Taken
Chapter twenty-seven
Alex
The next day I see the young guy I terrorized, talking with a friend as he heads out the front door. “I’m telling you, man. This place actually is haunted! I saw a ghost last night, and I barely got away with my life!”
“Sick!” his friend says, and they bob their head in unison.
Just then, Frankie walks into the hotel carrying her cleaning kit. Her hair is pulled back in a messy bun, headphones around her neck, wearing a pink shirt and black leggings. She walks up to the front desk and gives Brandon a once over.
“Who are you?” she asks.
“Oh, hey, I’m Brandon. I manage the hotel now. I’ve seen you around before. You’re the cleaning lady, right?”
She stares at him like he’s an alien, and gestures to her cleaning bag. “Obviously. Where’s Kayla?”
“She’s in prison for murder.”
Frankie’s eyes go wide. “Whoa, no way! That’s crazy. She seemed so normal. You never really can tell, I guess. Anyway, are there any rooms that need to be cleaned? Kayla usually handles my schedule, but I haven’t heard from her in a while. Now I know why.”
Brandon pulls up the hotel calendar on his screen and studies it for a minute. “Looks like rooms two, six, fourteen, eighteen, and twenty-one need cleaning.” He winces. “We’re a little behind.”
She bobs her head. “Okay, I’ll go get started. Nice to meet you, Brandon.”
“Chill,” he drawls. “You too.”
She eyes him a second longer, not yet noticing me lounging by the edge of the desk. I clear my throat.
“Oh, my god!” she screeches and clutches the fabric of her shirt. “You scared the shit out of me! Where are your parents, little boy? Brandon, why are there children roaming freely in the lobby?”
I squeak in protest. “Excuse me, I’m the manager of this hotel.”
“I thought he was the manager of the hotel,” she says, pointing at Brandon.
“Well, technically he’s the acting manager. I’m his boss though. I used to clean the rooms, but I’m dead now, so…”
She looks over at Brandon and asks, “Is he… touched in the head? You know, special?” She gestures at her head and looks over at me, a little scared. “Did he escape from somewhere?” she whispers.
“Oh, no, that’s Alex. He’s a ghost,” Brandon supplies helpfully.
She studies me before clicking her fingers. “That’s right! I remember now. Kayla hired me because you stopped showing up to work. You ghosted her.”
“I guess technically that’s true, but she’s the one that killed me. Whacked me over the head with a cast iron skillet.”
“Wow, what a psycho. So, you’re a ghost, huh? That’s pretty cool. I’ve never met a ghost before.”
“Thanks!” Ugh, I was supposed to fire her. I can’t do it now, she thinks I’m cool!
“Anyway, I better get started. I’ll see you around,” she tells me and waggles her fingers at me. Wow, she took that better than I expected, I think.
I turn back to Brandon as she leaves. “Damn, that didn’t go how I planned.
I was going to fire her for being a terrible cleaner, but she got her hooks into me.
” I glare in the direction she left, well aware she’s not looking this way.
“Remember to dust the ceiling fans!” I yell after her, hoping she heard.
“She’s really not though, our cleanliness rating is five stars,” Brandon says helpfully.
“That’s beside the point, Brandon!” I screech at him. “She’s still the enemy, and not to be trusted...” I tap my fingers along the desk before another thought occurs to me.
“Where’s Seth? I haven’t seen him around in a few days,” I ask.
He looks up from the computer. “He’s visiting his grandma.
He should be back soon,” he says, and goes back to his typing.
I peek over and see that he’s confirming booking requests.
I smile. The hotel is still going strong, and the reviews are pouring in, mostly positive.
There have been a handful of “fake and gay!” and “rigged bs, not even scary!” but I shake those off. I know who I am.
“Oh, okay. Cool. As long as he knows he’s always welcome here.”
“Thanks, little dude,” he says and turns back to his computer. I let him work in peace.
***
Two days later Seth hasn’t returned to the hotel, and I’m starting to grow concerned. He’s been attached to Brandon at the hip for so long now, and even I’m starting to miss him.
“Maybe he’s busy getting high with his grandmother and lost track of time,” Jake snarks, and I slap him lightly on the arm.
“I don’t know man, Granny Brooks doesn’t usually partake. Trust me, we’ve offered. You should see her with a glass of wine, though,” says Brandon with a shake of his head. “This isn’t like him. We text a lot when he’s away, and he hasn’t responded to my messages since yesterday.”
