Better Off Dead by Tarah Benner

Author:Tarah Benner [Benner, Tarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The deafening creaks and moans of the floorboards were the only sounds I heard as I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Luckily, I’d remembered to bring one of Gran’s flashlights with me this time, so I could see where I was going as I reached the landing.

The faces in the portraits that lined the walls loomed through the dark, and once again I got the unsettling feeling that their eyes were following me down the hall. The ghosts of furniture covered in sheets greeted me as I shined my flashlight into the first room. Swirls of dust gleamed in the narrow beam of light, but I didn’t hear or see anything.

Room by room, I searched the floor for any sign that someone had been camping out in the hotel. But apart from some shards of glass and crushed beer cans littering the corner of one room, it didn’t look as though anyone besides me and Miles had been up there in ages.

It had begun to rain outside again, and the sound of raindrops hitting the windowpanes added to the haunted feel of the place. My spine tingled as I pushed open the door at the very end of the hall, and Desmond gave an excited yowl. He scampered into the room and bounded across the bed, his yellow eyes flashing in the dark.

I didn’t know why, but something about this room made me uneasy. Goosebumps pricked all along my arms, and I felt an uncomfortable tingle on the back of my neck. The rain was coming down harder by then, and I could hear the tinny patter of drops hitting the vents on the roof.

Shuffling slowly toward the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the cracked mirror over the dresser, and my heart leapt to my throat.

“It’s only you,” I whispered, staring at my pale reflection and trying to slow my breathing. “There’s no one else here.”

“Yes, dear. Just the three of us.”

The voice seemed to cut right through the dark, and this time my heart gave an alarming jolt. I wheeled around to look behind me, but there was no one else there.

“Hello?” I called, hardly able to hear my own voice over the pounding in my ears.

No answer.

I kept turning in a slow circle, locking eyes with my reflection again. Desmond blinked at me from the bed, and the sound of his rumbling purrs filled the room.

“What the . . .”

This time I was certain I hadn’t imagined anything. The voice had been too distinct to have been a trick of the wind howling outside or some other old-building noise.

Still breathing hard and fast, I poked my head into the bathroom, which for some reason creeped me out way more than the main suite. The scent of mildew wafted up to greet me, but there was no serial killer lurking in the shadows — just an old clawfoot tub, a cracked toilet, a sink, and a puddle of water.

I looked up and saw a bulge in the ceiling where water from a leak had collected.

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