The Ghost of Graylock Read Online Free PDF Page B

common room.
    “I don’t know what we saw,” Bree said. “Where’s your brother?”
    “I’m here.” Eric came through a doorway on the other side of the cake table. He was holding what looked like a brown file folder. “I found an office. You would not believe the things they left behind in this place.” When he saw the state of the trio, his eyes grew wide. “What happened?”
    “Don’t ask,” said Neil. “We’re leaving.”
    “Really?” said Eric. “But it looks like things are starting to get good.”
    “You’ve been down here for a while?” Bree asked with a scowl.
    Eric nodded slowly, wearing an almost obnoxious expression that said, What’s your problem?
    “Someone is upstairs,” said Bree, “in one of the bedrooms. She tried to lock me and Neil inside.”
    “Nurse Janet,” said Wesley unsurely.
    “No way,” said Eric, starting past them toward the staircase. Wesley grabbed his arm. Eric flung him away. “I wanna check it out for myself.” He paused, and then added, “I can’t wait to tell the band about this.”
    “They kicked you out!” Wesley shouted.
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Eric yanked the mesh door open and climbed the steps two at a time. He disappeared into the opening at the ceiling.
    Bree shook her head. “Forget him. I’m not spending another minute in this place.”
    Wesley blinked. “We can’t leave him up there.”
    “Why not?” said Bree. “He’s happy to leave us down here.” Her cheeks flushed red. Neil could see that all the charm she’d collected from Eric earlier had evaporated. No one messed with Bree, Neil knew. Eric would learn. “You can stay, Wesley, but I’m taking Neil with me.”
    Neil sighed. “But —”
    Wesley held up his hand. “You’re right.” Listening to the silence from upstairs, he added, “He can be a real jerk sometimes.” He called out, “Meet us outside, Eric!”
    They didn’t receive an answer.
    The three headed back through the door of the youth ward into the long hallway, running in the direction of the crumbling gymnasium — at least, that’s where they thought they were headed. Even though Neil had marked every turn they’d made, after what had happened in room 13, his sense of direction was now screwed up — not good, since they were heading into some very dark places without a working flashlight.
    “Which way?” asked Bree at an intersection of two hallways that looked exactly like the last one they’d come to.
    “Maybe there’s a sign like before,” said Wesley, peeking around a corner.
    “But don’t we have to go down some stairs eventually?” Neil asked. In fact, through an open doorway up ahead, there was a stairwell. The group crept forward. The passage led down into complete darkness. “Is this the one we came up?”
    “I think so,” said Wesley.
    “There’s got to be another way out,” said Bree. “One that doesn’t involve us wandering around a pitch-black maze. What if we just keep going straight ahead on this floor instead?”
    “We could try that,” said Wesley. “I mean, it’s not like we’re trapped in here or anything.”
    “You’re right,” Neil answered quickly. The memory of the blindness he’d experienced upstairs swept through him. He knew he’d have nightmares tonight. Best to remain logical, levelheaded. Like Alexi and Mark. He stepped back from the stairwell and nodded down the corridor. “Let’s try this way. At the very least, if we come to a window, we can climb out. It shouldn’t be too far of a drop.”
    “I remember the second story being pretty high up,” said Bree. “And after everything else, I really don’t feel like breaking my ankle today.”
    Neil shrugged. Glancing back down the stairwell, he said, “Well, there’s our other option.” The darkness seemed to swell near the bottom steps like black floodwater rising steadily.
    “You’re right,” said Bree. “There’s no way —”
    “Shh,” said Wesley.