The Haunting by E.M. MacCallum

see us, and then we’d be trapped in that stupid library back there. Then if your friends do come back, they’ll be ambushed by whatever you managed to scare up. Now stop being an idiot and come back.”
    I pressed my back against the wall and nodded, pleading with my eyes when she glanced at me. “Come on, Phoebe. A few minutes,” I whispered.
    Taking a deep breath, she nodded.
    Joel let her go. A distinct white handprint left an impression on her arm.
    Phoebe didn’t wince when he let her go, but she rubbed it the second his back was turned. Her limp hand began to curl her fingers, making it look difficult and twitchy.
    Now that I was out in the hallway, I took the opportunity to look around.
    The cobblestone hallway had a dark wooden bench facing one of the numerous windows and a dying leafy plant beside it. Otherwise, there was little in the way of anything I could use as a weapon.
    A shout froze all of our steps. It echoed down the hallway behind us.
    My first thought was of Neive, but somehow I knew it wasn’t her.
    “What was that?” I asked in a whisper.
    The empty hallway didn’t reveal anything new.
    “It could be Read,” Phoebe replied, her eyes flickering between Joel and me. “We should go check it out.”
    However, the eerie silence following the shout disturbed me.
    Joel rolled his eyes again and threw up his arms when Phoebe stepped in front of me and led the way down the barely lit hallway.
    As we passed the bench, I saw a creepy tattered doll sitting there. Blonde hair fell over its porcelain smiling face. It was a huge doll, about the size of a four year old, though she was ill proportioned. The arms were too short and the legs too long beneath the tattered pink dress.
    Phoebe eyed it, and we both hugged the opposite wall as we passed.
    The glassy blue eyes stared, the tiny chipped lips continued to smile, but it didn’t move.
    At the end of the hallway, I saw a corner that turned right. I ducked my head, and my hands came up in front of me just in case something jumped me from the shadows.
    Phoebe had slowed down so much we were walking side by side. I could hear her panicked breathes as we neared the edge.
    What if something was right there, waiting for us? It was just a single unrecognizable shout, after all. It could easily be a trap. In that instant, I wanted to turn around and walk back to our little niche and huddle in the corner. Our friends could come to us instead of us to them. They were the ones that wandered off in the first place. If only they could have waited a while longer.
    So why are you helping? the dark voice asked.
    Robin and Cody were capable of diving in and pulling one of us off the dance floor, even at the small risk of being caught themselves. We hadn’t been that far away by the end. Instead, they went to the door. Only then did they wait when we started running toward them and saved ourselves.
    Cody had saved Aidan and me before, but that was before Robin came back. I remembered Robin talking to him while I’d been attacked. She had convinced him , I thought viciously. She was going to just leave us behind, like they did in the first Challenge. If they were there, I didn’t want to try and save them if they were in trouble.
    “We should turn around,” I whispered.
    Phoebe didn’t pay attention to me as she leapt into the open to confront whatever was around the corner. Joel dove after her. Whether it was to pull her back or join her, I would never know.
    The instant Phoebe hit the ground, a black shadow fell over her. It wasn’t a shadow exactly but a solid blackness, and it dropped over Phoebe, making her disappear.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Phoebe stumbled backwards, and the blackness adhered to her. All I could see were her shoes when she fell. It took me a second to realize that it wasn’t a shadow at all but a black cloak. Phoebe ripped it off of her head, her face scarlet with fury, and I heard a familiar voice around the corner.
    “Oh thank God, it’s you,”