"We're 0 for 2 so far," Pari muttered, still suspicious of the vanishing children.
Roo hesitated outside the door, then called, "Do you mind if I break your house a little bit, just to prove that I am who I am?"
"If we open the door, we won't know until it's too late." He whispered in agreement.
"Okay," Roo said uncertainly. "I'm going to do it."
"Feofil, the woman's about to break your house." Pari's gaze flickered between him and the door. "We either face this thing head on or get buried in the rubble."
"She said break it a little bit."
The wall near the door rumbled. Pari drew away from it as, under her bewildered gaze, the wood compacted and hardened and grew gray and pocked. She'd turned it into... stone?
"Sorry," Roo cried from outside the door. "I didn't think water would be a good option, because then what would happen to the door? I don't want to touch a door covered in sigils. So I thought... this might be easier, it's still solid, you know. I can change it back... I think."
"... Roo?" Feofil called out finally, tentative.
"It's me," she confirmed again, "Open the door please. We need to get you out of here."
He rose from the bed, shooting Pari one last glance and leaving the scarf with her before carefully cracking the door.
Pari discarded the silk offal on the ground. She'd wiped most of the blood on her hands into her voluminous skirts - it melded with the velvet - but her palms still felt sticky and cold. She wondered if the feeling would ever go away or if every time she looked down, she'd see dark streaks splashed across her pale skin.
Roo was standing on the other side, gazing towards the stairs, where a screech cut through the air before being silenced by an unholy crash. She turned to look at Feofil, then Pari, who straggled behind him. "We need to go," she said again. "Giovanni will take care of it."
"Giovanni?" Pari asked numbly. "The baker guy?"
"Um... yes."
"Go where?" Feo asked instead, cautious eyes darting behind Roo though they didn't catch sight of any of the beatdown going on downstairs.