Page 157 of Property of Bob

Corners.

All good.

Before the fax, we’d wondered if somebody was watching us. Now we knew they were.

Ramona moved closer, and I looked down at her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure?”

I squeezed her hand.

We reached the second storage room, and Skull opened the door.

Shay peered around him. “Anything scary in there?”

“Boxes,” Prime laughed.

“Could be scary boxes,” Shay whispered.

Skull looked at her. “If you are afraid of boxes, then you really shouldn’t be in here.” He stepped inside.

I followed with Ramona beside me.

The room was cramped. Shelves covered two walls, stacked with old props we didn’t use anymore. A broken skeleton sat in the corner missing one arm. Three mannequins were lined up against the back wall.

Ramona stopped. “No.”

I looked at her.

She pointed at the mannequins. “Those are worse than Gary.”

“Why?”

“They look like they’re waiting for us to turn around.”

“They’re mannequins.”

Pearl walked past her. “She’s right. Those things are creepy.”

“Thank you,” Ramona smiled. “I’m not crazy thinking they are creepy.”

Skull moved toward the back wall with Prime right behind him.

I checked the shelves on the opposite side. Dust. Old masks. Boxes. A plastic tub filled with fake rats.

Ramona picked one up by the tail and inspected it.

I stared at her. “You wouldn’t touch the fake hand, but you’ll touch a rat?”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “The rat didn’t attack me.” She dropped it back into the bin and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Still gross, though.”

“Bob.” Something in Skull’s voice stopped me. I turned to see Skull standing near the back corner. He wasn’t looking at us. He was staring at the wall.

Prime had moved further along the wall and turned to look back. “Do I even want to know what you found?”

“What is it?” I asked.