Kurt had to yank on the cord twice before, with a groan of protest, the attic hatch opened and the ladder came down. Muttering angrily under his breath and glaring in the direction of the living room downstairs where his father sat watching a football game, Kurt climbed slowly up the ladder, wincing at every ominous-sounding creak. Pulling himself up into the attic and looking around, he was glad that he actually owned some old clothes that he didn't mind getting dirty; everything in the attic space was covered in a thick layer of dust.

He picked his way gingerly over to the nearest pile of junk, glared at the filthy floor for a moment, before sighing and kneeling down next to a pile of boxes. He began to sort through everything, setting aside anything that was to be kept and tossing the things that were to be thrown out into a large box. He cursed under his breath as he picked up a dust-choked piece of fabric that had perhaps once been curtains or a rug and threw it into the rubbish box, looking mournfully down at his hands which were smeared with dust and grime.

"It's going to take days for my skin to recover from this." He groaned, "Why did you suddenly decide the attic needed clearing out anyway, Dad?"

He turned back to the pile of junk and pulled a worn wooden box towards him that had been covered by the filthy fabric he had just thrown away. Fumbling with the gold clasp on the front, he noticed symbols had been carved into the wood around the clasp, strange symbols that looked almost dangerous. He was just about to give up on opening the box for fear of breaking a nail, when suddenly the clasp flicked open and Kurt was able to push the lid open.

There was a great rushing sound and a boiling mass of dense black smoke poured out of the box, Kurt yelled and began to stumble backwards towards the ladder. The smoke began to get denser as it swirled faster, taking on an almost solid form with burning eyes caught in the centre like flies in a spider's web. Slipping a little on the grimy floor and almost twisting an ankle, Kurt backed away from it towards the ladder, unable to take his eyes off the indescribable thing that was advancing towards him.

He never made it to the ladder.