Page 35 of Absentia Mori

They swing their clasped hands back and forth. “We can help you get in that room,” they say in unison again. They don’t seem to be able to speak individually. Like they’re one soul split into two bodies. I shudder again.

“Any room,” they continue.

My grandmother told me never to bargain with spirits. “What do you want?”

They giggle at me as if I’m the dumbest person on the planet. “Sweet treats for skeleton keys.”

The fuck?

I sigh and shake my head. This is asinine. “Come again?” Where am I supposed to find sweets in this god-forsaken place?

“She hides them from us. The mean lady.”

Dr. Hall, I assume. “Yeah, I don’t like that bitch either. So, if I find you these sweets, you’ll get me into any room I want?”

They nod excitedly. “Sweet treats for skeleton keys.”

Fuck me.

Sorry Nana. “You’ve got yourselves a deal.”

Sneaking into Dr. Hall’s office to steal candy for a creepy set of ghost twins was not what I had on my agenda when I woke up this morning.

And yet here I am, lurking in the shadows as I wait for the orderlies to change guard. There’s about a three-minute window from what I’ve gathered between when one leaves and another appears. That’s not a lot of time when you don’t know where to even look.

This could also be a trick. Ghosts are good at playing games. They do it for amusement. I don’t blame them. I’d be bored as hell after hundreds of years of being tied to a place. The sad part is they could leave if they wanted. But oftentimes, they don’t know any better. Especially if their deaths were tragic.

Maureen’s best friend, Bailey, didn’t even know she was dead until another ghost told her. But Bailey’s connection to the livingis strong. She roams around wherever she wants, still clinging to her human life.

The ghosts are different here. They’ve been traumatized and forgotten. Which is how I’m going to end up if I don’t get this candy. Ihaveto trust them because I need to get into those fucking locked rooms.

The door to her office is propped open, and from what I’ve witnessed for the past three hours, the door is heavy, it swings slowly, and the orderlies don’t bother waiting for it to shut before they stalk off. This gives me about ten seconds.

The short, stocky, nameless orderly glances at his watch for the tenth time in thirty minutes, and his eyes light up as he’s clearly looking forward to a break. My heart thumps wildly in my chest as I slide my back against the wall, careful to stay out from under the fluorescent lights.

Sweat slides down my back as he yanks on the door, springing it forward. He doesn’t even bother to look up from his phone as he makes a mad dash down the hall. Clutching my shoes to my chest, I prance toward the office on the tips of my toes.All those ballet lessons are finally good for something useful.

I take a deep breath and slip inside with seconds to spare. My adrenaline kicks up as I crouch on the floor until the door fully shuts, and I hear the lock slide into place. I breathe out a sigh of relief and spring into action.

Three minutes, Lib. Three fucking minutes.

I count the seconds in my head as I begin rifling through Dr. Hall’s desk. If I had more time, I’d try to find my file but that will have to be a mission for another day.

Her desk is basically all for show. There’s an unnecessary amount of pens, stacks of blank notepads, and crisp new manilla folders that don’t look like they’ve ever been touched.

I open every drawer and find more of the same—endless office supplies. Nothing personal. Other than theDr. Hallplaque in the corner, there’s no indication that this desk belongs to anyone in particular.

Super fucking weird.

One hundred and twenty seconds left.

Sweat pours down my back, soaking my shirt as I scurry over to the filing cabinets. I yank open each one, desperate for anything. Please just give me one fucking candy bar. Something.

But the cabinets are stark and devoid of anything other than manila folders. I don’t pay attention to the names on their labels. That will only distract me. I keep going, one by one. Nothing.

I spin around, glancing around the room in a panic.

Sixty seconds.

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