Let me Go

Chapter 13

 "Kiora?" I stutter, disgust churning when I catch the pitiful waver within my voice. 

Like I did with the gate, I make sure to leave the door open with only a small crack before heading into the grand foyer that triggered familiarity in my memory, from the cracked chandelier to the diminished staircase. 

I flash my light around me, that was losing horrifically against the darkness that still encroached every part of my surroundings.

My throat knots when I inch forward and carefully put my foot down as if I were about to trigger some sort of trap.

"K-Kiora?" I say again, my insides screaming when all I'm met with is silence.

I swear to God that if it were just my imagination having fun with me. . .

I trudge carefully through the foyer, my eyes darting in every spot that I picked up through my peripheral vision. 

I release a shuddering breath, as I walk past the archway of the foyer, nearly crumpling to the ground from the cold that I found to be so freezing that even nature itself would frown at the temperature.

I stifle a cough as I shine my light onto other spots of the furniture, trying my hardest to ignore the insults my mind was tossing at me from inside, as if the wheels of my brain were being driven by self-abusers.

Thunk.

A gasp leaves me as I turn to my back, flashing my light in every spot. My eyes narrow when I see nothing, including on the top floor. 

My trembling breaths is all I hear when I face forward, my eyes wide and alert. "Kiora?" I call again, my voice firmer than intended yet it didn't mean I wasn't proud of it. "Kiora, a-are you here?"

Still no answer.

My teeth start to chatter as I begin to carefully search through the rooms of the house that held temperatures too cold for me to get used to, the chills biting viciously against my skin up to the point that I questioned if I'd received any frostbite yet.

I direct my light onto every spot, my eyes desperate to see even the smallest flash of blond hair anywhere. "Kiora?" I mumble.

Frustration boils inside, me, especially when my mind decides to click at this moment what Kiora had meant during gym class when she had said for us not to be too sure on our assumptions. 

Just remembering that made me determined to think that it meant that she'd have the nerve to come back and return to this godforsaken place.

My face falls.

What if . . . what if it meant that . . . oh God no.
She wouldn't.

Another ghostly home? No. I refuse to believe it.

"Kiora!?" I shout, my voice stronger, clearer. If she were in this house she couldn't have missed it. For God's sake she better be in this house. I slowly exit the messy music room and turn the corner to my left, more desperate than ever to find Kiora, especially if this weren't to be a trap. Good God, if anything happened to her like I'd feared. . .

Xavier is the first person to seep into my mind when I imagine the horrid scenario.

I shake my head rapidly to rid the image.

"Kiora!"

Thunk.

I jerk my head to my right, my heart jumping as my eyes scatter the area.

It's when I think I see a glimpse of an apparition that I have to force my nerves to steady, and for my fear to lessen.

I refuse to let them feed on my terror, especially if they were really lurking this place yet denied to divulge themselves.