Page 26 of Purrfectly Haunted

“No fucking way,” he says. “Haven’t you watched any horror movies? Never split-up when facing an evil entity. I’m not letting you go in alone to face a crazy ghost lady. I’m your bodyguard, remember?”

I don’t actually watch horror movies, I get scared too easily.

He’s walking in front of me in the dim-lit hallway leading to the library, and I keep getting close to him instinctively, then having to force myself to slow down. I should really keep my distance, but I’m attracted to him like a magnet.

The oil painting of a woman petting a cat seems to judge me from her position on the wall. Lana really likes to collect anything cat-related, and the hallways are filled with them.

I stop walking as I feel a quake under my feet.

“James?”

He turns to me. “Hm?”

“Did you feel that?”

He frowns. “What?”

There’s a second tremor, and his frown deepens.

“That,” I say.

“Who did that?”

I dig through my memory. There was a mention of it in Lana’s notes, but it wasn’t attributed to a particular ghost. “I don’t know.”

A cold breeze travels through the hallway, coming from the lower floors, ruffling our hair.

“It feels like the house is breathing,” James muses.

I groan. “Stop. That’s terrifying.”

He changes direction and walks back down the stairs. “Let’s check it out.”

I don’t know if I’m happy about the diversion or not. On the one hand, it delays having to deal with the Lady in Red, but on the other hand I’m not sure I want to face whatever is powerful enough to shake the entire house.

As we reach the first floor, the quake intensifies, and I wonder why no one is waking in panic. The hostel is at full capacity, there must be someone who’s a light sleeper. And yet, the house is quiet. Not a single door opens.

“James...” I whisper as I follow him down the basement stairs.

“It's coming from below,” he says, turning the light on. There is a lone bulb above our heads.

We reach an iron door that looks as old as the house, as if time never caught up here.

“Yes, but—” A cat zooms between my legs, and I scream.

It’s Lupin, the Russian blue. He hisses when James puts his hand on the doorknob.

James jumps back. “What is wrong with this cat? Shoo! Shoo! We’re trying to do our job, buddy.”

Lupin growls and circles around us, his tail twitching rapidly. Pearl and Misty join us, looking distraught.

“James...” I say. “The cats...”

But he’s already trying out different keys from the ones Shirley gave us. “What’s in the basement, do you know?”

Misty meows at me.

“I don’t know...”