Chapter 14

Opening the door to the second floor, I look around. This floor has a maroon carpet and the walls are covered with crimson-coloured wallpaper. There are three hallways. One to the front and the other two are left and right. The elevators are a few steps away from the stairs. I could see someone is in the elevator. There's no one near the emergency door. Good. Although there are people up ahead. I get in and close the door. Hopefully, he isn't coming here. Just in case I hide behind a giant flower pot.

The sound of his footsteps gets louder as he gets near the door. My heart beats fast with every step. When he stops right at the door, I go pale. No....please no...

"Calm down," Alex says as he stands nonchalantly next to the door. Ugh....he wouldn't be so careful free if he was still alive!

Thank goodness he walks away and I could hear the footsteps fading away. Finally! Now Onto the third floor. I get up and take a deep breath.

"Let's go!" says Alex. He just straight up goes through the door.

Just then I hear two men get out of a room. They're laughing over something and they sound drunk. I keep facing the door until they go towards a door in the right hallway and enter it. Phew! That was close

As soon as I touch the handle, I suddenly hear someone shout and flinch.

"Kim !?"

I freeze. I could feel my breathing starting to quicken and my heart racing like crazy. I hear the owner of the voice rush towards me.

Alex then pops his head in through the door to see why I'm not following. His eyes widen upon seeing the situation.

"Kim, your back? What are you doing?" The person asks.

Right, I'm Kim. The person who got out to get something. I gulp hard and turn around to face the person.

It's a guy, wearing glasses, in his 20s. He's dressed in a polo shirt and jeans. He looks young. Why would someone like him work here?

"Yeah...I just got back. And Ummm I.." I rack my brain for an excuse.

" Tell him you wanted to check if the door handle was broken," Alex says. I mentally facepalm myself. Are you an idiot!? As if I'd say something stupid.

"I was just closing the door! Yeah...the elevator was occupied soo..." I began to say. He squints his eyes and stares at me as if suspecting me.

Cold sweat forms on my forehead. Is it time to die now?

"Dude, what's wrong with your voice? Got a sore throat or something?" he says.

I'M SAFE!!!

"Oh, is it too obvious? I drank something real cold on the way here and before I knew it my thr- " I talk but then he just cuts me off.

"Anyways, guess what! Me and Jason found an old ouija board in an alleyway on our way here and we thought, why not!? It'll be fun!" he exclaims. Did...I misjudge his age? Maybe he's a kid whos just really tall...

"How childish" Alex smirks. Look whos talking...

"Right! So you guys are doing it now?" I need to get away before I get roped in.

"Yup. And your in too by the way" he says with a wink which sends shivers down my spine.

Suddenly a door in the hallway upfront opens and a buff man with broad shoulders enters the hallway yawning.

"Ben, why did you wake me up for something stupid," he says in a really masculine voice.

"Oh come ooon~ it's gonna be a blast! It's not like you guys have anything better to do at the moment" Ben says walking over to the other guy.

"Good, this is your chance," says Alex.

"It's lame! You ever seen men at this age do these kinds of things!? I don't want any part of it!" the other guy yells. My feelings exactly. Just as I turn back around and touch the door handle, I suddenly hear Ben rush towards me and grab my jacket hood.

"Nope! No way. You're not going anywhere!" he says and drags me with him towards the other guy's room. Ugh....what do I do now!?

I look over at Alex. He looks concerned. But then I see the corners of his mouth twitching. That bastard.....he's trying to hold back his laughter!!!

"I'm not gonna let you rest until you agree to do this, Martin~ " Ben calls. So persistent. Doesn't he see that he'll anger such a strong looking man?

"UGH! fine! But just once! Then, I'm out " He says.

Both of us follow Ben into the left hallway. I flash Alex an angry look. He simply smiles innocently and shrugs.

As both the men enter the third room in the hallway, my eye is caught by the second door.

Odd. Unlike the rest of the wooden doors, this one is made of metal. And not only that but the peephole is replaced by a letter hole.

"This door is strange. It's different from the others " Alex says. Just as he's about to go in and check out what's inside, the letter hole lid is suddenly lifted and a pair of dark eyes stare at me.

I flinch and gasp. The eyes stare at me, eyeing me up and down.

"What are ya standing over there for!? Come on!" I hear and see the guy named Ben peek his head from the other room.

"Oh! Coming!" I say and ignoring the eyes looking at me, I walk into the other door.

Meanwhile, Alex goes into that metal door room.

I'm lead through the door into a living room. This room is filled with men. 4 Older men. It seems me and Ben were the youngest. Two are sitting on chairs surrounding a table with an old ouija board on top. One, the guy named Martin, is smoking a cigarette in the corner. Another is just...sitting in another corner with his face hidden...

"HEY! kimboy! Why are you empty-handed? Weres the stuff?" says a grumpy looking man.

"Umm, what stuff?" I say nervously.

