Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

HAUNTING THE DEAD
RICK CHILLOT
in front of the doors. A younger one—short hair,
tailored business suit—and an older one—hair neatly
pinned up, dressed in a skirt and blazer. “I’m on the
patch,” the older woman says, her voice creased with
irritation.
“Hello,” Ed gasps. Then louder: “Hello? Can you
hear me?”
“Of course they can’t,” Tina tells him. “Don’t you
know anything?”
The women continue their conversation, talking
about lack of sleep, about a convention they’d attended.
“It’s true,” Ed says. “I’m like…a ghost. Unreal
to them.” He looks at Tina, who glares back at him.
“But you can see me,” Ed says to her. “That means…”
“Please,” Ed says, louder, standing directly behind
the two women now. “Can’t you hear me? I need
help….“
The lights flicker and the elevator slams to a stop.
The doors open, revealing a dimly lit hallway. “Fifth
floor,” he hears one of the women say.
Fifth floor. Ed had noticed the indicator light, but
hearing it said aloud sparks some sort of alarm in his
mind. He stares at the two women and for exactly three
seconds he sees them not as they are, waiting impatiently
in the elevator, but in a dark hallway somewhere,
screaming.
The older woman steps out of the elevator. “Stop!”
Ed shouts. “Don’t get out!”
She pauses, as if she’d heard him. “What?”
“I didn’t say anything,” her friend answers.
“Don’t go out there,” Ed says to them.
The women have left the elevator and are walking
down the hall.
Ed forces himself out of the elevator and into the
circle of weak light given off by the only ceiling lamp.
He glances backwards; Tina has followed and is watching
him.
The corridor is dark, but not so dark that Ed can’t
see the shapes that are waiting there. People, dozens of
them, some standing like statues, others swaying slightly.
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