"George Washington! Dungeons! Pirates! Ghosts!  Very exciting history here at the Old Exchange Building. I am Finley a docent here and I'll be giving your group a brief tour before letting you explore on your own. I understand you have some questions to answer and some sort of report to turn in?"

The crowd of students surrounding me groans while nodding at the older gentleman before us. He is a costumed docent wearing tight burgundy pants and burgundy overcoat on top of a long sleeve frilly white shirt. It's making me feel itchy just watching him, but he seems to be comfortable.

The Old Exchange Building is huge and spacious. According to the small brochure Mr. Morris gave us at the entrance it was constructed and designed to symbolize, at the time named, Charles Town's elite and it achieves just that. The beautiful exterior features Palladian style architecture adorned with white Portland stone around each archway. It's beauty exudes thoughts of the rich, the powerful, the elite, but inside houses ugly, treacherous history to erase all of that.

The structural symmetry gives the illusion of order and peace, however the chaos of organizing patriots and preventing kidnappings by pirates permeates the history of this town and building. In addition, the very same balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read was also the sight of slave auctions. Originally intended to house factories, inventory and imports, it at one time housed prisoners. This building is full of contradictions.

We begin our tour on the top most level learning about the politics and business done within these walls. The Great Hall, as it is named, has been known to host events important to the American Revolution and the War of 1812 as well as meetings with George Washington.

The main floor features original stone flooring as well as many display booths featuring items from the U.S. Post Office when it was once housed here. The most famous part of the Old Exchange Building is the Provost Dungeon on the lowest level. Here the walls are made of heavy brick to prevent against attacks. The vaulted ceilings give way to many sections of the floor including the council chamber, a jail and storage to house goods or weapons.

The docent continues the tour and gives us the history of these dark walls, "Many of the visitors and employees have sighted ghosts walking these corridors. The paranormal experts tell us the ghosts are trapped here by a dark force!" He chuckles at the last bit and continues on with stories about the prisoners and pirates the city boasted.  

The dungeon is giving me bad vibes, not only because of the history the docent is reciting to us, but also because in many sections they have recreated scenes with stuffed dummies and props. They look so real, but at the same time... don't. It's like those wax figures you know are fake, but you still expect them to move or jump out at you.

With a general sense of where everything is now, the docent lets us wander on our own to take more notes for our assignment.

My friends and I make our way through each floor filling in notes and answering questions on our prompt sheet along the way. It's a little strange; most of the students broke off into groups of three or four. We're a group of eight and it makes things crowded when we get to displays and it makes us work slower.

"Guys we have four more things to get to on the worksheet and only fifteen minutes left." Kota informs our group.

"Let's split the questions and we can gather them tonight." Victor suggests.

"Sounds good to me. I get Sang Baby." North quickly adds.

I hear a small huff from Gabriel, but everyone else divides up, chooses a question and takes off. North and I need more information about George Washington's visit here so we head towards the elevator for the third floor.

It was easy to gather notes. There are placards on the walls and display cases with captions. North took the easy road and snapped pictures of each with his cell phone. I like to take notes because it helps me start to remember the information, so I take my time writing down everything.

"Ready, Sang Baby?"

"Yup! Let's go."

We head back to the elevator and get inside when it opens. "All of us can meet up at the diner to compare notes. I'm sure Uncle won't mind." North tells me.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Lets tell the guys right now." The elevator doors open after the quick ride to the main floor. North steps out first and I step out after him, but the ringing of a phone makes me turn back around and step back inside.

RING RING!! RING RING!!

"Someone left their cell phone." I say out loud as I bend down to pick it up. The instant I turn around I see the elevator doors closing at a speed that can only be described as crushing.  At the last second before they close completely I hear an alarm go off and see North rushing towards me.

"SANG!!" He bellows while smacking a fist on the door. I hear the bang, but it soon dies out as the elevator starts to move. I get disoriented at how fast the elevator is moving. I feel it go up then come to an abrupt stop causing me to crouch down and hang onto the railing. In the next second the elevator descends and abruptly stops again. I don't know what floor I'm on and I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic.

"Help!! Help!!!" I yell as I bang on the door with my fists, the lost cell phone still in hand.

I try to wedge my fingers in the slit between the two doors, but they don't fit. I soon hear a loud thud come from above me. I look up and notice a section of the shiny elevator ceiling starts to move. I back up against the elevator doors waiting for the top to open up and my rescuer to help me.

Inch by inch it slides across, the opening getting larger by the second until it's large enough for a body to fit through. I expect to see a hand come through or a rope to hoist me up, but instead a black mass jumps down.

I jump, my back hitting the doors once again. Black shoes, black pants, black hoodie, black gloves and that famous blank white mask.

Volto.

DING!

The elevator chimes as the two doors slide open behind me. I'm frozen in place though, and only when Volto takes a step towards me do I begin to take a step back.

We play this little game, he steps forward; I step back, until we are both completely out of the elevator and surrounded by the dark cold walls of the Provost Dungeon.

He begins to speak, "The dampness of this unwholesome place, without any means of warming its temperature, caused great sickening and suffering and some deaths among those confined within its walls." The distorted electronic voice fills the dungeon echoing off of each wall making it even more scary than the other times I've heard it.

