Grateful to be out of seeing range from the hutch of dolls, she reached the second hallway. There were two rooms stemming from it. One was to her right. A bathroom. The door was open, and she peeked inside. It was pitch-dark, so she got out her phone again, and holding it tightly against her palm, she turned on the flashlight. It sprayed the yellow light throughout the tiny room. It was a half bath, and it was empty. The door directly in front of her was closed. After peeking over her shoulder, she carefully turned the knob and stepped inside.

Another guest room.

It was empty as well, but there was something about it that made her skin prickle, her heart rate pick up speed. There was a smell, different from the rest of the house. She could feel it. An energy that the other guest room didn’t have. It had been occupied recently.

Breath fluttering in her chest, she stepped inside. It was just as dark in here as in the bathroom, so she closed the door behind her and turned the flashlight back on. It was a risk, but she had to take it. If there were answers to be found here, she was determined to find them.

No doubt the police had been here. Looked around. If they hadn’t found anything, then this was her only shot. Her only hope.

On high alert for any noises outside of this room, she walked forward. Light bounced around, sweeping up the walls and across the carpet. The bed was neatly made, the room cleaned and vacuumed just like the other rooms.

She was about to hang her head in frustration, when she spotted something small, brown, familiar, sitting on top of the dresser. Snatching it up, she turned it over in her palm. A little hair thing that resembled an old telephone cord. Coiled and round. The same kind Amelia wore in her hair, and around her wrists. She could’ve sworn she’d seen one or two lining Lauren’s wrists, as well.

Lots of people used these kinds of hair bands. Whitney saw them everywhere. But Whitney was positive it didn’t belong to the old lady. Her hair was short, curly. Not long enough to fit into a hair band. She felt like it was a clue. That it meant something.

A sound startled her, and she dropped the hair tie.

Silence.

It was probably just the house settling.

But it was getting later, and she was certain the couple would be waking up soon. She peered down at the hair tie, feeling aggravated. So much for a smoking gun. A hair tie proved nothing. Just that someone had at one point been in this house who had long hair.