Angela Campbell - Spirited Away

Bam. Bam. Bam.

The loud knocking startled Spider so badly, she sprang to her feet and stared at the ceiling where it had seemed to originate while she considered making a run for the door. Noah’s eyes were wide as they locked with hers. Without saying a word, he darted for the stairs. She was right behind him.

The echo of their footsteps on the uncarpeted landing was the only sound in the otherwise silent house. Noah stopped outside the only room with an open door. His chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths.

She pushed to her tiptoes to look over his shoulder and glimpsed the edge of a messy bed.

Clunk.

The new sound drew Noah into the room. He flung open the closet door while Spider entered more cautiously, darting her gaze around every nook and cranny and seeing no one. A weight settled in her lungs that felt … unnatural, as if she’d suddenly walked into a sauna, only the temperature was rather cold up here.

She edged closer and spotted nothing unusual in the walk-in closet. “What was that, Noah?”

“I don’t know.”

She took a step closer and—

“Aieee!” The jab of something in the middle of her back shoved her forwards and into Noah. They tumbled into the closet together in a mash of tangled limbs, Noah’s weight cushioning her fall from beneath.

The door slammed shut behind them, flooding the room with near-darkness.

“Noah!”

“Are you okay?”

“Someone pushed me!”

“Are you hurt?” he demanded in a firm, but panicked voice.

She shook her head.

“Emma?” He practically shouted.

“I’m fine. You?”

“Fine.”

He pushed up and against her, and it took serious effort to uncurl her hands from his hard biceps to let him go. Fear clawed at her insides as he shoved her away and frantically rattled the doorknob. She reached a hand around and massaged her back. What had shoved her so hard that she still felt the sting there?

Noah swore so harshly that Emma felt her face warm. She scrambled to her feet as he kicked at the door and then stepped back when he threw his shoulder against it. She wasn’t thrilled to be in here in the near-dark either, but geez.

Um, why wasn’t the door opening?

Her voice was a squeak. “We’re locked in? How are we locked in?”

The door burst open and Noah rushed out, grabbing the edge of the bed to steady himself from falling. When he glanced back towards her, his eyes were alive with something wild and dangerous. The white of his knuckles as he gripped the bedpost betrayed his terror.

“Noah, are you okay?”

“Claustrophobic. Give me a minute.” His breathing was as labored as if he’d just climbed a mountain. She reached out a tentative hand to comfort him, but drew it back when he looked away.

“Sorry,” he managed. “Closets and I don’t get along, especially when I’m locked inside one.”

“No arguments here.” Something about the tone of his voice triggered her curiosity. “You’ve been locked in one before?”

“Few times.”

Well, that sounded awful. She shifted on her feet, uncertain what to do next. She was dying to ask him why he’d been locked in a closet a few times, but that probably wasn’t polite. Turning, she realized the door was hanging at an angle, torn from one of its hinges. Dang. Noah, one – closet, zero.

She risked a step closer and another, until she was back inside the small space. The air didn’t feel as heavy in her lungs as it had a few minutes before. She spun around, taking in the contents, mostly clothes and boxes, and noticed a small hole in the wall near the floor. Kneeling, she reached out and poked her finger in it. Coarse fabric scraped her fingertips.

“Noah, I think I found something.”

“What?”

A shadow fell over her as he moved into the doorway. Dry plaster crumbled in her hand, expanding the opening. “Do you mind if I see what’s behind here?”

He reached into his jeans and retrieved a pocketknife. Passing it over, he said, “Be careful. There could be wires in there.”

Carefully, she jabbed the hard metal into the surface until the rotted area collapsed into dust. Not wires, but some kind of box covered in rough cloth. Sticking her hand into the enlarged hole, she retrieved a small black box caked in white powder.

“What is that?” he asked, lowering to his haunches beside her.

She lifted the lid and gasped. A gorgeous diamond ring sparkled in the stream of sunlight pouring into the closet. Arching an eyebrow, Spider lifted the piece of jewelry for him to see.

“I’d bet my entire Marvel collection someone tossed us in here because they wanted us to find this .”

* * *

This was insane.

When Emma had pried the wall away with the knife, the loud scrape of metal against dry wood had sickened him. He’d attributed the gut-wrenching feeling to his hatred of small spaces and the traumatic feeling of getting trapped inside one again. But as the smooth, cold metal of the ring touched his skin, dizziness sent the walls spinning around him.

Memories of his father’s voice mocking him through the closet door sent a rush of anger and fear coursing through his mind.

No!

Pushing to his feet, he escaped the cursed closet. Maybe he couldn’t stop the panic, but he could shove it aside, or, better yet, hide it. He turned to see that she’d followed him, and his spine straightened. “None of this proves the house is haunted.” Even to his ears, the statement sounded weak.

“Noah, don’t pretend something weird didn’t just happen.” She pressed closer and snatched the ring from his grasp. “We were pushed into that closet. I think your ghost wanted us to find this for some reason.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” She paced to the window, held the ring up to the light and examined it closer. “But I know people who can help. My friend, Alexandra – she’s psychic. She’ll know what to do. She deals with this stuff all the time.”

His first inclination was to argue, but the mention of King stopped him cold. This could be the opportunity he’d been looking for to get closer to the supposed psychic detective.

Emma looked at him, moved closer. “You wouldn’t hesitate if you didn’t want help.” Her fingers clasped his upper arm, and some of the tension eating away at him seeped slowly through his pores. It was strange, the calming effect this young woman had on him. “Let me call her. She’ll probably come right away. We can rid ourselves of this pesky ghost by evening. What do you say?”

Did that mean King was back in town already? Or did Emma not know her co-worker had left? Either way, it was worth finding out.

“All right.” He leaned closer. “But I’m only doing this because of the experiences you’ve been having.”

One of her brows lifted. “Yeah, right.” A beautiful smile erupted all over her face. “This is going to be awesome. I’ve always wanted to see her do this up close. My phone! Where’s my phone?” She spun around and hurried down the stairs.

Sighing and wiping a hand over his tired eyes, Noah glanced around the room. Something damn strange had happened in here. This could be an ideal opportunity to see King work her magic, figure out how she conned people. He could be packed up and ready to move on in a few days if whatever was happening here escalated.

The distant sound of Emma’s voice captured his attention and sent an unexpected pang of guilt piercing through his chest. It was a shitty thing to do, using her like this. He liked her, didn’t want to hurt her.

His father’s genes kicked in and reminded him that it was also an opportunity to spend more time with her , get to know her better and find out if she was willing to act upon their mutual attraction. Oh, yeah. He could tell she was interested. She hadn’t been able to hide her appreciation earlier.