Minseok had no prior knowledge of the hotel, he hadn’t even known he was going to a hotel, he’d just known he was being sent to Oregon, so he hadn’t had any expectations. But even if he had he was pretty sure the hotel would have surpassed them.

It was on the smaller side for a hotel, but in reality it was a fairly large mansion. It was hard to get too much of an impression of the outside with the rain coming down like it was; the hotel itself was painted white and looked like it had been kept up fairly nicely over the years. Enough plant life to make it look inviting. There wasn’t much of a porch on it, but enough of an overhang and a few steps up to keep the area a few feet away from the door dry.

Mr. Sanchez pulled up close to the stairs and parked.

“You go on up, I’ll grab your duffle bag.”

Minseok nodded, and tucked his backpack under his arm. He hadn’t bought a new backpack yet, there was no point, and the area around the zipper was torn in a few places.

Even just getting out of the car and closing the door had Minseok drenched, and by the time he was up on the safety of the porch he was literally dripping. He moved away from the door and wrung out the hem of his father’s sweatshirt and the sleeves so he didn’t get water all over the floor.

Mr. Sanchez opened the door and walked in, and Minseok wiped his shoes carefully before following him.

The entrance was nice, and warm, which Minseok appreciated. Lots of warm brown wood, and a small chandelier that made the whole area glow softly. The floor looked like it had been polished and it made Minseok want to wipe his shoes off even more; they had an outdoor rug just inside the door, and so he stood there while Mr. Sanchez approached the high school boy at the small counter who had just wiped the bored look off his face.

“Hello,” the boy smiled. “Do you have a reservation?”

“I believe Claire said a second person would be joining her?”

The high school boy didn’t even need to look her up:

“Ah. Yes, yes she did.”

“I’m just dropping him off,” Mr. Sanchez smiled, then turned around to find him. “Minseok?”

Minseok couldn’t help the urge to tip toe and mentally sighed in relief when his shoes didn’t squeak; they were dry enough, then.

“Minseok,” the boy said slowly, looking at the laptop like he was going to add his name in. “How do you spell that?”

After his name was added to the register and he was given a key, Mr. Sanchez helped him find the lady’s, Claire’s, room.

The hotel was nicer than any building Minseok had ever been in his life, and it made him uneasy. Yes there were homey touches, and it wasn’t exactly fancy in the movie-style gold-inlay-on-the-wall sense, just… nice. Historic and obviously cared for, with special attention paid to detail. Judging by the furniture sitting out in the lobby, and the paintings on the walls, they seemed to be trying to keep the place looking like it belonged in the late 1800’s. It was weird to think about the hotel being that old, just as far as even thinking of who all had stood in the same spot, walked the exact same route he was currently following. All the wood looked like it had been polished recently, set glowing by the soft yellowish lights from the various fixtures through the halls and public rooms.

They found the room and Mr. Sanchez knocked before using Minseok’s key to open the door.

“Antonio,” the lady, Claire, greeted. Minseok hadn’t been in contact with her for a while; he’d forgotten how smooth her voice was, almost automated.

“And there’s Minseok,” she smiled. Minseok wished he could have forgotten her smile, but unfortunately he couldn’t. It was too sharp, showing too many teeth to look happy or content. Like her lips were stretched too widely, exposing just a bit more than was natural.

Minseok just nodded, and tried not to look at her for too long. Unfortunately she got up and walked over to him, crouching down just a bit too closely, her breath tickling his face as she spoke:

“Your bed is the one by the window. I’m going to talk to Mr. Sanchez for a minute; why don’t you take a shower and get into some dry clothes? After you’re done I’ll bring you up to speed.”

Minseok nodded, and moved around her quickly to get her out of his personal space. He sat on the floor to untie his shoes, setting them neatly by the heater, and pulled his Gameboy and Mr. Buttons out of his backpack to make sure they didn’t get too damp.

As soon as the lady, Claire, closed the door behind her and Mr. Sanchez, Minseok let out a sigh of relief. Two minutes with her and already he had no clue how he was going to make it through this without screaming.

