"Wait!"
Shoving the back door open, Jin Xueli stepped out into the night.
The air in the dim, damp alley was faintly tinged with the smell of a nearby dumpster. Other than them, the alley was empty.
The man and woman up ahead heard her call and turned around. For some reason, after they had stepped outside, they had stopped in their tracks instead of walking on. Now, they were only a step or two away from Jin Xueli.
When they turned at her call, both wore the dazed expression of someone just waking from a deep dream, as if they had been standing outside the door in a stupor for a few seconds before Jin Xueli came out.
'These two are acting a little strange.'
'Is it because of the environment?'
The pale sensor light above the back door looked like it was about to die. It failed to illuminate anything, instead casting the pair in a ghoulish light, as if some invisible black mist was swirling around them like a specter.
'...I probably don't look much better myself.'
