I entered the cold room and willed the everflame back to life beyond the grate, that I heard an echoing scream. Stilling, I listened, straining my ears as I moved to the low-hanging pipes where I was sure the sound was coming from. Some dark, twisting sensation in my chest set me on edge. The scream didn’t sound again, but it wasn’t the first I’d heard in here and though I tried to convince myself it was just the groaning of the pipes, my gut told me I would be a fool to believe that. But here in the lonely dark, I had no one to tell.
