Free Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz Page B

was even thinking at all. "This place is definitely intense," I say, in an effort to play nice. "Part of it pulls you in. Another part wants to spit you out."
    Liza's eyes lock on mine for just a second, and I almost catch sight of a trembling lip, like maybe she gets what I'm saying.
    "Ate you okay?" I ask.
    But instead of answering, she looks at the watercolor I found.
    "This place is screwing with you, isn't it?" I continue, pushing the picture toward her. "It's screwing with me, too. Just look at this painting. One minute I'm drawn to it; something tells me to pull it down, that I have to know more, and so I do, only to find the artist's initials on the back. Then, two minutes later, I see a name on the wall-- a name that shares those same initials. I mean, it's quite a coincidence, don't you think?"
    "I'm not sure I believe in coincidences."
    "So you think it was intentional?" I ask, focusing on the place in the picture where there should be a heart. "Do you think that something greater--some external force, maybe--wanted me to make the connection?"
    "External force?"
    "Yeah. Like, maybe Christine Belle, maybe her spirit was reaching out to me. Maybe she's trying to haunt me." I flip the picture over to look at her initials again. Then I grab the journal from the stack of file folders. "I found this
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    in the same room as the painting. It was wedged inside one of the mattresses. Do you want to read some of it with me?"
    Liza stares at it, her mouth dropping open like she's seriously tempted. "Maybe not," she says finally, though unable to take her eyes off it. A moment later she gets up--just like that--as if the temptation is too strong and she has to get away.
    Meanwhile, Derik's got the camera zoomed right at me. "We're heading downstairs to the tunnels," he says. "I want to shoot some of my storyboard stuff."
    "Well, I want to take a break," I remind him.
    "Break's over." He smiles. "Back to work."
    "Not for me. I just sat down."
    "Yeah for you," he insists. "Come on; we need to stick together."
    "Why?" I balk. "I have a map. I have candles, a cell phone, a walkie-talkie, my flashlight--"
    "I can stay with her," Chet offers. "Oh. Yeah. I feel safe," I say.
    "Liza, I'd like you to come, too," Derik says, practically drooling as she pulls the elastic from her pony tail. Her hair spills down in silky waves, totally making me want to hurl.
    And I'm not alone. Greta rolls her eyes, pausing a moment from running a hairbrush through her curly dark locks. She uses the brush to thwack her beloved Tony on the side of his head. The boy has got his eyes seriously
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    lodged right on Liza's chest.
    "I was thinking we could get a cool shot of you holding a candle," Derik continues.
    "I don't know," Liza says, chewing nervously at her bottom lip. "I may just want to sit for a little while to get my bearings--to get used to this place, you know?" She readjusts her hair into a grandmalike bun, but she still looks nauseatingly perfect.
    "Maybe you should stay behind," Greta says, turning to Liza. "I mean, it's probably going to be super scary down there."
    "Really?" Liza's eyes widen.
    "Totally," Greta continues, feeding Liza's feat. "I mean, there's probably going to be all kinds of creepy stuff happening down there--blinking lights, faulty equipment, spirits passing through us. And we're probably going to be a while. We have a lot to shoot, so you might want to stay up here with the crew."
    "That wouldn't mean more screen time for you," I ask, "would it?"
    Greta shrugs, but my comment doesn't seem to bother her. "I guess now that you mention it, I could do that candle scene."
    "Or me," Tony pipes up.
    "Don't worry," Derik says, drawing his sweatshirt over Liza's shoulders once again --obviously a regular maneuver in his repertoire of playerisms. "Nothing weird is gonna happen down there. Liza can stay close to me."
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    Liza reluctantly joins him and the other two Hollywood wannabes. Tony is helping Greta get ready for her