I stare at him blankly trying my best to keep my composure and not show him how afraid I am.

Volto tilts his head to the side while looking at me and I can just sense that he's smiling--no, laughing at me.

"No? You don't recognize that quote?" He asks me. "You've always been so smart, Sang. I'm surprised."

"Edward McCrady, History of South Carolina in the Revolution." I tell him through gritted teeth.

"That's my sweet girl, I knew you would get it."

I've had enough of the games so I take a bold step forward, still leaving a good gap between us. "What do you want?" I demand from him.

"My Sweet Sang, this is all for you. You wanted a meeting did you not?"

"Yes... like outside my house! Not some creepy old dungeon with stuck elevators and you flying in from the sky!!" I race around him and he lets me. When I make it to the elevator doors I start pushing the up button to trigger the doors to open.

"It won't work, Sang. I made sure of that."

No wonder he didn't chase after me when I ran.  I give a sigh of frustration and turn back around towards him. "Okay so talk! Now."

He tisks a few times, but through the voice distortion it just sounds like the machine is malfunctioning. "So demanding, but I'll comply since that's the reason I'm here. What would you like to know first?"

"What happened to my family? Why did you murder them?!?"

"SANG! I told you I did not murder them!" He yells angry with me and approaches fast. When he sees me flinch in fear he backs off and takes a deep breath. "Sang, I'm sorry I yelled. Your family abandoned you and on their way got into an accident. It's just that simple."

"How did you convince them to leave me?"

"You know I'm just like you Sang. I've lost family too."

"You are nothing like me!" How dare he compare himself to me. I don't see another masked person running around torturing him!

"I am. I lost my mother. I know what it feels like to lose something at such a young age. It's terrifying and confusing and you just want your old life back."

I stay silent while he talks about his loss, but I can't let him avoid my questions so I ask again, "Why did they leave me behind? I know it was you! You convinced them; what did you hold over their heads?"

He sighs and walks over to one of the brick walls to lean against it.  His still form a strange contrast to the display mannequins in the scene next to him.  "Sang, your family did bad things and you're not the only one who suffered at the hands of their misdeeds."

"What did they do that was so wrong?"

He scoffs, "Besides that step mother of yours beating and abusing you while your sister and father turn a blind eye? Shouldn't that have been enough for us to want to help you?"

"But you left me. I know you were going to take me that day, why didn't you?"

He sighs again and runs a hand over the hood of his jacket. It starts to fall back and he pulls it back in place before I get a glimpse of hair color. "Sang, it wasn't my decision. But I promise to explain more about your parents and everything that happened that day if you come with me."

"What?!?!"

"Come away with me, right now." He pushes off the wall and walks towards me his arms spread out in offering, "You're perfection, Sang.  We can be a team."

I take a few steps back trying to maintain the distance between us. "I'm not being anything with you!"

Volto steps forward again. "Sang, I don't want to take you by force, but you're leaving me no other options."

"Just tell me what my family did that was so bad they were abandoning me?" I plead with him. I need answers. I need to put this all behind me.

"I'll tell you if you come with me."

"No!!"

"If you give me a chance, if you'll trust me, I'll do everything I can to make sure you have the perfect life. You deserve that and more. Sang, I can give you everything you'll ever want or need. Please let's go right now."

"I don't trust you! I will never trust the person who killed my family!"

"How many times do I need to tell you, Sang? I DID NOT KILL THEM!" Volto punches the elevator door beside my head. He is inches away from me now. The deep pockets in the mask make his eyes look black and expressionless and I can hear his heavy breathing through the mask. My back is pressed against the closed elevator doors and I'm praying Volto won't hurt me or kidnap me right now. He senses my fear and steps back and couple steps. "I would never hurt you like that. I know I messed up and scared you into hiding, but I've learned from my mistakes. You're safe with me, Sang."

"Show me your face!"

"Only if you trust me and leave with me."

"I won't." I say defiantly.

"I know." He says on a sigh of defeat. His head drops towards the ground and as he looks up he says, "You will soon enough." With that he walks back to the wall and leans against it again. "You can go now, Sang."

"I can't leave if the elevator doesn't work!"

He nods his head towards my hand still holding the cell phone I found. "Use it."

I didn't realize I was still holding this thing the entire time. I'm a little suspicious of it as I lift it up towards my face. I swipe the screen and see one app sits in the center. I click it and the words 'on' and 'off' appear. I swipe the box towards the left so the 'on' button turns green then look back up at Volto in astonishment.

"You mean I could have left this entire time?!"

"Yes. You had the power to turn that elevator on at any time during our conversation."

"But would you have let me go?"

"This time? Yes. Next time you won't be so lucky."

DING!

The elevator doors open up behind me, but I don't make a move to enter them.

"Go." Volto commands and I obey.

I take two backwards steps into the elevator and the doors begin to close. My eyes on Volto the entire time, but with just a couple inches left before I lose sight of him his hand lifts toward his chin. It curls under the edge of his mask and he begins to lift it off his face. My breath catches and just as I step forward at the sight of the smallest piece of skin I bang my forehead on the closed elevator doors. My reflection in the shiny silver the only thing I see.