Chapter 13

As I follow close behind him, the gravity of what I'm about to do becomes more and more clear and my anxiety increases.

"Calm down. I'll be right beside you. " Alex says as if sensing my nervousness.

" Yeah. I trust you " I say and take a deep breath.  Ha! Never thought I'd say that to him of all people..well of all ghost actually.

Then an idea pops up in my mind

"Psst! Wait " I say to him and take out a marker from my bag

He blankly looks at me and then realizes what I'm up to

"Oooh, nice. A bit different from what I had in mind but this works too " he grins

"What did you had in mind? " I ask. Getting near the window, I uncap the black permanent marker and scribble some big words on the window.

"Break something from inside. The person living next to the storeroom will hear it and come over. While his inspecting the fallen item, sneak out into his room. Follow me from thereon. "

"Well I was gonna do the exact same thing" I laugh as I finish whatever I'm doing.

We both look at each other and nod. Let's do this.

Slowly and carefully I slide open the window and quietly climb into the building through it. The storeroom is filled with all kinds of old stuff and is quite dusty. Ropes, fishing rods, fertilizers, chemicals, old folded boxes, clothes, cleaning supplies, decoration pieces, toys, mattresses, canned food, lots of plastic bags etc.

Trying to hide along with this backpack will be hard. Need to hide and if possible look for a small bag here. I look around and spot a grey coloured sidebag. This'll do.

"You'll need two ropes, a small-sized men's clothing, a chemical that will knock you out fast, flashlight, Tape, strong hook and...a matchbox just in case," he says

That's ALOT of stuff. I find the ropes, the flashlight was already in my previous bag, tape, a hook and a matchbox. As I looked through the chemical bottles Alex searched for men's clothing.

A chemical that'll knock you out, huh? That must be for the guys guarding the kid's rooms. I guess using chloroform on a piece of cloth will be impossible for me to use on them due to my size and physique. I'll try using this liquid ketamine. We'll need to sneak into the kitchen too for something to put in.

I put the bottle into the bag. Also the chloroform just in case. Better to soak it on a cloth too.

"Here it is! And look I found a wig too. This is perfect " Alex yells. I was about to tell him to be quiet until I remembered he's a ghost.

It's a long-sleeve T-shirt, jacket and black pants. A bit big but it'll do. Alex goes out of the storeroom as I get changed. I can't believe I'm doing this. If I get caught, I can only imagine all the horrible stuff they'll do to me. After I'm done changing I laugh at the thought that I look more manly than Alex.

When everything is ready I walk over to a shelf filled with decoration pieces. Picking up a big vase, I throw it down. It smashes on the ground with a loud noise. With that done, I quickly hide behind the boxes near the door. I suddenly hear footsteps coming from the room next door. The door opens with a click and a man in his 40s enters the room.

"Did something break in here?" he says to himself as he looks around the room. As soon as his eyes fall upon the broken vase he curses and walks over to it.

"This was the boss's favourite! How could it break!? "

Seeing him occupied, Alex enters the room and ushers me to exit the room carefully.

"HEY MANNY! COME OVER HERE!" he yells and suddenly goes back to hiding. Alex looks into the hallway.

"Wait till he comes. I want them to notice the window." he says. It's amazing how being a ghost allows him to do whatever he wants in front of dangerous people.

A few seconds later a tall slim man enters the room with a bored expression.

"What is it!? I was just about to sleep"

He yawns

"You were in charge of cleaning the storeroom this week. Not only did you not do your job you even broke the boss's vase" the middle-aged man says to  'manny'

"Huh? Why would I do that!? Stop blaming me." he says getting frustrated

"No one entered the storeroom except you this whole week. Who else could it be!? " he says grabbing the other guy's shirt collar.

"I told you I didn't- " he began but his eyes suddenly wander towards the window and he stops.

"Wait a second...what's that ? " he points towards the window. As both the men curiously go towards it, Alex gives the signal for me to go. I quietly but quickly get up and successfully leave the room. The hallway is narrow with pale yellow walls which I could tell were once cream coloured and green-carpeted floor.

I mouth the words ' K-I-T-C-H-E-N ' to him and he gives a thumbs up and leads the way. While a bit far down the hallway I hear the middle-aged man shouting in fury.

"I'LL KILL THE LITTLE SHIT WHO DID THIS!? "

"Lisa, of all things did you really need to write curse words?" Alex says laughingly

I simply smirk and shrug

We leave the hallway and enter into the lobby. Being here is dangerous so gotta move quickly.

"There's a big area that they have turned into the main kitchen. Let's get two cans or something from there." he says.

