Before, Skull Island had just been where bodies turned up and where weird biker men glared at me while acting suspicious.Now?Now my sister had actually been here.Which meant somewhere along the line, something had happened.And maybe Ron knew what it was.
We walked past the haunted house entrance where workers were beginning to move around getting things ready for the night crowds.Fake fog curled low across the ground while chainsaws revved somewhere deeper in the attraction during sound checks.
Push must’ve noticed my expression because his hand brushed lightly against the small of my back.
“You okay?”
I nodded once.“Just weird.”
“Yeah.”
The concession stand came into view ahead of us.
The whole building fit the haunted theme with fake boarded windows, peeling paint, skeleton decorations, and old lanterns hanging from hooks.From the outside, it looked more like a haunted saloon than somewhere that sold popcorn and hot dogs.
I looked up toward the second level.“It’s hard to believe there’s an office up there.”
“There’s a lot of shit on this island people don’t realize is here,” Vin muttered.
“That sentence somehow keeps getting more unsettling every time one of you says it.”
Prime smirked slightly.
Anchor motioned toward a side door near the back of the concession stand.“This way.”
Push opened the door and let me step inside first.
The narrow staircase smelled faintly like grease, popcorn, and old wood.Music from outside filtered through the walls as we climbed.
At the top sat a plain brown door.Anchor knocked once before opening it.
The office was much larger than I expected.The entire second floor stretched out before us with three desks spread around the room, each cluttered with paperwork, binders, sticky notes, and computer monitors.Filing cabinets lined one wall while shelves overflowed with maps, receipts, decorations, and boxes labeled things like FOG MACHINE PARTS and PROP REPAIRS.There was also two large copy machines tucked under one of the windows.
At the far desk sat a man in brown slacks and a white button-down shirt stretched slightly over a pot belly.Salt-and-pepper hair curled around his ears, and glasses rested low on his nose while he typed something into the computer.
Ron looked up.His face brightened immediately when he saw Anchor.“Well look who finally decided to grace me with his presence,” Ron said warmly.
Anchor snorted.“You say that like you miss me.”
Ron laughed and stood slowly from his desk.His attention shifted around the room, landing briefly on me before moving to Push and Vin.“What’s going on?”
Anchor rested one hand against the back of a chair casually.“Need to ask you something.”
Ron nodded.“Shoot.”
Anchor motioned toward me.“We’re trying to figure out if a woman named Erin Day worked here recently.”
Ron frowned slightly.“The name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“That’s what we figured,” Push said.“She only worked a few days.”
Ron nodded slowly.“Lemme take a look.”
He moved toward the filing cabinets along the wall while I quietly took in the office more carefully.
There were coffee rings on one desk beside stacks of schedules.A giant wall calendar had handwritten notes covering almost every date.Photos of the haunted house from previous years hung crookedly near a bulletin board stuffed with vendor information and staffing lists.
Nothing about the room felt sinister.
