Atmosphere's P.O.V:
"So..." I trailed off as my eyes took a quick glance at Jennifer, "I know you probably don't care, but I never got to properly introduce myself to you. So, my name's Atmosphere." I said, forcing a smile onto my face.
"Atmosphere?" She eyed me, probably not believing me that that's my real name.
"Yeah, I know." I sighed, shaking my head, "It's a weird name."
"Not weird, but definitely odd." She said.
"Hmm, true." I somewhat agreed with her.
We continued to walk around the property, not really saying a word to each other until she spoke up again, making sure none of the boys heard our conversation.
"So, did you do Vine as well?" She asked me.
"Oh, heck no." I laughed at the thought of that, "I was never into social media, which is odd, because all my friends are."
"How did you meet them then?" She asked another question.
"Well, I have been best friends with Jake since a young age, and I met the rest of the guys through him." I answered.
"Oh, so you aren't dating him?"
I stopped walking and turned to face her, making sure she got a good look of who the fuck she was questioning, because I'm not the one to mess with.
"Dating Jake?" I eyed her.
"Yeah." She snarled, "I saw you guys kissing earlier, so don't try and play dumb with me."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I hissed, taking a step closer to her.
A short laugh left her thin lips, "I think you know what I'm talking about." She whispered coldly, before walking away from me.
"What the fuck?!" I mumbled to myself.
I knew something was off with this girl from the gecko, but to accuse me of cheating is beyond ridiculous. And to think that I was going to be nice to her for the rest of this trip until I didn't have to see her anymore, but if she wants to play games, we can play games.
"Something is off with her." Corey whispered into my ear.
"Tell me about it." I murmured, letting out a low growl which startled him.
My boyfriend and Jennifer started up a conversation as they walked ahead of us. Sam and Colby were just so intrigued by her, and were constantly asking her all sorts of questions as if she was one of the hotel workers who knew the hidden stories about this place. But clearly she wasn't. She was just a random girl we knew absolutely nothing about, so why the hell is she with us right now.
"You know..." Corey's voice faded for a second as he checked his surroundings to see if anyone was close enough to hear our conversation, "I can literally feel your jealousy pouring out of you." He whispered.
"I'm not jealous." I spat.
"Oh, Appna." He chuckled lightly, "You know lying isn't good for you." He sang, making me shove him away from me.
"You know what else isn't good for me?!" I shouted, causing his face to soften when he noticed that I was truly hurting inside about something that I wasn't being vocal about.
"I'm sorry." I breathed, because I knew I shouldn't take my personal issues out on him or anyone else, "It's just that Jennifer said something to me that really bothered me." I told him only some of the truth.
"What did she tell you?" He asked, his left eyebrow raising upward.
"I mean I was trying to make small talk with her, and she asked me how I knew you guys. So, I explained to her that I knew Jake since I was little and that I met you guys through him...."
"And?" He questioned, getting impatient that I wasn't getting to the point fast enough.
"Hold on, let me finish." I cried out, "She said that she thought Jake and I were dating, because she saw us kissing earlier."
His eyes widened slightly, "What did you mean saw?" He questioned, "And..."
I cut him off, "Do you actually believe her?!"
"Fuck no." He made very clear, "Like she was with us the whole time, so she can't say that, because that would be a complete lie."
"Corey, it is a lie." I cried out again, "You know that I would never cheat on Colby especially with Jake."
"I know that, Atmosphere." He sighed, "But you know how Colby can get..."
"Corey, that isn't fair." I whined, "You saw how many times he fucked me over in the beginning of whatever the fuck we..." I suddenly stopped talking.
"Atmosphere, are you..." Before he could even finish his sentence, I stumbled over to the bushes and puked out whatever was in my stomach.
A small whimper left my lips as I collapsed onto the ground, holding my abdominal region.
"Atmosphere, what is going on with you lately?" Corey questioned, his voice dripping with concern.
"I don't know." I whimpered as he helped me sit up.
"Atmosphere, I don't know if I should even ask this, but are you pregnant?" He asked a question I was too afraid to even ask myself.
"I can't be, Corey." I choked on my tears, "I just can't be."
"Atmosphere, did you try taking..."
