Matt backed away, his throat dry.  “Just a prank.  Just a prank,” he muttered to himself.

He backed out the door.  A couple of guys nearly knocked him over in their effort to get out of the building.  They were laughing and joking about the night they had ahead of them.  Apparently they were hooking up with a couple of girls from their Psych class.

Okay, nothing unusual there, Matt thought.  I just need to get a grip.  It was just some stupid prank.

Still he hesitated.

“Get a grip,” he muttered angrily at himself.  Giving himself a shake he stepped back into the room.

Keeping a weary eye on the dryers he picked up an armload of clothes off the washer.  Moving to the dryer farthest from the one in operation he hurriedly stuffed his clothes inside, his eyes darting up to the dryer and the door every few minutes.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.  He could almost count the seconds by it.

“Maybe I’ll just run up to my room till my clothes are dry.”  But what if whatever it was was gone?  Would he be left wondering forever?  I’ve got to stop taking philosophy classes, Matt thought.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.

“Someone probably just threw a shoe in there.”  Yeah, a shoe.  That was all it was.  Somebody was just trying to creep him out.  They were probably watching and laughing at him.

His eyes moved involuntarily to the windows.  They weren’t full sized windows—just those half windows they put near the ceilings of basements to let in a little light.  If that had been the intention they shouldn’t have planted a row of trees right outside the building.

It was to dark outside to see if anyone was out there.  He could see the movement of the branches, swaying with the wind, creating shadows.  If he pressed his face against the glass he'd probably be able to make out more.  The branches moved with the wind.

If I keep looking out there I’m going to start jumping at shadows.

Matt heard a car squeal out of the parking lot and he started to wonder who else was in the building.  There hadn’t been anyone on his floor when he’d come down.  It was the main reason he was down here doing his laundry in the first place.  But that didn’t mean nobody else was here.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.

“Just look.  It’s nothing.  Just look and you can stop freaking out.”  He took a couple of steps toward the machine.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.

“It’s going to be something stupid—maybe a baseball, and I’m going to feel like a total idiot.”  He took another step closer.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.

“Quite being an ****.  Just do it.”

Thump.  The machine stopped.  The quiet was even more unnerving than the previous thumping.

“The cycle just finished.”  His dryer was quiet too.  Matt backed up.

He started to laugh.  He’d never actually started his dryer.  Holding his stomach he continued to laugh.  Finally, brushing the hysterical tears from his eyes, he looked again at the dryer that had stopped.

Taking a deep breath he walked up to it.

There was a black leather bag inside.  The bag was smaller than a briefcase but larger than a shaving kit.  It had one opening at the top that was zipped closed.

Matt opened the door and pulled it out.  It was heavy.  There was definitely something inside.