Revelations #2
She clears her throat, blushing. “I mean—sorry. It’s been a rough morning,” she says and rubs her temples. “I can’t believe he wouldn’t come up here for this.”
“Who all has access to the cameras?”
“Just me.”
The cop gives her an assessing look before handing her a business card.
“I’ll collect the footage and get out of your hair.
We’ll contact you with any follow-up questions.
If you think of anything else in the meantime, call that number.
” He points to the number on the card. Kayla looks down at it before pocketing it.
I notice a small tattoo on his hand. Jagged lines, faded ink.
Since when are cops allowed to have visible tattoos?
A shiver runs down my spine. Something isn’t right here, but I don’t know what.
“Um, okay. Thanks, officer.” He gives her a small nod and heads to her office.
Jake stares at his closed off room. I nudge him in the side with an elbow, bringing him back from wherever his thoughts were leading him.
Reluctantly, he follows me back to the lobby with Kayla.
The manor has never been this quiet, felt so still.
It’s eerie. Suddenly, my thoughts are interrupted by a loud, booming voice.
“What in the heck is going on here? We saw the cop car out front.” Bob stands in the front doorway the paramedics left open, Martha right behind him.
“We just came back from a hike, if you know what I mean.” He looks sweaty and out of breath.
Ew. Bob’s a nice guy but there is such a thing as too much information, dude.
Before I can reply to him, Kayla speaks up. “I can’t discuss the details, but we’re going to have to shut down. I’m so sorry, we’ll refund your entire stay.” Martha gasps.
“Oh my, is everything okay, dear?” she asks, bringing her hand up to her neck like she’s clutching her pearls. Don’t think about pearl necklaces right now, Alex.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any more information than that.
If you could please pack up, I’ll get your refund processed.
Again, I’m so sorry for the trouble.” Kayla looks like she’s barely keeping it together.
Bob and Martha give her sad smiles and head to their room to pack.
I remind Kayla to check on Brandon Sinclair, who has not been seen since starting his writing retreat.
A plane could crash through the roof of the Keystone and that guy probably wouldn’t even notice.
The cop comes back out with the surveillance footage. “Have a great day, ma’am,” he says as he leaves.
I turn to Jake and rub his arm reassuringly. “We’ll figure out what happened, Jake. I promise.” I hope he can hear the sincerity in my voice. He jerks his arm away, and I let it go.
“Don’t touch me,” he says and rubs at the spot I was touching. Ouch. He walks out of the lobby, and I follow him back to his room.
“Your parents sound like dicks,” I say, wanting to comfort him.
“Fuck off, Alan.”
“Alex,” I correct.
“Fuck off, Alex.”
“No, we need to do something. I woke up dead one day, and I don’t remember how. Now you’re dead too. What are the odds that there are two dead people haunting this manor? Don’t you want answers?”
He stops walking and gets right in my face, angry.
He has to lean down quite a bit to do it, and I want to grumble at that, but then he says, “And how are we going to do that? We are ghosts, apparently. Explain to me how we are going to investigate or solve anything. And even if we did, it wouldn’t change anything.
We can’t tell anyone. WE’RE DEAD!” He’s practically screaming in my face at the end of his diatribe, face red.
He deflates a little and takes a few steps away from me.
“I just need some space.” The look in his eyes tells me to back off. He’s barely holding himself together. He needs time to process all of this, and he doesn’t know me. I can’t give him any comfort or reassurances.
So, I give him space.
I take a moment to pull my thoughts together.
The cops will figure this out. They have to.
The Covington family is rich, right? Cops love helping rich people.
I’m not reassured, but right now there is not much Jake or I can do.
We’re ghosts, and I don’t have many tools in my arsenal.
I’ve never been to college, I don’t know a lot, but I do have a few skills that have made me an invaluable employee at this hotel.
I am detail oriented, thorough and more than a little stubborn.
I want to be a hero for Jake. I’m going to figure out why this happened to him if it kills me.
I spend the rest of the day trying to carry on as usual, but the mood at the hotel is somber.
Kayla hasn’t left her office in hours. She’s probably setting up a shrine to Jake in there.
I wish there was more I could do at the moment.
I want to get to know Jake, but he wants nothing to do with me right now, which is understandable.
He needs time to process the fact that he’s dead.
I need to get some fresh air. The hiking trails will do.
The easy, beginner one. Let’s face it, I don’t have the stamina or willpower to actually take a hike, especially not through the rough terrain of the mountain side.
Maybe if I had a scooter or something. There’s a light breeze in the air, and I stand there for a second, letting it blow over me before I keep walking.
The driveway winds a quarter mile or so through the trees, and that’ll take me to the entrance of one of many trails on this property.
I get to the end of the driveway and stop, hands on my hips. That’s enough of a hike for one day, I decide. Good job, Alex. I pat myself on the back for getting in so many steps, and head back to the house to rest. I sit in the front yard and take in the scenery.
As much as I’m not an outdoor person, I love this property. It’s trees as far as the eye can see, leaves green and teeming with life. It feels electric, like I’m being revitalized just by being in their presence.
I’m dead though, I can’t be revitalized by anything.