"I know my body!" I yelled, only because my negative emotions were getting the best of me, "I'm not pregnant, okay?!"
Watching his face drop, because of the way I was talking to him, broke my heart. Corey has always had the best interest for me, and acting this way towards him isn't right. He's my friend, and I need to treat him with respect.
"I'm sorry." I apologized to him again for my unnecessary attitude.
"Here." He whispered, handing me an unopened water bottle from his backpack.
"Thank you." I whispered, before using it to rinse my mouth.
"No problem, Atmosphere." He sighed with a faint smile. "I know that you're afraid to find out if you are, and I know you're afraid to go to Jake about it, because he will go all "dad" mode on you. And then Colby... well, I honestly don't know how he would react to it."
"He told me earlier today that he doesn't want kids anytime soon." I said, "And I'm on the same boat as him, but we just aren't being careful and that's the problem."
"And why's that?" He asked, giving me a disappointed look like a father would give to his irresponsible child.
"Cause we're young, dumb adults." I mumbled, shaking my head.
A deep sigh left his lips before he spoke up, "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone about this, because it isn't my place to. But I want you to know that you can always come to me for anything. I'm here to listen, and try my best to give you the best advice that I can. But I'm sorry if I'm not enough for you"
"You're more than enough, Corey." I whispered, resting my hand on top of his, "And thank you for always being here for me. I'm always here for you as well." I added, causing a warm smile to appear on his face.
"Promise me, that when we get back home that you'll find out if you're pregnant or not. And if you're afraid to go by yourself, I'll be there for you if you need me to." He said, hoping that I would do the right thing.
"I promise." I reassured him, before giving him a tight hug.
There is a 50/50 chance that I could be pregnant, but if I was, I knew that my deceased mother would've told me by now. I mean she always warned me about everything else, why wouldn't she not warn me about this one? All I know is that I need to be more careful from now on, and that the second I get home, I need to find out the truth. Hopefully, it's in all of our favor.
Corey and I made our way back to our friends and Jennifer. I don't think they knew that we were even gone for a good period of time, so we kept it that way and acted like nothing happened.
Without making it noticeable to the others, Sam made his way over to Corey and I with a concerned look written on his pale face.
"I don't think we should have invited her." He whispered to us.
"I mean I don't know, bro." Corey shrugged, "Like, I'm kind of scared." He voiced his current mood.
"She's probably faking it." I murmured, crossing my arms over my chest.
"True." He agreed with me, "You think you can like vibe her out?" He asked me in a begging tone.
"Oh, I already." I hissed lightly, "And I don't like her one bit."
"What do you mean?" Sam questioned, eyeing me.
"Bro, you don't want to know." Corey warned him, causing Sam to give both of us a look now.
"Are you guys seriously not going to tell me?" He questioned with a little hurt behind his voice.
"Later." I sighed, "But it will have to stay between us three, got it?"
"Got it." He said, nodding his head as well.
"Are you guys going to walk any slower?" My best friend questioned us which startled Sam for some odd reason.
Hesitantly, we all made our way into the dark basement we were once in earlier today. Once we were in, a chill ran up my spine as everyone scattered away from each other and went to go explore this creepy place, trying to find something abnormal.
"Jake!" I hissed at him, when I noticed he was using a toilet plunger to hit a random door with it.
"Bro, like we don't even know where that came from." Sam said in disgust before walking over to Jennifer and Colby.
Colby was studying every move Jennifer was making before turning to his best friend and giving him a worried look.
"Bro, she's so fucking scary." He chuckled nervously to Sam.
"Yeah, I'm actually a little scared, guys." Jake admitted, not even joking this time.
"Yeah, I'm scared too." Sam breathed before walking over to her with the camera recording? "So, all we know is that Lucy stayed here. Do you know anything else about the Concert Hall?" He asked her.
She started pacing back-and-forth with a terrified expression written on her pale face, almost like she was purposely trying to scare us. I mean she did say she was an actress, so of course she's going to put on a show especially for a group of YouTubers.
"Well, I know she was a runaway. And when they were shutting it down, maintenance came down here and found her hidden and decided to kick her out. But, it was during the winter time, so it was below zero. So, when she went out and couldn't find shelter, she froze to death." She explained.
