In an instant the dim lanterns that had lit the corners of the balcony went out. The moon was gone, the air seemed charged with a dangerous feel; and suddenly the night was blacker than ever before.

Heart hammering a million times a second, Luigi froze where he was and gasped in shock. No, that couldn't have been what he thought it was... that couldn't have just happened.

The mansion had not just been struck by lightning.

Frantically searching his pocket for his flashlight, Luigi's hand instead found something else unexpected; and he pulled it out to reveal Mario's shining power star. The gorgeous yellow glowed through the pitch like a lantern of hope. When his eyes fell upon it, radiating through his hands brightly, his heart instantly calmed; his initial panic subsided and he felt a peace. It had to be alright... because Mario's star was with him.

It would light his way.

If he was right, and the mansion's power really had gone out... would it ultimately make much difference anyway? Whichever way he looked at it, it seemed quite dangerous to stay outside at a time like this; so Luigi promptly opened the diamond door and went inside. He could have used his flashlight, but right now he felt safer with his brother's star. As long as he had some light in this darkness, it would be alright.

Luigi absolutely hated blackouts. He remembered a few times when they had occurred during his childhood, during a big storm; the rain had slashed at the windows and he had hidden under his covers, hoping the house didn't fall down or swallow him up in all this darkness.

It had never happened so, of course; but even as Luigi got older power outages remained something he was nervous of. They had experienced a couple more recently, at his house; and the way they happened so suddenly nearly caused him to choke from the closeness of it all. It was almost like the first step of a nightmare come true.

Luigi realized now that this was closer to a nightmare than anything that had ever happened to him before. He was exploring a ghost-infested house all by himself... at night... in the dark.

And that was when Luigi remembered something surprising; something he'd forgotten all about. Those other times there'd been a blackout; he hadn't been alone, of course. Mario had been there.

Mario had always kept his head about him, and he would instantly go about finding some source of light for them both. While Luigi sat quivering on the couch, he'd be bumping into things all over the place, sometimes even making Luigi laugh at all his complaining in Italian.

And when he finally returned, he would plop down on the couch beside him and share his light, and talk aloud to himself as if nothing was wrong. Luigi realized now he had only done it to comfort him.

Suddenly he paused. How could he have forgotten? Mario had been there for him then. Had he just been pitying him; or had he really cared?

Meanwhile, on letting himself inside Luigi had entered into a dark attic hallway, almost identical to the one at the opposite end of the balcony. At the very end stood another of the great gabled windows that overlooked the front of the mansion; and down the sides of the musty walkway were yet four more lonely doors. Luigi groaned at first sight of them. It really never ends, does it?

But all of that was quickly forgotten when he was near given a heart attack by a new sound; a harsh, shrill ringing that suddenly pierced the air.

   Rrrrrrinnggg!!

   He jumped for half a second, hair on end, before he recognized the sound: a telephone.

Rrrrrrinnggg!!

...A phone? he thought, bewildered. A real phone? There's a ringing telephone in -!

Rrrrrinnggg!!

He looked about quickly, but there was nothing in the hallway; it must have been coming through the wall, from behind one of the doors. But which one?

Who on earth might that be??

Curious and riled up, Luigi started down the hall, looking left to right and trying to identify the door with the most sound. Shouldn't someone attend to that?

   Rrrrrrinnggg!!

Its high-pitched rings continued to fill the air annoyingly over the distant thunder, announcing a persistent midnight caller. He felt the familiar sense of urgency he always did when the phone rang; and he almost wished he didn't. He wasn't actually going to pick it up, was he?

For just a second Luigi felt a tendril of fear in his stomach. Why would a phone be ringing now, anyway?? What if... it was one of those haunted phone deals, where you'd pick it up... and no one was there?

Rrrrrrinnggg!!

Shuddering at the idea, Luigi came to the end of the hallway, where the sound was loudest. There was soon no denying it: it was behind the left door on the end... biting his lip nervously, he went inside.

Rrrrrrinnggg!!

The door, at least, wasn't fake. He found himself in a dark, spacious room that looked like some sort of makeshift lounge; comfortable chairs and futons - at least, once comfortable - were arranged in a circle among wooden pillars that supported the ceiling. Old faded posters and shelves full of junk covered the unpainted walls, and a couple of ancient-looking chests sat about. In the far back corner was a north-facing door; and in the foreground was the small pedestal he was looking for.

