be too much to ask for, but let's give it the old college try."

We approached the table like we were all attached at the shoulders. The Throwaways appeared to be afraid only because we were. That is to say they weren't afraid at all. They were mirroring us.

We sat at the table and pulled power bars and nuts from our backpacks.

"Ration, people," I said. "The Walmart had been ransacked a couple of times before we got there. I got a feeling we're going to find fewer and fewer supplies from here on out."

They didn't argue, and I didn't watch over them like a hawk as they ate. I had issued my warning. It was up to them to listen to me or not.

As we ate, the mansion settled. Creaks, cracks, pops, and countless other noises seemed to sound off endlessly. Part of me thought the house was issuing a warning. It wanted us out.

I was in the middle of scaring myself by reliving every ghost story I had ever heard when Gordy nudged me. The subtle touch of his elbow on my arm startled me at first. I gave him a hateful glare.

"Dude," he whispered. "Look at no-face guy."

I complied with his request. The Throwaway with no face sat nearly motionless next to Tall Boy. "What about him?"

"You notice something different?"

I looked closely at No Face. He was on the other side of the large table, and the room was poorly lit, so I leaned forward. I scanned him up and down... and then I spotted it. There was a small bump in the center of his blank face. I squinted and zeroed in on the bump. "Was that there before?"

Gordy said, "No," without hesitation, and then he added, "I'm almost sure it wasn't."

I shook my head. "Probably was. Had to be. We just didn't notice it."

"He's changing," Gordy said. "Or she, or whatever it is."

I looked at him. "Into what?"

He shook his head slowly and said "What do we do?"

"We don't do anything," I said breaking off one last piece of my power bar. "Keep your on eye on... it."

He sneered. "Me?"

I smiled and nodded.

"C'mon, let someone else do it. What about April or Ty?"

"It's not like I'm asking you to marry it. Just watch it."

He growled. "But look at it. It's creepy."

"If it makes you feel any better, it probably feels the same way about you."

"He does not," Tall Boy said. He was sitting next to No Face.

Gordy and I squirmed. We had unintentionally gotten louder and louder as we talked. The Throwaways and everyone else in the room had heard us.

"He wishes for me to tell you he does not find you creepy, any of you."

I scowled at Gordy.

He smiled nervously. "Cool... Nothing personal. It's just the whole..." he waved his hand over his face. "I'm just used to... stuff being in this general facial area. Sorry."

With dinner out of the way, the question was what to do next. It was nighttime by now. Traveling in the daytime was dangerous enough. Doing it in the dead of night was insane. No one wanted to stay in the Biltmore, and it was fairly clear the enormous house didn't want us there either. We had to choose between an almost certain danger outside and what could be an imagined danger in the house. The house won.

"I say we go exploring," Lou said.

"What?" Gordy replied. "Are you nuts?"

"Yeah, I gotta say I don't see the sense in that at all, Lou," Wes added.

"I'd rather know what we're dealing with than sit around here and wait for something to come get us," she said.

"Waiting sounds good," April said. Her Throwaway mimic repeated what she said.

I gave the matter some thought. Finally I said, "I agree with Lou."

She smiled.

"Of course you do," Gordy said. "She's your girlfriend."

Lou looked terrified by his statement. I let out a sound that was either a laugh or a bark. Even I didn't know what to call it. "Shut up," I insisted.

"Whatever," he said. "I can tell you one thing, I'm not walking through this place by myself. You all are going with me."

"We'll go in threes," I said.

"Fine, I get the gorillas," Gordy said.

"You go with Ariabod and April," I said. "Ajax will go with Tyrone and Wes. Kimball is with me and Lou."

Gordy scowled at April. "Do me a favor and don't yap the whole time."

"Fine," she said. "As long as you aren't a stupid jerk-face the whole time."

"Oh, my God. I so hope you piss the gorilla off and he snaps you in half," Gordy groaned.

"Okay," I said. "April's with me. Lou, you go with Gordy."

She looked surprised, but didn't argue. She nodded and stood next to Gordy. April stuck her tongue out at him before moving next to me.

"Everyone happy now?" I asked.

"What about us?" Tall Boy asked.

"Oh," I said. I had almost forgotten about them. In fact, I realized that from the moment we first met it was very easy to forget that the Throwaways were there. "You guys should watch the front the door."

