Chapter 53

KATHERINE.

Okay, this was not my brightest idea.

As I passed through the freezing foyer, I felt eyes following me and I swallowed as I glanced around. The building felt eerily quiet, almost as if it were sleeping, while shadows played on my senses, warping shapes, and I tried not to breathe but I knew it was impossible. I hadn’t gone far. I could still run out of the building and go back to waiting in the UTV but I steeled myself and powered through. There had been no other torch in the UTV so I was currently using my phone’s flashlight to light my path and though the light did a poor job of chasing away the shadows, I could see a couple of feet in front of me.

After getting to the end of the foyer, my gaze bounced between the hallway ahead and the staircase on my left. I wasn’t sure of which way to take and I didn’t want to call out for Hunter or Josie because someone else might show up instead. Someone like Sarah Everhart or old man Ernest.

‘...Crap.’ I’d totally forgotten about the ghost with the rasping sound that Josie, Zac and I had seen when we were here. I glanced around again as I tightened my hold on the iron poker and before I could decide on which way I was going to take, the sound of glass breaking and a voice came from upstairs.

“You stupid bitch! I’m going to fucking kill you!” That was clearly Josie and I immediately headed for the stairs which groaned as I rushed up it as fast as I could. I got to the next floor just in time to see Everhart send Josie flying across the hallway and into a wall, and though the scene was rather violent, I was glad to see her. Then Everhart went up, going through the ceiling. “You fuck–”

“Josie!” I called while closing the distance between us and her head jerked in my direction before surprise washed over her face. She looked like she’d been through a lot. Her clothes were ripped in different places and were stained with blood and dirt, there was a cut on her cheek which was slowly healing up… and it looked like her hair had been cut?

“Kath? What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” I replied as I helped her up and her lips curved into a smile.

“I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Don’t count me out just yet,” I said and her smile got bigger. “What happened to your hair?”

An exasperated look crossed her face as she touched the ends of her hair. “Everhart happened. She threw a knife at me and I dodged it but it got my hair,” she answered before her frown deepened. “And I still haven’t found Lenore. I don’t know where she kept her.”

My shoulders sagged at that. “I heard someone scream earlier,” I said, referring to the scream I heard before the guy’s own. “Do you know who that was?”

“Oh, that was me. It was when that bitch cut my hair.”

The corner of my mouth turned up a bit and the smile immediately slipped off when I heard that familiar rasping sound come from the room we were standing next to. Josie didn’t seem to be bothered about it as she glanced around, trying to figure out which way she’d take and I decided not to say anything about it since she’d said he wasn’t malevolent. He didn’t seem violent either the last time we were here. I moved closer to her though.

“Have you seen Hunter and Keith?” I asked just as she began to march down the hallway and I made sure to keep up with her.

“No. They’re here?”

“Yes. They came in a couple of minutes before I did.”

“I haven’t seen them. They probably headed to the basement.”

Of course, there was a basement in this creepy ass building.

Josie began to throw doors open, sniffing the air before moving to the next, and it took me a couple of seconds to realize she was searching for Lenore’s scent.

“What about Blake?”

“He’s here too?” she asked, glancing at me, and I nodded. “No wonder. I heard a ruckus earlier. Sounded like someone was tearing the house apart. I thought it was one of the ghosts.”

“Ghosts?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen like seven apart from Everhart and Ernest and five of them batshit insane.” She stopped as she glanced at something past me before grabbing my hand holding the fire poker and moving it so I jabbed something to my right. I glanced in the direction just in time to see a ghost disappear in puff and chills crawled over my skin like small spiders. “Keep your eyes peeled.”

I swallowed while she resumed walking and I quickly followed her, keeping a wary eye on my surroundings. “I think we should find the guys, I heard one of them scream earlier.”

“Meh, they’re most likely fine,” she replied and I gaped at her because she seemed quite flippant about this. When she noticed my expression, she drew her brows together. “What? They’re much more prepared than I am and they went through this last year. They’re fine.”

She looked like she believed it so that should have been reassuring but I couldn’t help but be worried.

Josie tipped her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “Someone just drove up to the house,” she said and I glanced at the grimy window next to us to see headlights outside before two people stepped out of the vehicle.

“Hunter called Oliver and Diana.” Their presence made me feel a bit better because the more people that were in this building, the faster we could find our friends and get the hell out.

“Ah.”

We walked down the hallway, searching through the rooms. The smell of rotting fabric was present in all of them and most of the furniture was collapsing. It was weird that the school left one of its most precious buildings in this state but if they wanted to let students inhabit it again, most of its insides would need to be thrown out.

“How many rooms are in this building?” I asked, frustrated, when we went through the nth room and there was still no sign of Lenore and Chelsea’s friend.

“At least a hundred.”

“Why?!”

“Why are you asking me?” Josie replied with a small laugh while I let out a harsh breath.

“Which floors have you checked?”

“Just some of the rooms on the third.”

She had said Theo and Keith probably headed to the basement so they’d be making their way up from there.

“What about the fourth?” I asked and she shook her head sideways.

“Not yet. Most of the ghosts are up there,” she muttered just before the sound of a door slamming came from the left and I jolted. Then all the doors we’d opened proceeded to slam shut one after the other and the noise echoed through the hallway while my stomach churned with fear.

Josie opened the pouch filled with salt that I’d given her and poured some on her hand. “Stay close and be ready to use the poker. Whoever’s here is not nice,” she said and I bobbed my head before we resumed walking down the hallway.