[Not Just Any Other] Ghost Story

Chapter 17

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Ever said as she led the way to City Hall.

Slinking behind her in the dark alley, Sarah smirked. Convincing Ever to help had actually been simple once she found the girl's weak spot. So simple, in fact, that she was now kind of mad at herself for taking almost a week to figure it out. But the promise of unlimited invitations to on-campus parties with college boys starting next semester for the high school senior was too irresistible to refuse. Even for a little breaking and entering.

Arriving at a nondescript door in the back, Ever punched in some numbers on a keypad. The door clicked open, and after looking around one more time to make sure they hadn't been discovered, the two girls went inside.

Sarah immediately activated the flashlight in her cell phone, but Ever—a few steps ahead of her—freaked out.

"Turn that thing off!" she hissed in an angry whisper, glancing over her shoulder.

Caught by surprise, Sarah obliged without question. But as they started down the hallway again now in inky blackness, she had to know.

"Is this really necessary? You said there was just one guard and we didn't need to worry about him," Sarah whispered, following Ever's vague outline while drawing her hand over the adjacent wall for guidance.

"Yeah, all he does is watch porn and sleep, so as long as we stay out of the security office, we're fine," she said with a chuckle before her footsteps stopped. A door handle clicked. "But there were still some windows on this floor and someone from the street could have seen our lights and gotten suspicious. Come on. There are no windows down here."

She opened the door barely enough to let an average-sized teenage girl slip through.

"Hurry because this isn't exactly inconspicuous from the outside, now is it?" Ever urged as the faint, red light of an emergency exit sign streamed out.

Sarah entered the stairwell and her partner in crime quickly followed.

"Better?" Ever asked as she took the lead again, bounding down the risers with a measured softness.

"What?" Sarah asked, trying to keep her Doc Martens from thump thump thumping all the way down. Maybe she should have worn sneakers, too. If only she owned any.

"I meant being able to see, but whatever. It doesn't matter," Ever replied as she rounded the landing half-way down to the first subterranean level.

Sarah grimaced in confusion. Was this an attempt by Ever at small-talk? She'd never been good at reading people to feel comfortable with random chit-chat because it either felt like she shared too much or not enough. So in the end, she usually didn't try.

But this girl was doing her a favor—risking parental wrath and possibly even legal charges—to give her access. So the least she could do is make an attempt.

"I'm not a cat so I don't have built-in night vision," she said lightheartedly. "I don't know about you, but most people want to avoid blindly tripping around in the darkness."

Ever stopped at the bottom. "Well, I'm not a cat either, but I'm definitely not worried about what's lurking in the shadows," she said as she opened another door. "There are plenty of things openly roaming around in broad daylight that want to get us. Those scare me more."

"Huh," Sarah vocalized her surprise. Was Ever Moore a secret philosopher?

"You think that's dumb?" Ever asked as she finally turned on her own flashlight and entered the basement hallway.

Sarah shook her head. "Not at all. You're actually dangerously close to me starting to like you."

Ever laughed. "Well, we wouldn't want that," she said, as her light landed on a door marked 'Records Office - Authorized Personnel Only.' "Bingo."