"Because it was affordable!" Salem said, continuing to do that not-exactly-quiet yell-whisper that pissed off people tended to do when things were getting bad but they didn't want to be heard. When he saw Joe's knife come out, he somehow thought that arming himself would be a<span style="font-style: italic">fantastic</span>idea, so he picked up a golf club that happened to be sitting in what was initially meant as an umbrella case nearby. He barely used the things otherwise, so they were mostly meant for home defense anyway. He just never thought he'd be defending his home against a mass of evil-looking shadow when he got 'em.<br/><br/>Joe's approach to the darkness inspired Salem to take up a position next to him, but on the very slow approach, the shadows reacted to Joe's presence in a most horrifying way. A bunch of nasty, goopy blackness shot out from the dark, splattering over Joe's head, limbs, torso, fuckin' everywhere. For a few moments, he would have an opportunity to regret his course of actions, but soon enough the goop retracted back into the hall, pulling Joe into the shadows.<br/><br/>Salem was producing bricks at a rate high enough to seal off the hall and forget any of this ever happened. He tried a halfhearted swing at the dark, which grabbed his club and tugged it into itself. Salem stared at his now-empty hands for a few moments, feeling a sense of complete and utter defeat. Then, just as it had done to Joe, it splattered him with a bunch of tendril-like constructs and yanked him down the hall. There was a complete silence in the apartment now, until the clock on Salem's phone finally struck 12. When it did, the darkness collapsed into itself and disappeared. The boys were nowhere to be seen.<br/><br/>With a hard smack to the floor, Salem found himself collapsed in an alley of some sort. The air was exceptionally cold, and every breath he gave out created a small mist. The first thing he noticed about this new place was the architecture. It was very much not DC, and had a bit of a weird gothic flair to it. Of particular note was an immense cathedral in the distance, strategically built utop a hill that overlooked the...wherever they were. Slowly and quietly, he pulled himself to his feet and walked towards the opening of the alley. It led to a cobblestone street, lined with black metal lamps, none of which were currently lit. It was a bit hard to tell, but the sky looked unnatural. Even around the moon that hung brightly in the sky, there were no hints of blue. It was completely black.