The boys curl up next to the fireside and drink their malted hot chocolate out of their ornate ceramic mugs. Subtly at first, a gentle rapping comes from under the floor of the cabin. It took a few minutes for Odin to notice the sound, alerting the rest of the 'boys.' After some time the rapping ceased.
Eerily, silence crept into the room. As though a wind had blown through the remote cabin's windows, silence had covered the lonesome forest retreat. Not even the crackle and snap of the fire were heard. Mouths moved but no sound left their lips.
They turned to find Evan, but couldn't. He was gone. August and Odin, panicked, ran to the door. What should have sounded like feet falling on old wood didn't sound like anything. In the silence's place grew a laughing. Starting quietly and growing into a cacophony that split eardrums, August and Odin cowered by the door, clutching their ears and squeezing their eyes shut, praying for an end to the madness.