Rrrrrrinnggg!!

The telephone.

It was a dusty old rotary-dial phone, the most vintage he could expect; and it sat, still ringing and vibrating away on its tiny perch, just begging to be heard as if it hadn't received a call in a hundred years. Indeed, even now it looked like it had been roused from the dead; and its faded number wheel could have been home to a ghost in the machine. Well, this is it.

Luigi knew it was rude to let the phone ring. But as he carefully approached, taking his sweet time, he had a feeling the caller might have been less than friendly. The caller... Who's the caller anyway??

His improbable imagination got loose if only for an instant: What if something reached out and grabbed him?

No, Luigi thought in exasperation with himself. Just answer the phone. Then, with trembling arm, he reached for it.

One thought did occur to him as he picked it up, however: if the power was out, how could the phone be working?

...What was it even connected to at all?

It was too late to speculate. He had already brought the ancient receiver to his ear. "He-hello?"

He held his breath in the dark and waited.

"Hello? ... May I ask who is speaking... please?"

At the tiny voice coming through the other end, something lifted from Luigi's chest; and for the second time that night he let out a huge sigh of relief at hearing a toadstool's voice.

Wait... a toadstool?? How was that possible?

For half a second Luigi considered testing the caller by saying, 'It's Bowser!!' But he decided that in a high-anxiety situation like this that would be too scary.

   At least, for himself.

"It's Luigi," Luigi said breathlessly. "Wh-what... who is this?"

"Luh... Luigi?" the tiny voice asked. "...Whew! It's me, Toad! I don't know what I would've done if a ghost had answered!"

Me either, Luigi thought, immensely relieved to hear the familiar lilt. "Toad?" he demanded. "How are you calling? What's going on? How did you even..."

"No time for that, Luigi!" Toad replied. "I'm using a phone of the professor's. Anyway, we're crunched for time, so listen up! We have a terrible problem!"

"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" Luigi asked, glad for an excuse to make conversation.

"If you mean the lightning caused a blackout all over the house, then yes! What should we do?"

"Get out of here," Luigi commanded. "Now."

"I am," Toad replied. "Didn't I say I'm at the professor's lab? We're really, REALLY afraid of the dark!"

"Oh... then, what do I do?"

"Isn't there a way you can turn the lights back on?" Toad asked.

"I don't know... you mean all the rooms I lit up are dark, too?" Luigi asked with a sinking feeling.

"Extremely. And overrun with ghosts, Luigi!"

Luigi blinked. "You... you don't have any ideas? What did the professor say?"

"I don't know. No, we don't know how to turn them on. We were hoping you'd know..." Here he paused to sniff. "Oh, me! Anyway, we're all safe here, Luigi... don't worry about us."

Luigi frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Toad replied. "Why?"

He shook his head. "Oh, I don't know. I was just thinking maybe it's a trick phone call or something... after all, how do I really know it's you?"

Apparently he wasn't in the mood for that game. "I don't know... the professor said he knew how to call this thing and he did! Funny guy. He's kinda crazy, but really smart! He keeps track of you, you know... we know where you are."

I sure hope this is really Toad, Luigi thought.

"But..." Toad continued thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, I do remember seeing a large breaker switch somewhere in the basement."

"Oh," Luigi said, suddenly remembering. "You're right! I went down there once... you're right! Maybe I should have a look."

"Sounds great, Luigi. Oh, the professor's here and he wants to talk to you, so I'll let you go. Bye!"

The basement, Luigi was thinking. That was a really long walk from here! What if it was still all a trick, and the ghosts had somehow sent him there with an ambush waiting?

His worries were cut off by the professor's familiar voice coming through the line. "Hello? Howdy? Helloooo-

"Hello, professor," Luigi said, chuckling just a bit. In the darkness, it sure did feel good to hear his voice.

"Oh, sorry to surprise you, boy!" E. Gadd said. "It's me, Professor E. Gadd... Sorry for disturbing you."

"Hi," Luigi said. "No problem."

"I know I usually contact you by Game Boy Horror, but I thought I'd try this phone since you were in the room..."

Luigi blinked at the floor. And scare the heebie jeebies out of me? There was a small awkward silence between the two. Before Luigi could ask how he'd pulled it off, finally the professor cleared his throat.

