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But looking into that is going to have to wait.
Because as you feared, there are no prints leading away from the room.
You struggle with what to do for a moment or so, all the while trying to ignore how the hair on the back of your neck is standing up on end. Blessedly, your wits have not completely deserted you today, and it occurs to you that you might try listening at the lock. If this room is anything like yours, it is small, small enough that you should be able to hear if anyone is inside … unless of course, they were sleeping silently. Trying to not let yourself get discouraged, you quickly glance over both of your shoulders to make sure that no one is coming down the hall, or has wandered out of their rooms. Then, padding quietly to the corner while offering a prayer of thanks for the footwraps, you check to make sure that no one is coming from the stairs.
As comfortable as you are ever going to be under the circumstances, you draw back your hood, brush your hair away from your right ear, and then get down on your knees as delicately as you possibly can, thankful for the cushiony protection of your apron. Your chief concern here is that if you move too fast, you or the floor underneath you are going to end up making some sort of noise – giving the game away to anyone inside the room. That is also on top of the risk that someone managed to hear your footfalls in the hall, and noticed how they stopped in front of their door … or that they see a shadow that you cast under the bottom of the door … or something. But neither of those are things that you can address at this point. You are committed here – so you settle into your listening position slowly, making careful note of where you are relative to the prints on the floor and the patches and swatches of Strangeness on the door and the surrounding wall. While after all of this time of following them, you are certain that the partial bootprints are not communicably Strange, you are not sure about these patches, though they give no immediate indication that they are spreading.
Once you get your ear up to the lock, the first thing that you hear is the creaking and groaning of the floors above you. You are not sure if that is from the building settling, or it is from someone walking or pacing on the floors above – though you would guess that is building, as the sounds seem irregular. On this floor, you can hear your clothes rustle as you lean in, as well as your own breathing. Beyond that, you can hear vague noises from the kitchen and the common room below. But nothing from the other side of this door. You hold your breath and strain, listening harder than you have ever listened before – but there is nothing. And when you press your ear straight up against the lock, the only new sound that you can hear is the warm rustling of blood through your ear. Nothing from inside the room. No moving, and certainly no talking.
