Chapter 20 – Ink
INK
It took longer than we thought for everyone to be packed and ready to leave for a last-minute week-long vacation, so we didn’t get on the road until after lunch. Since Dice and Daphne would be making frequent stops for London, my mom opted to ride with them.
“I’m not sure about ghost hunting,” Ariel said. “Is that part optional?”
“You don’t have to ghost hunt if you don’t want to do it,” Presley said.
“I meant, is there a section of the castle that isn’t haunted?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll text Nana and ask.”
When Presley first mentioned ghost hunting, I thought she was joking. Then I thought it sounded fun and exciting. But it never occurred to me that it might be scary for Ariel.
Alice replied with the perfect response.
“Nana says the castle isn’t haunted and never has been. She made that part up to scare Papa. She also said the only thing you need to be scared of is her if you spoil her elaborate and expensive prank.”
“Okay, now it sounds more like one of Nana’s vacations,” Ariel laughed.
I waited until Ariel fell asleep to ask, “Did your mom really rent an unhaunted castle so she could pretend to ghost hunt and scare your dad for an entire week?”
“No,” she said quietly. “She lied so she didn’t scare her granddaughter for an entire week.”
“I wish my mom was cool like your mom,” he said.
“I’m going to tell your mom you said that.”
“And I’ll tell your dad the ghosts aren’t real so your mom can’t scare him.”
“But they are real,” I whispered harshly.
“I know. That’s the beauty of it. It’d be like a double prank. Or a reverse prank. I’m sure my mom would know.”
“Something tells me no one will know if the ghosts are real by the end of the week,” Presley said.
When we finally arrived, I was ready for Dice to fill me in on what the brothers decided at church. He texted me during one of their stops to let me know he’d talked to Phoenix. So, while Presley and Ariel were staring at the castle, I was looking around for Dice, who was nowhere to be found.
“We were beginning to wonder if something had happened,” Alice said as she came outside to greet us. “We were expecting people to arrive much earlier, but you’re the first ones here.”
Initially, I was surprised we were the first to arrive, but it made more sense once I thought about it.
“I guess we all got a late start. Dice and Daphne have my mom, London, and Diablo. They’ll be a while yet because they’re making frequent stops.
Walter and Buck are probably following them,” I explained and shook Eugene’s hand before giving Alice a hug.
“Thank you for everything,” I told her, and lowered my voice. “But extra thanks for the ghosts.”
“You’re welcome,” she said warmly. “Come inside and check it out. We can get your luggage after you’ve picked a room.”
“How many rooms are there?”
“Fifteen bedrooms,” she said.
“Fifteen?” I asked in surprise.
“Yep,” she said. “Fifteen bedrooms, twenty bathrooms, eight hidden doors, four secret passages, a theater room, a bowling alley, a game room, an indoor pool, and a lot more.”
“What are we doing first?” I asked excitedly.
“Picking a room, then retrieving your luggage. Weren’t you listening?” Ariel joked.
“Boo,” I mouthed.
Ariel gasped in mock horror. “No!”
“We thought we’d give everyone a chance to get here and get settled before we had dinner. Then a tour of the castle, and maybe a movie in the theater room if there’s time. How does that sound?” Alice asked.
“Sounds good to me,” I said and looked at Presley.
“Yeah, that should work,” she said.
“Can we choose any room we want?” Ariel asked.
“You can choose any room that isn’t already occupied,” Alice said.
“The bedrooms are on the second, third, and fourth levels. Five bedrooms on each level. We’re on the fourth floor in the room farthest from the main elevator.
Pop’s on the third floor in the Wild West room. He’s taking a nap right now.”
“Pop’s here?” Ariel asked excitedly.
“Of course he’s here. He would’ve grounded me if I went to a castle and left him at home,” Alice said. “Come on, I’ll show you where the elevator is.”
Presley and Ariel ran through the halls, darting in and out of doors, as if they had limited time to choose a room. I was still looking at the rooms on the second level when Ariel and Presley reappeared, both slightly out of breath.
“We found rooms,” they said at the same time.
“That’s slightly creepy,” I said. They sounded exactly alike when they spoke in unison, and it made my ears feel itchy on the inside.
“Wait until you hear the three of them do it,” Eugene said knowingly. “I thought I was having a stroke the first time it happened.”
“You did not,” Alice, Presley, and Ariel said.
“Ahhhh!” Eugene and I yelled as we both covered our ears.
I rubbed my itchy ears and shook my head. “I’m gonna go check out level three and pretend this didn’t happen.”
