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The entire building was silent. No, that wasn’t technically accurate. There were strange noises all around. Creaks, groans, moans… Was that a shriek? Dust hung in the air, clinging to the cobwebs high in the corners. It was thick enough to shield the hallway from the moonlight. Darkness pressed down on the place, ominous and almost mocking.
Lance swallowed hard and wished they hadn’t decided to split up.
Slowly, carefully, he made his way down the corridor. He swung his flashlight across the space and kept his eyes peeled, just in case. The four of them were searching this abandoned school for a ghost. Apparently, nobody could use the building due to the vast variety of them, though most people saw a young, kind woman. If they could find her…
Well, Lance wasn’t sure what they would do with the information. Pidge had cameras set up and Hunk had also brought some of his spirit box… detector… things. Lance had refused one on the basis that it was too damn loud, but it was really because the noise was creepy. The two of them were geniuses and Lance was sure that what they had made would work - and that just made them creepier.
Then there was Keith. He always liked to rush headlong into everything, which was why they could afford to do this, thanks to his dad’s inheritance. There had been some legal issues, but he’d finally been able to use it - and he’d invested it into this strange business. Pidge and Hunk had needed very little convincing (though Hunk still needed to throw up from his nerves before he entered any building). It had taken Lance a little longer to cave, but then he’d been dragged to places like this.
And. Every. Single. Time. Keith suggested that they split up before disappearing when their backs were turned. Lance was going to kill him one of these days, and then they could find out, once and for all, if ghosts actually existed or if Lance kept getting spooked by a building settling around him.
Like now, with the clear sound of a creaking door opening behind him.
Lance froze. Not even the beam of light shook in his hand, he was so still. Was it just him or had the place gotten colder? There was another sound. A rasping breath. And then he could feel it on the back of his neck.
With a whimper, Lance bolted. His flashlight swung to and fro, illuminating doors and abandoned chairs and a raggedy backpack. Panting filled his ears as he sprinted down the corridor, darted right, took a left and another then a right… He was tempted to go through one of the doors and hope that it led somewhere else, but it was a school so the chances of there being a second door was probably slim.
Eventually, he stopped, aware that he was feeling warm now. No icy cold patches in sight. He bent double, his flashlight pointed behind him and took great gulping breaths. Once he felt as if he wasn’t going to asphyxiate and add to the ghosts floating around, Lance straightened and looked around.
Close by, there was a set of double doors with dirty windows set into them. Judging by the faded sign on the wall nearby, this was the school’s decrepit cafeteria. Lance glanced up and down the hallway, taking in all the possible doors that could open to reveal a horrible phantom. Shuddering, Lance pushed open the rusty door and slipped inside.
As expected, there was a wide open space filled with quiet tables. It was a little unnerving to see the place so empty, without the chatter of students or the smell of food. Lance swept his flashlight around the room and took another deep breath when he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He made his way further into the room and perched on the edge of a table. With a sigh of relief, Lance waited for his heart rate to go down, hoping that Keith wouldn’t find him while he was feeling so unnerved.
It wasn’t that Lance didn’t want Keith around, it was more that he didn’t want Keith to see him when he was feeling like a weakling. Not that he wanted to impress him or anything, it was just that he thought Keith was cool and he didn’t want to look uncool. Despite them all being friends, Lance often felt a little less than the others. Never enough to worry about it, but it usually crested in times like these, when he felt like a wuss.
These situations would always make him think of the most obvious comparison of the four of them to an iconic cultural icon. Pidge was clearly Velma, with her brains and insatiable desire to find out if ghosts really exist and could be recorded. Hunk’s nerves made him Shaggy and Scooby combined. With his reckless rushing into the buildings, Keith was clearly the Fred of their group. But that left Lance to be Daphne. He did have a brilliant fashion sense, though it wasn’t as if people could see him in the dark and spooky buildings.
Shaking his head, Lance stood. He was being ridiculous and maudlin. They had a job to do. So, taking a deep breath, Lance turned to go. Since he’d gotten so far from where he was supposed to be, he would have to coordinate with the others to find his way back or into the next area. Lifting his flashlight, he shone it on the doors he had come through.
There was a shadowy figure on the other side of them, hulking and intimidating.
For a moment, Lance thought he was seeing things. His fear was feeding his imagination. So he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he opened them. The figure was still there and it seemed to come closer, impossible to make out clearly through the murky glass. Then, slowly, the door creaked as it began to swing open.
Lance screamed, turned on his heel, and bolted towards the other side of the room. Surely there was another exit he could use! And, just as he suspected, there was another set of double doors. He slammed into them at speed and the doors swung wide, the squeaking of the hinges loud in the quiet. His heart hammered as he hurried down the corridor, vaguely aware that he was now at one of the outer walls of the first floor.
