Page 40 of The Haunting of Lockton

I ran down the hallways of Lockton, alone.

“Julian!” I screamed, running faster. Panic enclosed my throat and squeezed my heart.

My steps echoed all around me, but so did other noises. Whispered voices. Faint sobs. Maniacal laughs. Figures stood in every doorway I ran past, the moon streaming in through the broken windows highlighting their ghostly forms. Some worewhite knee-length coats, while some were dressed as nurses. Others wore garments that were stained with dirt and blood.

Then, a young man with black hair appeared in front of me.

My feet skidded on the dirty floor as I came to a sudden halt.

The man raised his face up to the ceiling and made a sound low in his throat, like a mixture between a cry and a growl. Blood streamed from the side of his head, staining his white shirt with red. The color spread, soaking his entire torso with blood as he continued to make that odd sound.

“Look what they did,”a female voice whispered right beside my ear.

I jumped and flipped around, not seeing anyone. When I turned back to the dark-haired man, he’d moved closer and stared at me with dead eyes.

“Look what they did,” he said before grabbing me. “Look what they did!”

I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

The man stopped shaking me and emitted that throaty noise again. “He’s here.” His head twitched. “You should run.”

He vanished into thin air.

I wasn’t alone though. A dark figure stood at the end of the corridor. Well, “stood” wasn’t the right word. He hovered inches off the floor, the tips of his shoes scraping the tile as he drifted forward. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle.

My feet wouldn’t budge. They were cemented in place.

As the man drifted closer, deep growls rumbled in his chest. And his expression? A wide, plastered-on smile that chilled me to the freaking bone.

I flung upward in bed, sweat drenching my back and dampening my bedsheets. The panic from the dream still had hold of me, and I looked over at Julian. He faced the window, his body barely visible in the dark room since we’d closed thecurtains. I waited until I saw him breathing before I checked the time on my phone.

Three thirty. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom, softly closing the door before turning on the light. I barely recognized myself in the mirror. My eyes were wild and pink from sleeping so heavily, and my hair was a chaotic mess. I splashed water on my face before hanging my head and taking deep breaths.

Just another nightmare.

But the fear had been real. My heart was still hammering. Telling Paxton about Julian’s accident must’ve triggered my anxiety over losing him. The man with the bent neck had just been a manifestation of the stories Paxton shared about some of the ghost sightings.

I checked on my brother one more time before crawling back into bed. Sleep was far out of my reach though.

I was afraid of what I’d see when I closed my eyes.

Chapter Six

Paxton

Gunfire and shouts came from the living room.

I poked my head around the corner from the kitchen and saw Alan sitting in the armchair, his eyes glued to the TV. He was watching a movie about WWI. A soldier cried out as he was shot in the gut. More like, as his guts spilled out. Everywhere.

I cringed. “How can you watch this stuff?”

Alan glanced back at me. “Too gory for you?”

“Um. Just a bit.”

“Do you want me to turn it off?” he asked.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just surprisedyoulike it. Considering how you…” I trailed off, realizing a moment too late what I’d been about to say.