The fire was dying down.

(chapter originally by Phantom Pen at writing.com)

The library grew colder as the fire began to sputter and die. The lack of warmth and increasingly low light was more than enough to earn an exasperated groan from Mackenzie as she turned around to face the dwindling flame.

"Come on, can't we even have a warm fire? I swear, it's like this house is messing with us." Mackenzie said, plopping down in front of the fireplace as she watched the flames die.

"Well, that's kind of the idea behind a haunted house, but I get what you mean. Talk about bad luck." Lana muttered. Staring into the dying fire, however, the athletic woman noticed something Mackenzie didn't. "Hey, I think there's something behind that fireplace."

Surprised, Mackenzie looked harder at the fireplace, and saw that Lana was indeed correct. The flames had hidden the open crawlspace at the back of the fireplace when they had been roaring, but as they shrank and fizzled out it came into view once more. Sure, a hidden tunnel in a fireplace wasn't the most inviting path in the world, but being locked naked in a library wasn't much better.

"Maybe it'll lead us to something we can wear." Mackenzie mused.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Lana said, wasting no time in quickly extinguishing the remaining flames and crawling into the fireplace. "Ick, there's a lot of soot, just so you know. And we're gonna have to go one at a time. Just stay behind me."

The idea of crawling through soot wasn't exactly appealing, and crawling directly behind Lana's naked form would make keeping her eyes forward more than a little awkward, but Mackenzie wasn't about to try arguing. The less time wasted, the better. And pointing out the fact that Lana was effectively flashing Mackenzie in this plan was a conversation the redhead really didn't feel like having.

With a **** sigh, Mackenzie slowly followed Lana into the crawlspace, unable to keep herself from occasionally glancing at the sight of the Asian woman's prominently displayed posterior. The light was low, but proximity still made it possible to see some of the other woman's more intimate details.

Mackenzie was so focused on trying not to focus on what was in front of her, that she was caught completely off guard as-