"She froze to death?" My boyfriend questioned her.
"That's such a sad way to die." Sam pouted.
"I mean she's happy here." She said, causing me to eye her.
"Jeez, who the fuck let her come with us?" I mumbled to myself, walking away from them, "Oh right, our great friend Sam did." I lightly hissed, shaking my head.
"Wait, guys?!" Colby randomly yelled out of nowhere, causing all of us to freeze in our spots, "This is the mirror." He breathed, pointing at a century old mirror that was leaning against a wall.
"The mirror?!" Corey gasped, making his way over to him.
"What are you talking about?" Jake questioned them.
"The mirror from those photos that were taken by some guests." Corey explained, "I'm gonna take some." He added before snapping away.
We all crowded around Corey to look at all the photos he had taken, until Jake pointed something out.
"Dude, she's gone." He whispered harshly to us.
"What do you mean?" Sam questioned, his eyes wandering around the room.
"Good." I murmured.
"Wait, what is that?" Colby questioned as he zoomed in on one of the photos Corey had taken.
"What is that line doing..." Corey's voice trailed off as he started to swipe to the other photos, checking to see if the line was in any of the other ones, but it wasn't.
"Only in that picture." Sam whispered.
"What the fuck is that?!" Corey questioned, gasping at the picture.
"It's going straight into the back of my head." Colby whispered, terror clouding his iris.
"Look! That even looks like a face!" Sam gasped, pointing his index finger at the left corner of the photo.
"Yeah." An emotionless voice startled us.
"Holy shit!" Sam shouted, "You fucking scared me, sorry, sorry." He apologized to Jennifer for the foul language he used.
"Wait, Sam, is that you?! Corey asked, showing him another photo.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I think so." He murmured.
"It could honestly be Jake's light that caused that streak." Colby said, trying to debunk it, but the majority of us believed it was something supernatural.
"Bro, but it looks like a pole, not even a light." Jake chimed in, "Like it doesn't even look like a rave at all." He joked, chuckling at himself.
"Do you want to go upstairs?" Sam asked us as I slowly made my way over to Colby and sat on his lap, because I felt uneasy just standing by myself.
"Man, I don't even want to go up there, because they are just doing construction." Colby said, which we all agreed with.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his warm body. A faint smile was plastered on my face as I looked down at him studying all his facial structures. He smiled at me as well before letting all of his attention be focused on Corey now, who was taking more photos of the mirror again.
"Guy!" I shouted when I saw a random light flicker in the corner of my eye, "That light just turned off." I pointed, getting off of Colby.
"Wait." Colby ordered me, rewrapping his arm around me in a protective way.
"Bro, what the fuck is standing in between me?!" Corey yelled, terror dripping from his voice as he stared intently at his phone.
"Guys, Appna just saw that light turn on and off." Colby said.
"Dude, as soon as you took that picture." Sam turned to Corey.
Colby's arm slowly left my waist as Corey and him went to investigate the area where I saw the light turn on and off. I stayed back with Sam, because I was afraid to be left alone in this dark room without anyone by my side, and I was also afraid to be near Jake, because of the lie Jennifer had said earlier about me and him.
A loud thud coming up from above us startled everyone, but me. For some reason that noise didn't scare me at all, because I felt like it came from a good spirit and not a bad one. So, there shouldn't be a reason to be afraid of it, right?
"I don't think we should be in here anymore." Colby said as he made his way back to Sam and I, "I want to go back."
"Yeah, I have a horrible feeling about that room, bro." Corey said as he pointed to a random room that we hadn't explored yet, "I'm gonna take a photo of it though." He added.
My boyfriend's hand quickly found its way towards mine, lacing it together before we continued to walk further down into the basement. But out of nowhere, Corey let out a loud gasp before running out of the building.
"Corey!" Sam called after him, "Alright, lets go." Sam insisted before he took off running after Corey.
"I got a little kid peeking around the chair." Corey said, trying to catch his breath.
"No, you didn't." Sam whispered.
"Bro." He breathed before pulling out his phone to show Sam and everyone else the photo.
"Oh my God." Sam gasped.
"Wait, come look at that." Jake told Jennifer, causing me to eye him.
"Yeah, that's Lucy." She said with no emotion before stepping aside from us.
