Intrinsical - Lani Woodland [39]
Not sure my heart could take any more, I took a deep breath before glancing up. Something was covering half the pool— luckily not the portion where our ladder stood.
“What is it?” Brent asked, cracking his knuckles.
“Wow,” Cherie said, mouth agape.
“The retractable floor,” Steve answered, setting the lantern on the table.
“The one that closed and trapped all those kids . . . when they died,” Travis concluded as his machine gun laugh nervously bounced off the pool walls.
“One and the same,” Cherie said, her voice cracking.
“Yes, the floor thing is very eerie,” I interrupted, “but what about the ghost? Did anyone else see him?” I questioned, looking from face to face and being bewildered as each person shook their head no. I turned to Brent. “I know you saw him.” His eyes met mine and he hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and dropping his gaze back toward his feet. I knew he was lying but didn’t feel like arguing.
“There was a boy . . . he looked exactly like Brent.” I swallowed hard. “Was it your brother?” He shrugged. I looked around the group. “I think maybe it was. He seemed to be lost and wanting to warn us about someone.” There was a collective gulp and Brent’s head jerked up. “But then he noticed me and he became angry and I thought . . . I thought . . . I thought he was going to hurt me.” Even though I had somewhat deadened myself to the experience, my breath was coming too quickly and I found myself gasping for air.
“She’s hyperventilating,” Travis said and was quickly digging through Cherie’s box for something. He came back with an old brown lunch sack that he held out for me. I took it and tried to follow his deep breaths. But all I could manage were rapid, shallow ones. Cherie and Brent each put an arm around me and I mimicked Travis’s deep breaths until my gasps had slowed to normal.
“Uh . . . can we go?” Audrey begged. “Personally, I don’t want to be here. I’m not hungry anymore.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said as I stood up and then swayed, grabbing the table.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Cherie said, steadying me. “You guys go ahead. Steve and I will clean up.”
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked her, realizing the evening hadn’t gone according to her well-laid plans.
“Of course!” Her entwined hands shook and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “What else could I have asked for? We made contact.” I reached out to her and gave her a hug before she shoved my purse in my hand and pushed me off toward the ladder with a sniff.
Travis and Audrey waved goodbye as soon as they reached the top and quickly disappeared down the hall toward the window, eyeing me curiously. I had a feeling they were anxious to talk privately about what I claimed to have seen and what had happened. Climbing down the ladder had been nervewracking; going up seemed twice as menacing because my body was still weak. I followed behind Brent, inching my way toward the top, gripping the rungs tightly.
When we made it to the window, I looked warily down to the ground as Brent climbed out the window and swiftly down the tree.
“Just get to the tree and then I’ll catch you,” Brent offered.
My shaking arms hugged the branch and I hoisted myself out the window. Brent smiled up at me, his outstretched arms ready to catch me. I landed in his strong embrace and clung tightly to him. I took a deep breath and let the crisp air cleanse out the anxiety I was feeling. He set me gently down but kept his arm around me as he started walking back toward our dorms. Involuntarily, I kept peeking at him out of the corner of my eye.
Brent stopped, leaning against one of the trees. “Do you want to ask me something?”
“I know you saw him,” I said, picking at the sequins on my dress.
“Yeah. I was just overwhelmed. Still am.” Brent sighed. “Aren’t you?” I nodded wearily. “It’s a lot to process. Could we talk about it?”
“I thought guys didn’t talk about their feelings,” I teased.
His blank expression made me think he didn’t catch my reference to his earlier statement.
“Sure, we could do that,” I said, grinding the heel of my shoe