The room was nice at least. The same wood floors, with relatively soft rugs. Two twin beds, a small television on top of a dresser, and several lamps for plenty of light. The only thing that made him nervous was the massive chifferobe in the corner closest to his bed, with dark wood that made it stand out against the warm tones of the room, and a mirror on the front that had definitely seen better days. It looked like it had been there since the house was built and no one had ever bothered to move it.

Minseok got the feeling he shouldn’t look at it for too long.

The bathroom was big enough for two people to be in it at the same time without running into each other. Minseok locked the door behind him before stripping. He wasn’t sure if the bathroom was already cold, or if that was just his skin finally free from his wet clothes.

He showered relatively quickly and dried his hair before getting dressed. He left his jeans and his father’s sweatshirt laying out on the counter and put everything else in one of the plastic bags marked “laundry” that hung underneath the sink. He’d have to ask someone about where to do laundry later.

He unlocked the door and opened it, only to startle when he saw the lady, Claire, sitting on her bed. She didn’t acknowledge him, didn’t turn toward him at all. She just sat on her bed staring at the chifferobe. He hadn’t heard her come in, and he thought he would have at least heard the door open or her heels on the wood floor. He didn’t think she owned flat shoes. But there had been nothing.

“Cl-Claire?”

Her head turned, too sharply, too smoothly, toward him, and a second too late, she smiled.

“Well that was fast,” she said. “Come sit down, I have a file.”

Minseok tried not to sit too close to her, but any proximity felt too close, really. She invaded his personal space almost without even thinking about it, and any of Minseok’s attempts to move away only made him feel like he was being cornered.

The kid he was here to recruit’s name was Lu Han. Apparently he liked being called by his full name, and Minseok wasn’t going to question it. He was Minseok’s age, a month younger, and he’d only moved to America recently. His mother had inherited it from her father and step mother, and they’d moved in late spring.

“I don’t think he has friends,” the lady, Claire, said. “No one comes to see him, and whenever he goes out to play soccer he goes by himself.”

Minseok wondered if the lady, Claire, watched them all like that. He’d never seen her car anywhere but the diner, but had she simply been hidden? Had she watched him play a little with his classmates but mostly retreat under the old tree in the playground to read? Had she told Junmyeon that she didn’t think he had any close friends, even though he seemed to be well-liked?

“It should be easy for you to befriend him. That’s all you need to do.” Her smile was far too wide.

Minseok just nodded.

“Now, why don’t we go to lunch? They have a restaurant inside the hotel. Very pleasant. After we finish you can go exploring.”

If they ate at the hotel restaurant there would at least be a table’s worth of distance between them.

The more Minseok explored the hotel, the more he was unnerved by it. The hotel restaurant was nice enough: small, with a fireplace, and enough people in close proximity to give it some measure of a safe feeling. But the rest of the hotel… the staff were nice, and when he asked about laundry they were more helpful than he’d expected, but the halls themselves just felt… he couldn’t put his finger on the word, but he felt like he was being watched. The little parlor library was the most “safe” feeling room, aside from the restaurant, and even then he could hear too many creaks and groans for it to all be house noises.

There was an old-fashioned study that had been turned into a lounge with a pool table. Minseok took one step into it and immediately felt like he needed to leave. Like he shouldn’t be there. He took the stairs up to the third floor hall and got the same feeling he felt in the Clover dorm… like he shouldn’t look at the ends of the hall too long.

He didn’t run into Lu Han, and after a late dinner he reluctantly returned to the room.

The next day was cloudy, but there was no rain, and so Minseok headed outside. The ground was still soggy, but he wasn’t ankle deep in mud or anything like that, so he decided it was as good a day as any to stay outside.

He was more used to outside being green rather than anywhere from green-yellow to a dead dull brown after being at Clover for over a year, but he still couldn’t wrap his brain around growing up with weather like this. The air was pleasantly cool, the grass was actually thick and looked healthy, and the small animals he could see actually moved for other reasons than a mad dash for their lives.

Minseok hadn’t been out walking long before he heard rustling, movement, from somewhere around the corner of the house. He didn’t get a feeling that this was noise from anything weird, he didn’t feel nervous like he usually did when it was something he should avoid, so he followed it to see who it was.