"Oh, fuck." Jake murmured.
"Wait?! Wait?!" Sam yelled.
Out of nowhere, Jake took off running away from the hotel and then jumped over a tiny brick wall, "Jake, Jake, oh God!" Sam shouted at him, "Wait, Jake! We can't lose you." He added, but Jake completely ignored him and kept going.
A groaning sound left my lips, "Jake Andrew Webber! Get your ass back here this instant!" I shouted, not caring at what some of the guests thought of our bizarre behavior.
"It's because we were in her room." Nancy Drew wannabe said.
"Bro..." Corey quickly shut his mouth when a little girl's scream could be heard coming from the back corner of the property.
"What the fuck was that?!" I asked, actually terrified this time.
"Can we go back in there and try to debunk this real quick?" Corey begged Sam, only because he wanted to be able to sleep tonight in peace.
"Yeah, lets go." Sam said.
"Don't run off like that again." I hissed at Jake when he reappeared by my side again.
"Sorry, mom." He teased, sticking out his tongue at me.
"Can someone turn on their flashlight?" Corey asked as we wandered around the dark basement again.
"I would, but my phone's dead." Jake said, "It was at eighty percent and then it just died."
"Eighty percent?!" Corey questioned, eyeing him.
"Yup." Jake said as he showed him.
As the guys were trying to debunk the photo, Jennifer quickly ran out of the building without any warning. Sam and Colby insisted that we should go check on her so we left the basement and did what they wanted us to do.
"Sorry, I heard noises and then I saw this bright light." She explained to Sam, but I wasn't buying it one bit.
Corey's eyes instantly landed on mine before he slowly leaned closer to me, "Did you feel, hear or even see anything?" He asked me in a whispered tone.
I shook my head, "Not since room 217." I whispered back.
"Thought so." He whispered to himself.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sam asked her.
Jennifer's eyes were clouded with tears threatening to leak which made me question if she actually saw something that scared her or if she was putting on a show for the guys.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She reassured him, avoiding all our eyes.
"Are you sure?" Jake asked her again.
"Yeah."
"Let's go then." Colby said before walking away with her by his side.
"Dude, didn't it look like she was about to cry." Sam whispered to Corey and I.
"Right now?" Corey questioned.
"Yeah."
"Then it must've been serious or..."
"She was acting." I finished Corey's comment for him.
"Or maybe something actually scared her." Sam said, causing me to shoot him daggers.
"Yeah, maybe." Corey mumbled, letting out a shaky breath.
"Do you think we overstepped our boundaries?" Jake asked her.
"I mean I think they were just trying to tell us that they were there the whole time."
A deep sigh left my lips as we made our way back inside the hotel and up to our room. But for some reason, I noticed that Colby was way behind the rest of us still talking to Jennifer. My heart ached at the sight of that, but I brushed it off until I noticed him giving her his cell phone. Without making it obvious, I watched as she typed away on it before giving it back to him with a giant smile plastered on her face.
"Hey, guys!" Colby slightly shouted, grabbing everyone's attention but mine, because I turned my back towards him, not wanting him to see how hurt I was, because of him, "She's going to go peace out, cause she has that gig tomorrow." He said.
"Again, thank you so much." Sam thanked her.
"It was nice to meet you all." She said.
"I will text you." Colby whispered to her, but I heard it loud and clear, and so did everyone else.
Jake gave me a sympathetic look, but I shook my head before making my way into the room first. I sat on the edge of the bed with my arms crossed over my chest with my head hanging low. My emotions were getting the best of me today and I feel completely drained because of it. And having met that girl only made things worse for me. Plus, with Colby's past and how he treated girls started to flood my mind again, and I started to think of the worst things about him when I know I shouldn't be.
"Why are you going to text her?" Sam questioned his best friend, "She was creepy as fuck." He murmured.
"Yeah, but she helped us out." Colby said.
"I don't think she was that creepy." Jake put in his own two cents into their one on one conversation.
"You didn't?" Sam eyed him, "Bro, she left four times when we were in the Concert Hall alone. She didn't even have a flashlight." He said.
