Page 19 of Mania

There’s not an ounce of me that believes I’m safe even now that I’m inside the Ambrose Hotel, but at least I’m distancing myself from another gut-wrenching reenactment of death.

Or is it a near-death experience? Lucid dream?

It doesn’t matter now. Not when my teeth are chattering, my body shivering. I wrap my arms around my chest and hope I’ll warm up as I try to find another set of stairs leading down to the fifth floor.

“Excuse me.”

Iyelp, spinning around to find a familiar face standing demurely behind me. She’s wearing the same white nightgown as when I saw her last, long hair cascading over her shoulders. But where there was warmness in her gaze when I spoke to her in the lobby, fear and confusion have now replaced it.

“I can’t seem to find my room,” she says all in one breath.

Unease prickles at the base of my nape. It’s the same thing she told me last time.

Is she sleepwalking?

“Sorry miss, I’m not on the clock. You should ask the night receptionist on duty.”

A twinge of guilt plucks at my conscience having dismissed her so abruptly, but I ignore it and turn my back to her, starting down the corridor again.

“Please!” I hear her say. It’s desperate, similar to how I feel, but I ignore her. “You must help me!”

A bell rings.

It’s faint, distant, but I hear it nonetheless.

I freeze.

Then she screams.

It’s so loud, it feels like she’s screaming right beside my ear. It’s bone-chilling and it only grows louder, the lights flickering on and off as my jaw tightens with the screeching sound.

I turn around to face her with a tight heaving chest, terrified of what I might encounter when I do set my gaze upon her again.

The screaming suddenly stops.

And she’s replaced by a looming figure standing so close that I have to tilt my head up to match his gaze.

If he had one.

Instead, the same black sheet hugs the hard curves of his face and jaw. Same white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up histoned biceps, and jutting veins snaking down his arms only to disappear under his leather gloves.

I suck in a breath, my heart skipping a beat. I can’t control the blood-curdling scream that leaves me, the air snatched out of my lungs like a petty thief in the night.

My mind empties of any rational thought, and I immediately bolt down the corridor, running away from him as fast as possible. I consider banging on a few doors for help but decide to head for the staircase exit instead, my body pleading for me to leave this hellscape as fast as I can.

When I reach the exit, I slam into the door only risking a look behind me when the staircase finally appears. Terror spikes when I see him stalk toward me, his long strides much too deliberate compared to my frantic run. Fear laces my harsh puffs of breath while I scramble down the stairs, but there’s a thread of hope when I realize where I should run to.

Making my way down one flight of stairs, I spot the door leading to the fifth floor, and I desperately try to focus on my current goal instead of the approaching footfalls echoing behind me. I tumble into the corridor and take a quick pause, my breaths ragged and harsh as I swivel my head right and left trying to situate myself. The footsteps approach, and I begin to run again, counting down the door numbers until I spot my own room.

I turn my head to look back while I run and sob in fear, spotting the man close behind.

But it’s not my door I’m trying to get to. A vague memory of last night propels me forward as I recall Hazel mentioning his room was next to mine. I slam my palm on the wood, banging and banging, and banging on his door.

“Hazel!” I scream. I can see the man’s long strides from the corner of my eye and my efforts turn hysterical. “Help! Let me in!”

Likea polarizing magnet, I feel him getting closer, his frightening presence buzzing across my skin. The minute hope I’m holding on to dissipates when I realize Hazel isn’t in his room, or worse, is ignoring my distressed call for help.

The hooded man’s gloved fingers graze my arm, and I scream with all of the air I have left in my lungs, bolting down the corridor once again.

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