When he turned the corner Minseok saw a small, fenced-in, yard. The fence was relatively low, and he could see a little garden on the other side, with a few flower beds and flowers wrapping like ivy over an arched trellis. There was a little seating area, too, with lawn furniture just heavy enough to not be blown around by wind, and a small grassy area. There was a sign on the gate into the yard, just big enough to be easily seen but not so big that it was tacky, which read “PRIVATE.”

So this must be the Lu family’s private yard. There was a latch on the gate, but it was missing a lock. And Minseok could see a boy who looked to be about his age and a little bit taller, practicing tricks with a soccer ball.

Lu Han.

Minseok made a bit of noise, just enough that Lu Han would probably look up but not so much that it would be obvious that Minseok was trying to get his attention. Lu Han looked up sharply, but relaxed when he saw Minseok wasn’t an adult.

And now Minseok had no clue what to do. He’d never exactly been a natural at this “making friends” thing; Junmyeon had done all the hard work, and pretty much all of his friends at home had started out as classmates.

“Hey…” Fortunately for Minseok, Lu Han spoke first. “Do… do you play?” He asked, holding up his soccer ball.

“Yeah!” Minseok smiled, and to his relief Lu Han smiled back. “It’s my favorite.”

“Do you want to play a few games?”

“Can I?”

The day was a lot more fun than Minseok had thought it would be. Lu Han was very good at soccer, better than Junmyeon, and the challenge was fun. They had to move out of the private yard after they’d kicked the ball into the trellis a few times, but it was sturdy and there was no damage done.

“Still,” Lu Han said as he locked the gate. “Those were grandpa’s flowers and Mom will have my head if they get trampled.”

When Lu Han’s mother called him inside for lunch, Lu Han brought Minseok with him. Minseok could charm adults, he was used to charming adults more than he was used to befriending other kids, and so by the end of lunch, it was a lot less awkward.

They went back out after lunch, and played until Lu Han said he had to go clean up so he could wash dishes during the dinner shift.

“Can I help you?” Minseok asked him.

“Really?” Lu Han looked surprised. “It’s really boring, I hate it.”

“I’d rather help you wash dishes than stay in my room.” That wasn’t a lie. And he didn’t want to wander the hotel, either. Not after yesterday.

“Okay!” Lu Han brightened fast. “I’ll meet you in the lobby. We can eat dinner before we start.”

The lady, Claire, wasn’t in the room when Minseok got back and for that he could only be grateful. He freshened up and changed at lightning speed, feeling an insistent tug in his stomach to avoid looking at the chifferobe at all costs. He did, keeping his head down the entire time he was turned remotely toward it. And then he was out of the room in just over five minutes, hurrying down the hall; still fueled by the adrenaline telling him to run and don’t look back.

Fortunately Lu Han wasn’t in the lobby yet, so Minseok had time to calm down and get his heart rate back to normal before he got there.

Minseok had thought that washing dishes for a good portion of the evening would have been boring, and if he had been by himself it probably would have been, but instead he had Lu Han. They talked the whole time; laughing and flicking water on each other until Minseok’s shoulder was mostly wet and Lu Han was complaining that his chest was cold.

He helped Lu Han with his other chores too; apparently while the hotel did have a small staff who weren’t related to the family, Lu Han was still free labor and his parents thought he should work over the summer. So the two of them ended up doing everything from helping out the maintenance man, running messages or fetching things for the paid staff, to doing housekeeping for different wings of the hotel when someone called in sick.

Minseok had been worried about how Lu Han would react when he found out Minseok was with the lady, Claire, but he didn’t need to; Lu Han already knew. One day, when Lu Han’s mother had asked them to do housekeeping for the hall Minseok was staying in, Minseok had stopped before they went into the lady’s, Claire’s, bedroom.

“Wait, let me make sure she isn’t in there.”

Lu Han had patiently waited while Minseok quietly opened the door, looked around to make sure the lady, Claire, wasn’t anywhere in the room, before letting out a sigh of relief.

“It’s okay, she’s gone,” Minseok said and, as Lu Han came in behind him, realized what he said and spun around.

