Angel called to Benson and Carine to come back down and let them know that something was wrong with Storm. They came right away and the 3 of them began looking for Storm. They could see his footprints in the dust on the floor, but there was no sign of him, and he did not answer calls from them. There was so much junk in the basement it was hard to move around too.

There was one huge box in one corner which Benson could not move, so he found a pry bar and removed the boards on top. It was filled with rocks! “There must be a ton in there, maybe more,” he said. The hotel was 150 years old and made from the same type of rocks as those in the box, but why put them in a box? And how did they get that box in the basement?

“Probably before the hotel was built,” said Carine. Suddenly they heard the girls upstairs yelling so they ran up to see what was going on. They all had their guns out just in case. Apparently Marlene had seen someone watching them from the hall so she called out for him to stay there. They all took out there guns, but by the time they made it to the hall, the person had disappeared.

But where did the person go? All the rooms were locked, but they checked them anyway. Someone could have a master key to the rooms like Benson has. They are getting the locks switched over to modern card locks, but most of the rooms still have old style key locks. They found no trace of anyone. They came back to the lobby and sat down and that is when Angel told the other girls that Storm was missing. “Well, why are we sitting here,” said Marlene, “we should go back to the basement and look for him.”

The girls did that while Carine and Benson started making dinner. Benson was cooking this time, he is an excellent cook. The girls could find no trace of Storm except for lots of footprints all over, but none that showed he might have found a secret passageway that he followed. Up they came and went down to their room to get cleaned up for dinner. Poor Angel did not really feel like eating though.

“Hurry Bridgette,” said Tracy, “we do not want to be late for dinner.” “Well, come on then,” said Bridgette from the hall. “How did she do that?” asked Angel. They all went out to the hall, but Bridgette was nowhere to be seen. Angel turned around and saw that the bathroom light was still on, and the door was closed. She went back in and opened the bathroom door, but Bridgette was not in there.

“She is doing that to scare us,” said Tracy. So off they went to the kitchen, but Bridgette was not there and Carine said she had not come ahead of them. Back to looking around, but Bridgette was not anywhere. “I am calling Steve,” said Angel. “Hi Angel,” I said, “more pictures flying around?” “NOT funny,” she said, then she told me what had happened. “Storm is missing?” I asked.

EEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!! Ghosts! Cried Muffin. Meow!=That Muffin, she in trouble! Off he ran! Kristina is now looking after MC since Benson and Carine moved to England. And she came running in behind MC with her gun out. She was perplexed when she came into our room though. I had just hung up and put out a call for everyone to come right away to the library for a meeting. I called Baldwin too so he could be in on this.

I let everyone know what had happened so we would have to leave right away to help find out what was going on. “We?” asked Sky. I seem to remember going through that once before. “You are not going anywhere,” she said to me, “you are still under doctors orders to stay away from action and stress. I will go along to keep the cats in order.” She looked at Muffin. Meow,meow.=She mean me. The cats giggled.

“Okay, Rock, you will be in charge,” I said, “the girls will go with you.” “No,” said Sky, “we leave 4 girls behind to watch you. Kristina, Sigurbjorn, Galyna and Crystal.” I just look at her. “Those are my picks,” she said. “Sky is right Steve,” said Baldwin, “I agree with her picks too.” “So do I,” said Rock, “with one addition, Annelie stays too.”

They were soon on their way. I then had a talk with the girls left behind. “I hope you do not mind staying behind,” I said, “we need to be watchful now, this could be a trick.” “I thought about that too,” said Annelie, “it might be that they want you, not anyone else, and this is one way to make you more vulnerable.” “Yes,” I said, “another reason to stay in touch with them constantly.” But will that be enough? I wonder…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.