Priya swung her headlamp at the sign on the wall. Children’s Unit. A green arrow pointed in the same direction she was going.

“Good eye,” said Xander.

Priya pushed the double doors open and crept toward the large counter at the crossroads of four intersecting hallways. She noticed traces of footsteps in the dust.

“Li must have gone this way,” she said, pointing to the left.

She jogged down the corridor, Xander following close behind. He peeked over his shoulder for any sign of ghosts. There had been no moaning since he and Priya had sneaked back into the hospital. He started to wonder if they had imagined it all earlier.

“Looks like she headed for the cancer ward,” Priya said.

Xander thought for moment. “How do you know this place so well, Priya?” he asked.

Ignoring his question, she whispered, “There’s more than one set of footprints.”

Xander peered down. She was right. Multiple footprints marked the tiled floor.

“Maybe Li got turned around and retraced her steps,” Xander suggested. “Or Omar.”

“Or someone else is here,” Priya said. “And not a supernatural kind of someone.”

“You’re sure some of these footprints are Li’s?”

Priya shrugged. “I can’t be sure of anything right now, but this is our best lead.”

They slid along the wall, following the trail of footprints. It was clear now that there were at least six different sets. She turned to Xander, her lamp light shining directly in his eyes.

“Do you think someone took her and Omar?”

Xander shrugged. “I don’t—”

Suddenly something grabbed Priya’s shoulder. Xander yelped. Priya spun around.

Li stepped out. She squinted against the glare of Priya’s headlamp. “It’s me,” she whispered as she shielded her eyes.

Priya pulled Li close and hugged her. “We thought we’d lost you.”

“I thought it was you,” Xander said, acting like it was no big deal to see her there.

“Yeah, that’s why you screamed like a five-year-old,” said Li.

“I did not.”

“Did too.”

He changed the subject. “Why were you hiding in that room?”

Li motioned the two to step into the room with her. “It’s safer in here. They shouldn’t be able to find us.”

“Who?” Xander asked.

“I followed them to this point, but I thought they might have heard me, so I slipped into this room to hide.”

“Who?” Priya asked.

“Are they ghosts?” asked Xander.

Li shook her head. “They seemed real enough to me. I don’t know who they are, but they’re definitely not ghosts.”

“Oh man, this is my fault,” Xander said. “I should never have pushed for the haunted hospital. I’d settle for the boring old cemetery right about now.”

Priya looked at him. “It wasn’t that boring.”

“Sorry,” he said.

“But where is Omar?” Priya asked Li.

“I don’t know. But I’m sure the people I followed have something to do with his disappearance.”

Xander inched closer to his friends. “Where did they go?”

Li pointed down the hallway.

“We have to find them,” Priya said.