Chapter 288 Something Is Watching Them
Chapter 288 Something Is Watching Them
Just then, a familiar ringtone suddenly started playing on the front desk, its crisp sound particularly jarring in the quiet lobby.
Sophie walked over and glanced at it. She saw two phones stacked together on the counter, the screen lit up, showing an unknown number calling.
She said helplessly,
"They went upstairs without their phones, and we don't even know which room they're in. What should we do?"
Isabella pulled out the room key card from her pocket, looked at the number on it, and said,
"We're staying in a suite, room number 8888.
Those two are in a standard room, I think it was 6688, should be right."
"Let me go check it out."
Sophie volunteered. She had always been the boldest one.
Isabella nodded and reminded her,
"Be careful."
Then Sophie, carrying the streaming equipment, walked into the elevator alone and pressed the button for the 6th floor.
The elevator doors slowly closed and began to rise.
The viewers in the livestream had been waiting for half an hour without any exciting footage to watch, only able to immerse themselves in the three girls' beauty. The comments had gradually become sparse.
Now seeing Sophie taking the streaming equipment to find Charles and Dylan, some viewers who liked handsome young men suddenly got excited again, and the comments became active once more:
[What is Ms. Collins planning to show us? Is she going to let us see hot guys fresh out of the shower? I'm so excited!]
[Can you not be so perverted? They're still high school students, can you have some pure thoughts!]
[They're in college now, okay? They're adults, adults!]
[They're in college but still not adults! Don't you know Eltheron's law states that underage boys can't be discussed in that way? Do you want to go to jail for molesting minors?]
[Don't make it sound so scary, I'm just appreciating beauty! Who doesn't like looking at handsome guys!]
[What's that?]
The viewers were originally having a heated discussion in the comments about Charles and Dylan's looks,
as well as legal issues, when they suddenly heard Sophie's scream and comments from some livestream viewers.
It startled everyone.
Everyone looked through the camera lens and saw the 6th floor hallway was packed with people, densely crowded, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Yes, that's right, the hallway was completely filled with people.
They all stood expressionless with their heads hanging down, arms stiffly hanging at their sides.
Even Charles and Dylan had their heads down, hands raised, obediently standing by the door of room 6688.
Everyone stood motionless, like puppets being controlled.
Sophie was relatively bold, and having practiced martial arts since childhood, her self-defense skills were strong. Though scared inside, she still forced herself to stay calm.
Standing at the elevator entrance, she gathered her courage and shouted loudly,
"What are you doing? Why are you all standing here?"
Sophie's loud shout was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, making all the people standing in the hallway lift their heads in unison.
Their eye sockets were all emitting black smoke, without a trace of white in their eyes.
They stared straight at Sophie, their gazes empty and eerie, motionless.
No matter how bold Sophie was, seeing this scene still startled her, and all the hair on her body stood up.
Holding the streaming equipment, she took a deep breath of cold air, her voice trembling slightly as she warned,
"Don't come any closer! If you come closer, I'll start hitting! My punches really hurt!"
Those people seemed not to hear Sophie's words at all, still expressionless with their heads hanging down.
They slowly walked toward Sophie step by step, their movements as stiff as zombies,
their feet making dragging sounds that were especially creepy in the quiet hallway.
Sophie cursed to herself: This is bad.
She didn't give herself time to space out. Turning around, she rushed into the elevator,
her fingers quickly pressing the close door button and the first-floor button in one smooth motion.
The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out those eerie figures outside.
Sophie leaned against the elevator wall, gasping for breath, her heart pounding,
her back already soaked with cold sweat.
The elevator slowly descended, making strange noises as if it could fall at any moment.
Isabella and Melinda hadn't been waiting long in the first-floor lobby when they saw the elevator doors slowly open and Sophie walk out.
Sophie's face was as pale as a sheet of paper, without a trace of color.
At that moment, they also heard the strange noises from the elevator, making them feel very uneasy.
Isabella quickly went up to her, supporting her, and asked in a serious voice,
"What happened? What's wrong?"
Sophie frowned, her voice carrying a trace of well-hidden trembling as she said,
"There seems to be something haunting upstairs. Everyone on the 6th floor,
I don't know if they're even people, but they're definitely not normal!
When they rushed at me, it was kind of scary! Really freaked me out!"
Hearing Sophie's trembling description, Isabella's eyebrows slightly raised,
a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes. Isabella turned her face to look at Sophie, who was still catching her breath, her tone carrying some teasing,
"So, do you have the guts to go up there again?"
Hearing this, Sophie immediately straightened her back.
She patted her chest, her earlier shock instantly replaced by competitive spirit.
She spread her hands, saying nonchalantly,
"Of course I do! I didn't come down because I was scared of ghosts. I just felt that such an exciting thing wouldn't be as fun without you."
As she spoke, she raised the streaming equipment in her hand,
"Besides, the livestream viewers are still waiting for the excitement. We can't disappoint them. Let's go together."
Melinda, standing nearby, had been a bit scared by Sophie's description, her fingers gripping her clothes tightly,
but hearing "let's go together," Melinda's innate curiosity emerged again.
She suddenly raised her little hand, her eyes full of excitement and anticipation, stammering,
"Me! Bunny! I want to go too! I want to see what secrets this haunted house is hiding!"
Isabella looked at Melinda's expression of being both scared and wanting to join the fun, helplessly curved her lips, and gently shook her head,
"Let's go."
With those words, Isabella turned first and walked toward the stairwell without any hesitation.
The elevator seemed eerie now; the stairs, though troublesome, were safer.
They climbed up the narrow staircase. The stairwell had no lights on, only the faint twilight coming through the windows, casting mottled shadows on the walls.
Their footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell, the sound particularly clear, mixed with their slight breathing, making the atmosphere inexplicably tense.
Melinda followed closely behind Isabella, occasionally glancing behind her, always feeling like something was watching them from behind.