Chapter 9 - Two-faced Stranger

"Hahahahahaha."

The laughter went on for a while. It was eerie and filled with amusement. It didn't sound quite right, almost like the person producing such a sound had lost his mind. I knew it was a guy from the deep bass in his voice as his laughing filled the dark space around me.

"So someone was here afterall," I whispered. I wanted to know if he was okay but I stopped myself from asking. The laughing stopped after a few seconds and everywhere became quiet. Rather than the peaceful silence that calmed me, it was unnerving. I waited in the silence, listening for movement and wondering what he was going to do.

"You listen well," he started. It was a compliment and yet, it felt like I was being mocked. "Considering this is the first time you are hearing from me, you must be quite surprised?"

No. I wasn't surprised at all. His breathing had given him away long before Beatrice came in but I would not be telling him that. That last statement of his was a rhetorical question and I wasn'