I was on the floor, Soren and Emrys swam into my vision as my eyes cleared. Groaning I sat up with their help. It was still night time. We were still in the hallway. Zane, Jude, and Lyra was still with us.
"How long was I out?" I asked as I was helped back to my feet. Everything felt off centered. My head was pounding and my heart was racing. What was that? How could any of this be happening? What had I just seen?
"Twenty, thirty minutes at the most," Emrys answered before anyone else could. Mary was gone but what I saw still stuck with me. It was a dream . . . a vision. Something the well showed me like before -no- Mary showed this to me. Did Mary want me to see who my people were? The evils lengths that my bloodline went through.
"Come on let's go," Zane spoke and I looked at the other man. Jude had a worried look on his face and I stepped closer to my brother-in-law. His hand was holding onto Lyra's tightly but his eyes spoke of his panic as they shifted around the hall.
"What?" I asked touching Jude's arm and bringing his blue eyes to me. "What's wrong?" What was right these days. In the last month or two everything seemed to have gone to hell.
"I can't find Harlow," Jude spoke and my chest tightened as air whooshed from my lungs. Jude and asked Lyra where her mother was when she had first come downstairs to join us. Before Lyra could give an answer Mary started to sob.
"She has to be in your room," I had seen Harlow leave out of that bedroom and go to Lyra room. What did Jude mean he couldn't find Harlow? Where could my sister have gone at this hour of night?
"I looked while you were passed out. She's not in our room. She's not in our room. She's not in Lyra room or the bathroom. She didn't check on Lisa and she's not with Mae. There's also no way she could have left the house without us seeing her. And why would she? Why would she leave Lyra alone if she had to get out of the house?"
She wouldn't have, Harlow had a lot of problems her drinking was one of them but she loved her family. She would never just leave Lyra alone and walk away. Not when she didn't even known what was going on. When she heard someone scream and didn't know if it was safe or not.
"Daddy," Lyra tugged on Jude's shirt trying to get his attention. "Dad," she added a whine to her voice stomping her foot.
"What is it, Sweetheart?" Jude asked still distracted as his eyes shifted to the other door in the hallway.
"I know where mommy went," Lyra spoke and all eyes fell on her. Jude dropped to his knees in front of his daughter his hand clasping on her shoulder.
"Where? Where did mommy go?" Jude asked his voice was pitched higher than normal. I've never seen Jude anything but calm before he was always the voice of reason. It was unsettling to see him this way. Maybe I was underreacting. My sister was missing. So far as I could remember nothing ever happened to Harlow in this place.
She only ever shared one story about seeing what should never be seen. There was never a time when Harlow's name was whispered through the darkness. Harlow always thought dad was crazy, she never believed in this stuff.
I thought that kept her safe. Not jumping at every shadow. Not reading more into a strange noise. Harlow wasn't the kind of person to follow the dark figure down the hall. My sister has always been smart and brave. In my mind Harlow didn't fear ghost, ghost feared Harlow. So where was she?
"She's in the bad place," Lyra answered her father and my blood ran cold.
"The well?" Jude questioned and Lyra and I both shook our heads. Tilting my head back. I looked up at the ceiling. I could hear my heart drumming in my ears. It didn't feel like I was breathing.
"She's on the fifth floor," my voice was hardly above a whisper. Why would Harlow ever go up there at a time like this? In the middle of the night when it already been said one ghost pushed Savannah down the stairs.
"I didn't know there was a fifth floor," Zane spoke. "I never put cameras up there." I shook my head at Zane. That place wasn't meant for his cameras. Jude's hand touched my shoulder and I looked up at him.
"I didn't know there was a fifth floor either," Jude said and I exhaled.
"Dad said it was sealed off. No one was supposed to go there." My tongue flicked out wetting my lips. Looking up at the ceiling again if Harlow was up there why hasn't she come back yet? Was she trapped? Was she hurt? Was someone or something stopping her from returning to us.
"How do you know about then?" Jude asked and I exhaled. Zane had already walked away and I could guess why. He was going to leave and get his cameras. I hope he had the foresight to get flashlights as well. We would need them if we were going to the fifth floor.