“You… did you know?”

Lu Han nodded, “I knew before you got here.”

“I’m not just trying to recruit you, I swear!”

“I thought so, if you were you’re the worst recruiter I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey!” Minseok smacked him lightly, but they both laughed.

Even though the lady, Claire, wasn’t in the room, it didn’t feel any less oppressive. The chifferobe loomed over them and Minseok could see Lu Han avoided looking at it too.

“I hate that thing,” Minseok didn’t know why he said it but he did.

“I do too.” Lu Han didn’t even need clarification on what ‘that thing’ was. “All the furniture that was here originally feels like that. There used to be an old dresser in my room but I kept having nightmares and threw a fit until Mom and Dad moved it out into one of the guest rooms and found something else for me in a garage sale.”

That didn’t sound good.

“I went exploring the first day I got here,” Minseok said. “Honestly, the whole house freaks me out a little. The restaurant feels okay, and the library kind of does, but I tried to go into that lounge with the pool table and felt like I had to leave immediately.”

“You feel like that, too?”

Minseok nodded. “The house is nice, but it just feels like I shouldn’t be here. And Claire is unnerving on a good day but she’s even worse here.”

“Really?” Lu Han asked.

Minseok nodded. “I keep catching her staring at the chifferobe. Last night I woke up and she was standing in front of it, just had her hands on either side and was staring into the mirror breathing.”

Lu Han looked up sharply. “Do you want to get away from her?”

Minseok nodded. “She’s always scared me. There’s something about her, even when she’s at her most…” human “… normal that just feels wrong.”

“Do you want to stay with me?”

“Can I?” Minseok couldn’t hide the relief in his voice if he wanted to.

Lu Han nodded. “Mom and Dad won’t mind, and my bed is a trundle bed. We can just move my nightstand.”

“Thank you,” Minseok could have hugged him.

True to his word, Lu Han’s parents didn’t mind at all, they just smiled and and said that he was definitely doing enough work to earn his keep. Lu Han’s Dad got the trundle bed pulled out, it was the kind where the frame came out and up so that both mattresses were level with each other, and Minseok helped put sheets on it.

The family home might have been a “private access” part of the hotel, with its own small kitchen, living area, and rooms, but while the creepy vibes were much more toned down than the rest of the hotel during the day, at night it was just as bad.

Minseok woke up the first night to find Lu Han squeezing his hand, his eyes wide and scared. But Lu Han squeezing his hand wasn’t what had woken him up; it was the same creaking and groaning noise he’d heard in the library, heard faintly in the lady’s, Claire’s, room, only now it was much louder.

It had a definite rhythm to it, he hadn’t been able to hear that before but now he could. The same steady cadence, like chanting. He realized, though, that he couldn’t tell if it was a voice or not. Even though it was loud it still sounded just enough like creaks and groans that he couldn’t tell if it was a Weird house noise, or if it actually was a voice.

Minseok held Lu Han’s hands, and he could feel him shaking. Minseok didn’t know what time the noise stopped, but it was almost light by the time they were able to fall asleep again.

It only got worse from there. When Minseok listened closely, he realized he could hear the creek and groan chanting constantly. It was louder at night but he could hear it everywhere in the hotel building no matter what time it was. Lu Han could hear it too, and it made him jumpy.

None of the adults seemed to notice.

The more they heard the chanting, the less safe they felt in the house. They played soccer outside until they were laying in the grass panting, and even then they didn’t go in until dinner. They spent as much time as they could around other people, to the point where the hotel staff said that Minseok was doing wonders for Lu Han’s shyness.

Minseok wanted to laugh, he was much shyer than Lu Han.

It was only a matter of time before Minseok dragged Lu Han to the library. He really didn’t have to drag him at all, Lu Han went without protest. Both of them wanted to be out of the hotel for a while, and Minseok was determined to find out what was going on.

Fortunately, Lu Han’s dad needed to go grocery shopping and run errands, so he agreed to drop them off at the library. They knew they’d be longer than errands would probably take, so the plan was for them to take the bus back.