"Well, thanks to your little friends I heard what happened," he said. "The electricity has gone out?"

"Yeah, I was right on the balcony when the lightning struck," Luigi said. "It... it was a direct hit. Everything's totally dark."

"Criminy! What a calamity."

Luigi frowned. "Hey, professor, uh... if the power's out, though, how is this phone still working?"

There was a second of silence as E. Gadd realized his meaning. "By my spectacles, you're right!" he marveled. "That's near impossible... I've never seen anything like it. But... you learn to get used to these kinds of things when you get into studying haunted mansions for a while. Lucky us, huh?"

That didn't exactly satisfy Luigi, but the adventurer had other things to worry about.

"The ghosts will have the run of the place in the dark," E. Gadd was saying. "You need to be extra careful!"

Luigi shuddered and tightened his grip on the phone. "Yeah, I got that."

"But listen, now. I've got a favor to ask."

Luigi held his breath. He usually didn't like E. Gadd's 'favors'.

"There's one ghost who fled from the gallery who only hides in the darkest places," the professor went on. "His name is... Uncle Grimmly."

"Uh... darkest places? Isn't that everywhere?" Luigi asked skeptically.

"Basically. But my point is that if he's on the loose, now may be your only chance to get him! Why don't you try looking for him before you get those lights back on? Might be wise..."

Oh sure. It sounded the exact opposite of wise to Luigi. In fact, roaming through the dark house looking for a ghost was the last thing on earth he wanted to do right now. But... he couldn't say no.

"Uh... do you have any idea where he is?"

"He's old for a ghost, but it's only made him more cautious," E. Gadd mused. "I do know, though, that for some reason he tends to prefer rooms with mirrors."

"Mirrors?" Luigi asked. "Like, the mirror room?"

"No, that's too obvious," E. Gadd said. "You could try it, but I might try something a little more out of the way."

Luigi sighed inwardly. How could he refuse the professor after all he'd done? "Well, I guess I'll keep an eye out."

"Make that both eyes," he replied. "The ghosts are starting to approach your position! The usual - oh, and looks like some blue twirlers as well!"

"Wh-what?"

"I've got this kind of scope that helps me track paranormal readings," E. Gadd explained. "It's still an early prototype, but I'll get it perfected someday. Now skedaddle, and be careful, Luigi!"

And with that the phone clicked and went dead.

~

Mirror... mirror...

   Luigi racked his brain as he stumbled down the stairs leading to the second floor. Already he had encountered a couple of ghosts – outside on the balcony, and one had appeared in the safari room on his way through.

   Now, with the place so black, he could pretty much expect a ghost to pop out anywhere... it was even worse than before. The danger extended to all corners; after all, the blackout was mansion-wide. He had known what to expect, but seeing the darkness restored to all the rooms and hallways was still kind of disheartening.

Before he started going on a complete wild goose chase, he paused in the small foyer outside the rec room to check his map and try to identify rooms with mirrors. There was a vanity of course in the master bedroom... but he didn't think it likely Uncle Grimmly would be in there. The mirror room had been ruled out... among the rooms left on the second floor, there were only bathrooms that had mirrors he could remember. Would the ghost be hiding in the bathroom?

So the first floor, maybe. He vaguely recalled a mirror in the rec room... that was right next to him. Deciding he might as well, Luigi opened the door and peeked inside.

He'd been right about the mirror – but wrong about a portrait ghost. When he opened the door he instead found a nightmarish sight: inside the room were at least five or six pinkish ghosts, the purple punchers, just messing around doing whatever ghosts did and having an absolute ball. It was like stumbling into a lions' den... At his interruption they all looked up and saw Luigi.

He instantly slammed the door and fled into the hallway, shutting that door behind him as well. He wasn't sure if they'd follow, but he certainly didn't want to find out.

Wincing at the re-aggravated pain that flared up in his ankle, he turned back to his map. So what else could he try? Of course, he distinctly remembered the mirror in the storage room. And of course, he really didn't want to go back in there. But it did seem like a good, out-of-the-way place to be.

Luigi bit his lip and tried to hold it together. Of course, he had to check.

Plunging through the once more dark first floor hallway from long ago, he arrived at the ballroom door shortly thereafter. Just like before, he walked in on another ball of sorts – this time composed of gold ghosts, blue twirlers and some of those strange elemental ghosts, these with fiery hearts, romping all over the floor as they pleased. There had to be at least ten - he didn't bother to count.

