Chapter 10
HEATHER
The reception area had been packed to fire-hazard levels (although such rules would only apply if the inhabitants had been still alive). More people kept trying to shove through the doors.
Backed against the wall, with guests climbing on to her desk and shouting, Heather wondered if it was possible to be stampeded to death in Purgatory.
She didn’t want to find out. She’d been separated from Jaime and could no longer see the child.
A few people were crying. She wanted to cry too – she’d been hoping for a call from the Great Upstairs as the number of sirens kept increasing around the building, but they seemed to be on their own.
As always – she’d never received a call from the Great Upstairs before, so why start now, she supposed despondently.
Heather shouted, ‘Please form an orderly line! I promise to listen to you. But rioting won’t help our current situation.’
No one heard her. Shouts came from the crowd:
‘I should have taken my test a week ago! It’s all your fault for having such long wait times.’
‘We can’t even reach the cafeteria.’
‘The shower in my room stopped working.’
‘How can Purgatory break down? Is this all a secret test? Are the secret watchers among us right now?’
‘Will we go to Hell if the building crumbles away? I don’t deserve this! I worked at the soup kitchen every other weekend.’
‘I thought this entire hotel was fishy from the beginning. If I’m in Purgatory, why isn’t my ex here? Is she in Hell? Because she ought to be in Hell!’
‘What if we’re all already in Hell and we just don’t know it?’
‘Please, God . . . please . . .’
‘I demand to speak to your manager!’
Heather wished that she could demand to speak to a manager too – unfortunately it was just her here, a lone warrior against the oncoming storm.
‘I donated too much money to the Church of England to end up in these poor living conditions.’
‘If the lift returns, I should go first! My time slot on Floor Anger was right now!’
‘Hear me out: what if we’ve been abducted by aliens? What if this is all an elaborate science experiment? It happened to me a dozen times back in London! I had proof, but no one believed me.’
‘What if everyone in this hotel except me is a secret watcher?’
‘I’m going to leave this hotel such a bad review when I get to Heaven. Zero out of five stars, would not die again.’
‘If you can’t help us, why don’t you contact someone who can?’
‘She’s keeping us from the hotel manager!’
Heather gaped. ‘No, I’m not! The manager finished her seventy years of service and went to Heaven—’
Her words were drowned out as the crowd surged forward.
The mob had taken on a life of its own, filling the air with a sweaty stench, and many voices combined into an incoherent howl.
They were close to that deadly tipping point when people stopped thinking with their brains and only acted with their bodies.
Somewhere to the right, Jaime cried out in pain. And something inside Heather snapped.
Heather’s body moved faster than would have been possible if she’d been alive, leaping on to her desk. Her hand shot through the crowd, shoving several people aside. When she spotted Jaime’s dark braids, she grabbed the girl by her arm and yanked her up on to the desk too.
‘You nearly trampled a child!’ Heather screamed. Her rage pierced through the mob’s noise like a bullhorn. ‘You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Are you going to act like the kind of people who deserve to go to Heaven or Hell?’
The guests looked up at Jaime, who was panting, with her hair falling out of one braid. They all stopped moving. A few mumbled apologies. The ones closest to the desk backed away. Jaime latched on to Heather’s trousers tightly. The wetness of her tears pressed into the cloth.
Heather took advantage of this brief moment of silence to say her piece.
‘This crisis is unprecedented in hotel history. Our lift has stopped working. It’s impossible for any of you to reach the other floors to take your tests.
Many other building functions also seem to be breaking down.
I truly apologise for this inconvenience, but it’s out of my control.
Our hotel manager finished her seventy years of service a week ago, and we have not yet hired a replacement.
Nothing like this has happened during my time working here.
I’m afraid I do not have the answers you seek.
I do not have any way to contact a higher authority.
I’m trapped on this floor, just like you. ’
It took a moment for the crowd to digest this. Then a tall man called, ‘Who is the most senior employee in the hotel?’
‘Um.’ Heather did a mental calculation, then gulped. ‘Me.’
‘Then aren’t you responsible for fixing this problem?’ He tapped his foot on the ground, arms crossed.
‘I suppose so.’ Heather had learned a valuable lesson about tempting fate by wishing for excitement.
She would have happily endured a dozen annoying people on Floor Anger again, if only she could go back to her normal life.
This wasn’t fun at all; the hotel was in serious danger.
She looked down at the wide eyes and frightened faces.
The guests were terrified. They needed someone to believe in, or they’d panic again.
Heather took a deep breath. ‘Um, I declare myself to be acting hotel manager. I will take charge of repairing the hotel and restoring normal operations. As the first step, the lift must be repaired. It’s the only way to move between floors.
I will investigate the source of the breakdown and make contact with the maintenance crew.
In the meantime, everyone please return to your rooms and remain calm. ’
The crowd dispersed. For now, at least.
Heather climbed off her desk. Ugh, she’d left footprints on her own papers and kicked off her mouse. She helped Jaime down. ‘Are you all right?’
Jaime wrapped her arms round Heather and hugged her tightly.
‘That must have been quite a shock.’ Heather patted Jaime’s back.
At least the girl didn’t look injured, though her shoulders shook.
No matter how long Jaime might endure, she would always have the maturity of a child.
Never before had Heather seen her so upset, not even when she’d learned her floor wasn’t operational and she’d be stuck here.
A petty and resentful part of Heather wanted to ask why Jaime clung so tightly when she’d been bragging about being fine on her own and saying they weren’t family.
But she wasn’t cruel enough to hold a grudge against a scared kid just for hurting her own adult feelings.
Her face hidden, Jaime mumbled, ‘I didn’t think it would get this bad.’
‘I’m surprised everyone panicked so fast too.’ Heather half shrugged. ‘We’re already dead. What are they so scared of?’
‘Falling into Hell,’ Jaime said.
‘That was a rhetorical question, kid.’ Heather straightened Jaime’s hair and redid her braid. ‘Can you wait here for me? I need to go check out the lift shaft. I’ll try not to fall down it. After all, I don’t want to end up in Hell before I have time to enjoy my promotion.’
The bad joke hung in the air like a cloud of mustard gas. It failed to reassure Jaime, who held on tighter.
Even if Heather had been self-promoted above her competence level in the middle of the worst crisis in hotel history, she had no choice except to succeed and repair the hotel. She would do it for all the guests, and for Jaime, who didn’t deserve to be stuck here forever.