Mind's Echo

Shelly

Shelly was relieved when Alex finally found the Coleman lantern and turned it on, bathing the room in a soft glow. She did not want to admit it, but the whole house was really creeping her out. It was damp, and smelled moldy, with a hint of ... formaldehyde?

"I just hope my fiancé shows back up, then maybe we can get out of here, this place gives me the creeps," Eva mumbled, rubbing her arms against the chill.

Shelly looked at her with sympathy. She could understand where she was coming from. Her last boyfriend was a real asshole, too. He had left her at a bar one night, just because she had wanted to dance to a song he did not like! Boys in men's bodies, she thought, shaking her head, recalling how pissed she had been.

Shivering, and not from the cold, she moved in closer to Alex, as he tried to lighten the mood with his little nerdy jokes. She studied his face, finding it to be quite cute and pleasing to the eye. He really needs to learn some new jokes, she thought with a smile, watching him lift the lamp looking around the room.

"Who the hell was that, or what the hell was that!?" Alex exclaimed, looking down a hallway, holding the lantern up higher.

"What? What did you see, or think you saw?" Shelly asked, turning to look where Alex was looking.

Eva turned to look as well. It seemed as if she missed it, too, judging from the puzzled expression upon her pale face. The two women looked at each other in bewilderment, then looked back at Alex. Grinning together, they started to chuckle again.

"Boy, Alex, are you this nervous all of the time? Come on - there is nothing there! You are starting to make us nervous now!" Shelly chided good-naturedly, as she took inventory of the room they were in.

There were several ragged couches pushed against a badly chipped wall. Two broken magazine tables were strewn around the room, the legs of which were scarred and shattered. A couple of sad armchairs were also placed haphazardly in the room, the stuffing pulled out of one of them as if it had been violently attacked by something with vicious claws, or maybe a teenager with a knife and too much time on their hands. The walls were painted a sickly green, the paint chipped and peeling off the walls. The floor was an old ceramic tile, with cavities and cracks all in it.

"Well, the decor could use some sprucing up for sure," Shelly joked, kicking up some loose tile. "It's not pretty, but we can always set up the tent in here."

Alex was going through his bags, pulling out all sorts of camping gear: a tent, sleeping bags, food, water, and even toilet paper. Shelly and Eva watched him, mouths agape in awe.

"Man, are you prepared! Do you have your Girl Scout badge?" Shelly teased, kneeling down beside him, helping him unpack.

Shelly looked up to see Eva looking about the room. "Interesting, isn't it? Seems like the perfect place to see a spook, if you ask me."