Forty-Eight † On the Wrong Side of the Grass

"Shit," was all Kat could say, and in her opinion, the word summed up the entire situation perfectly.

And this was even before a hand—pale, slender, ridden with all sorts of rings—poked through the gap in the door and started fumbling around. To accompany this visual, a muffled, detached sort of female voice began to echo from from the other side, crooning, "Open the door. I need to talk to you."

The worst thing was, Kat felt a strong need to obey.

She stepped forward, her temples pulsing as she got torn between what she wanted to do and what she was supposed to do. Her hand gravitated towards the doorknob, but Calix deflected her outstretched arm, pulled her aside, and rammed the door with his shoulder.

Slam. The impact of his body hitting wood seemed to shake the entire hallway, but the hand didn't disappear. The door didn't even close one bit. The voice was still there, coaxing to be let in. To top it off, long thick hair began to slide thr