   At the sight of them Luigi stopped in the doorway and felt his heart drop. He might as well have just opened the door to the epitome of his worst nightmare.

Steeling himself, he grabbed the Poltergust and charged through – the wave of ghosts all looked up in surprise and tried to catch him, but he was already there and gone. He made it to the door in the far corner and got out of there quick.

He opened the door, not surprisingly, to a ghost-filled storage room. There was the mirror he'd remembered – the one where he'd seen the reflected button – but there were also those devilish red grabbing ghosts.

Feeling as if his last shred of bravery had just flown out the window, he turned right around and ran. Back through that terrible gauntlet called the ballroom – he had to duck and dodge a couple of attacks as he went – Luigi at last made it back to the hallway none too soon.

Leaning on the door, he panted for breath. His heart was hammering in his ears, and the pain was pounding against his ankle, but there was nothing to be done about that. It was just awful – all his senses of security, everything he'd done to try to instill some essence of safety, all gone in an instant. Basically all his night's work in the awful place, gone like that... He almost felt like a steak running free in the jungle - excellent chances. It was like he was right back where he'd started.

Trying to think straight and keep his head about him, he wondered if maybe he should just go try to get the lights on now. True, he might miss his chance to catch Uncle Grimmly, but would it really matter if he couldn't survive in this crazy place?

Luigi glanced about the familiar dark hallway, eyes alight with fear. Something could pop up, something could appear around any corner. There was no knowing – there were no light rooms, no sureties, and no rules.

Then, as if by some miracle, a thought suddenly occurred to him: what about the wardrobe room? That had a mirror. Good for admiring yourself, too – and a good place to hide and keep out of the way.

Luigi tried to take a deep breath but it came out more rigid than he'd hoped. Okay – one m-more run, he thought. And if that fails then I'll turn the lights on.

The wardrobe room was up on the second floor – but to get there, you had to go out through the main foyer and up through the parlor. Luigi was really thrilled about the idea of going in there again, but he had promised himself he'd do this.

   It was a bit odd, noticing it now: the second floor was split entirely in two. One part, with Neville's place and the parlor, could be reached from the foyer, but the other half with Nana's place and the astral hall was reached only by the staircase in the back of the first floor hallways; there was no door anywhere joining the two sections. Strange that one could literally be a wall away from the parlor and have to travel across half the house to get there.

It hardly mattered at the moment to Luigi, anyway. He knew, without a doubt, that this was just the worst situation he'd ever experienced in his whole life. If he had stopped to look at the ordeal for a second, he likely would have passed out then and there: here he was, trapped in a pitch black mansion during a blackout by himself, and trying to find a particular ghost while hundreds of others ran the place and appeared absolutely everywhere around him, each seeming to want nothing more than to have his head... or whatever it was they wanted. The perfect nightmare and he was living it.

Running down the hallway towards the heart doors, a purple ghost suddenly dropped down from the ceiling above him and hissed – but he just ran. His heart was going so fast he feared it might explode, but still he ran.

There was only one reason for him to be grateful in all this mess, and it was evil in itself. Mario – he would have been in so much more danger if it weren't for his being kept in the painting. Bitterly Luigi was almost thankful to King Boo – surely he would keep Mario 'safe' during the blackout.

Bursting through the doors into the dark foyer, Luigi was pleasantly surprised to find it empty of ghosts. Sure enough, the toadstools were gone – an encouraging thought. It was all completely silent except for a strange background ambience; it was like you could hear the wind beating against the walls outside.

Suddenly Luigi had a strange feeling of déjà vu. In confusion, he stepped into the center of the floor and looked around. What time was it?

All was exactly the same now as it had once been: the dark, quiet foyer waited mysteriously, as if at any moment Luigi might come trembling through that front door, wondering if Mario had yet arrived. Had he been on a wild ghost-catching adventure all night... or was this darkness getting to him?

It all looked so familiar that he called out. "Mario?"

No response. For just a tiny moment his heart jumped, thinking that maybe it had all been a dream, his imagination; but now he shook his head. Looking down at the Poltergust in his hand, Luigi let out a longsuffering sigh.

No, he realized. It's real. It all happened.

