Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,55

blanketed the area. I blinked as one got caught in my eyelashes. Wiping it away, I turned back to Caitlin.

“How often do you have to do this? Set up out in the field and spend the night in freakshow spooky places?”

“Oh, at least once a month. You’ll get used to it, January. Don’t worry. It’s not like we do this every night, and once you have your sea legs under you, so to speak, it won’t be so frightening. It’s all part of the job.”

As we re-entered the building, I once again felt the sense of gloom and doom weigh down on us. We headed over toward the door that led into the left side of the hall. I quietly opened it, pushing through. I expected to see Tad and Hank right there, but they were nowhere in sight.

“Do you think they went on ahead?” I asked.

“I doubt it, since they said they were going to wait right here for us.” Caitlin looked around. “Should I call for them?”

I nodded, slowly letting myself drift into the energy around us. Something was off—something didn’t feel right. “There’s something going on here. I don’t like this.” I walked over to the door to the corpse candle room and listened at it. Nothing. With Caitlin at my back, I cautiously opened it, peeking in. Again, nothing.

Shutting the door, I turned back to Caitlin. “Where the hell could they have gone?”

She shook her head. “Did you hear any shouts coming from the building while we were out in the van?”

“Nope, but then I doubt if we would have been able to hear much. The walls are thick, and even with broken windows, I would think sound wouldn’t carry a great deal. What the hell happened to them?” I glanced around again. “Maybe they decided to check out another room?”

“Do you really want to go down the hall, opening doors?” Caitlin asked.

“I don’t know what else we can do. We could start shouting for them, but I’m thinking that might attract some really unwanted attention.” I motioned for her to follow me. “I don’t see their equipment bags anywhere.”

We had left the sleeping bags in the van until we needed them later. But each one of us was carrying a pack with various types of equipment in it, along with water bottles, food, and tissue. Caitlin adjusted her pack and then motioned for me to get behind her.

“You can work magic, but I can kick ass and take more damage than you can without being hurt,” she said.

I quickly swung in behind her—not having any desire to argue—and we headed down the hall. I kept glancing over my shoulder to keep an eye out behind us. We came to the next door and paused. Caitlin put her hand on the doorknob and I stepped to the side. I wasn’t sure what I could do if something came swinging out of there, but whatever I ended up doing, I’d do it to the best of my abilities.

She cautiously turned the knob and opened the door. It only gave a few inches, the hinges letting out a creak as though the door hadn’t been opened in years. Caitlin frowned and gave it another yank. The rust gave and the door swung wide. Unprepared for the sudden yield, Caitlin went stumbling forward. She caught herself as I flashed a light inside.

The room was just as empty as the one before, but there was an even more sinister feel to this room and I quickly backed away.

“Close the door. Close it before whatever inside gets a chance—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Caitlin had slammed the door shut again. “I’ll take your word for it,” she said. “Next one?”

“I guess that’s the only thing we can do. They weren’t out front, waiting for us, were they? Maybe they…” But no, we would have seen them on our way back in, and since we all came in the same vehicle, they couldn’t have just driven away.

We made our way down the hall, looking inside every room. Each one felt slimy—old and oily and filled with decay, even though there wasn’t a single piece of furniture in any one of them.

I finally backed away to stand by one of the broken windows where the fresh, cold air was blowing in, along with a fair amount of snow. “This place feels like the walls should be oozing with slime or blood or something,” I said. “You know, very Amityville horror stuff.” Except