Page 16 of Into the Dark

She finally stepped inside, and Nigel slipped in after her. Ms. Montague locked eyes with Dr. Lawson, her mouth a hard line. “Did you invite her here, Dr. Taylor?” she asked him.

“He did not, and don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Lawson snapped. “What thehellare you thinking, sending these kids in unprepared?”

“Everyone here is over thirty,” Ms. Montague replied, equally as cold.

“Babes in the woods.”

“I’m sure they would disagree.”

Lawson snorted. “I’m sure you’re right. My point stands. So if you won’t tell them, I will.”

“Tell us what?” Zeek asked as he, Ethan, and Oscar came back in.

Lawson folded her arms, her gaze never leaving Ms. Montague. “A previous group investigated here.”

Zeek perked up. “We found their old camera! Do you want to see the pictures? They’re pretty dope.”

“I’m sure they are. Did Patricia bother to tell you why the camera was left behind?”

Zeek blinked. “Um, no?”

“It’s simple.” Lawson finally looked at the rest of them. “The camera remained because they died.”

“Oh, for god’s sake, Ruthie,” Ms. Montague said in exasperation.“Oneperson perished in an accidental fall. You’re being dramatic as usual.”

Dr. Lawson glared. “Dramatic? Someone died here because they were being chased by an angry ghost, tripped on the stairs, and broke multiple bones including their neck!”

“An angry ghost?” Oscar asked, before Ms. Montague could respond. The books he’d read mentioned the ghost of an angry nurse, but none of them had suggested the spirits trapped in the asylum were actively dangerous. “A nurse?”

“It was,” Lawson said, shooting a triumphant look at her opponent. “That’s all I know, though I believe one of the survivors still lives over in Weston.”

A thin line had sprung up between Nigel’s brows. “And there was evidence of an actual haunting? That they didn’t just scare themselves?”

“You think this placeisn’thaunted?” Chris asked in surprise.

“I didn’t say that.” Nigel glanced in the direction of the asylum, as if he could feel its pull through the tent wall. “People are more than capable of frightening themselves even if there are real ghosts around. I only bring it up because it would be unusual for a ghost to manifest so strongly after only a few hours’ time to feed off the investigators’ energy.”

“Exactly.” Ms. Montague folded her hands on her knee and sat back. “Your former student has a good head on his shoulders, Ruthie.”

Lawson didn’t look happy about that, so Oscar cleared his throat. He had the feeling the two women would argue all night otherwise.

“We’ll all be very careful,” he said, looking first at his friends then at Adrienne and Zeek. “This is a good reminder that accidents can happen, especially in an old building like this.”

“Don’t worry about us, big guy,” Zeek said with a grin that didn’t reassure Oscar as much as he probably thought it did. “Any angry nurse sneaking around the fourth floor, and we’ll get her on camera. It’ll be killer for views!”

“I swear, I didn’t know she was coming,” Nigel murmured to Ms. Montague, while everyone else was getting ready for the night’s investigation. Dr. Lawson herself had stalked out to her car and was currently arranging her sleeping bag on what had been Zeek’s cot, before he offered to give it to her instead.

Ms. Montague’s look pierced him through. “But you told her we were here.”

Nigel’s mouth went dry. Montague could order them to leave at any moment, and they’d have no choice but to comply. This was Oscar’s one and only chance of connecting with this part of his grandmother’s life; if Nigel had screwed it up for him…

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought she might have some advice. I never imagined she’d get in a car and drive all this way!”

“Well, she’s here now.” Ms. Montague pursed her lips, as if she’d bitten into a lemon. “I’d order her to leave, but she’d simply ignore me. We’ll just have to make the best of it.”

At least it didn’t sound like she was going to kick them out. “She can be stubborn,” he said diplomatically.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

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