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((>> Is there a gap under the door? I'm wondering if I can send a pet or two under the door to go look for help...))

Manelin's eyes became wide and round as he heard Niki. "Locked?" he wimpered, starting to dance from foot to foot, his candle bobbing around. "It's can't be locked. Who locked it?" Spot fluttered around the candle, darting to and fro to avoid getting burned as Manelin wondered if there was a bathroom down here...

Parmida looked shocked. She had thought the door was open to start with! "You sure?" she asked in a small voice, knowing that Niki wouldn't have said so if she wasn't sure. She didn't mind being in the basement, she just minded being in the dark basement. She trailed her free hand up her other arm, resting it over the earthworm settled there. She blinked then looked at Manelin. "What's with you?" She was greeted with a blush as Manelin muttered something under his breath about needing to do something.

"L-Locked!?" Tali's voice squeaked as he rapidly careened into panic. "It can't be!" The almost teen nearly dropped the candle as he sprinted around the small group at the bottom of the stairs.

He didn't even wince when Niki began yelling and pounding on the door. Desperately he began to tug on the doorknob, forgetting that it opened out into the hallway. "Open, open, open..." he chanted. "It won't open!" 001's breath began to come quicker as he turned a pale face to the group down below.

((There should be a gap))

Vincent got bored with the greenhouses and went back to wondering around the complex. He was forbidden to go down the corridor that held the party until it was time.
Shuffle shuffle shuffle... Eff, this was boring. He sighed and turned back to go to his room when he heard thumping. Was someone running? No...
He stood still and strained his ears for the source of the sound then finally he heard tiny voices, a quiet shoutfest, muffled and down the hallway with the...with the basement.
Vincent muttered some profanity then chuckled nervously. Who'd he trap in the basement?
He dashed into the hallway and into the dark listening as the voices grew louder. Hell, how many people were in there?
He stopped outside of the door and was about to turn the key when he recognized one of the voices. Tali. And boy did he sound scared.
Vincent felt a pang of guilt then couldn't keep himself from smiling. What a wonderful oppurtunity. He could stand here and wait until they couldn't stand it anymore and be their savior or he could just leave and tell one of the matrons that he heard voices down there and they just might get in trouble.
Let's see... Niki, Parmida... Oh hell, was that a toddler crying? Yes...
Vinny grit his teeth. No, he couldn't leave a toddler crying in a dark basement.
Sighing he gripped the key and wondered if anyone would be grateful (would realize he did it)...
Should he? ... He should, but he sure didn't want to...

(( whee Teen? I thought this was before they became teens/children... ninja ))

Manelin was dancing from foot to foot at this point, his knees turned inward as he wimpered and hoped that the door would open soon.

Parmida grumbled to herself as she slammed into the door again. Maybe if they couldn't open it, they could simply break it. Hopefully her matron wouldn't take the cost of a new door out of her hide if she ever succeed. Whatever it was, being on the shut side of a locked door brought out a dark streak from her. "I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! YOU LET US OUT NOW OR YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT ONCE I'M OUT! I'M SERIOUS!" She wasn't really sure there was someone on the other side of the door, but it didn't hurt to try, did it?

Selma ended up feeling quite useless and scared this whole time, though to someone who didn't look at her closely, they would just think she was being her ususal quiet self. She sat on the ground, with her back against a box at the base of the stairs and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out all the commotion and think about anything except the fact that they were trapped in an increasingly dark basement. After a time, she began to shake a little, though it was unlikely to be noticible to anyone but herself.

Manelin blinked as the light began to dim and looked at his candle. Time to change. He fished a candle out of a pocket, used his already lit one to light the new one, put out the old one, stuck it in a different pocket, and looked at the other candles with a calculating eye. Did they need replaced too?

Parmida quickly jerked to one side as Tali joined her at pounding at the door. She blinked, then shook her head and quickly resumed pounding and shouting. Even if the person who had locked them in wasn't there anymore, the noise were surely catch someone's attention!

Parmida let out a sigh, blowing some of her hair away from her face. She was cranky, and tired, and she wanted a bath. Sarcastic answer it was, then. "Oh, I don't know. Someone locks us in? Don't suppose you know who, do you?" Her throat was raw from all her shouting, giving her voice a scratchy, hoarse feel to it as she spoke. She glared daggers at Vincent as she raked fingers through her hair, perhaps unfairly wondering why he didn't let them out sooner. "As for waking the dead with the screaming... I would think that was the point of screaming to get out. At least then, someone would hear us and come running."

Manelin blinked at the sudden light before putting out his current candle and placing it in a pocket. He quickly yet deftly skirted around the group and made a beeline for the nearest bathroom, Spot hurrying to keep up.

Still shaking a bit, Selma got to her feet and raised an arm to shield her eyes as the door was flung open. Breathing a sigh of relief, she rubbed her arms as if warding off a chill as she followed the others up the stairs, making sure all the younger ones made it out of the basement. Once outside, she pressed her back against a wall and closed her eyes again, trying to force her nerves to return to normal.