Storm Page 9

  “It was a vent,” Storm said.

  “No, it was a ghost,” I insisted. “I ran and tried to catch up to you, but then I fell into a side tunnel and that’s when I saw…” I shook my head, trying to get the images out of my mind. “I saw something. I would swear it was a ghost. It followed me, chased me! I ran as fast as I could and then it pushed me down the stairs!”

  Storm snorted and I flushed red. Elsie got up from her chair, slapped Storm on the back of the head, and sat next to me on the couch. “Don’t listen to him, dear. I’ve never seen anything supernatural, but I’m not so full of myself that I can’t admit that there could be things out there that I can’t explain.”

  “Look, I was in that tunnel looking for Tony. There was a trap door in the floor. That’s why he disappeared. He must have hit the notch on the wall. And as for the feeling you had, there’s a vent on the wall. There was a breeze drifting through.”

  “But…what about what I saw?”

  “The ghost?” He sighed, running his hand across his jaw. He looked tired and I could tell that he hadn’t had a chance to clean up since being in the tunnels. He was absolutely filthy. “You know, there were times when I was serving that I could swear I saw men that had died in combat with me. Your imagination is a powerful thing.”

  I shook my head slightly. He was just explaining everything away so easily, as if none of it had actually happened. “But I felt someone push me. I’m not lying. Someone pushed me down those stairs. And when I was lying on the ground, I saw it. It looked at me and then just turned and left me there all alone!”

  I could hear the hysteria in my voice and I knew that I was losing it, but I couldn’t help it. I knew what I saw and what I had felt in that tunnel. I wasn’t imagining it.

  He sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. “It’s okay. Calm down. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  He was placating me. I knew it and so did Elsie based on the expression on her face, but she didn’t interfere.

  “How about I take you back to Reed Security for the night? We won’t stay at the estate tonight. Maybe that’s enough spooky shit for one day.”

  “But I don’t have anything,” I said, barely putting up a fight.

  “Don’t worry. We have anything you could ever want over there. There are comfortable beds and everything is very safe.”

  I wanted to fight, just to prove a point, but I was tired, and frankly, the thought of not being surrounded by ghosts for tonight sounded pretty good. Besides, despite Storm being an asshole at times, I really liked him. He had the ability to cheer me up with his jokes and beautiful smile. And I really needed that right now.

  “Okay.” I nodded, letting my body sink further into his embrace. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like I was being taken care of. My whole life had been me trying to toe the line and always appear fine to everyone around me. For now, it would be nice just to allow Storm to take care of me, even if it was only for a few minutes.