As he looked up to the balcony at the waiting parlor doors, he almost expected a ghost to appear and drop a key for him. It felt as if he was at some starting point if ever he'd encountered one; but now he knew there was much more at stake.

As soon as Luigi entered the parlor, past the scene of the place where he'd first met E. Gadd, it was evident all was not normal. He opened it into some sort of ghost party; or otherwise the very room itself was terribly haunted.

   There was not an actual ghost to be seen, but it was still a bone-chilling sight: velvet curtains that had been tied up around the once-talking portraits were now undone and loose, flowing as if in some unnatural wind; one of the chairs by a table abruptly picked itself up before his eyes and turned upside down, hovering in air; and a small picture of the mansion on one wall was spinning around and around in dizzying circles on itself, as if possessed, before finally falling off its nail to the floor. Other furniture shook and trembled, giving the room a crazed feel; the parlor had gone completely mad.

What...??

It was unlike anything Luigi had ever seen. As he took in the horrifying display, he darted across the carpet to the waiting anteroom door in the corner. He just needed to get to the wardrobe room. It wasn't too far away...

Surprisingly, nothing in the room touched him as he passed among the wild upholstery, gaping with awe. It was as if there were no ghosts at all; and furniture that jumped and floated about on its own was a perfectly normal phenomena. Perhaps all houses came alive at night, once the owner was asleep; maybe it was normal. Maybe... Either way, Luigi couldn't help feeling like he was with someone – human or otherwise – as he passed through the parlor. This room had always given him a hard time.

One room at a time, he thought nervously. Just go door to door... don't look back...

The anteroom, the last remaining obstacle before he reached his destination, was positively swarming with ghosts. The second he entered a gold ghost appeared at his side, causing him to jump and lunge away with a newfound burst of speed. It was no exaggeration, either – a new ghost popped up at a rate of nearly one per second the whole time he moved.

Don't turn around... don't stop... he told himself, moving rigidly towards the wardrobe room door. It was the strangest feeling, moving through the room full of them, and not facing them. If he turned to attack, he would instantly be pitted against far too many to handle. But if he just kept moving calmly...

Well, sort of calmly. His heart was in his throat when he finally reached the door on the other end of the room, which had felt like the other end of the world. Luigi didn't think he had breathed once until the door was shut behind him.

I can't believe... I made it, he thought, gasping for air. Glancing around, he found a welcome sight: the wardrobe room was quiet and empty.

He gave it a once-over with his flashlight, but there seemed to be nothing. Luigi tilted his head suspiciously. Perhaps he was on to something.

He could actually hear the chatter and romping of ghosts through the walls and ceiling around him – it was the most creepy feeling, being able to hear them elsewhere.

Finally he allowed the panic in his eyes to subside a little. At least here it seemed calm; perhaps Uncle Grimmly was about. Or maybe the ghosts were just hiding in the dressers, waiting for him to open them like last time.

In slow motion, Luigi approached one of the cabinets, reaching out a hand as if intending to try it. But before he got there, there was a low scowl behind him.

   "Well what have we here?"

Luigi was on alert in an instant. He turned, Poltergust at the ready, to come face to face with none other than a rather terrifying portrait ghost: a short, incredibly ugly man. He wasn't particularly elderly, but he gave off the vibe; his balding head and his deep jowls were a pale green, and his belly sagged under the brown dress coat that spoke of a much earlier time. He also appeared slightly hunched, or at least it seemed that way as he hovered over the young man that had intruded upon him.

For a moment the two simply looked at each other, as if sizing the other up; then Uncle Grimmly reached out spindly arms and started closer. "What's a hairy-faced scoundrel doing in a place like this, interrupting a man's solitude?" he crooned in a deep voice.

Ignoring the shot at his mustache, which ordinarily would have set Luigi off, the human crept backwards and stammered, "Y-you're Uncle Grimmly?"

"What's it to ye?" the ghost grouched. "Nobody ever wants to see me!"

I wonder why... Luigi swallowed, simultaneously preparing to push the Poltergust's trigger. It had been a while since he'd met with a portrait ghost.

Now the ugly man seemed to have hit a topic of frustration. "Neville gets married and then his family never wants to be around me anymore - as if he didn't already take all the family's good looks," he complained aloud. "He leaves me with squat - and he wasn't even born first!"

They were brothers... Luigi realized in mild surprise. And his brother got... everything...

