Dante didn’t have time to react, when a dog bolted just bolted past him. “Hey!” He shouted as it went straight for the door, and barked it pawed at it. It was all fun and games until the latch clicked.

Dante’s stomach dropped. “No…”

The door swung open. It was just dark…

He froze.

Then the dog backed up, ears down, whining…

And those eyes…

“…oh, hell no.”

The voice came again. Wrong this time.

“Thanks, Mister…”

“Yeah, no… absolutely not.”

The lights went out.

Dante flinched, one hand coming up like that was going to help, heart pounding in his chest.

Then everything hit at once. Lights flickering. Stuff crashing. Glass breaking somewhere. Something slammed into a wall hard enough to make him jump.

“Mierda!” He grabbed the dog, pulling him back, not even thinking about it.

Then just as fast, it stopped.

Lights came back.

Silence.

Dante stayed there for a second, still half-crouched, one hand gripping the dog, breathing uneven.

“…okay,” he said, a little breathless. “No. That’s…” He let out a short, nervous laugh.“That’s not normal.” He pushed himself up, still keeping a hand on the dog, and looked toward Mr. Imp as the door locked and the sign flipped. “…yeah,” Dante said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m gonna need you to explain whatever the hell that was.”