Lucas opened an eye. Zack was anxiously watching several finches in
the garden outside the Library window, chittering at them, tail
lashing. Lucas rolled his eye at this, then blinked a few times as he
surveyed the room. The Library was very still. Jumping down from the
window seat, he strolled through the stacks, and then through the
closed door into the hallway. Cocking an ear, he listened. Dust
settling. The murmur of shadows. A mouse somewhere in the attic. The
gargoyles shifting slightly on the rooftop. A television murmuring in
the cellar. Other sounds, not so clear, came to him as well. Soft
footsteps. Electrical sounds. A buzzing. Sparks? Intrigued now, he
began making his way through the House, farther than he had ever been
before. Zack glanced around, noticed he was by himself and hurried to
catch up. Two black shadows descended twisting stairways and halls.
The walls and floor changed to stone. Lucas flicked a paw
distastefully at the damp. A stone arch blocked by a door ended the
final hallway. Low voices murmured together from behind the door, and
strange sounds and smells filtered through. Lucas shoved the door open
with his shoulder and slipped in.

Neither bothered with the sign hanging over the door. It read: The
Laboratory.

The door closed behind them.