“The invitation seemed typical, if only set at a late hour. Upon arrival, Eric could see the home; it was average, a modest two story. It wasn't until the skunk found themselves inside that they noticed things had been odd.
A long time had passed since they had seen their acquaintance from so long ago. The memory of what they had been danced in the skunk's mind as they peered into the living room, looking for them. Darkness had draped itself over everything; not a single light was on. While this did nothing to impede Eric, it did strike them as odd as they wandered further in. The kitchen, the dining room too were dark, though clean swept and dusted off. The trash nearby the kitchen sink was empty. Further puzzling was the sound of a humming, though difficult to tell if it were made by man or machine.
"Are you there?" Eric spoke down the dark hall.
The humming stopped, cut off by a sharp hiss. A scratching could be heard from the darkness, though the skunk's keen eyes picked up nothing of note.
Steadily, he walked down the hall, the grip of curiosity pulling harder as his eyes catching a lightswitch further down the wall. "Weird, I wonder why she keeps her lights off at night," the skunk puzzled, reaching for the switch. "Maybe I should turn more lights on around the house. She can't be too far..."
As his voice trailed off, the scratching began again, loudly running down the wall... “