"Yeah, but she was nice. She helped us out and gave us a tour. I was just talking to her about how we were going to do a séance tonight and then she can meet up with us tomorrow. Like talk about what happened." Colby said, causing my glossy eyes to flutter over to him.
"You're going to meet up with her again?" Sam questioned.
"I mean when you think about it, a lot of stuff did happen when she was with us." Jake pointed out.
"Yeah, but a lot of stuff also did happen when Appna was with us." Corey chimed in.
"Bro, fuck?!" Colby shouted before he made his way over to the door, "Where's Atmosphere?!" He asked, panic dripping from his voice.
"Bro, she's right there." Corey pointed over to where I was sitting.
Colby let out a deep sigh of relief, "Oh shit, I thought..."
A short laugh left my lips, " I guess being forgotten really does suck." I murmured, shaking my head at him before making my way into the bathroom.
I finally let the tears I've been holding all day long roll down my face like a rushing river stream, slowly making my way over to the mirror and blankly staring at my broken image.
They probably hate me for acting this way. Well, it just makes it easier for me if I ever....
"Don't think like that." My mother spoke out of nowhere without even letting me know that she was here, listening to one of my mental breakdowns.
"Jeez, you can read minds too?" I asked, turning to face her.
"Only when it comes to my daughter." She said, "Now stop thinking negatively about yourself. I didn't raise you this way."
"You may have not raised me this way, but I still ended up this way." I whispered.
"How?" She questioned me.
"Because of everyone's voices." My voice cracked.
She shook her head, "You need to stop letting those negative voices get to you, honey." She whispered,
"Remember, you are stronger than you think. Just please hold on for a little bit longer." She begged me.
"I can't promise you that." I whispered, causing a small frown to appear on her face.
"I love you and so does everyone else." She let me know as she rested her bony hands on my shoulders.
My watery eyes fluttered down to them, "Why can I actually feel you?" I asked, choking slightly on my tears.
"Because I told you that I'm always here for you." She whispered with a weak smile before wrapping her arms around me giving me a tight hug.
My muscles tighten up from the almost foreign feeling of being in her arms. My arms trembled as I wrapped them around her ghostly body. I would expect to be going right through her, but I didn't. It was almost like she was alive right now in my arms. I couldn't help but cry happy tears, because I got to be in my mother's arms one last time.
"Remember, I'm always a call away." She whispered before kissing the top of my head. And just like that, she disappeared into the air again.
Having that moment with my mother really helped calm down my out of control emotions. So, hopefully it stays like that for the rest of the trip, so it would be easier for all of us to not have to deal with my unstable-emotional butt.
I wiped away the remainder of my fallen tears before leaving the bathroom. I avoided my friends' looks and made my way over to the bed, kicking off my shoes and then climbing underneath the covers.
"Atmosphere?" Sam called out for me.
My bloodshot eyes met his, "Yeah?" I breathed.
"Are you going to do the séance with us?" He asked, hoping I would say yes even if I didn't want to do it.
My eyes fluttered around the room as I internally debated on if I should do the séance or not before falling onto his again
"Yeah." I sadly gave in, "Just wake me up when it's time." I said before laying my head on the pillow.
Jake was already laying down next to me. He opened his body up slightly so I could come and cuddle with him, but I did something I never did in my entire life before, I declined his offer. I turned my back towards him and held my own body, because I can't always expect someone to be there for me. Sometimes, I have to be the one who holds me together even when I'm struggling to.
"Jeez." Corey sighed, "You guys finally broke Atmosphere."
And suddenly, darkness became my only friend in that moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Atmosphere." A deep voice shook me awake.
"Yeah?" I groaned lightly as my eyes met my boyfriend's.
"It's time to do the séance." He whispered, brushing my hair behind my ear.
"What time is it?" I asked with a small yawn.
"It's 2:55am." Sam answered, "Five minutes before the witching hour." He added.
"Atmosphere, did you move any of the candies while we were gone?" Corey asked as he examined one of the lollipops that was on the floor.
"You guys were gone?" I eyed them.
"Yeah, we went to go sage ourselves." He hesitantly admitted, but did anyways cause he knew that I deserved to know the truth.
"So, you guys left me here, all by myself and didn't even think once about, "hey let's maybe invite the other friend we made tagalong on this stupid trip, so she wouldn't get fucking haunted!" ... assholes." I hissed underneath my breath before tossing the covers to the side.
