Page 1 of Hollow House
Chapter 1
I typed aggressivelyat my computer in my little cubicle. The edits for the article I’d been working on were due before close of business.
The headline,Pumpkin Spice Season, felt too cliché. I could do better.
It was that time of year again. Already, the air had turned crisp, and I found myself breaking out my sweaters. Today’s was black with tiny skulls on it, one I knew my boss would hate.
Fuck his opinion.Darren lost any semblance of respect the second I realized what a douche he was, a creep with a habit of spending far too long looking at my ass.
The thought completely distracted me from the work in front of me. I needed a reset. I stood from my tiny desk chair, one that made my back ache after sitting at it all day.
The kitchen wasn’t far from where I sat, and I knew someone else had brought in apple cider donuts for the office. A sweet treat had to be enough to get me back on track.Voices hit me as I reached the doorway…
Fuck.
It was far too late to turn around. I already stepped inside and was met with side glances from two women chatting.
“Do you really think you’ll be invited this year…” one trailed off.
I tried not to look like I was listening as I found the box of donuts on a nearby table. A pile of napkins sat beside it, and I used one to carry my treat.
“Of course. I did everything I could. Fucked every wealthy man possible in this small town, built a bigger social media presence. Shit, if I don’t catch their eye, no one will,” she said firmly.
“Yeah but Hollow House is nearly impossible to get in to. No one even knows what an invite looks like.”
“Well, once I’m invited, Darren will promote me. He was practically salivating at the idea of an exclusive inside look.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away from them. I didn’t have time to be distracted by parties or whims. I had my sights set on a bigger ideal. I wanted to get out of the small town and move to a big city.
Dani from Marketing, however, had started a blogging page online and grew a rather large audience over the past year. It’d been great for the magazine we worked at, practically free advertising. But Halloween was only a day away, and that left almost no time at all for her to find an invite to Hollow House.
Everyone wanted an invite, but nearly no one received one. Most of the rumors surrounding what happened within were just that: rumors, started by people with nothing better to do and all the time in the world.
A full pot of coffee sat freshly brewed on the counter, and as much as I wanted to hurry back to my work, I knew caffeine could do me some good.
I grabbed one of the paper cups from next to the machine and poured some inside. The fridge had multiple options for creamer, and I settled on a pumpkin pie flavored one. The coffeelightened as I poured a splash in, and Dani and the other woman droned on.
I moved to leave the kitchen and stumbled, splashing hot coffee on myself. My foot hit something solid, and I turned to find the two women snickering as Dani pulled her foot back in.
“Shit,” I muttered, realizing I had coffee on myself.
What were we, fucking petty teenagers? Some people needed to grow up. It wasn’t the first time I found myself the target of their cruelty.
I opened my mouth but thought better of it, leaving the kitchen silently instead. Sooner or later, they’d grow bored of me, realize they peaked in high school, and the real world wouldn’t tolerate their shit.
When I returned to my cubicle, I tried to refocus on naming the article I’d created.
“Sloane Hill!” my boss’ pestering voice called from his office.
Before I could make my way from my cubicle to his door, his head poked out. The man locked eyes with me, and I sighed.
Whatever he wanted could wait, but he’d never allow it. In his mind, everything he wanted was an emergency, more important than the piece I had pulled up to edit.
I walked slowly over to his office and dreaded it the moment his door shut behind us. His hand found its way to my shoulder, and I cringed from his touch.
“Have a seat,” he said, his voice like nails on a chalkboard.
Three years, I put up with it.Three years, I had worked tirelessly to climb my way up the ranks of the local magazine I worked for. He was a dick, always spending far too long with the younger women who worked beneath him, the lingering touches, the excuses for time alone. The rumors that floated through the halls should have been enough to have him out of a job, but that would require someone believing them.
