The Ghost of Graylock Read Online Free PDF

They could use some lightning.
    The camera! It had a flash. Maybe there was a latch on the door that they’d missed.
    He grabbed at the camera, which still hung from his wrist, but lost precious seconds as it slid from his grip, his fingers trembling and slick with his own blood. Finally, he clutched the camera’s metal casing and held the device out before him. “Stand back,” he said. He pressed the shutter button, and cold light burst inside the small room. When the afterimage of the flash died down, the room seemed darker still. Even if he had seen the details of the doorknob, he wouldn’t have been able to figure it out now. “Useless,” he whispered.
    “Not useless,” said Bree. “Turn on the view screen. It’s got to give off a bit of light.”
    Licking his lip, tasting the coppery liquid there, Neil blindly pressed a couple buttons. The screen on the back of the camera glowed blue. He held it up to the doorknob. It appeared plain, round, silver. If there was a lock at all, it was on the outside. “What the heck! How are we supposed to —”
    Someone shushed him.
    But it wasn’t Bree.
    Wide-eyed, he and his sister stared at each other, their faces lit by the camera from below. Slowly, they turned. At the other side of the room, near the window, a dark shape stood completely still. It looked like one of their own shadows. Neil knew this was impossible. The camera’s light was between them and the shape. Their shadows should have been cast on the door behind them. Shaking, unable to speak, Neil held up the camera, trying to see who was there.
    The figure shifted forward. In the dim light, Neil made out some faint details. Long dark hair. Clothed in a light dress, possibly a uniform.
    Neil tried to scream, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t blink. Even his bloody nose felt as if it had stopped flowing.
    Then, just like the flashlight, the camera died.

S OMETHING SHOVED N EIL AND B REE FORWARD . The floor tilted. The darkness spiraled. They were falling. Spinning.
    But no …
    The door had merely opened with a swift jolt, knocking into them, sending them off balance. Neil took a step and caught himself.
    “What are you guys doing in here?” Wesley’s voice came from the hallway. A sliver of dim light broke the curtain of shadow.
    Without thinking, Neil yanked the door the rest of the way open. He grabbed his sister’s arm and together they leapt out of the room. “Run!” he called to Wesley, who stood momentarily stunned behind them before springing forward. The trio sprinted toward the bend in the corridor, where daylight greeted them like a parent waiting with open arms. They raced toward the stairs. Neil did not look back.
    Memories of the Nurse Janet story flickered through his head, like old film from a loud projector, and all he could think of now was her strong hand reaching for his collar. At any moment, he would be caught, choked. As his lower body continued to race forward, his feet would flip upward. He’d fall flat on his back, looking at the ceiling as her pale face came closer and closer, glaring down at him as she —
    “Watch out!” Bree grabbed Neil’s arm just as he was about to topple headfirst off the top stair. He swung out and clasped the railing, pinning himself against the wall.
    Rattled as he was, Neil managed to peer back into the darkness at the corridor’s bend. His heart galloped; his lungs burned. His eyes scanned the distance for any movement, anything at all. But nothing was there … nothing he could see anyway. “Can we not stop here, please?” he said.
    “Are you okay?” said Wesley, following Neil and Bree briskly down the stairs. “You’re bleeding, Neil.”
    “I ran into the door back in that room.”
    “I heard you guys shouting. Did you see something?”
    At the bottom of the stairs, Neil finally found his breath. The sunlight had sunk to a position where it hit the lake and reflected golden light all around the