Page 54 of Gemini
“Mm, I think I’d like that too.”
I made a noise of disgust, and he laughed, unlatching himself from the couch. “Alright, moving on.”
We returned to the hallway, passing by a few empty rooms. So far this side of the building appeared dingier than the other, with parts of the walls exposed to show piping and wires. A couple yellow lights above flickered, which added to the eeriness of the place. There was a storage space with a desk and set of tools, showing someone was working on fixing this side too.
As we went to turn the corner down another hallway, a dark shadow bolted past my feet, making me yelp.
“Marshmallow,” Leslie cooed, crouching. The orange and gray tabby appeared again, trotting over to Leslie and rubbing against his hand. “Good boy.”
“You have a cat?” I said, surprised.
“Kind of. He’s really just a stray that lives here, along with his siblings, Ratman and Starfire.” He rose and slipped into a smalldoorless closet, turning on the light. There was a bowl of food and water on the ground. On one of the shelves, he put down his beer and grabbed a can of cat food, opening it and dumping it into the food bowl. Immediately, Marshmallow ran to it and started chowing down.
“Ratman, huh?” I said as he stroked Marshmallow’s back.
“The best rat catcher this side of the city. Keeps this place relatively clean of them. You’ll probably see him around, mostly in the yard.”
Suddenly another cat appeared, bounding down the hall, meowing at us in greeting. This one was silver-gray with deep green eyes. It meowed at me as it rubbed against my leg.
“Starfire?” I guessed.
“You got it.”
I bent and brushed a hand along her spine and she arched her back in response. “Aw, good, kitty.”
“They stick to this side mostly,” Leslie said, opening another can for Starfire. “Don’t care much for all the noise and people.” He dropped the food down and Starfire went for it immediately like her brother. “This way.” He grabbed his beer and slipped by the cats, moving down the hallway to the right. I patted Starfire one last time before following him.
He showed me a few more spare rooms, all kind of creepy as they sat dark and empty.
“This place is likeSilent Hill,” I muttered. “Or something out ofWalking Dead.”
“I know, I love it. Dom told you it used to be a factory, right? Before the last owners tried to turn it into an apartment complex.”
“He mentioned it.”
Leslie paused at a set of double doors. “This is the most haunted room in the place.”
“You believe in that sort of stuff?” I said, standing beside him.
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“I want to believe,” he said. “Had a few creepy experiences as a kid.”
“That…weren’t being experimented on in the basement of a warehouse?” I hoped I didn’t sound insensitive but thankfully Leslie snickered.
“Yeah, besides that. Swore I saw a creepy old lady back behind my foster parents’ house once. She stood behind a tree and had no eyes. I watched her put up a bent finger to her lips then she disappeared.”
That gave me a chill. “Ugh, no thank you.”
Lez grinned as he threw open one side of the double doors. Pitch black greeted us beyond. It appeared heavy, almost oppressive. I peered into the dark, trying to see but couldn’t make out a single thing.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
“Nothing. At least that I know of.”
I shook my head. “I swear if you’re trying to scare me…”