“I’m sure he’s okay,” I say, trying to reassure him.
I’m not feeling reassured though. I’ve been on alert since Elder Covington's visit, and it’s turning my stomach that Seth isn’t accounted for.
What if he gets hurt? I couldn’t live with that.
“Keep trying to get ahold of him, and call his grandma too. If you don’t get a response, we’ll go from there. ”
The phone on the front desk rings and Brandon rushes to answer, probably hoping it’s Seth. “Thanks for calling Keystone Hotel, this is Brandon. What can I do for you on this fine day?”
Jake turns his attention to me. “I’m going to head back out front. I have a shipment of roses that are supposed to be delivered today, and I need to get the beds ready for them.”
I nod. “Okay, have fun babe. I’m going to make my rounds through the vacant rooms, make sure everything is up to standard.
I have to keep Frankie on her toes.” I head to a supply closet in what is now Brandon’s office and grab a ladder.
With a sigh of relief I head to room five to get started.
Once inside, I set the ladder under the ceiling fan and kick out the legs.
I’ve been wanting to do this for so long.
Let’s see if you’ve been slacking, Frankie.
I climb the ladder and squint my eyes against the light, reminding myself again not to look directly at the bulb.
I run my finger along the top of one of the fan blades, and gasp when I see the dust collected on my finger. Busted!
I run back to the lobby to instruct Brandon to fire Frankie immediately, but I’m distracted by the look on his face.
“I just talked to Granny Brooks, Seth never even made it to her house. What if he got hurt, Alex?” He runs a hand through his shaggy hair.
I need to reassure him, even though I’m just as worried.
“We'll find him, I promise.” I run outside to find Jake, but he’s not in his garden. Maybe he decided to work out back. I'm headed in that direction when an old pick-up truck pulls up, bed full of rose bushes. I walk over to the delivery driver.
“You Jake?” he asks.
“Um, no, he’s busy at the moment. I’m the manager of the hotel.”
“Ah, okay, I have the plants you guys ordered.”
“Thanks, you can set them over there next to the flower beds.” I point to the one Jake was working on, and he starts unloading. I walk the property for a few minutes, but don’t find Jake. I check in his room. Not there. I check my room. Empty. Where are you, Jake?
***
Jake
I hear a car pull up behind me. Thinking it’s the delivery guy, I turn around and come face to face with a nightmare in a golf cart.
I put my hands in front of me like a shield. “No, no, no. You’re supposed to be dead!” I close my eyes. “You’re not here.” The monster approaches me and caresses my face gently.
“I’m very real. Well, as real as a ghost can be,” Andrei purrs. I yank my face out of his reach.
“Don’t you dare touch me. How are you here right now?” My stomach turns as I wait for his response.
“I woke up one day in the dirt. As you can imagine, I was very confused about my new limitations. I wandered around aimlessly for a while, until a very trusting little thing happened by, all too eager to explain a few things after I told him I was friends with you. He taught me everything I needed to know. I had him eating out of the palm of my hand,” he says with a sly smile.
“Seth,” I whisper. Andrei snaps his fingers.
“Ah, yes, Seth. What a sweet boy. Well, he was at first.”
“What did you do to him? Is he dead?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I’ve been having too much fun playing with him.
He had to learn the hard way what happens when you disobey me.
After he realized what I was truly after, he wasn’t too willing to talk to me, until I started snapping his fingers.
He started singing pretty quickly after I broke his wrist with a hammer and threatened to rip those piercings out of his skin.
Good thing too. It would have been a shame to ruin such a pretty face. ”
I want to vomit. “Please, let him go. I’ll do whatever you want but please don’t hurt him anymore. He doesn’t deserve that.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. I’ve grown quite fond of Seth.
Maybe you can convince me that I’d rather have you.
You have some groveling to do. I’ve been watching you, and I’m not happy that you’ve let someone else touch what belongs to me.
” He leans in close, chest bumping mine, and it takes everything in me not to move away.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” I say. He stares at me for a moment before speaking and puts his hand back on my cheek. I still don’t move away.
“The problem is, sweetheart, that I’ve heard that before. I just don’t trust you anymore. You’ll have to work hard to earn that trust back, baby.” He pulls his hand back and before I can react brings a closed fist down on the side of my head. I swear I can hear him laugh as everything goes black.