I came home early that day because of a cancelled tutorial. Going straight to my room I dumped a couple of books and some notes I'd taken during a lecture on the desk and then wondered what to do. I could have got down to some studying, and had almost reluctantly made up my mind to do just that, when my attention was caught by a strange sound. At first I wasn't sure if it was inside or outside the house; it was a sort of whimpering sobbing sound. I listened for a while. It might have been some child out in the street crying because it had hurt itself, but somehow it seemed closer than that, right there in the house, but who would make such a strange noise?