Chapter 14
HEATHER
It came as a great relief to Heather to have Delilah here. Delilah was like a force of nature, always on the move. Even if their plan was vague, at least she’d given them a direction.
Delilah had arranged chairs for herself and Howard next to the reception desk.
Heather sat behind it, with Jaime in her usual seat next to her – although Jaime looked too distracted to be much help, with her book and the gobstopper bulging in her cheek.
There was one more chair in front for the guests as they interviewed each person one at a time.
The guests had calmed down after Heather had made an announcement that she would be interviewing people for relevant information. They were happy as long as someone was doing something. Heather wished she shared their confidence that this plan would work.
A man named Guy sat in his chair carelessly with one leg crossed on his lap.
‘I saw a blonde woman by the water fountain, complaining about it not working. She had this real creepy vibe. You know? Her eyes and face weren’t the same age.
I couldn’t look directly into her eyes without getting a headache. ’
In Heather’s experience, absolutely everyone complained about the water fountain not working. This hardly seemed like a lead. But Howard said, ‘That does sound like Lucy.’
‘When did you see her?’ Delilah asked, sitting up straighter.
Guy said, ‘Two months ago.’
Delilah’s shoulders sagged. ‘That’s probably too long ago to be useful. Thanks anyway.’
The next guest bounced in with a huge grin. ‘I’m glad someone is finally repairing stuff around here. The entire hotel has been on the verge of collapse for a long time. I have a list of items that need repair.’
Heather recognised Sian from her many, many complaints about the water fountain. ‘Let’s not be overly optimistic,’ she replied. ‘We’re looking for someone who might be able to do something about the expansion in Limbo and the broken lift. The water fountain is low in our priorities.’
Sian pouted. ‘The water from the tap in my room doesn’t taste as fresh. I swear it’s a little off. What if I get sick?’
‘That would be incredible, since you’re dead,’ Heather said. ‘It’s soft water, not hard water. You might not like the taste, but it won’t do you any harm.’
Delilah cleared her throat. ‘Have you seen a woman with a strange aura poking around in dark corners or mumbling about things that need to be changed around the hotel?’
Sian shook her head. ‘No, but I have something even juicier.’ They all leaned forward. ‘There’s a talking cat in the hotel!’
This failed to provoke the shock and awe that Sian had clearly been expecting.
Delilah said, ‘We know. That’s Damien’s cat, Nefertiti.’
‘It gets better.’ Sian bounced in her seat. ‘The cat speaks only in riddles and seems to possess a strange knowledge about the hotel.’
‘Yeah, we know. That’s Damien’s cat.’ Delilah waved her hand. ‘Next person?’
Lewis was a gangly fellow who held himself tightly, with tiny eyes darting in all directions. His stubby fingers flexed and curled on his knees as he sat in the chair. ‘I’m the only person who knows the truth about this hotel.’
‘Oh?’ Both Howard and Delilah leaned in.
Heather, who had dealt with Lewis’s complaints before, only sighed and rolled her eyes.
Lewis bounced in his chair. ‘We’ve all been abducted by aliens and trapped in their elaborate social experiment!’
Delilah’s shoulders sagged. ‘Do you not realise you’re dead?’ A trace of sympathy entered her voice. ‘What’s the last thing that you remember?’
Heather could have told her that trying to get through to Lewis was a waste of time. If there had been a floor for stupidity, he would have been on it. Although she supposed he seemed happy with his delusions.
‘I was on to a big conspiracy.’ Lewis spread his arms wide.
‘I visited the United States to confirm my theory. I’d crept into the security perimeter around Area 51 when I heard a loud bang – then I found myself here!
I’m certain they handed me over to the aliens for experiments as part of their secret deal to obtain space technology. ’
Delilah winced. ‘So you broke into a foreign military base . . . then you heard a sound like a gunshot . . . You must have died there. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t gaslight me! I’m on to you!’ Lewis scooted his chair away from Delilah. Leaning close to Heather, he whispered, ‘She’s one of the aliens. Just look at her purple hair!’
‘You’ve never heard of hair dye?’ Heather asked wearily.
‘It’s not just that. I saw her make a pen disappear, then reappear. And you should see what she does with cards.’
‘She likes magic tricks.’
‘She associates with a talking cat. Don’t you see? The cat must be a robot.’
‘For the last time, we already know about the cat. The cat is just a normal cat who likes riddles.’
Lewis pointed at Howard, who waved. ‘I’m fairly certain he’s an alien too. His smile is suspicious. No one abducted on a spaceship should be so happy.’
‘Why am I free of your suspicions?’ Heather rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. ‘I’d actually rather you suspected me so that you’d stop bothering me with your conspiracy theories.’
‘Because no alien would ever want a job as difficult and thankless as yours.’
‘At least someone acknowledges it.’ Heather sighed. Why did it bother her when it was only the truth? ‘My job would be less difficult if you would stop bothering me with these crazy theories.’
‘The previous hotel manager was an alien, which explains why she wasn’t very good at her job.
She left in order to start the next stage of the experiment.
Don’t you see?’ Lewis’s voice rose above a whisper as he got more excited, still trying to avoid Delilah’s range of hearing.
‘They’re testing how we react to stress.
They want us scared and panicking. Soon they will add other obstacles, destroying parts of the hotel until we fight for space.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if the hotel collapses because we’re actually all in a virtual-reality simulation. ’
Delilah jumped in, meeting his suspicious gaze.