It was very humid. Not raining, but threatening rain, and there was no wind to speak of. The clouds covered the sky and made everything look gray and flat, with flags and signs hanging limply in the stillness, and even the birds and squirrels didn’t move much despite the cool weather.

“THAT’s the library?” Minseok’s jaw dropped open as soon as he saw it.

It was a mammoth building, bigger than anything surrounding it, except for maybe the steeple of the nearby church. It was four stories high and built like an office building. The porch only made it look bigger; the overhang was at the very top of the building, and then columns stretched the entire four stories to hold it up, and behind that the wall was made almost entirely of windows. But the front of the building was almost the only place there were windows at all; the sides of the building, from what he could see, were made of brick and there were only a couple of small windows, and most seemed to be covered on the inside.

“Yeah, that’s the library.” Lu Han nodded. “It’s big for the town, I know.”

It was an understatement. The town wasn’t much bigger than where Minseok had grown up, and their library hadn’t been half this size. What all could possibly be in there?

The ominous feeling didn’t go away when they climbed out of the car and walked up to the building after waving goodbye. The humidity made condensation form on the windows, drops of water forming, growing too heavy, then sliding lazily down the window pane and landing on the dead spiders still in their webs.

Lu Han pulled open the door and ushered Minseok in ahead of him.

Their footsteps echoed almost uncomfortably loud on the floor, despite any attempts to quiet them. They shouldn’t echo that much, both of them were wearing sneakers with softer soles, but with the noise they were making they might as well have been boots or high heels.

The librarian at the circulation desk didn’t look up from her book as they walked in, and past her. She had a spreadsheet open on her computer, with a line only half done, and her drink had a small puddle of condensation around it on the desk, indicating it had been there awhile, but she just stared at her book. Minseok didn’t see her turn the page.

They found a small directory and Minseok was relieved to find that the library did have an archive listed. Fourth floor. He started to take the stairs, but Lu Han stopped him.

“We really shouldn’t take the stairs. I used to but… they don’t feel right.”

“Okay.” Minseok didn’t doubt him.

Minseok had to wonder how bad the stairs were to make Lu Han prefer the elevator. The elevator felt too narrow, like the walls were going to press in on them, and it took a few seconds too long to start moving once the doors had closed. It rattled upward, and as they passed the third floor, something began to scratch the outside. One long noise, like something was caught in the elevator shaft and scraping against the outside as the elevator moved past. The doors took too long to open once the elevator finally shuddered to a stop.

The librarian was clearly surprised to see two twelve year old boys, but brightened once Minseok started asking her questions. After a few minutes, she had them set up at a table with a few boxes.

“How did you know what to ask?” Lu Han whispered. “I have no idea what you even said.”

“There’s another kid at Clover named Junmyeon,” Minseok told him. “This was pretty much all we did last summer before I joined.”

“Dang.” Lu Han looked impressed.

Someone, probably a bored archaeology student, in the past had decided that they loved Minseok and Lu Han, and wanted to make their lives easier, and had already done a chain of title on the house, so all Minseok had to do was look through the collection catalogue for their names.

There was a small folder on one house owner: Delilah Morrison. They looked through it chronologically and at first it didn’t look like much: she’d inherited the house from her parents after they’d both died of unknown causes. She was a subject of town gossip and at first it was fairly dull. She was an unmarried heiress who apparently became a recluse.

And then the articles very suddenly got a lot more interesting. Bodies had been found in the house. Bodies of servants, orphans, local working class… the only reason they’d even been found at all was because a gentleman caller had gone missing and his last known whereabouts were the Morrison house. He was found alive, but had undergone severe torture, and had died in the hospital from complications.

Delilah Morrison was convicted of over twenty counts of murder, and speculation was that she’d murdered her parents to have the entire house for her torture playground. Later articles said that she’d confessed to being a witch, and had used different body parts from humans in her spells.

Both Minseok and Lu Han were still processing it, staring in shock at the last article, when hands on their backs made them jump.

“Sorry to scare you, boys,” the librarian in charge of the archives. “But I’ve got to close the archive soon.”

“O-Okay,” Minseok nodded. “We just finished. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Lu Han echoed, shakily nodding.

They didn’t notice the second scratching sound as they took the elevator back down.

