It took her a minute to register what it was she was looking at, but her mind finally let her see it. Propped in the corner, looking towards the window as if longing for freedom, was a charred human body.
The legs curled under the desiccated form and its head lolled back against the wall, sightless eyes forever staring. It hadn�t been by any stretch a large person. In fact as she stared at the body she realized it was about her size. It was her! She was dead! Screaming in horror she backed out of the room.
No! No it couldn�t be! How could she be here? How could this be? She wasn�t dead! She couldn�t be! She ran down to the end of the hall, hearing heavy footsteps coming up behind her again. Panic overwhelmed her as she clawed open the door and the end of the hall and hurled herself up, scrambling over the stairs. She threw herself against the heavy wooden door which opened under her weight and let her out into the third floor hall where she continued to bolt.
�Tess!� The voice behind her suddenly threw her off, she knew that voice! �Look Out!� She couldn�t see anything up here, it was dark in the hall, and turning back towards her brother�s voice slowed her, but not enough.
Suddenly the floor beneath her was just gone and she was falling, another brief sensation of deja-vu flashed over her before she impacted the floor below and felt nothing.
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�Ok, now will you tell me what on earth possessed you to bring her here?� Josh Cavanaugh watched as they placed his sister�s unconscious form in the ambulance.
�You know how she�s so into ghost stories and stuff. I figured she�d get a kick out an old abandoned private school. I mean, I didn�t think she�d go through the floor like that!� Teddy Morgan scratched the back of his neck. He�d been the only one of the guys who�d come back here after they�d bolted. Stupid drunk bastards.
�And so you left her there alone to wander around an abandoned building?� He was furious with the stupid young man in front of him, but at least this one of Tess�s friends had bothered to come to him for help; had gone back to find her.
�She was unconscious. I didn�t think she�d get up and continue exploring.� He took a step back. He knew how protective Tess�s older brother�s were and was glad only Josh was there, Jake would probably have tossed him through the third floor window they�d climbed in. Without the benefit of the ladder they�d rigged. �And I certainly didn�t think she�d find a dead body! Cops think it was probably some street kid trying to find a place to stay warm, lit a fire and then OD�d.�
Josh turned away from Teddy, disgusted at the stupidity that alcohol brought out in groups of young men, wondering still why Tess had gone along with it. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the necklace he�d found on the floor beside Tess.
�Hey, Josh Can I ask you something? Uh, what was up with that picture, down in the back hall, the one of Tess?� He was hesitant, but curiosity was killing him.
�Yes. That was our Great Aunt. Tess was named after her.�
Teddy nodded, still confused.
�You know twins run in our family.� It wasn�t difficult to figure out, He and Jake were twins after all. He turned the charm over and over in his hands. �The Theresa Cavanaugh in that picture was my Grandmother�s twin sister.�
�Oh, I didn�t know that.� Teddy frowned at the far off look in Josh�s eyes. He knew they�d always been very protective of Tess but had no idea why.
�Neither did Tess. No one ever told her.� Closing his hand over the necklace he looked up at Teddy. �My Great Aunt Theresa Cavanaugh died here, in a fire when she was eighteen.�
Eighteen. Teddy shuddered, Tess was eighteen, no wonder Josh was so upset. �Ok well�� He was hesitant to ask the second question now. This was turning out stranger than he thought. �How�d you know where to find her? I mean, there are tons of rooms in that place and you pretty much followed her trail right through.�
Josh didn�t answer at first, just tossed the silver necklace into the snow in front of the old school. �Because we�ve done this before,� He looked back at Teddy. �Since she was six years old, Tess has found her way to this building and inside three times. Each time she�s nearly died and she never remembers.�
Turning to the building itself, Josh studied it, wondering not for the first time, why it seemed to draw her. �And we never tell her.� He walked off to his car, leaving the looming building behind him to melt into the darkness again.
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