‘I actually did consider the possibility that this could all be a test from Heaven or Hell, but I don’t think so – there would be no point to it.
We’re not being tested morally, just attacked by shadows.
Also . . . I’m trying to work out how to break this to you gently .
. . Have you noticed that you don’t need to breathe?
Or that you don’t need to eat or sleep? Does that perhaps tell you that this might not be an alien abduction?
Suppose you eliminate space travel as an explanation, what else might cause you to move to another plane of existence? Something spelled D-E-A-T-H?’
‘THE ALIEN OVERHEARD ME! SHE KNOWS I KNOW!’ Lewis fled the room, screaming.
Heather could only hope the paranoia would keep him in his room and out of trouble for at least a few days.
A young man with sandy-blond hair, a droopy moustache and very small ice-blue eyes was next to sit in the chair across from them.
‘I’m not here to help you. I’m here to sabotage your efforts to break our strike!
’ He beamed proudly. ‘The hotel will not be repaired until you give in to all of our demands. We deserve more benefits for keeping this out-of-date piece of junk running.’
Heather squinted. She thought she recognised him – he’d only been hired for the maintenance crew last week as an assistant. ‘John? How did you get here?’
‘I climbed the ladder, the same as you.’ He pointed dramatically. ‘You won’t be able to get rid of me. I will cling to you like superglue.’
Heather leaned her elbow on her desk. ‘We’re too unsuccessful to have any results worth sabotaging at this point.’
‘Oh.’ His energy faded a little. He twiddled his thumbs.
Delilah asked, ‘Why would you want us to fail? We’re looking for the person in charge of this hotel, a.k.a. the only person who could possibly fulfil your insane demands, whatever they were again.’
‘Godfrey wanted a clown car,’ Heather growled, fists clenching.
‘We had other demands!’ John protested. ‘More important demands! Such as money.’
‘I can’t imagine why,’ Heather said. ‘The clown car would be slightly more useful. What are you planning to do with paper currency? Start a fire in the hotel?’
John fidgeted, but did not have a good answer.
Delilah said, ‘None of us have the power to negotiate with you. Howard and I are merely concerned guests helping out.’
Howard joked, ‘My CV is a list of things I hope I never have to do again.’
Heather crossed her arms. ‘And I’m a receptionist. I assign rooms and time slots to guests.
That’s about where my authority stops. I don’t get paid, either.
I have no money to give you. I was on shaky ground even offering to let Godfrey ride around the hotel in my wheely chair, since that’s hotel property not mine. ’
Delilah turned imploring eyes on John. ‘You should be helping us. We’re looking for Lucy, the designer of this hotel and presumably the only person with any ability to give you what you want. When we find her, you can present your list of demands.’
‘Ohhhhhhhh.’ John sat still for a moment. ‘I’ve changed my mind – I’m here to help you.’
‘I didn’t invite you to join our team,’ Heather growled. Her patience for everyone on the maintenance crew had reached negative levels.
‘Too bad.’ John puffed out his chest. ‘I’m coming along whether you like it or not.’
Heather growled. Her nails dug into her fists. She counted to ten inside her head.
A malicious smile formed on Delilah’s lips. ‘John, do the others on the crew not like you?’
‘Why would you say that?’ he demanded. ‘We all get along. We’re friends. We are in perfect lockstep with this strike.’
‘It’s just that you’ve been sent all alone to negotiate with an extremely powerful being who could probably send you straight to Hell.
’ Delilah shook her head, giving him a pitying gaze.
‘You’d better hope the designer of this hotel is angelic in origins not demonic.
I can’t see a demon having much patience when you explain that you don’t feel like doing your jobs because Godfrey wants a clown car. ’
Heather snickered under her breath. It was a pleasure to watch Delilah’s ability to discombobulate people.
John twitched. ‘I got assigned this job because I’m the newest member. Everyone said that it was a sign of trust. They said they wished they could go on such a great adventure too.’
‘I’m sure they did.’ Delilah snorted, her tone sarcastic. ‘Good luck.’
His pale cheeks betrayed him.
Heather glared at John with all the hatred in her heart.
‘I would wish you good luck too, but that would be a lie. At this point, I am secretly hoping to see you eaten by a demon for your presumption. I want to watch you squirm and plead as you’re dragged into a maw full of many rows of teeth.
I hope you suffer. I hope you’re digested slowly. ’
‘It’s not a secret if you say it out loud,’ John complained.
Several more guests came to talk about the eccentric woman poking around dark corners and her vague complaints about the hotel.
Heather lost a bit more hope with each interview.
Lucy seemed to pop up about once every couple of months.
There was no pattern to her appearances, and she vanished whenever anyone tried to talk to her.
They couldn’t wait. The hotel probably couldn’t last even another week without the guests starting a riot.
The latest interviewee, who Heather vaguely recognised as Meg, said, ‘There’s a talking cat—’
‘We’ve all met the cat,’ Heather said, her eyelids drooping.
‘Yes, but this cat gives riddles with useful information. I got a very important clue about when to arrive at the cafeteria in order to get the chocolate cake before it runs out.’
‘We’ve all heard the riddles too,’ Heather said.
‘I saw that cat with a blonde woman once.’
‘That’s a little interesting . . .’
‘A year ago.’
‘But out of date. Anything more recent?’
Meg said, ‘Just before I came here for my interview, I saw a very strange woman with a constantly changing voice lurking by the fire alarm.’
‘We know about Barbara too—’ Heather sat bolt upright. ‘You saw her where?’