dangled on the curtain rod.
âThe maids found these,â said Tyler. âThey always check out the rooms once a week, even if no one has used them. Just to make sure everything is in place.â
âSo no one is staying here?â Charlie asked.
Ty shook his head. âNope,â he said. âGet this,â he added. âNone of these rooms has had a guest for over a week. Theyâve been empty. And the cleaning people all swore the shower curtains were still there when they cleaned them.â
âThey couldnât have made a mistake?â asked Charlie.
âNo way,â said Tyler. âThe cleaning crew has a checklist for each room. If anything is missing, they have to report it. My momâs a real stickler for being organized and clean.â
âSix rooms without shower curtains,â said Charlie.
âThereâs other stuff missing, too,â said Tyler. âNow we need to go downstairs.â
âThere could be more than one ghost,â said Charlie.
Suddenly, they both froze. A moan echoed through the dim hallway.
âThere it is!â whispered Tyler. âThe voice.â
A name was being called out over and over. âMister Ken ⦠Mister Ken â¦â
The voice was soft, but clear. âSee what I mean?â said Tyler quietly. He motioned for Charlie to walk down the corridor with him. Even as they tiptoed past door after door, the voice seemed to follow them.
Charlie tapped Tyâs back and whispered, âWhereâs it coming from?â
Tyler shook his head. âI canât tell. Iâve put my ears to the doors on this floor, but it isnât coming from inside anywhere. Itâs out here, in the hall.â
â Mister Ken ⦠Mister Ken â¦â
The voice sounded angry. When it wasnât speaking the manâs name, it was merely moaning.
âYou go down that hall,â said Tyler, pointing. âIâll go down this way.â
Charlie nodded and headed down the hallway. He wished he had a flashlight in his backpack. Even with a flash of lightning through the hall windows now and then, it was not easy to see his way down the hall.
The ancient wallpaper was decorated with big black flowers.
Lilies? wondered Charlie.
The carpet was a deep green. The hall lamps were small and old-fashioned, covered with dim red shades.
It reminded Charlie of walking through a funhouse. Or a creepy hotel in a scary movie. He half expected to see ghostly kids each time he turned a corner. But, except for Tyler, he was the only other person walking the halls.
Neither of them saw a ghost or a moving shadow or a floating orb of light. They made a circuit of all the halls on the ninth floor. They passed the row of elevators twice (Mr. Brack was gone by then). And though the voice was equally clear throughout the hallways, they still couldnât tell where it was coming from.
For a while, Charlie thought that Ty was playing a trick on him. Firstly, Charlie didnât believe in ghosts, so he had a hard time believing that the biggest bully in school did. Secondly, he could easily imagine Tyler telling his bully buddies how he had pranked Charlie and freaked him out.
But after several minutes of prowling the halls, Charlie could tell that Ty was nervous too.
Every time they passed each other, Tyler would ask, âAnything?â
Charlie would shake his head and say, âYou?â
Tyler would shake his head. And the two would keep walking.
Charlie did notice that the voice seemed to change volume as he walked. It would grow softer and then louder as he walked down a hall. If he retraced his steps to where the sound had been soft, it grew softer once more.
Weird , thought Charlie.
Charlie noticed something else. A second sound. It was softer than the mysterious voice, but always there in the background. A tinkling sound, like a tiny silver bell.
Suddenly, the voice grew rougher, heavier. There was a loud