“We should only be so lucky,” Kylie said as she filled in the final word of the mad lib. “Okay, we’re done. I hate to say it, but having the word attic underlined in green could only really mean one thing. We’re supposed to find it and go inside.”

Matt thought he’d probably rather do anything else.

Becca

“Well,” Becca said, “at least we know exactly where to look to find out where the attic is located.”

“Exactly,” Kylie agreed, looking up to study the blueprint on the wall above the table. “Let’s see here . . .”

Becca’s mind spun in nervous circles as she watched Kylie run her finger over the drawing, trying to find anything marked Attic. The mad lib clue hadn’t been designed for Becca specifically, so that meant that there was something still waiting for her, somewhere in this house. She remembered the story about the two ghosts from the story on the parchment and shuddered. She could only hope that whatever was waiting for them in the attic was reserved for Matt. Sorry, Matt, she thought as she turned to look at him. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up, despite looking like he was feeling a little bit ill. At least she wasn’t alone in her feelings.

“Found it,” Kylie said after a few more moments. “It looks like the attic is actually directly above the room we’re in right now. We should look around for the entrance. The blueprint labels it as a trapdoor, so I’m guessing it’ll be somewhere on the ceiling.”

The group spread out to scan the ceiling, the sick feeling of dread in Becca’s stomach only growing heavier with every step. She tried to distract herself by thinking about what she’d do as soon as she got out of here: go home, get cleaned up, eat whatever Dad had cooked for dinner. Tell her family good night early and head up to her room, only to watch YouTube videos from the comfort of her bed until she fell asleep, safe and warm and wrapped in her softest blanket.

It sounded like heaven.

“I think I found it,” Frankie called, breaking Becca away from her daydream. The Game Master can’t keep you in here forever, she reminded herself. Finish strong, for your friends and for Elephant and Nacho.

“Nice job, Frankie,” Danny said. He tilted his camera up to the trapdoor outlined in the ceiling, over the back corner of the room. “There seems to be a problem, though. I’m currently looking at this thing zoomed in with my camera, and it looks like there’s a keyhole embedded in the door. Does anyone have a key? Matt, do you still have that red one?”

“I left it in the door to the mudroom,” Matt said with a frown, nervous that he’d done something wrong. “Shoot, what if I was supposed to bring it with me?”