“The room I picked is on level three,” Ariel said excitedly. “It’s the room beside Pop’s.”
“What room are we staying in?” I asked Presley.
“I’m staying in a room on the fourth floor, and you’re staying in one on the second.”
“Say what now?”
“Just until someone else chooses a room on the second floor,” she said, as if that helped.
“And what does that have to do with where I’m sleeping?” She wasn’t making any sense to me.
“I want to stay in the room on the fourth floor, but Ariel chose one on the third. I want someone on the floor below Ariel. If no one chooses a room on the second floor, we’ll move down there, but I need your luggage to reserve the room I want,” she said.
“If no one picks a room on the second floor, you don’t need to worry about reserving your room,” I said. “And Ariel will be right beside your grandfather.”
“Mind your business,” Presley said jokingly.
“Are you trying to reserve two rooms?” I laughed.
“I can’t make decisions that fast. I need time to think,” she said.
“You’re an ER nurse. You can make decisions faster than most.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I want two rooms.”
“I didn’t expect you to admit it,” I laughed and reached for her hand. “Show me our rooms, baby.”
Dice and his caravan arrived close to eight, which was also five minutes after the pizzas were delivered. I had to wait until they ate dinner, picked rooms, and unloaded their luggage to find out what happened at church. Then Alice wanted to give everyone the grand tour.
“Are you guys ready for bed? Does anyone want to watch a movie in the theater room?” Alice asked after the tour.
“I’ll fall asleep within minutes if I try to watch a movie,” Presley said. “So, I think I’ll pass on the movie tonight.” Then she turned to me. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the movie.”
“Yes, it does. I’m the princess’s guest. The guest doesn’t play in the castle without the princess.”
“No,” Presley said and shook her head. “Just no.”
“All right, for those who want to come, we’ll start the movie in fifteen minutes. For the rest of you, we’ll see you in the morning,” Alice announced.
Since Ariel wanted to stay for the movie, Presley hugged her and told her good night before we headed back to our room—on the fourth floor. Walter, Buck, and my mom were staying in separate rooms on the second floor, and Dice and his family were on the third floor with Ariel and Pop.
“I’m going to go down and talk to Dice for a few minutes,” I told Presley as she walked into the bathroom to change. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, I need to brush my teeth and do all the before-bed stuff, so I’ll be a minute.”
“Okay, I won’t be long,” I said and hurried down to Dice’s room.
I lightly knocked on the door so I didn’t wake London. Daphne opened the door and seemed surprised to see me. “Hey, Ink. What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to Dice.”
“He’s in the bathroom,” she said and lowered her voice. “It might be a while. He was complaining about his stomach earlier.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I groaned in frustration.
“Do you want to come in and wait?” Daphne chuckled.
“No dice.”
“Hey! That’s my phrase.”
“That’s what you get for trying to mess with me. I watched your man eat four slices of pizza, then walk five miles around a castle. Ain’t nothing wrong with his stomach.”
Dice appeared behind Daphne. “You’re no fun.”
“You’re no dice.”
“Go tell him what he wants to know before y’all wake up London,” Daphne whispered harshly.
“Fine,” Dice said and stepped into the hall, closing the door to their room behind him. “What is it?”
“Church,” I groaned. “Tell me what the fuck happened at church.”
“The tentative plan is to locate the party and put a stop to them once and for all,” Dice said. “They hadn’t worked out the details when I talked to Phoenix.”
“That’s it?” I asked, shocked that I would have to wait until our next scheduled call with Phoenix to get more information.
“Yeah, that’s it. What did you expect?”
“Details,” I said honestly. “I knew everything you said before we left. I hate not being able to use my phone.”
Dice laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. It’s not funny, but it is. Now you know how the rest of us felt when club business involved our women.”
“She’s not …” I started but stopped abruptly.
“Yes, she is,” Dice chuckled. “Congratulations, man! And welcome to the club.” With that, he returned to his room, leaving me standing in the hallway alone with my feelings—the ones no one asked him to point out.
“How much longer are you gonna keep standing there pretending you’re not in love with my grandbaby?” Fletcher asked, startling me. “Because I’d like to go to sleep, and you’re setting off my motion detectors. If you’re not a ghost, you’re an intruder, and I shoot intruders.”
“I’m going,” I said. “But why do you have motion detectors?”
“My great-grandbaby isn’t the only one who wasn’t crazy about spending a week in a haunted castle. That’s why she’s up here with me. I’ll know if something tries to get us.”