“I don’t think there’s anything in these cells. But there’s another room, straight across from where we are, at the end of the cell block,” Charlie said.
I looked down that way, but it was too dark to see a door, or anything that was at the end of the hall. “We should search that next.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall, lone figure standing at the end of the cell block. I couldn’t make out any details, just a black shape resembling the figure of a man. I shot a fireball at the ghostly specter, and the figure darted into a cell and out of view.
“What’s going on?” Charlie’s voice was on edge as he heard my Fire rush by.
“Oh, nothing, just a creepy shadow man that ran away once I turned a fireball on him.”
“That’s comforting.” Charlie turned his face upward. “Hey, you two, hurry up!”
“We’re coming down now!” Kallie’s voice echoed from four flights up. I heard their heavy footsteps on the metal stairs, until Kallie gave a loud scream, and Marcus gasped. I looked up sharply, and my stomach plummeted as I saw Marcus tumble off the edge of the railing on the third floor and toward the ground. I didn’t know where Kallie had gone.
“Charlie—” I yelped, but he’d already sensed something was wrong. He lifted his hands to cast his Air magic, and he was able to catch Marcus in a gust of wind just before our friend hit the ground. Marcus was thrown slightly into the wall, but not hard. He rolled a few feet as Kallie rushed down the stairs, Rishi giving loud mewls behind her.
“Marcus, are you okay?” Kallie asked. Her words stuttered as she helped Marcus to his feet.
“I’m all right,” Marcus panted, though he coughed a few times. “Shit, that was scary.”
“Why didn’t you levitate yourself using telepathy?” I asked. “From that height, you could’ve died.”
“I panicked. I didn’t realize I was falling until I’d almost hit the ground.” Marcus’ face was stark white as he said, “Something shoved me off. I felt someone’s hands on my back before I went over.”
“Good thing we managed to catch you,” Kallie said, rubbing his back. “I would’ve saved you myself if I hadn’t been thrown into a cell.”
“Thrown?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Something tossed me. That’s when I screamed. I felt someone pick me up and throw me, but when I landed on the ground, nobody was there,” Kallie replied.
“It was somebody, all right. You just couldn’t see them,” Marcus said darkly.
Fear froze my senses. I felt pinpricks of terror creeping over my skin, making my pulse race. Every instinct I had told me I needed to get the hell out of here as fast as I could. This wasnota place where we should be fucking around.
“We need to get a move on,” Charlie said, and he put his hands on the back of my chair. “The activity’s picking up, and the spirits are getting more malevolent. Ava thinks we found another room we can search.”
“Let’s hope it gives us more info than this place did. The whole cell block is a bust,” Kallie grumbled, casting wary glances over her shoulder.
I dared to look behind myself, and I wished I hadn’t. The shadow man was following us. He remained at a distance, and though I couldn’t make out any facial features, I was certain he was staring at us. Whoever he was— or whoever he hadbeen— he wanted us to know that this was his area and that he wanted us toleave.Immediately.
Once we went through the next door, I gained a noted sense of relief, and my shoulders felt lighter. I didn’t think the shadow man had followed us here.
We took another U-shaped hallway, one that led to a smaller area that looked like an office space. There were a variety of desks in here, along with plenty of file cabinets. When I checked the dates of the papers pinned to billboards on the walls, I noted that the earliest was December 31, 1949. This room had been frozen in time since that day, untouched for decades. The employees had literally gathered their things and walked out, abandoning the rest to time.
I noticed there wasn’t a way out through here. The only doorway to this office was connected to the death row cell block. Which meant we’d have to go back through it to leave.
“This was definitely used for the staff,” Kallie noted as she looked around. “Probably the people who set execution dates.”
“It’s a records room,” I said.
“Yeah, but what are we looking for? Amalie never came to the adult penitentiary. I know from my vision that once she was captured, she was taken back to Malovia and executed,” Kallie stated.
“Maybe someone she knew was here,” I said. “She had an ally who helped her steal the merfolk key, a diplomat from Atlantis. What if they ended up behind these walls?”
“It’s possible,” Kallie said with a shrug. “Amalie was beheaded for treason in Malovia, but her ally could’ve been sentenced here.”
“We don’t even know this person’s name,” Marcus objected.
“Doesn’t matter. If her ally was executed here, the crime will be listed in the records, and something will stick out,” Charlie said. “We might as well start looking through them.”