"When I was younger two children showed me the way. I only been once. It's the kind of place you never want to visit twice. When I told Harlow she said two children showed her the way when she was younger. Dad said the same thing. Like going up there is some kind of right of passage for Leiker's children."
"The twins showed me too," Lyra spoke and I exhaled. I hated that Lyra was so involved in this. I would have liked to protect her from the things that were going on here. Somehow it seemed she was in deeper than I am. She talked to these ghosts. She befriended them.
Jude grabbed Lyra hand and pulled her along towards Aunt Lisa's room. Knocking on the door he waited. It wasn't until the third knock that Lisa finally opened the door. I could smell the whiskey on her from where I stood. She swayed even though she was only standing. Her eyes were bloodshot and hooded.
"Can you watch her?" Jude asked. Lisa looked down at her granddaughter and for a moment I wondered if she actually saw Lyra.
"It's the middle of the night," Lisa slurred her words even as Jude pushed his daughter towards her grandmother.
"I really need this Lisa," Jude's voice held a plea to it. Lyra looked up at her father her tiny hand still his. "She can't go where I'm going," Jude explained and I agreed. Lyra should never go to that place. She clearly already been once. Never again, I had thought I could say never again as well. It would seem I won't be that lucky.
"Well just leave her," Lisa said and Lyra walked to her grandmother. She looked back at us for a brief moment before disappearing into Lisa's room. Lisa stepped back into the darkness of her room before she paused as well. "Be careful," Lisa spoke softly before closing the door.
My pulse quickened now that it was actually time to go. The bad place . . . it's been years since I've been but somehow my body knew where to go. Zane met us on the third floor with a bag now tossed over his shoulder. Still, we went up one more floor. The fourth floor down the hall and the last door to the left.
No one ever used this room. It has always been off limits to us and the guest. There was no lock on this door but you could never open it. Dad used to say it was because the frame would swell and the door would get stuck. I wondered, though.
Jude reached out his fingers hesitated for a moment before touching the knob. He twisted the handle but like always the door wouldn't open. He tossed his shoulder into the wood but it still didn't budge for him.
"Let Gunner try," Soren told him and I slowly moved forward licking my lips I touched the knob. Closing my eyes I twisted silently wishing that it didn't open for me either. Sadly I didn't have the same luck as Jude. The door came open under my fingers letting us into the room.
We all stepped inside and after Emrys was in the door clicked closed behind him. I turned around looking at the door wondering if it was too late to leave. There was nothing inside of this space. No dust, no furniture, no windows, there was only a door on the opposite side of the room.
Zane pressed flashlights into each of our hands and we turned the lights one waving it around in the darkness. It seemed like no matter what the light only went so far. As if once it reached a certain distance in front of us the darkness swallowed the light.
"We shouldn't be in this place," Soren whispered and I was inclined to agree with him. What was Harlow thinking? Why would she have ever come to this place? I wanted to run away. I wanted to go back to my room and hide under my covers.
"Look," Jude turned around to face the rest of us. "You all don't need to come. She's my wife. I'm going in there to find her but . . . the rest of you don't have to follow me." I could see the worry in his eyes. I could sense his fear. Or maybe it was just my own.
"Let's go," Emrys said pulling my arm but I yanked away from him. Stepping forward I could hear my footsteps echo hollowly across the floor. The door on the other side of the room loomed ahead of us. Reaching my hand out my fingers brushed against the knob.
"Gunner be careful," Jude spoke and I swallowed. Harlow was Jude's wife but she was also my sister. It was my job to look out for her too. Harlow would be beating down the door already. I had to be strong. I had to be brace. I was the only person here who has ever been in the bad place.
Twisting my wrist the knob turned easily in my hand. Darkness and a coldness greeted me. The cold air wrapped around my ankles like snakes and I started to back away but a hand gripped my shoulder.
Turning back I looked up at Soren. He was still looking forward into the darkness of the bad place. "Something awful happened here," Soren spoke as the other were slowly coming towards us. After what Mary showed me I was starting to wonder if anything good ever happened here.
It was so easy to see the ghost and demons as the bad guys. But what if my family deserved it. What I saw was awful, my family weren't good people. Or at least those members haven't been good people. My father even with all of his secrets and flaws. He was a good man.
