The Storage on the 5th Floor

I had never believed in ghosts.

That was before I had stepped into this damned hostel.

I'm sure you are also someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural, and I pray you keep accepting that because when reality strikes, things turn ugly.

It was just another day. I was returning from my Physiology lecture, where I had dozed off halfway. My professor was the most grey person in existence. She had zero enthusiasm, always carried an uninterested look in her eye, and looked down on us like we were the most unpleasant creatures to have ever graced her presence.

It wasn't a surprise that our entire class unanimously hated her.

As nursing students, we already had enough to deal with. The paranormal was an added bonus none of us had asked for but had received in plenty. You won't find a student in this hostel who hasn't heard about ghost stories or encountered one in this wretched place.

I climbed the stairs and went to my room on the 6th floor. I know what you must think: Don't you have a lift? It was as if this ancient piece of a monument would have such a luxury. As far as I have heard, this building was built during the British Era. No modifications have been made to it apart from occasionally changing the doors, which, for some weird reason, tend to break a lot, especially on my floor.

The climb up was always exhausting. When I reached my floor, I turned to my side to look out from the only window on this floor; I saw some of my batch mates chatting, some other hostel girls looking ready to go shopping, and the others looking wrapped up in their own sweet world.

I will always be amazed at the girls who live in this hostel. After all the creepy shit they claim that happens here, they sure don't seem to be spooked at all. Seeing them like this, like they were just simple college-going students, unsettled me the most.

I was about to turn and continue to my room when I felt something move from the corner of my eye. I turned and stared at the storage room door opposite the stairs. I looked away quickly. That was the one room that I never got close to, no matter what.

"That's the storage room. Stay away from it." Those words of my senior had burned in my memory. I hadn't questioned further, but I knew something was wrong with the storage.

"Yo! Nina, how was the lecture?" Cari hooked her arm in mine as she stepped beside me, halting my thoughts. I let out a breath I didn't know I had held. She had skipped today's lecture to help organize books in the library. One of these days, I need to take notes from her on how to skip classes. And also, how the hell does she manage to work in that creepy ass library.

"Her lecture was as colorful as her personality, Cari. Anything else you would like to know, Miss Lesson Skipper?" I snarked as I fidged with my bag strap. What I needed right now was some hot tea and some biscuits. And sleep, lots of sleep.

"Oh, shush it; you know I am the only one who willingly goes to work in the library that everyone else is scared shitless of, by the way. Don't you think I'm awesome?" she huffed as she placed her hands on her hips, pushing out her chest in a show of heroism.

"I think you are too eager to die. Curiosity is good, but not in the case of ghosts and spirits, especially not in this hostel." I really was in no mood for indulging her this time around.

I'll be honest; I hadn't seen a ghost until now, but the stories here were enough to make me all spooked out. "What are you guys up to?" I turned around to face my senior, Maeve. "Nothing much. I'm just reintroducing Nina to my awesomeness." Cari was quick to respond to her favorite senior.

"Ignore her. What are you doing here, Maeve?" I gave her a quick smile. She had warned us about the weird happenings in this hostel and told us to toughen up when we came to stay. I'm not going to lie; at first, I freaked out and decided to move out, but somehow, every room I had visited had been booked or was in a horrible state, so I had to settle for the hostel.

"I'm waiting for Chinsi. We are about to go and check out the new room," said Maeve as she glanced at her wristwatch. "Oh, there she is. I'll see you guys later, yeah!" And off she ran, giving us a short wave.

"Shoot! I'm going to be late for my next class. Don't go disappearing on me." Cari gave me a mischievous look as she sprinted down the stairs. Peace, finally.

In fact, it felt too peaceful. Not a sound was heard as I made my way to my room. My eyes scanned the room number on every door I passed, a habit I had picked up when I first joined here because it had been practically impossible to find my room in this corridor filled with nothing but doors and doors, and at the very end, multiple mirrors that reflected them, creating a very unsettling image.

The other end of the corridor was near the stairs I had climbed, where the storage was. I shook my head as I entered my room. I settled in, kept my bag on my study table, and crashed on my bed. I shut my eyes briefly, got up, picked up my toiletries, and headed out for a quick shower.

After all, sleeping after a good shower was the best thing. I locked my door and headed towards the line of mirrors. The mirrors were lined simultaneously with the vast basins where we got up every morning to brush. Unfortunately, I had to stand in front of them twice because I habitually brushed my teeth twice daily, a rare practice in this hostel. My roommate had been in awe at my dedication when she saw me go out and brush every night before bed.

I quickly reached the shower stalls to the right, ignoring all the mirrors. The shower was quick; before I knew it, I was already in bed, sleeping like a log. I remember my last thought before I had shut my eyes and thought about Maeve, hoping she would find a spirit-free room and then laughing softly. As if that was ever possible over here.

