Take the stairs

With everything that was going on around her Leanne figured she could hide better if she changed floors. The strange impulse telling her to go up was more than a little off putting, but it was still preferable to staying where she was.

Leanne climbed the staircase with some trepidation. She was still almost naked and had no idea what she might find up there. Reaching the next floor she found it in almost complete darkness. The other floors she’d seen had been in a similar state of gloom with a permanent dank smell to them. Yet this corridor was as though the lights had been forgotten completely. Only a few bulbs were illuminated and the light they emitted was minimal at best. More light flooded in from the window at the end of the corridor behind her as the large moon was now high in the sky, telling Leanne it was later than she realised.

Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, the young woman pressed on. Her body was tense as she proceeded, listening closely for any sound in the eerily quiet evening. There was no sign of another living person and nothing coming from any of the rooms that lined the hallway. She was around halfway down the line of doors when a voice spoke to her from the blackness.

“Good evening, miss,” came the sudden greeting, causing Leanne to leap against the wall and clutch her chest in fear. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to startle you. I only wondered where you might be going in such a… state of undress.”

Leanne peered into the shadow and could make out the white of a set of teeth as they grinned widely at the last comment. Her heavy breathing became more rapid as a figure stepped forward and she could make out a tall man in the dim light. He wore a long, dark cloak, while the off-white of his shirt stood in contrast with his otherwise black ensemble. His hair too was jet black and appeared to run as far down as his powerful looking shoulders. However his face was pale, almost white, with angular features. His nose and chin both sharp and jagged. There was a strange accent to his voice that Leanne couldn’t place, but as she gazed into his eyes she felt her initial fear slowly subsiding.

“I’m… I’m Leanne,” she declared eventually.

“Delighted to meet you, Leanne,” replied the stranger. His teeth grinning wide once more. His eyes gazed at her body with such intensity that it made the young woman squirm awkwardly against the opposite wall of the corridor. She pressed her thighs together and pulled her arms across her exposed chest in a vain attempt to hide her most private areas from the man, although he had already seen everything she had to show. “Is there anything I can be of assistance with?”

“Um, n-n-no,” she answered nervously, hoping to end this encounter as quickly as possible. She began easing herself along the hallway with her back pressed tight to the wall. Despite the feeling inside her that this mysterious figure was somehow comforting, she couldn’t help but sense a deeper fear that was being subdued.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked. Moving nearer each time Leanne tried to slide away.

“Of… Of course not,” she responded with a **** smile. “I-I-I just have to…” Leanne looked along the corridor. It was almost pitch black and she had no idea what awaited her. But could it be worse than this stranger? With his intense gaze and the disturbing aura he was projecting.