He turned a corner and ran straight into something. With a cry, Lance bounced off it and landed on the floor. His flashlight went skittering across the peeling linoleum and went out. Wincing, Lance squinted upwards, panting in his fear. Above him was another shadowy figure. It shifted and light suddenly pierced the gloom, blinding Lance. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes and peered upwards, confused.
“Huh? Lance?” said a familiar voice.
Grimacing, Lance lowered his hand, now able to see the outline of Keith standing over him. “Holy crow,” he gasped. “You scared me!”
“Uh, are you okay? Why were you running?”
With another grimace - he didn’t want to tell Keith the details - he glanced over his shoulder. “I… I thought I heard something and it freaked me out. And then I thought I saw…” He shook his head. “Never mind. It was probably me being stupid.”
“You’re not stupid,” Keith protested. “And, whatever you thought you saw, might have been real. That’s the whole point of this.”
“I know, but…” Lance shook his head again. “I… I kinda ran before I could be sure.”
Keith’s hand appeared in front of his face. Lance hesitated for a moment, then took it and let Keith pull him up. “Are you okay?” Keith asked again.
Lance nodded and placed a hand on his heart. It was still pounding hard against his chest, trying to escape. “Yeah. Just… I hate these places,” he admitted, without thinking.
“Huh?”
Blinking, Lance looked up at Keith who seemed to be shocked. Lance grimaced and shrugged a shoulder. “It’s spooky. It freaks me out, man. I just… I don’t wanna quit on you guys, so I come along, even if I don’t really believe in everything the way you all do.” He took a deep breath and looked away. “Sorry.”
“Wha-? Lance. Why didn’t you say anything?” Keith demanded, squeezing the hand he still held. It startled Lance into looking at Keith again. His friend looked worried and… angry. At himself.
“It’s not your fault,” Lance quickly insisted. “I’m fine. I can still Scooby Doo this thing, honest.” He pumped a fist in the air to demonstrate how raring to go he was.
“I wouldn’t have suggested splitting up,” Keith told him. “I mean, if Hunk didn’t get so caught up in the science of it all and get over his nerves, I would have suggested staying in a group. But he’s never backed down from anything before-”
“I’m not backing down!” Lance snapped. His voice echoed and he winced. It sounded like someone whispering in the distance. Instinctively, he stepped closer to Keith and clutched at the hand that was still in his. “I’m not backing down,” he repeated, much quieter. “It’s just… I get easily startled by the noises, is all, and then I…”
“Panic?” Keith suggested. This close, Lance could see the fond smile on Keith’s face.
Blushing, Lance glanced away. “Yeah, I guess. But that doesn’t mean I’m a scaredy-cat!”
“No,” Keith easily agreed. Lance looked at him in surprise and saw Keith grin. “You’re cautious, which really helps us.”
“It does?” Lance asked in awe.
“Yeah. There have been one or two buildings that were a bit too hazardous for our health. Pidge told me about one that had a gas leak that people only discovered when someone finally bought the place and tried to renovate it. You told us that we shouldn’t go in because it seemed to be listing to one side and could collapse at any moment. If you hadn’t, we could have been trapped and died.”
“Seriously?!” Lance exclaimed. “But we could die here, too! This place isn’t as sturdy as it looks!”
Keith let out an amused huff. “Yeah. I know. But it’s okay. We’ll be fine. We’ve got you looking out for us.”
Lance’s blush deepened and he grew flustered. “I- Uh- You-”
Their radios crackled with static, making Lance jump. He gasped and stepped even closer to Keith until he was close enough that Keith could wrap his arms around him if he wanted to. And Keith did loop an arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze as a garbled voice came from the speakers. “Come on,” he said, right into Lance’s ear. Lance’s breath caught and he stilled against Keith’s chest, his hand still holding Keith’s. “That’ll be Pidge,” Keith continued, apparently oblivious to Lance’s thumping heart. “Let’s go find the others; I feel like we’ll have better results in a group, anyway.”
“Well, why did you make us split up again, Fred?” Lance demanded, gently pulling away to frown at him.
“This place is huge, so I thought we’d need to cover more ground or we’d have to spend longer here. But now I feel like we’re missing something with no-one to watch our backs.” Keith nudged Lance with his hip, as if to comfort him, and let him go. Lance watched him pass behind him and head to the edge of the corridor where he bent to retrieve Lance’s flashlight. When he returned to Lance’s side, he handed it over before he took hold of Lance’s hand, interlacing their fingers. He squeezed as Lance turned his head away, even if Keith couldn’t possibly see his blush. “Besides,” Keith added as he pulled Lance along in his wake, “does that make you Daphne?”
“Shut up,” Lance grumbled, though he couldn’t help but smile at his back.
Behind them, a young woman materialised and watched them leave, hiding her own triumphant smile behind her hand…