Nightmare by Robin Parrish Read Free Book Online Page B

to understand and process,
but I didn't want her to miss it. It was too important.
    "Most people who come here feel it," I said softly, my eyes
darting around the gloom. "So many people died here under
such painful conditions ... the grief and terror they must have
felt. I can't explain it, no one can, but it's like the building and
the grounds became soaked with those heavy emotions, sopping
them up like a sponge."
    Jordin looked a little alarmed. We'd barely crossed the threshold into this place, and already we were experiencing things she
could never have anticipated. "How is that possible?" she said,
her voice louder than normal and echoing down the dark hall
that stretched out in front of us.
    I shook my head, having no answers. "This is only the beginning. Do you feel the cold?"
    She nodded. "I don't like this," she said, still clutching her
chest while looking at the air in front of her, trying to see if her
breath was visible. "I feel sick."
    I cocked my head to one side. "This is what you came here
for. Congrats, girlfriend, you've just had your first paranormal
experience."
    "It feels like I'm gonna have a vomiting experience."
    "Come on," I said, taking tentative steps into the darkness. I
switched on my flashlight and aimed it down the long, black hallway, until its beam could no longer reach the building's depths.
    I led the way as we descended into the night.

    Ten minutes later, we wandered the halls as I tried to give
Jordin a bit of a tour so she could orient herself amid Waverly's
long walls and five floors. Jordin stopped in place and put one
hand on her opposite shoulder. She gasped aloud.
    "What?" I whispered.
    "It felt like someone tugged on my shirt!" She bunched up
the shoulder of her shirt to demonstrate what she'd felt. "Right
here!"
    Her face was pale, and her eyes darted around in all
directions.
    "Don't be alarmed," I said, trying to keep her calm. I wanted
her to get the full experience here, in the hopes that she might be
satisfied with this one trip, but if she gave in to panic, it could
end really badly. I gazed around the empty space surrounding
us. "They're just making their presence known. They're trying
to get your attention."
    "They have it," she rasped, swallowing hard.
    Okay, she's spooked. Back to business.
    "So where would you like to start your investigation?" I
asked.
    Jordin's jittery eyes were following her own flashlight's beam
into empty rooms on either side of us, up on the ceiling above
and down the hallway ahead. Every now and then she turned
quickly to glance behind.
    "I want to do whatever you would do if you were investigating with your parents."
    "Well, if they were here, right now I'd probably be helping
them set up stationary cameras and recording equipment all
over the building...
    Jordin stopped walking. The traces of alarm that had outlined her face were gone, replaced by indignation. "You didn't say anything about needing to bring recording equipment. How was I
supposed to know to do that? I told you I want to do this exactly
the way real paranormal investigators do it!"

    Her voice had escalated to a shout by the end, and as if in
response, a trio of creaking sounds echoed from a room somewhere above us, followed by the building's weight-bearing supports letting out a groan that sounded like a long, slow moan
of pain.
    Jordin's complexion blanched snow-white, like a child who'd
been naughty and got caught. I looked around, searching for
the source of the sounds. When it died down, I continued the
conversation as if nothing had happened.
    "I didn't think recording devices would be needed," I explained.
"You never said you wanted to gather evidence. You're paying me
for a first-hand experience."
    Her eyes still examining the ceiling for the source of the creaks
and moans, Jordin replied, "But gathering evidence is part of the
experience, isn't it?"
    I grudgingly bobbed my head in an affirmative, and the two
of us began