The Unknown

Chapter IV

SAM

Music: Dance of Middle Easterners from Nemesis 3 MSX

"So, tell us a little about yourself," I request to Julianna, trying to get a conversation going. We've gone back to walking through the hallways, checking every bedroom available. So far, none of them have an alternate option for escape, nor any materials that could help us escape. Hopes have started to drop just a little bit.

"Yeah, I feel like I've seen you around before, like, at choir concerts and stuff," Shanna adds.

"Aren't you all in high school now?" Julianna asks us. We all nod, and she says, "Yeah, I think I'm in the grade below you guys."

"Makes sense," Mia nods. "I don't recall ever seeing you until last year."

We all go back to being quiet for a few more minutes. Mia's still taking notes; I think she has at least five pages now. I didn't even know there was five pages worth of notes to take from this place.

Shanna then looks up at the ceiling and stops walking. The rest of us stop as well to see what caught her attention. Her eyes are now fixed on a small handle on the ceiling. Mia, the tallest one out of any of us, reaches up and barely manages to grab ahold of the handle. She pulls it down, revealing a flight of wooden stairs. Without even debating whether we should walk upstairs or not, we do so. The stairs are definitely very old, as the wood is chipped and they creak with every step we take. It's a miracle that none of them break.

Inside the attic, we have to squat down in order to not bang our heads on the ceiling. It's very dusty in here, and other than that, this attic is pretty barren. It's also very dark in here. I eventually bump into a string coming from the ceiling. Hesitantly, I pull on the string, and a light bulb turns on.

"Huh. There's actually a working light bulb in here," Heath murmurs next to me.

The light turning on reveals something else in the room. Out of nowhere, a black cat jumps onto the floor, meowing loudly. Most of us jump back in surprise.

The cat walks around in a circle, staring at all of us curiously. Its fur is extremely messy and it looks like it hasn't eaten in a couple of days. Then it just jumps down the stairs and starts walking through the hallways.

"Classic horror movie cliche. Random cat out of nowhere for a brief scare," I sigh.

There are no windows in the attic, ruling this place out as a means of escape. "Okay, there's nothing here. Let's go now," Elle says, talking quickly. Elle's not great with handling scary situations like this, and she looks like she's going to bolt at any minute.

"Elle, could you please chill? It was just a cat, for crying out loud," Mia sighs. She's always had a problem with Elle's sensitivity and paranoia.

"Mia, you know I don't take this kind of stuff easily!" Elle exclaims.

"Here we go again," Avery grumbles.

"Well, I'm sorry you can't handle a little bit of paranormal activity. Sadly, some of us here can, and you're just being a downer."

"Whatever, you little bitch," Elle mutters.

Mia's head snaps toward Elle. She looks like she's about ready to pounce on Elle. "Um, excuse me? Elle, you'd better watch your mouth before you say something you'll regret."

"Both of you, cut it out," Heath demands. Both girls stare at each other for a few more seconds, then look away. Mia sighs and Elle starts grumbling under her breath. I exchange a worried look with Heath and Avery. Last time things got out of hand between those two, Mia tried to kill Elle. Yes, I mean that literally. Since then, the tension has remained between them, but it's never fully sprouted into something serious.