God only knew when they were going to get around to the laundry. They were taking a detour to the stairs at the end of Floor Eight, now.

“So you can go down to Floor Seven, right?” Alex was asking.

“Uh-huh.” She walked up to the stairs, and then confidently put her foot on the first step. “Now you try.”

Both Alex and Josie tried to follow suit, and both of their feet just awkwardly and slowly careened out of the way, like they were sliding slowly on a glass surface.

“See?” She waved her hands at them. “You’re stuck up here!”

“I’m sorry,” Josie asked, as if anyone had expected them to apologize in this situation.

“I’ve been up on the ninth floor since the Christmas party,” Alex explained. “And then I got locked in my room.”

“Wait, you could go freely before?” She was pacing now, claws clacking on the tile floor. “How far could you go?”

“I could go through the whole building like everyone else,” Alex said, surprised that it was even in question.

She looked at him, mouth open in shock, and then furrowed her brow. “Right. Come over here!”

Marigold was leading them over to the window by the stairs. They followed, and craned their necks to see the outside world.