Page 21 of The Haunting
“I saw a downstairs cloakroom earlier,” she replied.
I sighed, relieved. “Thank God, I didn’t want to go back to those bedrooms alone.”
“Come on, I’ll show you. Chance opened the door to it by accident,” Clio said, getting to her feet. She’d barely moved before Chance spun to face us.
“Where are you going?”
“The bathroom,” Clio replied, rolling her eyes. “Planning to watch us pee?”
“If I have to,” Chance snapped, and I made an ‘ew’ noise.
“Uncle Chance! You’re not watching me.”
“Hell, no!” Chance retorted as his cheeks reddened. Calamity laughed, and Chance sent him a dark glare.
“Dude, I’ll go with them, I need to use the ladies too,” Nanci said, and Inglorious now stood up. “Forget it, buster, I’m armed, and I bet Rosie is too.”
“Yes, I am. Stay there. Calamity, we’ll all be fine,” I ordered Calamity, who looked torn.
Calamity sat back, unwilling to argue with me.
“Pussy whipped,” Chance drawled and blanched when Clio turned a beady eye on him.
“Problem?” she asked.
“None, babe,” Chance said, subsiding.
“Good. The three of us will be okay,” Nanci retorted with a sneer.
Without another word and ignoring the amused looks of those around us, we left the room and headed towards where Chance had discovered the bathroom.
We waited in pairs as each of us used the toilet. I went first, and then Clio and Nanci. Slightly scared, I watched the small hallway we were in, feeling like someone was watching us. I was surprised at how many hallways came off the main entrance. This place must be huge, even bigger than Reading Hall, which Phoe owned.
As I stared, my mouth slowly began to drop open. In the dark recesses of an alcove, a shadow formed.
At first, I thought it was a trick of the light, but then I spotted a faint glow. Alarmed, I grabbed Clio, and she jumped as I pointed with a shaking hand.
“Tell me you see that,” I gasped.
Clio looked, and her jaw dropped as the two small, dim red dots became brighter.
“Those are eyes!” Clio howled, and I screamed. Nanci came rushing out of the bathroom and stared at what we were seeing.
A misshapen form started appearing, and I joined Clio in screaming. Nanci gaped before a mew escaped her mouth. The darkness began moving, and fear and dread crawled up my spine. Almost against our will, the three of us shrieked again, and Nanci yanked out her gun. I didn’t know how she was reacting, but she aimed and fired.
The bullet flew through the shadow, and now we all full-on screamed.
“Rosie!” Calamity bellowed my name.
“Here!” I wailed as the terrifying entity came closer.
“Nanci!” Inglorious roared, and we heard the pounding of feet. Chance didn’t bother calling Clio’s name as he raced around the corner and skidded to a halt. The dark figure turned, and Chance’s eyes bugged from his head before it faded.
“Chance!” Clio sobbed, and within seconds, Chance was on the move. He swept Clio into his arms and placed himself firmly between us and whatever we’d seen.
“Say you saw that!” I screeched as Calamity appeared and spotted me.
Inglorious arrived next and wrapped a pale-faced Nanci in his embrace. Calamity was rubbing my back as he soothed me, even though he had no idea why I was so scared.