"Look, we didn't want to wake you..."
I cut Colby off, "Look, I honestly don't care. Like hopefully the ghosts actually get me this time, and I don't have to spend another minute on this stupid Earth!" I yelled, anger dripping from my voice.
"Don't ever say that again." Jake growled.
"Whatever." I murmured.
"Atmosphere, we can go outside and sage you..."
I cut off Sam this time, "No, it's fine." I reassured him, even though it wasn't, "I'm not here to waste anyone's time." I added before sitting on the floor by the little salt circle they had made.
I could sense that everyone was trying to communicate with each other without being vocal about it, but knowing how some of these boys aren't the smartest, they were not going to get anywhere with their voiceless conversation.
Jake and Colby sat down on either side of me while Sam sat across from me, and Corey was sitting on the bench that was in front of the bed. He clearly didn't want to do the séance and he wasn't the only one either. I didn't want anything to do with it since my emotions were at a negative place and it could easily draw in bad spirits instead of the good ones.
While Jake lit the small white candles with a lighter, I leaned towards Colby's side and reached for a cherry lollipop. I slowly unwrapped the wrapper and brought the lollipop to my mouth. It tasted like cherry medicine which I didn't mind one bit, but what I did mine was the fact that my boyfriend couldn't keep his eyes off of me.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" I questioned him, slightly annoyed.
"Sorry, ummm..." He was stumbling over the few words he had said, which I couldn't help but laugh at.
"Wow." I mouth pop, "You really got turned on by me sucking on a lollipop." I grinned, eyeing his noticeable bulge.
He quickly covered his lap with his large hands, but it wasn't really doing him any justice.
"No, I didn't." He growled, not liking the fact that I had a different level of control over him.
"Whatever." I murmured, rolling my eyes at him before turning my attention back to the candles.
"Didn't the medium say that something bad was going to happen to us when we come here?" Corey reminded us, "And look what we are doing."
"Look Corey, if it makes you feel better, how about I just tell the demons, spirits or whatever is with us right now to just hurt me instead and not you guys." I suggested, hoping to lighten up his mood.
"What the fuck, Atmosphere?!" Jake hissed, causing me to roll my eyes at him.
"Look, I rather get hurt then to see any of my friends get hurt." I explained to him.
"But Atmosphere, we don't want anyone to get hurt." Sam said.
"Then why do you keep doing this?" I questioned not only him, but my boyfriend as well, "You two always say that you don't want anyone to get hurt, but you keep doing these stupid rituals, séances and messing around with Ouija boards. How do you not expect anyone to get hurt?!" I spat.
"She's right, guys." Corey agreed with me.
"I'm not saying she isn't, but we came here to find something. So, we are going to find it." Sam said.
"But when will it ever be enough for you guys?" I questioned them with a little crack in my voice, "Jail clearly didn't stop you, so what will? Death?"
"Atmosphere, don't even say that." Colby whispered, slightly shaking his head at me.
"But I'm just saying what everyone else is afraid to say." I said, "You guys are playing with your lives and you don't even realize that."
They all kept quiet. I know what I was saying to them was triggering a part of them they didn't want to acknowledge. We aren't professionals when it comes to the paranormal world. We are just some kids with a camera that want to put a smile on other people's faces, but what about our smiles? Do they not matter at all?
My eyes stayed fixated at Sam and Colby now, "Maybe one of these days, you guys are going to look back at this moment and wish you had done things differently." I said, "And maybe I won't be here to tell you that I told you so. Or maybe he won't, or he won't either." I added as I pointed to Jake and Corey.
A deep sigh left my lips, "But since I trust you guys with my life, I guess let's summon some spirits." I whispered as my eyes fell onto Sam's glossy ones, "Just don't let me regret this." I added.
Oh, how much I wish they didn't wake me up that night.
***** Author's Note *******
Hey, buddies!
I just want to personal thank everyone for all the love and support. It means the world to me.
Also, a reminder that this book consists of 35 chapters and I'm almost done with rewriting and republishing it. Thanks again for your patience, and I will see you soon with a new chapter.
Love you guys to the moon and back.