My alarm rang quickly, and I groaned, holding my blanket tighter above my head as if doing that would drown the noise of the alarm, not yet ready to get up. "Get up, and shut the damn thing off!" I heard someone call out. I froze; no one was supposed to be in this except for me and my roommate. I removed the blanket and looked about, only to find Cari sleeping on my roommate's bed.

"What the heck are you doing here, Cari? I almost joined the spirits in the hostel as a permanent guest." She snorted, yawned, and got up from my roommate's bed and explained why she was there, "I didn't mean to startle you; your roommate told me to wait in her room. She wanted some advice." I gave her a side-eye. "Regarding what?" I asked because I was curious about what advice she wanted to take from Cari, which she couldn't ask me.

"Oh, you know the supernatural and how I work in the library without a care that I may end up mad." This was enough to wake me from my sleep slumber and make me face her with full attention. I raised an eyebrow and asked, "So what's the secret?"

She gave me one of her mischievous smiles. I had never liked them.

"So, what is it?" I encouraged her. My curiosity was at its peak when she stepped forward and gestured for me to come close as if to whisper the secrets of the universe in my ear. "The spirits are scared of me." She stepped back right after saying that.

It was my turn to snort. "Yeah, right." If this was the kind of answer my roommate was waiting for, then I pity her. I glanced at the lone wall clock and was surprised to find it was almost midnight. How long had I slept?

It didn't matter; since I wasn't particularly hungry, I decided to brush my teeth and come back and sleep again. My sweet, sweet sleep. I'll be back in a moment. Smiling, I picked up my toothbrush and paste and left my room when Cari spoke. "I wouldn't go if I were you." her eyes bore into me for a moment as if to convey something. I hesitated for a moment, heeding her advice. But then she smiled her mischievous smile again, and I understood that she was probably trying to mess with me.

I flipped her a finger and walked out, "I'll be back in 10." I said as I shut the door behind me.

If you have ever lived in a hostel, you will know about non-paranormal rules, like lights being shut off at so and so time, and we had them too. But thanks to all the haunting that goes on in this place, the faculty decided to keep dim lights on in the corridor. It was a blessing until the lights stopped working one by one, and now we were only left with one working bulb at the center of the basin counter.

When I stepped outside, I didn't expect anyone to be in the hallway. My expectations were met because I was the only one there standing in the dead center of it with nothing but doors and doors on both sides. Nothing out of the ordinary, I thought to myself as I walked towards the basin counter, the mirrors reflecting me in their usual distorted way.

I decided to hum a tune as I started to brush my teeth. The bulb above me flickered every now and then, showcasing signs of its impending doom. I hoped that it wouldn't give up on me at the moment because, for some reason, I had started to feel uneasy. Like something was looking at me or standing close by. I felt like I was surrounded by something.

The tiny hair on my arms stood as I felt a chill pass down my spine when I gathered enough courage to look up in the mirror. The light above me lost its brightness, only giving a slight glow in its place. That's when I saw it. This translucent, kind of watery blue figure floating exactly behind me. It had no face, it had no shape; its presence, though, was something that I would never forget. It felt all sorts of wrong, like pinpricks and sandpaper scraping against your skin. I stood still, frozen in shock and absolute fear. My brush rested on the basin as I forced my limbs to move to no avail.

I wanted to scream, but my voice felt stuck in my throat. The thing then suddenly started to move, and before I could blink, it screeched in such a harsh tone that it made me cave in my shoulders. A moment later, I saw it moving in a zig-zag pattern, hitting every door.

The doors opened and shut one after another. Thud, Thud, Thud! in rapid succession until the figure reached the storage room and went inside with the loudest Thud!

Silence descended in the corridor. I breathed out and ran to my room, brush and toothpaste forgotten at the basin. At the moment, I just thanked the Almighty for making my limbs work. When I reached my room, it was dark. I didn't care as I launched myself into my bed and prayed for sleep to come.

The next morning, when I woke up, I asked a few of the other people who lived on this floor if they had heard the doors bang last night. But no one seemed to have heard anything. After a few moments, it all started to feel like a dream, no, a nightmare I rectified. But then I listened to a few students complain that their doors were broken as if someone had slammed them hard.

I shook my head; it was just a nightmare; I tried to convince myself. That is when I saw Cari heading towards me. "When did you leave my room last night?" I asked her, not missing a beat. Her eyebrows shot up as she looked at me weirdly, "Your room? Why would I leave your room?" "Because you had come to my room yesterday to advise my roommate, and then you were gone. Remember?" I saw her expression go from weird to bewildered. "What are you talking about? I have never stepped into your room." That confirms it; it was a nightmare, and nothing happened. Just when I was to leave it and move on, I heard my roommate call out to me, telling me she had found my toothbrush and paste on the basin counter.

I could feel my ears ringing, I could hear someone call out to me, but everything was fading; I could listen to footsteps rushing towards me, but the last thing I saw before my consciousness faded out was the door of the storage room and its door's final Thud!