21 Century Haunting

|7|

Mikey's P.O.V

"What did you guys do to escape all of this?" I ask Grace. Calum, Madi, and Olivia are walking slightly in front of us, talking quietly among themselves.

"Ran like hell," she says, smiling.

"Did you hide somewhere?"

"Oh relax," she murmurs, wrapping her fingers around mine. "We'll be okay."

"No we won't!" I burst, shaking her arm off. She steps away, but still smiles.

"Ouch," she says, clasping her hands in front of her heart. "You don't have to be so rude, I promise we'll get out."

I stay silent, and after a couple moments, she steps closer again and holds my hand again. I don't make a move to push her away; her fingers feel too good wrapped around mine.

*~*~*~*~*~*

As we're walking, we end up passing the entrance. Calum wants to try the doors again, so we wait and watch as he pushes and pulls the handles to no avail.

"It's alright," Madi says softly, leading a dejected Calum away from the door. "Just two more hours until dawn, and then we can get out."

"What about Luke?" he asks. "He was turned into this possessed being and-"

"The second he steps foot out of this building, he'll be fine. As for right now, you need weapons just in case Luke turns out to be a threat."

"Weapons?" I echo.

She nods. "There are some knives hidden under floorboards behind the desk." Noting my incredulous stare, she adds. "We put them there last time, just in case this happened to someone else."

Without giving it much thought, Calum goes behind the desk and pries up a few floorboards. Setting the pieces aside, he pulls out a fistful of dusty, but sharp, blades.

"Here," he points a stout dagger at me, waiting until I have a solid grip on the hilt before letting go.

I'm testing the weight in my hand when Grace reaches over me and stills my hand. "Let's not kill anyone until we have to, alright?"

I nod and push the blade into my belt so I can easily grab it if I need to. When I've made sure it won't fall out and impale my leg, I grab a thick floorboard as a shield and follow the group into another dark corridor.

"What are we doing now?" Calum asks the girls as he falls into step with Madi.

"We have to find the other boy," she says, taking note of Ashton's disappearance.

She seems to know where she's going, choosing a path quickly when we come to a fork in the road. She easily anticipates the debris strewn around her and manages to walk without tripping. It's very off-putting, how the girls act like they've walked this maze of a hotel many times.

I'm thinking about that when I run into Olivia, who has stopped and is pressed against the wall.

"Is that the boy?" she breathes quietly, trying not to make too much sound.

I peer around her, inspecting whatever made her frightened. It's Ashton. "Yeah, but what's he doing?"

"Hate to tell you, but he's tracking you."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What?" I ask, not sure I heard her correctly.

"He's tracking you," she repeats. "Did you see what he has in his hand?"

"No." I lean forward to catch a glimpse, but Olivia shoves me against the wall with one hand.

"Don't do that!" she hisses. "Lets go, we have to get away from him."

I nod. Taking a look over her shoulder, she inches across the wall until she reaches an empty doorway. I creep in behind her and duck behind the fallen table she's behind.

"Now what?" I ask, peering around the edge of the table.

"We'll wait. I told Madi and Grace that we're here so-"

"How did you tell them?" I interrupt. "If you've had a working phone all this time . . ."

She scoffs. "Nope." When she doesn't offer any other explanation, I push the subject again.

"Shut up, Michael," she says, ending the conversation. "When they find us, we can look for your other buddy." I open my mouth to protest, but Olivia holds up one hand. "I told you to shut up."