He scanned his group. None of them said a word, but they seemed to be having a conversation. He turned to me. "We feel that three is sufficient to watch the door. The rest of us would like to explore please."

I nodded. "Okay, fine. You pick who goes where."

"Me?"

"You're the leader, aren't you?"

He thought about the question. "Throwaways do not have leaders."

"Well, you do in this story. I dub you the leader of the Throwaways."

He smiled. "I will go with the fat man's group."

Wes rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Name's Wes."

The mimic huddled closer to April. "And I'm guessing she... I guess she's a she... she's going with us."

April tried to subtly put distance between her and the mimic, but it was pointless. The mimic matched her step for step. "Ewww," she finally said. "It's called personal space. Try it."

Gordy spoke up quickly, "Half-eye will go with us." He wanted to make sure he wasn't put in a group with No-face.

Lou shook her head. "We really have to give you guys names."

"Okay," Wes said. "We've grouped ourselves up. Who goes where?"

"How many floors are in this place anyway?" Gordy asked.

"Five, counting the basement," Lou said.

"Crap, there's a basement?" Wes said. "Never good in a place like this."

I nodded and sighed deeply. "We'll take the basement. Wes, you guys take the third and fourth floor. Lou..."

"Main floor and second," she said.

I nodded and smiled.

The basement was a maze of rooms and hallways. Kimball led our small group, and I brought up the rear. The mimic grabbed onto April's arm the second we started to descend the staircase. April was so scared she didn't care. In fact, she seemed to welcome it.

We passed down a long stone hallway and rounded a corner that took us to a room labeled with a brass name plate that read "Halloween Room." We paused. I closed my eyes and shook off the chill that was inching up my spine. "Go," I said to Kimball.

He did without looking back, traveling beyond the beam of the flashlight. April, Mimic, and I stood in the doorway. What we were waiting for, I don't know, but Kimball stepped back into the light and barked. I walked into the room, turned back to April and said, "Nothing to be afraid of."

"You're such a liar," she said. She grabbed Mimic's hand and took one cautious step inside.

I scanned the flashlight around the room. It was empty, and the walls were covered with a weird mural: a woman in a black veil, a fat friar or knight or something. It didn't help make the room fell less spooky.

We quickly made it to the other side of the room and entered a long narrow room. It took us a second to realize it was a two-lane bowling alley.

"Cool," April said.

"Yeah..." I was about to agree when I spotted something at the very edge of the light beam. I opened and closed my eyes to try to adjust them. It was a little girl in a black and white dress. She stood motionless. She was so still I thought I might be looking at another mural. I took a step. She didn't move. I turned to see if April saw her. The petrified look on her face told me she did. Of course, Mimic donned the same expression.

I continued walking toward the little girl. "Hello."

She darted back into the darkness.

"Let's go," April said. "Please."

I turned to argue, but had to suppress a gasp when I saw what was standing behind her. A snarling old man dressed in gray painters overalls stared at April with a... hunger in his eyes. I had no doubt he literally wanted to eat her.

"Step this way," I said restraining the panic that was building up inside of me. I tried desperately not to look shocked or horrified.

"Let's just go back," she said. Clearly, she had no idea what was behind her.

The old man took one lumbering step toward her.

"April," I said slightly louder. "Come here, now."

"No," she said.

The old man took another step.

Kimball growled and barked in his direction.

"Oh, that's nice," April said smugly. "You going to sic your dog on me?"

"He's not barking at you," I said.

She stiffened and finally caught on that I was staring over her shoulder. "What... what's behind me?" She swallowed. I could tell her mouth had gone dry.

"Never mind," I said. "Just walk this way, quickly!"

She took one step toward me when the old man reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She screamed bloody murder. Before I could move, Mimic hissed and shoved the old man, causing him to lose his grip on April. April barreled toward me wailing like a crazy person.

I moved my flashlight to illuminate her path. She nearly knocked me to the ground as she wrapped her arms around me, crying madly. I regained my balance and shined the light back to where Mimic and the old man were... They were gone.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" April pleaded.

"Where'd they go?"

She mustered up the courage to look in the direction I was pointing the flashlight. "She didn't follow me?"