I knit my eyebrows in confusion as Ember kept talking. "It's Elle. She's-"
"Yeah, I got it. Be right there." Danny said hastily and clicked the phone off, turning towards me. "Uh, you should probably go." But I wasn't about to. My neighbor had said Danny was her cousin. I sat there for a moment, trying to come up with the words, when he got up. "Seriously, I gotta leave too." My mind was swimming as we walked across the hall that seemed to stretch into the darkness. Elle? Hurt? It must've been something bad, judging by Ember's tone. I was determined to tag along with Danny. Coming up with an excuse, I opened my mind to reality again, only to find Danny talking to someone who must've been his father. The man's navy-blue eyes landed on me.
"Ah, so this is Sam. Such a pleasure to finally meet you." He sounded sincere, but in all honestly Danny's dad kinda freaked me out. He just had that creepy presence. Gray hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a sleek black business suit. Which was odd, considering the sky was dark and I couldn't imagine him having to go out anywhere. I shook his hand, giving a slight smile back. "You too, ."
"Now, can I please get going? Dani needs me." Danny cut in impatiently.
"Can I come too?" My cheeks burned as they both turned towards me, confusion etched across their faces. "My neighbor's name is Elle and she said she knew you, so I want to make sure she isn't hurt badly." Danny's face clearly said he thought I shouldn't go, but his dad seemed to be considering it.
"Very well. If Daniel can be careful, then I'm sure he won't mind having you around. Right?"
"Right." Danny sounded a bit resigned, but I didn't care. I might've just met her, but it was hard not to care for a girl as sweet as Elle. "We should get going."
I followed Danny through the pristine white hall, barely saying anything. He stopped at a set of doors that clearly said "No Unauthorized Personnel Beyond This Point". He ignored the sign and pushed through the double doors, and I hesitantly took another step. Danny must've sensed my discomfort, because he turned. "My dad owns some of the stuff in this wing," He explained, voice warmer than it had been since we got here. "so I'm allowed to go through." I was about to ask why they put Elle there, when a woman leaning against a door-frame noticed us. A curtain of dark black hair covered most of her face, but she seemed to be glaring at me.
"If you two are looking for Danielle, she's down the hall, on the room to the left." Danny gave her a thanks and hurried past, not bothering to ask who she was. Judging by her outfit, I was fairly sure she didn't work at the hospital. I had to run to keep up with him, my heels clicking against the linoleum. We walked in through the door, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from gasping. Elle's face looked...green. There was blood -or at least that's what I think it was- caked underneath her fingernails, and she was sitting up on a bed. Her eyes brightened as she saw us.
"Danny! Where've you been? And why'd you bring Sam?" Her voice was weak, but still full of emotion. Ember was at her side, tapping on her phone, and Sidney was sitting next to her.
"Uh, I wanted to see how you were doing." I shuffled my feet nervously, feeling out of place. I shouldn't have been so stupid. Of course someone else would've been watching Elle until Danny got there.
"And you were with Danny because...?" Ember's icy tone startled me, it was the exact opposite of the shaky girl on the phone. Luckily, the boy in question came to my rescue.
"It doesn't matter. How are you feeling?" Danny sat down next to Elle, leaving Ember and I to glare at each other. I finally broke my gaze, looking at Elle instead. She was deep in conversation with Danny, but her eyes were dull and her skin was still that sickly color. I mumbled something about having to go wash my face, considering I was still wearing dark eye-shadow. I sprinted down the hall, wanting to run away from Ember. I hadn't done anything to her, so why'd she hate me so much? I skidded to a halt, after hearing a familiar high-pitched voice outside the bathroom door.
"You're being an idiot." Her voice was flat, but still full of venom. "I don't care, okay? You can't do anything to me anyway." She paused, then took a deep breath as if she were trying her hardest not to yell. "I'm just saying that you should be careful. I know Jazz takes after you in all her psychological interest, but you should pick a different subject. Sam's a smart girl, and she'll figure out sooner than you think." My breath hitched in my throat. Who was Kitty talking to? I was fairly sure she wouldn't talk to Dora or Tucker like that, and she wouldn't be discussing about me with Johnny. She stamped her foot against the ground in frustration. "Stop putting him down like that! You already keep enough secrets. Y'know, I could go tell him everything. Every fucking thing. And no matter what you did to me, it'd be etched in his mind forever," Her tone turned sweet. "and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Kitty clicked the phone off without waiting for a response. I slumped against the wall, thinking her words over. Whoever Kitty was talking too, I better stay away from. It couldn't have been anyone from school. I jumped as I heard her heels clicking, and just narrowly avoided her by ducking into a dark hallway. As my breathing slowed down, I noticed a faint light from the end of the seemingly empty space. I walked towards it with cautious steps. I knew I shouldn't have, but curiosity got the better of me. I finally got close enough to read the letters printed above the bubbling neon-green case. Ectoranium. The gears in my head started turning. I've heard that term before. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I knew that it was deathly dangerous to ghosts. Question is, why would something like that be in a hospital?
Gosh, my chapters just keep getting shorter and shorter ahah. My editor's been a little busy lately, so forgive me for mistakes. As always, I'd love a review, bonus points if it's constructive criticism. c:
