Secret Jaguar

by Stacy Claflin

  When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was packed.

  “Some convention on campus,” Katya told me. “We’re booked.”

  I sniffed the air. The only jaguar shifters were Che, Katya, and me. I relaxed a little, then we headed to the off-limits area. The halls were like a maze with so many twists and turns, and each one looking the same. Even with our keen senses, it was hard to find the exact place we’d been a week prior.

  Katya pulled out her phone and found the pictures. By some miracle, we managed to find the spot by following room numbers.

  We both stared at the spot, and it all came back to me. The empty-sounding wall and her finding a button on the molding. I tapped the wall and listened.

  It echoed.

  She looked at me with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

  “Are you ready?” I tapped another section of the wall. It was solid. Only the one spot appeared to be echoing.

  “Let’s do this.” She knelt down and ran her fingers across the molding.

  I stared at the wall, my mind and pulse both racing. What were we going to find? A horrible thought struck me. What if we unleashed a new enemy? There had to be a reason for an entire wing being sealed off.

  “Help me out here,” Katya said.

  I knelt and felt along the molding. “You’re sure about this?”

  “I’ve been searching for as long as I’ve lived here. I have to know if there’s really a secret wing that someone went to such great lengths to hide.”

  “You don’t think it’s meant to stay hidden?”

  “Carter, you sound like my mom.”

  Maybe Jennifer was wiser than Katya gave her credit for, but I didn’t bother saying anything. It was clear there was no point in trying to convince Katya this could be a bad idea. I could only hope that whatever was sealed and hidden away was harmless.

  Because people always went to such great effort to hide things that were no threat. I braced myself. Hopefully, we weren’t about to multiply our problems.

  Katya studied her phone’s screen. “The button should be right here.”

  My finger brushed over a slight bump in the molding. “Maybe this is it.”

  She frowned. “That’s not where it was last week. It was right here.” She pointed to a spot about a foot away.

  “A lot has happened between then and now.”

  “Enough to make a button move?”

  “Or to make us forget.”

  Katya shook her head. “I wouldn’t forget something this important.”

  “Well, I found something right here.” I pressed on the bump but nothing happened.

  “That’s because what I found before was an actual button. Not a bump.” Katya pressed her palm along the molding. “Found it!”

  I waited as she pushed on it.

  “Nothing.” She frowned and pressed harder, more rapidly. “Come on.”

  “Maybe it has something to do with what I found.” I pushed on the bump and it did nothing.

  We both pressed down simultaneously.

  Creak.

  Katya and I stared at each other, wide-eyed.

  Creak. Creeeeeak.

  Crack!

  I jumped back, pulling Katya with me.

  The wall shook and kicked off dust, but didn’t move.

  Katya stepped closer to me. “Is it going to open?”

  Creak, creak.

  I put my arm around her and prepared myself to jump in front of her at a moment’s notice. “I think we’re about to find out.”

  The wall shook again, then moved away from us like a door opening to the inside.

  It revealed a dark hallway with dark green shag carpeting. A musty odor escaped.

  Katya stared at me, not saying anything.

  I pulled out a small flashlight attached to my keychain. “Do you want to go in?”

  Chapter 23

  Katya

  My muscles all froze, leaving me unable to budge.

  “Katya?”

  I couldn’t even look at Carter. My body was stuck facing the now-open wall. I’d spent so long hoping to find the secret wing. Now I wasn’t sure I could face it.

  Maybe I should have listened to Carter and gone to Tap’s. What if he was right about not wanting to find out what was inside?

  Could it be worse than my shifter relatives?

  “Katya?” Carter repeated. “We can always come back. Nobody else knows what we’ve found. We—”

  “No.” I sucked in a deep breath. “We’ve made it this far. Walking away would be foolish.”

  “So, you want to go in?” He tugged on my arm.

  I didn’t move.

  “The wing isn’t going anywhere. We can always grab a bite to eat and think this over.”

  “No. Let’s do this.” I took a deep breath, allowing it to reach every inch of me. Then I stepped toward the dark hallway.

  Carter kept his arm around my shoulder, and we stepped into the dark, musty hall together. The blackness clung to us like a heavy weight, pressing on all sides.

  “It reeks of illness,” Carter whispered.

  “Sickness has a smell?”

  “Yeah. It’s that pungent odor in the air.”

  I sniffed the air and sucked in dust. After coughing, I sneezed twice. “Well, I guess if anyone’s living here, we’ve alerted them that they have company.”

  He squeezed my shoulder. “If they’re as ill as they smell, I doubt they can do much damage. Though I have to wonder how anyone could survive in here for so long, especially when sick.”

  “They could infect us. Or what if it’s the ghost? The one that tried to drown me?”

  “Do you want to turn back?” he asked.

  “No way. Anyway, I’m fully vaccinated.”

  “There might be a disease from a long time ago. Something nobody can protect us from.”

  “I know you can’t see me, but I’m glaring at you.”

  “I’m just saying it could be anything.” He turned on his flashlight. It shone a small beam, exposing very little. More doors, just like all the others.

  Though it should’ve felt familiar, a chill ran down my spine, and I shivered. It may have looked the same, but it wasn’t at all.

  We crept down the hallway, only able to see what Carter’s tiny flashlight exposed.

  “Is there a way to turn on the lights in here?” He stopped.

  I nearly bumped into him. “I wouldn’t know. It’s my first time here, too.”

  “How do you turn on the lights in the other sections?” He shone the beam slowly up and down the wall. “I don’t see any light switches.”

  I thought for a moment. “There’s a master set of lights in the employee’s area of the lobby.”

  “And there’s nothing for a wing that nobody knows about? I’d think that’d answer everyone’s questions about this wing.”

  “So would this.” I panned my hands around us. “I don’t know anything about that control panel. It might just be a general set that turns it on for the whole building.”

  “But you’d think there’d be something separate for each wing.”

  “Don’t ask me. I’m not some electrical wizard. Plus, I can’t explain how people from a hundred years ago or more thought about wiring this huge building.”

  “True.” He started walking again. “If the lights are connected, I’m sure they burned out years ago. Let’s see what we can find.”

  The farther we crept, the closer I moved to Carter. Goose bumps had formed on my arms, and they weren’t going away.

  It seemed to take forever because he shone the little light everywhere. Had the wing not been sealed off and dark, it’d have been just like all the others.

  We both froze simultaneously.

  A light moan sounded. Where from, was the question.

  I held my breath, waiting. Listening.

  It sounded again. I couldn’t tell where it came from.

  A million questions ran through my mind, but not one found its
way to my mouth.

  Part of me wanted to run. The rest of me wanted to find out who or what was moaning in a place that had been sealed off for decades, maybe longer. My feet didn’t move.

  Moan.

  I grabbed onto Carter’s arm. He put a finger to his mouth and glanced around.

  One long moan sounded. We both pointed to a door on our left.

  My mouth went dry, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

  Carter walked toward the door, nearly dragging me since I couldn’t get my body to cooperate.

  I’d been the one insistent on finding the answers. Now I was nothing more than a scaredy-cat. I could shift into a jaguar but now feared the dark.

  Carter reached for the doorknob. I held my breath, my mouth somehow managing to grow drier.

  He shone the light up and down the door. There was nothing special about it. He grasped the knob.

  I clung to his arm, but at the same time, I was prepared to run. Run, and never look back. Although if we’d just woken some ancient evil, running probably wouldn’t do me any good.

  A chill ran down my spine. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

  Carter twisted the doorknob.

  It actually turned.

  I stared in horror.

  Why had I been so insistent? So curious? If I’d have stopped for a moment to think about it, I’d have remembered that curiosity killed the cat.

  Carter and I were both part jaguar. Members of the cat family.

  What had I done?

  There was no turning back now.

  Carter pushed the door open.

  The moaning grew louder.

  I wanted to grab Carter and pull him down the hallway, close the hidden door, and never return. Maybe live out the rest of our days in Tap’s spare room.

  Instead, Carter walked into the room.

  I stared at his back, unable to speak.

  “Katya,” he said. “You have to come see this.”

  “Katya?” came a dry, ragged voice. “Katya’s here?”

  Whatever it was, it wanted me.

  Chapter 24

  Katya

  “Katya,” called the raspy voice.

  Despite everything inside me screaming to run, I took a step toward the open door. Then another. My heart pounded against my chest, threatening to break through.

  Finally, I made it inside. Carter shone a light onto a bed, where the figure of a person lay.

  “Katya? Is that you?” The owner of the ragged voice didn’t budge.

  “Y-yes.”

  “Come closer.”

  My heart beat even faster. It was actually going to burst out of my chest. Yet I managed to creep closer to the bed.

  Carter took my hand in his, and together we walked toward the bed. He kept the weak beam of light aimed at the figure.

  “Is that really you, Katya?”

  I didn’t dare answer. Who knew what the admission would lead to?

  As we neared, the faint light revealed a frail man, practically skin and bones.

  “Katya?” He reached for me.

  “Who are you?” Carter shone the flashlight directly on his face.

  I recognized his face. I’d stared at his picture every single day of my life. As my gaze locked with his, I knew I was right.

  “Who are you?” Carter repeated.

  “Dad.” My knees gave out, and I crumpled to the dusty ground. “Is it really you?”

  “It’s me, baby. Come here.”

  I couldn’t pull myself to my feet, so I crawled toward the bed.

  Carter stepped between us. “How do we know you’re really her dad? Why have you been here all this time? You’re supposed to be dead.”

  I craned my neck to see around him.

  “I practically am, wouldn’t you say?” Dad struggled to sit up. “I’ve missed my daughters’ entire childhoods. That’s a fate worse than death. And Jennifer, how is she? Did she live a happy life? What about Che?”

  Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. I sprang to my feet and leaped for the bed. Carter put out his arm to stop me, but I wouldn’t let anything get in between my dad and me.

  I threw my arms around his thin frame and clung to him, tears flowing like never before. “Daddy.”

  “My little Katya. You’re not so little anymore, though.”

  “You’ve been here this whole time?”

  He nodded his head. “I was trying to keep you girls and your mom hidden from my family when they found me. They locked me in this wing, making it so that I couldn’t get out.”

  “How have you survived?” Carter asked. “Has someone been feeding you?”

  “A curse was placed on me. As long as I’m in the hotel, I cannot die—no matter what happens. I’ve had nothing to eat or drink for, what, twenty years?”

  I choked back a sob. “Almost. What if you leave the hotel? Will you live?”

  He coughed. “I can live normally outside the hotel. But inside, no matter what is done to me, I will not die. That is my curse.”

  I gasped.

  “How did you find me?” he asked.

  “Mom brought us here five years ago, and we’ve been running the hotel. Well, not the whole thing. Just the front wing.”

  “You’ve been here for five years?” Dad’s voice cracked.

  “Can you walk?” Carter asked. “We need to get you food. You probably need medical care. What about shifting?”

  “I haven’t walked in years.”

  My heart shattered. I buried my face into Dad’s shoulder. “I can’t believe they did this to you.”

  Carter put his hand on my shoulder. “Those are the same people who are after you.”

  “I know, but I’d never do this to someone in my family. Ever!”

  Dad kissed my cheek. “That’s what makes us different from them, my baby.”

  I sprang to my feet. “I have to get Mom and Alley! They’re never going to believe this.”

  “Bring me to them. I don’t want to spend another moment in here.”

  “You can’t even walk.” I shook my head vigorously. “We’ll send for food. An entire banquet. Whatever it takes to get you on your feet.” I embraced him again. “Don’t move.”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  I spun around and put my hand on Carter’s arm. “Don’t leave him, okay?”

  “You can’t go alone.”

  “My presence is hidden! He needs me, and I won’t let him be alone. I’m trusting you, Carter. Please stay with him.”

  “I will.”

  Tears blurred my vision again as I raced out of the secret wing and made my way to the main part of the hotel. I got turned around at one point and had to double back around. It was like the hotel had been designed to confuse people.

  I ran past a large mirror before the stairs down to the lobby and caught sight of my reflection. I was a complete mess, with streaks of dust on my arms and face and my hair sticking out in several directions. That was in addition to my smeared makeup and red, puffy eyes.

  Downstairs, Mom and Alley were talking on either side of the reception desk in the otherwise empty lobby.

  “Kat, what’s wrong?” Mom exclaimed.

  “Dad.” I gasped for air.

  They both looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “He’s here.” I pointed toward the stairs.

  “Dad’s here?” Color drained from Alley’s face.

  Mom shook her head. “He’s dead, Kat.”

  “No, he’s not. He’s been in the hidden wing all this time.”

  “Hidden wing?” Mom stared at me. “That’s only a myth.”

  “It’s not. We found it, and Dad’s there. He’s asking about both of you. He needs food.”

  “Kevin’s alive?” Che asked from behind.

  I spun around. “Yes! He’s in the hidden wing.”

  “You believe her?” Mom sputtered.

  Che’s expression tightened. “There’s a lot you don’t know. For you
r own safety.”

  Alley grabbed hold of my hand. “He’s really here? Alive?”

  I nodded, tears stinging my eyes again. “It’s really him.”

  “Take us to him. Where’s the hidden wing?”

  I ran up the stairs. Their footsteps thundered behind me.

  “How is this possible?” Mom asked. “I was there when he was buried.”

  “We buried a body burned beyond recognition,” Che said.

  “It was him. Remember, they proved it with his molars? The dental records proved it without a doubt.”

  “The teeth were inside his mouth, but not attached to his gums, Jennifer. Think about it—they were probably planted.”

  Mom cried out.

  We ducked under the rope and I led them through the maze of halls and doors that looked exactly the same. In the confusion, we circled around a couple times, passing through the same corridor twice. I hoped they wouldn’t notice.

  “Haven’t we been here before?” Mom asked.

  “These stupid hallways all look the same,” I grumbled. “We need to paint them different colors, or do something to make it easier to tell them apart. Oh, wait. We turn here.”

  A few more minutes later, we turned down the hallway that led to the secret wing.

  Only there was no open wall.

  I stared at the spot where we should’ve been able to go inside.

  “What?” Mom demanded.

  “It should be right here.” I pressed myself against the wall and tapped. It just sounded like a normal wall. No emptiness. No echoing.

  I tapped harder, then pounded with all my might.

  “It has to be right here. Right here!”

  Mom leaned against another wall and slid to the ground. “Why are you doing this to me, Katya? Playing with my emotions like this? You know how much I loved your father. So much that I’ve never been able to look at another man romantically.” She brought her hands to her face and sobbed.

  Alley looked at me like I was some kind of monster.

  “He’s here! I’m not making this up.” I pounded on the door, desperation building.

  Che pulled me away from the door. “Katya.”

  I yanked my arm away from him. “Dad’s here! I wouldn’t lie about this. How can you guys think I would?”