This time, I don’t hesitate. I bolt upstairs to find the source of the scream. In a panic, I bang open every door until I reach the one with –
“Katie!” the young women in ivory and I scream at the same time. I know this girl. She’s one of the six Katies in my Philosophy class, not including myself. What is she doing here?
“What are you doing here?” I whisper and close the door behind me.
“Well, I was on my way to a Halloween party on Fairmount,” she says and spins around to show off her ivory gown. If she was going for Woman Who Chose To Wear The Absolute Wrong Outfit To An Old, Abandoned Mansion, she nailed it. “But I saw all the gorgeous houses and had to take a look!”
Even though I totally get where she’s coming from, I still judge her in my mind. I mean, really, what crazy person would go to an old mansion at night by herself?
“So you’re the woman I saw earlier? My God, I thought you were a ghost!” I exhale.
“But, Katie, there is a ghost! I swear!” she whispers, “do you have these markings on your hands too?” she says as she holds up her hands with the ‘HELP ME’ marks.
An icy shiver shoots straight down my spine before I slowly hold up my hands to show her the matching message.
“This is some serious Harry Potter madness going on,” Katie says and looks around.
“Um, if we just walked into Harry Potter, I’m never leaving,” I say. Katie’s look makes me glad I never have to stare at an actual Basilisk.
“Let’s just get out of here, ok?” Katie says. Immediately, the room turns icy like a Dementor is about to appear. I decide to hold off on the Harry Potter jokes.
“Did you feel that?” Katie asks and hugs herself.
“M-m-maybe it was just a c-c-cool breeze from a w-w-window,” I chatter.
We both know this isn’t true because the window in our room is closed, the door is locked, and the trees are motionless outside. Oh, how I wish it was still raining and windy. If it was still raining and windy, I would know exactly where the chill was coming from. If I knew exactly where the chill was coming from, I wouldn’t have to worry about a ghost. If I didn’t have to worry about a ghost, I would be at Hogwarts.
I tried.
Apparently while I was lost in my thoughts, Katie had opened the door and was peering outside into the hallway.
“Over here,” she whispers and motions for me to join her. We look to the left, to the right, to each other, and shrug. Cautiously, I take one step into the hallway. When nothing happens, I move my other foot into the hallway. Katie follows suit. Out of nowhere, my left hand starts stinging again. I notice Katie fidgeting with her left hand as well. Something isn’t right here.
“Does your hand hurt too?” I whisper so quietly I can barely hear myself.
“Yeah,” Katie responds at the same volume, “what’s happening?”
“I’m not sure I want to find out,” I say. I start to pace and hold my left hand to make the pain go away. After a few pacing sets, I notice a pattern. Every time I walk to my left, the stinging stops.
“I think we’re supposed to go this way,” I say and point left down the hallway towards the stairs. I go in front with Katie very close behind me.
“Hey, my hand stopped hurting,” she says. Just call me Sherlock.
We tiptoe down the stairs, cringing at every squeak it makes. Any second now, I’m half expecting one of these rotting old stairs is going to crash through the floor. Then we’d really be in trouble.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs, my right hand starts to hurt.
“Does your right hand hurt, Katie?” I ask. She nods. We turn right. After a few steps, my left hands starts to hurt again. I freeze, but the only thing to my left is a door. Katie takes the lead on this one and opens the door revealing a descending staircase.
I should have seen this coming. Nothing good ever happens in the basement.
Stay tuned for Chapter 3 next week by a different author!