"The hell? The stuff we told you to bring? Where is it?"

"Oh! Right! You see...umm...I got robbed " I blurt out the first option that comes to my mind. Being here is already making me so anxious. I hope the real Kim doesn't return!

"What!? Are you serious!? " Matin says as he sits down on a chair.

"Yeah totally! I'm just glad I survi- " I continue but Ben cuts me off.

"Ok men! Its time! Settle down, everyone. Hey Jason, close the lights and come over here. I'll light the candles in the meantime. Ohh! I can't wait to talk to some spirits!" he says and places five candles around the board.

The person sitting in the corner who I suppose is Jason gets up and walks towards the switch. As soon as I see his face, I get tensed.

IT'S HIM! THE DRIVER!

He looks older now but I could tell he's just as timid as he was back then. When he sees me looking at him, I quickly turn around. I could feel him staring at the back of my head, oh no! Did he recognise me!?

"Is it just gonna be us? What about the others?" says the obese guy next to the grumpy man.

"They're gambling in Frederick's room. So loud you can practically hear them from here" Ben says as he lights the candles.

"Then we should have joined them instead of doing this ridiculous stuff!" the grumpy man says.

"Now, now, calm down, Carl. No ones leaving till we're done ok?" he says. Wow, what an annoying person. His face suddenly forms a dark expression which sends chills down my spine "Understood? " he says sternly. The rooms falls silent. Is this guy...more dangerous than the others or something?

Jason closes the light and sits down on the empty chair. Which unfortunately happens to be next to me. I avoid making eye contact with him.

"Now...fingers on the planchette everyone "

I along with everyone place my finger carefully on top of the planchette. Never in my life would I have imagined that one day I'll be playing ouija board with a bunch of human traffickers.

"This is embarrassing...." says Martin.

"Hey, Kim?" I flinch as soon as I hear Jason call for me. Has he recognised me!? Being figured out in a room full of bad people, my head is filling up with so many horrible thoughts.

" Y-Yeah? " I say, still avoiding eye contact.

He stays silent for a second "Hmm... never mind, it's nothing" he says. A wave of relief washes over me

"Shhh! Be quiet!" says Ben. Then he begins with the questions.

"Are there any spirits in this room"

Everyone stays silent.

"Boo" someone whispers in my ear.

I let out a scream! That...jerk!

Alex stand behind me laughing aloud. "Sorry couldn't help it "

"What's the matter? Trying to scare us? Don't you start acting like a kid too" Martin says.

"No! It was..just a spider. Nothing else" I say and sit quietly back down.

According to someone who can see ghosts, which is me, there happens to be two ghosts here. One is Alex but the other...this whole time I've been trying my best to ignore it and not let it bother me. Forget it's even here! But I can't anymore. There's literally a dead body of a girl hanging right above our heads by the ceiling fan.

Alex smirks and comes forward. He places his finger on the planchette and moves it to ' yes '.

Ben gasps "See I told you this building has spirits!"

"Ok whos the one moving it," says Carl. He looks stiff now.

Everyone shakes their heads.

"How many of you are there ? " asks Ben.

Alex moves it to the number ' 9 '. Why isn't the ghost over our heads doing anything?

I could sense some of them being nervous

Martin removes his finger from the planchette " This is so stupid. I could tell someone obviously moving "

"Let's stop touching it and see if it's really someone," says Ben as he and the others including me stop touching the wooden piece. Will it even work now?

"What happened to you all?" Ben asks another question.

"We need to wrap this up quick," says Alex. Guess he's bored of it now. He looked like he was enjoying though.

He moves the planchette, much to everyone's surprise, and forms the words

' W-E W-A-NT T-O K-I-L-L Y-O- U '

all of the men start to slowly get further away from the board.

Alex continues ' Y-O-U M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R-S ' then he starts to vigorously shake the table. All of this didn't seem that scary to me.

"I'm outta here!" Martin yells and starts to run out of the room.

"Me too! This is just nonsense!" says Carl and follows Martin.

"You're doing something aren't you Ben!" Jason yells.

"No! I swear I'm not"

One by one everyone leaves the room including me.

"This was enough to scare adult men?" I say as I walk out the room. Luckily no ones in the hallway.

"Meh. You'd be scared too if you couldn't see ghosts" Alex says.

"Also, you've never touched stuff before. I didn't know you could do that " I say to him.

"Well, It requires energy and concentration. Since I'm not a strong spirit, I need to use a lot of energy to actually touch anything. It makes me tired and I feel weak so I avoid it." says Alex as he follows me.

"By the way that metal door room? It's just ordinary. But the guy in there is really young. Wonder why he's there" he continues.

Just as we pass the door in question, the letter hole again goes up and the same pair of eyes stare at me again.

"Hey! Open the door" he says.

Luckily I'm not that stupid so I just back away and keep walking forward. That is...until he calls again.

"Open the door or I'll shout and tell everyone that you're an intruder."