Soushi could feel a faint breeze, as if a window or a door had been left ajar somewhere down the hall. It wasn't much, but it was enough to stir dust and bits of paper, the movement enough to cause his flashlight to jump from place to place.

His brows knit together. Nothing. It was just as empty as before, but he couldn't ignore the way the darkness seemed to close in on them. It hadn't been so dark moments before. He held steady, though Gabe's comment gave him pause. A mountain lion?

Soushi let out a slow breath as he continued. It wasn't a wolf, at least, but it was close. And if Gabe had a human form as well as the animal, that would make him an Atavist too, wouldn't it? Had he been part of Inukami's plan as well?

He opened his mouth to ask further questions, but Gabe was right on another count as well. It was faint and difficult to hear unless one was listening for it, but it was there all the same. The sound of breathing, difficult or labored as it might be, but certainly not one of their own. Either someone was injured, or this was something else entirely. He gripped the baseball bat in his right hand a bit tighter.

"Stay alert and move quickly," Soushi whispered in a quiet, but firm voice. He gestured to the far end of the hall, now almost completely obscured by the darkness. His experience with the supernatural was more than enough to make him wary. If they could avoid any sort of encounter, it was all the better, but it seemed even here he might not be able to escape the demons, ghosts, and monsters that followed at night. At least back home they'd had the protection of Ayakashi-kan, but here? He couldn't be sure what to expect.