They were both still a bit trembly as they rode the bus home. Both of them didn’t really even want to go back to the hotel, but they knew they couldn’t stay out forever.

They decided not to tell Lu Han’s parents. They really didn’t seem to be too affected by anything going on, and Lu Han was adamant that they wouldn’t get it. After dinner, they stayed outside as long as they could, and played soccer until they were both ready to drop.

Inside the house, they didn’t want to be alone. The creaking and groaning was getting louder now that it was night, and while they still didn’t know what it was specifically, knowing what had happened in the house only made them more paranoid. They stayed in the bathroom while they showered separately; one of them brushing his teeth or changing into sleep clothes while the other showered.

“Can… can we both sleep in my bed?” Lu Han looked terrified already.

“I was hoping you’d ask.” Minseok nodded.

They left the lamp on Lu Han’s desk on, and slept clinging to each other, Buttons squished between them.

When Minseok woke up, the first thing he noticed was that the house was completely silent. No creaks, no groans, nothing that sounded like voices or chanting. The second thing he noticed was the room was dark, and that sent his mind into overdrive.

She is here.

Minseok didn’t know why that was what popped into his brain, but with it came a sense of urgency and a punch to his gut full of panic. She is here. He knew. He knew they couldn’t be seen.

He pulled the blanket the rest of the way over both himself and Lu Han. Lu Han wasn’t awake but his forehead was wrinkled with worry.

It was a little too hot under the blanket, but Minseok didn’t care. She was here. She was here and they couldn’t be seen.

There was no noise to indicate that anyone else was in the room but Minseok could feel someone was in there. He could feel eyes on his back.

In his sleep, Lu Han began to shake.

She was here. She saw them.

Minseok’s eyes were wide open in panic, his brain trying to think of something, anything, he could do and was coming up blank.

She was coming closer to them.

She was coming closer to them and Lu Han was starting to whimper in his sleep.

Minseok tried desperately to hush him as quietly as possible, but Lu Han was too deep in whatever nightmare he was having. It was too late, she knew they were here. She’d known the whole time.

There was no escaping this.

Minseok clung to Lu Han and tightened his fist around the edge of the blanket he was holding.

She shouldn’t be that close. The other mattress should be stopping her. He could feel her right behind him.

And then, ever so gently, he felt her hand touch his shoulder, and heard her make a soothing hum.

Lu Han screamed.

She was gone, and Minseok threw the blanket off of both of them, shaking Lu Han and trying to wake him up. In only a few seconds Lu Han’s dad threw the door open and the overhead light on and both parents rushed into the room.

Minseok was able to wake Lu Han up just as soon as his parents got to the edge of the bed. Lu Han stopped screaming almost as soon as he opened his eyes, but then immediately burst into tears.

He was too much of a mess for his parents to make any sense of what he was saying, but he told Minseok later, after his mom had made both of them tea and they were huddled close on a blow up mattress in front of the living room tv with half the lights on.

He’d had a nightmare about Delilah Morrison. He’d dreamt he was one of her victims, one of the orphans. He shook as he described everything to Minseok, and Minseok thought he might be sick.

Minseok, in turn, told Lu Han about what had happened. That she’d been there. Delilah Morrison had been in the room with them.

Lu Han didn’t want to stay. After three more nights straight of waking up screaming and terrified, Lu Han needed no more convincing. The lady, Claire, told him that there was no way that Delilah would follow him, told him that if his parents hadn’t had trouble with her already there was no way they would.

His parents were very reluctant to let him go, but after another week Lu Han was so paranoid and tired, he and Minseok were staying awake during the night and sleeping outside during the day, that they knew they had to let him go. They were comforted slightly when Minseok assured them that he’d have excellent schooling, and could call home often, but only slightly.

They fell asleep almost as soon as the lady, Claire, had pulled onto the main road and the house was out of sight.

Author's note: I really hope the end of this chapter came out alright! I have trouble making scenes like that come out well so I hope this is okay ^^; I was going to make this part of a larger third chapter but then I realized it would probably work better on its own; I hope you like it! There will be a special Halloween Bonus Chapter up around October 30/31st!