Spring Bell

A narrow draft guided my knuckles along a recessed service wall until my elbow nudged a row of hanging metal spirals. Clink-ting-ling! A small brass bell mounted on an ornate steel coil began to whip frantically back and forth, rapping sharply against its wooden backing. I dropped low on all fours instantly, locking my ribs motionless against the floorboards. My head tilted sharp to the wall, tracking the rapid, dying wobble of the spring—ting, ting... hum—until the metal shudder dissolved into the plaster. Absolute quiet swallowed the hallway once more.