Soren stepped through the door before me and I followed after him. Soon the others were coming up the stairs behind us. This place grew colder, it grew darker the further up we went. There was something hollow in this darkness. Something strange and depressing. It weighed down on me and as the door closed behind us I wondered if we would ever make it out.
"We should hurry," Soren told us before he shifted in front of me on the stairs. He pulled me forward so I could be in front of him. I could feel another door in front of us and I gulped. Behind the door would be the bad place. There were so many worries, so many doubts and fears that ran through me.
My fingers touched the knob and I wanted to lie to the others. I wanted to tell them that it wouldn't open, not even for me. How selfish would that be, how evil and unfair would running, lying, and leaving Harlow to die be?
My sister was in there. She could be hurt and I was trying to back out of this. "I'm here with you, Gunner." Soren's voice was soft. It was low as his lips brushed against my ear. His warm breath stirred my hair. I could feel his hand at my elbow. Long slender fingers fan down the length of my arm until his fingers rested on top of mine. "It'll be okay," he said closing my hand around the knob and twisting.
Stepping forward warm light surrounded us. The smell of tobacco, booze, and sex filled the air. Music was playing loudly as men and women walked around laughing and talking to each other. Turning around the door to the stairs slammed shut as Zane was the last one to come through.
"This is the bad place?" Emrys asked as he came closer to me. "It looks like a brothel from an old western movie." A woman giggled as she walked past us. Her breasts were out on display as she winked at us. I reached up my fingers clenching the fabric of my shirt. Something was wrong, this place, it felt so wrong.
"This isn't how it was the last time I was here." I swallowed as I looked around. I didn't understand what was happening. This was different or was my memories just playing tricks on me.
"We can't stay here long," Soren spoke grabbing my hand and pulling me along. "Jude, you know Harlow best. Where would she be in this setting?" Soren asked but I could answer that for him. Jude was twisting his head from left to right either taking everything in or maybe trying to see if he saw his wife. Harlow would be the same place she would be in any setting.
"Harlow would be at the bar," Jude told him. My sister liked to hit the bottle. If there was a bar to be found she would find it. If she found herself trapped in this kind of place she would want to take a drink now more than ever.
"Have you ever seen anything like this before, Soren?" Zane asked his camera was still up at the ready as he pointed it around. Could Mae see what we saw or was she seeing something completely different?
I looked up at Soren his hazel eye was searching and I notice he was being careful not to make eye contact with any of the . . . souls we saw in this place.
"Once," Soren answered. "When I was a boy," My eyes shifted to him again. Soren didn't talk about himself much. I was still trying to piece together the kind of person he is. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know about his past.
"What happened?" Jude asked before I could. Soren paused turning around to look back at the rest of us. I wanted to hear the story but I was also worried about stopping just for a chat. We should keep moving, get Harlow and get out. Soren himself said we shouldn't be here long.
"My mother brought me to an old hotel that was said to be haunted. My gift was stronger than hers. We came in the place and . . . it was like stepping into a time warp. It draws you in. Places like these have a way of luring you down into them. You get wrapped up inside of this fantasy. You lose yourself. The longer you stay the farther go."
"I never heard of something like that," Jude protested and Soren looked at him for a moment.
"It's rare, only places where many spirits gather can create places like these. The souls are all trapped in time. But they are also bitter and angry so they want people who wander in to stay trapped as well. They play on your desires. They give you what you want and as you live it up in the fantasy your body waste away. It's how my mother died. She couldn't see through the lie."
"Could that happen to Harlow?" My voice sounded strange even to my ears. Would this happen to Harlow? Could she get lost in this place?
"It could happen to any of us. So we need to hurry." No one took the time to say anything else. We all started to walk fast opening doors to each of the rooms that we passed. Finding men and women all in compromising positions. It seemed too big in here. This was only supposed to be one floor in our inn. Yet it felt like we've been walking forever.
Where was my sister? Was it too late for her? Did this place lure her in somehow? Was I damned to never see Harlow again? This couldn't be the end of things. I couldn't accept it, I wouldn't accept it. Harlow had done so much for me. I needed her. Jude and Lyra needed her. So we would find her. We would get her back.
READ VOTE COMMENT ENJOY