Sinister

Chapter Fourteen

Sinister

Chapter Fourteen

Leighton bit her nails as she waited for the elevator. They were a mess again, she had tried painting them but she had spent the better part of the morning picking away at the colour. Sighing, Leighton shoved her hands into her pockets, slipping into the elevator and standing beside an older lady who's spine curved like a fishhook.

The button for floor four lit up when Leighton pressed it. The elderly lady made no attempt to call for a floor and she didn't get off the elevator with Leighton. The hall was dimly lit, one of the overhead lights was flickering.

Leighton sucked in a breath and headed down the hall, making her way to the corner apartment. Number sixteen. Her knock echoed throughout the hall, the only sound on the otherwise silent floor. Nerves pricked when Tate's door swung open from her touch.

Casting a cautionary glance over her shoulder, Leighton moved into the apartment and looked around. Almost everything was exactly the way it had been when she had visited Tate the first time. The furniture was in the exact same place, the box of Chocolate O's he had bought her sat on the table, the Grim Reaper figurine still sat on the window ledge. The only thing missing was Tate.

Leighton walked through the apartment, making sure he wasn't there before settling into the La-Z-Boy recliner and picking at the duct tape on the armrest. She figured she would wait until Tate got back from whatever job he was on. She waited for three hours before she realised he wasn't coming back.

Tears stung but she blinked them away. She didn't have time for crying anymore. If she was really going to take back control of her life, she couldn't do it with her vision obstructed or her throat clogged with emotion.

Leighton exited the apartment, moving swiftly and confidently despite her disappointment. She flagged the attention of the man who was walking down the hall, keys in one hand and a grocery bag in the other.

"Hello sir, I was just wondering if you knew what happened to the tenant who occupied the corner apartment?" Leighton held her breath as she waited for a reply.

The man shrugged, "He died like three months ago."

Leighton's heart dropped. "Okay, thanks."

Shuffling towards the elevator, Leighton made no other attempts to hail down any of Tate's neighbours. He was squatting there illegally so what were the chances he became buddies with the other renters on his floor?

When the elevator doors opened the elderly lady was still huddled in the lift, spotted fingers curled around her purse. Leighton watched her warily as she slipped inside the elevator. The woman looked up, the puff of white hair on her head contrasting wildly with her dark skin.

"Empty, huh?"

Leighton stared. "What?"

"Four sixteen is empty," the woman said, clicking her tongue. "It's a shame."

Leighton's breath stalled. "You knew who lived there?"

"He brought me food sometimes," the lady told her, "he had such sweet eyes."

Leighton scrambled for her only lead. "Do you know where he went?"

The lady shook her head, "I haven't seen him for a week." The doors opened and Leighton shuffled out, stunned and confused. Tate hadn't come back to his apartment after he gave her the piece of her soul back. So where had he gone?

For the next hour Leighton sat in her car with her eyes closed. She was trying to locate Tate the same way she had the day she met him at the funeral. Unlike last time, Tate's address didn't come flying into her brain. Her mind was empty. There was no tug to pull her in his direction, no inkling of where he might be. Leighton had no idea where to find him.