I turned to see her sit up in her bed, still clutching her gray rabbit, her eyes still looking haunted.

“What?” I whispered back.

The little girl somehow opened her eyes even wider.

“Don’t go down that hall. It went down there.”

My throat went dry. I couldn’t speak. It took a few moments before I croaked my next question out.

“What went down there?”

The girl recoiled into her thin, scratchy, blanket, and turned her gaze from my eyes and to the doorway behind me.

“It’s right behind you…

I turned around slowly to see the tail end of the blue orb drift away from the doorway and disappear in the direction which led further down the hallway.

I nodded to the little girl like everything was normal. I stepped out of her room and closed the door behind me. No need to drag this innocent girl who was already tortured enough into this ghastly mess.

Everything was business as usual back in the hallway, just the sound of heating ducts, soft light, and the sting of cleaning materials on your nose. I figured I would check the rest of the rooms until I came into another showdown with my glowing blue friend.

Every room up until the very last door was either empty or just had some unfamiliar, poor soul sleeping in it. I knew this meant my horrifying friend, and probably Calvin, were tucked into the last room at the end of the hall.