“How did you find it?” He asks again, adding a growl.
“Like I said, I walked inside after I saw,” I pause, not finishing my sentence. He won’t believe me. There’s no way he’ll accept that I followed a ghost.
“What did you see?”
“Are you going to back up?” I ask with attitude.
“Yeah.” He places a palm on the door and puts a few inches between us. He’s still invading my space, and he knows it. “Tell me.”
“You’re pushy.”
“It’smyfucking room,” he snarls.
I sigh and roll my eyes. What an alpha male. “I followed someone. A guy dressed in black.”
He appears startled for a moment and then moves away from me. “Leave.”
“You might want to actually lock the door this time,” I tell him as I reach for the knob. “There’s a tour tonight. Someone else might walk in.”
His lips curl into a smirk. “Doubtful.”
I huff and turn the knob, yanking open the door. It’s then that I realize this was the only entrance and exit. An adjacent door to the room beside it. Private.
Oops.Maybe he had a right to be an ass.
Just as I enter the other room, I hear the door click shut and lock behind me. A soft sigh escapes my lips as I walk through the first room and pass the window, exiting the same way I entered.
The hallway is empty.
I don’t see Thad, and it doesn’t surprise me. I’m betting he got bored and decided to find the girl he spoke about earlier. After several minutes, I feel like eyes are watching me. I’ve walked the entire length of the thirteenth floor, and I don’t see the tour. There’s no one around, but I can’t shake the weird sensation that I’m not alone.
I pull out my phone and dial Thad’s number, but he doesn’t answer. After trying two more times and going to voicemail, I click off the call and shove my phone back into the pocket of my jeans.
Where did Thad go? What about the tour?
Staying on this floor alone is silly. I don’t feel like running down thirteen flights of stairs, so I locate the elevator and push the button.
I’m waiting for it to arrive when I feel a cold brush of air on my skin. Every part of me is screaming to turn around and assess the threat. But I don’t. When the doors ding and open, I rush inside.
Spinning around, I stare at the hallway and gasp when I see the man in black. His ghost waves as the doors shut. My hearthammers in my chest, and I struggle to breathe, sucking air into my lungs as I descend.
On the seventh floor, the bell dings again. The elevator stops, and the doors swish open. I stare down the hallway in front of me, hoping nothing happens or anyone appears, as I mash the button on the panel. The doors finally close, and I descend again, stopping on six, five, four, and then three.
This time, the elevator makes an odd whirring sound and jolts to a stop. I slam against an interior wall and decide outside is safer than inside. I rush out of the elevator and run toward the grand staircase, knowing I’m only two floors up from the bottom.
Out of breath, a bit scared, and desperate to find my brother along with the rest of the tour group, I don’t stop until I reach the lobby. There, gathered around the reception desk, the group listens as the tour guide informs us that the tour is officially over. She asks us to leave a review online and tells everyone to have a good night.
People begin to leave as I scan the area, frowning because I can’t find Thad.
“Miss Scott?”
I turn at the sound of my name and nearly collide with the tour guide. “Yes?”
“I trust you’ll have an interesting and favorable review for your blog.” She says it kindly, but I catch the hint of irritation in her eyes.
“Yes, thank you. It was even better than I hoped.”
She smiles. “Good.”
