Matt gulped and looked at the closed door, nervous about what might be waiting for them on the other side.

“I don’t think I can go through that door,” Miguel whimpered, sitting down on a bench that was alongside the gate. “I feel like if there’s something we have to swim through, I might pass out.”

“No,” Kylie said, kneeling before Miguel. “Listen to me. If there’s a swimming pool at this house, it’d be outside, not inside. I really doubt there’s anything in there bigger than a bathtub. It’s just like what Matt said—we’re going to do it together, whatever it is. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You can do it, Miguel,” Matt encouraged. “Just think about Angel’s face when he sees Elephant again for the first time in months. Think about how happy you’ll be to have Nacho slithering up your arm to your neck again. We’re so close!”

At the mention of his little brother and the missing animals, Miguel sat up a little straighter, looking less defeated than before. “You’re right,” he said. “We are close. I can feel it.”

“Totally!” Kylie helped Miguel stand, and they looked back to the door. “The Game Master hasn’t got anything over us. We’ve beaten every game thrown our way so far! I have no doubt we’ll get through whatever is waiting for us on the other side of that door too.”

“Okay,” Miguel said with a nod. “Here goes nothing.”

Matt reached forward and used the red key to open the door, which swung aside to reveal a small, darkened room filled with a long wooden bench, an old sink that was empty and stained yellow and brown on the inside, and baskets filled with dust-covered clothes. A filthy jacket hung from a hook on the wall.

“This is a mudroom,” Matt said as they all stared from the outside. “It’s where you take off dirty shoes and hang your coats and stuff like that.”

“What does that have to do with water?” Miguel asked nervously, eyeing the empty sink on the side of the room. “That thing looks disgusting, by the way.”

“It smells weird in there,” Kylie noted. She crinkled her nose at the mud-streaked tiles across the threshold of the door.

“Yeah,” Matt agreed. “I think I’ll be keeping my shoes on, thanks.”

The three laughed nervously, with everyone avoiding taking the first step inside.

“We should probably, you know, go in,” Kylie said.

“Okay.” Miguel bounced a little on his toes, as though hyping himself up. “Let’s go!”

Matt counted down backwards from five, and they all went at the same time through the door.