Suddenly feeling incredibly sympathetic, the young human paused. "A-and you just hide out in the dark all day?"

"I've always been a hermit," the ghost grunted. "Never liked it aside from darkness anyway... and at least now it scares people!!" With a sudden crooked grin of delight, Uncle Grimmly lunged forward.

Warning. Wishy-washy portrait ghost incoming.

Approaching Luigi was the last mistake the grim uncle would ever make. The action revealed his heart to the young hunter, and once ensnared the older man was an easy put-down. The real stinger was rather in the darkness that remained, even after the pathetic soul was gone.

Still, it took a second for Luigi to shake off the idea of the old ghost. He had been jealous of his brother... and it had driven him to a secluded life alone. In the shadows...

Refusing to ponder its deeper meaning, Luigi shook his head with a shrug. Well, I never had any reason to complain that Mario stole all the good looks.

Letting out a sigh, Luigi surveyed the ground with his flashlight for anything – there! Just as he'd thought. The man had dropped a key.

He quickly pocketed that and started again for the door. He had managed to find the ghost the professor wanted; now to get the place lit up.

Don't look... don't think about the ghosts, he thought as he made the daring run back through the anteroom. There's a million, so don't bother. They'll never stop coming until the light levels are normal...

All the ghosts in there seemed to explode with excitement at his entrance. For just a second Luigi stood in the door and stared with doom at his obstacle course for survival. Dodge, duck, run, jump... it was pure torment.

Luigi felt clammy with sweat from the stress of it all by the time he reached the parlor. Not far now...

When he opened the door, he wasn't barraged with ghosts... but he did see something the first instant out of the corner of his eye. For a split second, Luigi thought he saw three bluish-green ghosts, sitting at one of the coffee tables, playing cards.

When he blinked, however, they were gone.

   Not in the mood to stand around and wonder, he made a run for the door. It was a blessing the mansion wasn't normally overrun like this, because if it had been... Luigi couldn't have kept this up all night. No way.

As if to prove that point, just before he reached the doors a blue ghost with bared fangs appeared blocking his way, sending him screeching to a stop. It might have been one of those blue twirlers; but no, this one was very -

Luigi screamed and scrambled backwards, to the center of the floor. When he whirled around, he saw that a brilliant trap had already been laid for him: he was surrounded by an entire circle of the strange blue ghosts, hulking, shapeless creatures, with big noses and ugly eyes that watched him greedily. He had never seen this kind of ghost before; they were like something from deeper darkness, that only lurked when the light was banished.

For just a moment Luigi stood paralyzed, wondering if this was similar to what it had been like for Mario when he must have been caught and surrounded.

But then he came to his senses. He wasn't defenseless; he still had his loyal weapon beside him! Quickly remembering something he'd done before, Luigi ducked and rolled for the door.

Surprised by his move, the herd of ghosts turned and let out a strange moan. But unlike most, they seemed eager to pursue the chase.

Luigi had managed to reach the doors. Heart hammering in his throat, with legs that nearly felt numb, he yanked them open and fled to the outer balcony overlooking the foyer. He glanced back for half a second and saw that he'd been right: the blue ghosts were giving chase.

He only had about two seconds to decide what to do. Luckily, it only took him about one to act: without thinking, driven purely by instinct, Luigi threw himself onto the wooden railing and pushed off. Then the blue ghosts arrived outside the parlor doors in hot pursuit.

They witnessed a desperate escape attempt: in record time, Luigi slid down the stairwell and flew off the railing to the foyer floor, even managing to land on his feet. The ride had saved him several seconds, but it put him in exactly the spot he didn't want to be in.

At that moment he suddenly heard a strange little clinking sound overhead. Luigi jerked his gaze up, but what he saw in that last instant filled him with dread: there was no time to move.

The silence of the foyer was suddenly disrupted with a terrible shattering sound as the enormous chandelier broke away from the ceiling above, coming down over the pattern in the center of the floor with a loud SMASSSSSHHH!!!

In one moment Luigi felt a sharp, excruciating pain break over his head as the metal and glass surrounded him. He brought a weakened hand to his head in that moment, and he just saw with horror his glove come away dark and damp.

But already it was beyond his reasoning. He could feel a warm liquid run down through his hair and into his eyes before the darkness took over him, and he surrendered at last down to the cold stone floor.