As I walk carefully behind him, I suddenly hear footsteps coming from the hallway we were just in. As fast as lightning I quickly hide behind a giant plastic tree. I wish with all my might that I'm hidden properly.

"Go throw it outside, they'll just think it's lost somewhere in there," says the middle-aged man to the other guy.

They are standing so close to the tree that I'm afraid there hear the sound of my fast heartbeat. I even hold my breath. Please...don't notice me.

"Yeah whatever. " the other guy named manny says and takes the black plastic bag. He walks out of the building and the middle-aged man returns to his room in the hallway.

"It's ok. You can relax now. " says Alex. I didn't notice I was shivering. I try to get a grip and motion Alex to lead the way.

We walk towards the other hallway, on the way passing the elevators and the emergency stairs. My mind was filled with fear at the thought of them just jumping out from there. Upon reaching the kitchen I notice that it's in horrible condition. Blackened walls and ceiling along with a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink. I pinch my nose at the smell of rotten meat on the counter.

"I know, it's repulsive," Alex says scanning the room.

He points towards the refrigerator. I walk towards it and open its door. There's ALOT of food in here especially meat and alcohol. I pick up two chilled cans of beer and stuff them in the bag.

"Let's head to the stairs now." I whisper to Alex who's guarding at the door.

All of a sudden his eyes widen and he ushers me to hide.

"QUICKLY!" he yells. I hide behind the counter just as a pale skinny man enters the kitchen.

That...was super close. I'm pretty sure I'll die from a heart attack today.

He opens the refrigerator and takes out an apple.

I slowly crawl towards the side of the counter and peek from behind. The man then takes out a bunch of carrots and a sardine can from the fridge. I flinch as he throws them on top of the counter I'm hiding behind. The sardine can rolls of the counter and to my horror, lands right in front of me.

My face turns pale and I hold my breath.

"LISA!" I hear Alex say suddenly. I look up and two ice-cold eyes stare back at me. I gulp hard.

"Kim?" the man says in confusion

That's right. I'm dressed as a guy. I've been hiding cause I thought it won't work but surprisingly it's working? I guess there really is a feminine guy here.

"Umm yeah?" I answer in the manliest voice I can muster.

"What the hell are you doing there?" he says picking up his sardine can.

"Oh..I....dropped a nickel."I laugh nervously. I look over to Alex and seeing his really worried face isn't making it any easier for me.

"Seriously, you scared the shit outta me," he says munching on his apple. Really? Here I thought I was gonna die.

"Oh! Found it. Well, see ya later" I say cheerfully and get up to leave.

Suddenly he stops me by placing his hand on my shoulder.

" Riiight~ so you see, I suddenly remembered that Kim just went out to get something so....who are you?"

There was a bowl on the counter to my right. As fast as I could I grab the bowl and bash it into his head as hard as I could. The man clearly hurt holds his head and loses his balance. Taking the opportunity, I bring out the cloth stained with chloroform. Jumping on top of him from the back, I press hard the cloth to his nose and mouth. His hands reach back to pulls me away from him but I hold on tight. After few minutes of struggling, his arms fall to his sides and we both fall to the ground. I pull away from him and take deep breaths.

"I'm sorry " was all Alex could say looking away. He's frustrated that he can't help me

"Don't be. It was nothing" I say but I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and the shivering hands. I was so damn scared. Pull yourself together! This is only the beginning

"Tie him up with the tape. It's a good thing he didn't break anything to attract attention" Alex says. He clearly feels guilty.

Taking out the tape, I start to tie his hands and feet together.

I sigh "It's ok Alex. Believe it or I'm a lot tougher than you think,"I say with a grin. Of course, my panicking mind and racing heart says otherwise.

He snickers "That you definitely are". That makes me smile and warms my heart a little.

After tieing the man up, I try to stuff him into the lower kitchen cabinets. After that's done we leave the kitchen and head towards the stairs.

"Now we just need to get to the third floor." Alex says.

The way up these grey stairs was swift and just as Alex had said, there was no one. As soon as we reach the second floor. I'm glad we could avoid it cause I can hear a lot of people from inside laughing and chatting.

Suddenly the door from the above floor slammed open. The bright light revealed a silhouette of a broad-shouldered man. He was talking to someone on the phone. Blood drained from my face as he started coming down the stairs.No...why is this happening...

"Kim, make sure to get the premium ones too " he spoke.

Great. Now there goes that idea of being ' Kim who just came back from wherever he went '

I look towards Alex and then we both look at the second-floor door. There's no place here to hide and no time at all.

This is our only option...

Now onto the second floor, the worst possible outcome so far.