Mase gazed up at the weathered walls. He wondered if someone died in this place. It looked like a place someone passed away in. A feeling of uneasiness washed over him. Something in his gut was telling him this was a bad idea.

“Boo!”

He screamed, his heart beating outside of his body. Hand came up to his chest, clutching at his heart.

“Madelyn! Don’t do that! I almost died!” He scolded, his breathing still heavy. She giggled, her hand covering her mouth in a poor attempt to hide them.

She skipped ahead of him towards the door. “Don’t be dramatic, Mase. You’re still breathing,” she said in a teasing voice.

“I’m going to die at a young age because of you,” he deadpanned. She rolled her eyes but in a good natured way. They had done this dance before.

“I’m the only reason you go out and live.” He opened his mouth to retort and then shut it since he couldn’t deny it. Having anxiety kept him in his apartment for a lot of the time. When he met Madelyn, she brought him out of his comfort zone. Their first date was to a haunted house. This didn’t feel too dissimilar.

Staying in a haunted (themed) hotel was on her bucket list and dragged him along with her. This felt like years of bad luck being added to his already karmic life.

“You sure this is an established hotel?” He asked, hesitant to step inside this creepy mansion. “Yep,” she answered, emphasizing the ‘p’.

Once she noticed he wasn’t in line with her, she gripped his hand and tugged him inside.

……….

So this was a bad idea. At least to Mase.

Every little sound caused him to jump. The creak of the hinges. Other people milling about. A knock from housekeeping next door. He was on edge.

“Let’s explore, Mase,” Madelyn suggested, practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. He cursed his inability to say no to her.

So he let her drag him in every public space of this hotel. Each very creepy in their own way. The lounge had dim lights that flickered every few moments. The furniture looked like it time traveled from the past with the vintage patterns. Mase wasn’t sure if the bathrooms were meant to be this menacing or if the owner was using it as an excuse to not update anything. Literally everything could be from Dracula’s castle and he would not question it.

They reached a library which confirmed Mase’s worries of this being a mansion someone rich died in. What hotel had a library?

At least it had the brightest lighting than any other room so far.

Madelyn shook his arm that she had a strong grip on, “Mase! Isn’t it so cool?” He managed a polite smile, not trusting his voice to not wobble with fear.

She ran her fingers across the spines of the ancient appearing books. “Mads, please don’t do that. Places like this use the haunted theme to the max so they don’t have to clean.” She proved his point when she lifted her fingers and dust coated the pads. He cringed as she wiped them on her black pants, a streak of tan obvious now.

One of the books with an intricate gold spine caught her eye. She slid it out of its spot.

He formulated his next piece of advice to her about the cleanliness of her action but then the surprisingly bright lights flickered once, twice, and then they went out completely.

A yelp slipped from his lips before he could stop it. They waited for them to come back on, but it became apparent that would not happen.

His hands got sweatier than they already were and his breath caught in his throat. What was happening?

Madelyn looked at him with the widest grin on her face. That shouldn’t shock him. While Mase thought the unknown was scary, she thought it was thrilling.

“Maybe we should go back to our room,” Mase said, not being able to contain the shakiness anymore. “No this is just getting fun!” She replied.

As soon as that left her lips, a book that appeared to not have been touched in decades shot off the shelf. Mase threw himself at Madelyn and they both crashed to the ground, the book just missing their heads.

The shelves shook as if something was trying to escape from behind. More books followed the example and flew to opposite sides of the room, slamming into the walls and furniture. Mase placed his right arm over her head and his left over his as some novels stopped mid flight fell to the ground around them.

“Madelyn? What do we do?” When he looked at her for the first time since he had ever known her, she looked unsure.

The lights flashed to life, but it had a bright green hue to them which eliminated any relief in Mase.

He shut his eyes and thought back to right before the lights went out. What happened? What was the trigger? Opening his eyes to check on Madelyn, he noticed it.

In her grasp was the book with the gold cover. He reached over, books still whipping around above them and grabbed it.

Army crawling was a little more difficult than he wanted to admit. Books rained down on him and the path to the bookshelf.

The bottom shelf still had all its books, none of them moving like the rest, the gold book’s original spot still empty. He hauled himself up and shoved the book back.

In that instant, all the chaos halted. Almost like time hit pause. Books levitated in the air like in Harry Potter.

Then they really rained down. Books laid lifeless on the ground where he and Madelyn cowered. The lights regained their normal unusual brightness which took his eyes by surprise.

Madelyn slowly and shakily stood up.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”