Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

My stomach lurched when the doorknob turned easily under my hand. I expected the door to creak, but it opened silently, and I stepped inside.

Hazy light filtered through the windows, making it difficult to see the sparse furniture and filthy red carpet. It looked like the carpet had been ripped up, snapped out by a giant hand, and left to lie where it fell.

“Hello?” I called. I didn’t expect an answer, but it seemed abnormal to simply saunter in unannounced. My mama didn’t raise rude little girls. That’s what I told myself, anyway. Honestly, I was trying to restore some sense of order to the place. Maybe it would keep me from flipping out.

Stop. Get a hold of yourself. I released the breath slowly and realized my fingernails were digging into the palms of my hands. The sound of water echoed, a sickly trickle that inexplicably filled me with thoughts of taint and decay. I was as drawn to the sound of the water as I was repulsed by it. My imagination was already s