“Well, let’s see.” Jake held his hand up and started ticking off points on his fingers, “Yesterday, you brought me top shelf booze, took me on a wicked adventure, bought me real food, and ate it with me. Then today, you gave me chocolate cakes, took me on another exciting adventure, gave me a job offer, un-ironically complimented my life’s work,” Jake paused to hiccup, “and then, when the deathtrap was caving in, instead of abandoning me, you dragged my ass out at great personal risk and then gave me protection while explaining to me, in a roundabout way, that I’ve not been an utter failure for the last three years of my miserable life because of a personal flaw, but actually because of a fucking demon that’s living in this crappy building.”
Roland was startled to see that Jake was fighting against tears that were welling up in his eyes.
“So yeah,” Jake sniffed and took another drink from the bottle, “I’ve never in my life had a friend quite as great as you before.”
Clearing his throat in an attempt to avoid getting overly emotional about his friend’s outburst, Roland stood up and moved over to stand before Jake, who was tilting dangerously to the right. Reaching a hand down, Roland pulled Jake up to his feet and into a bone-crushing hug.
“You are not a failure in any sense of the word. You’re the one that’s actually accomplished every step forward in this case so far. All I’ve done is trespass and get bullied into buying snacks for a spirit. You’re the one doing all the thinking on this job.”
Releasing a wet chuckle, Jake returned the hug, “You are kind of a wreck.”
“Rude,” Roland chuckled, “but also accurate.”
Jake pulled out of the hug and wiped at his face, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all emotional on you. I just haven’t felt much of anything in so long that it all sort of hit me at once.”
“It’s absolutely fine.” Roland smiled and moved to sit back down, “I’m glad I could lift the evil little rain cloud from over your head.” He paused to observe exactly how tired the man before him looked, “How about you try to get some sleep. You look like you’re going to collapse.”
“Nah,” Jake was shaking his head, “you need the bed more than I do.”
“Not tonight, I don’t.” Roland reached over and pulled the envelopes off of the bed, “I will be spending a vast amount of time reading through each and every one of these in an attempt to get a better handle on the situation before I call in my boss who just happens to be a high ranking demonologist.”
“That’s handy.” Jake was rubbing his eyes, “I guess if you really don’t mind the intrusion, I could try to nap for awhile.”
“I wouldn’t let you go back to your room alone right now even if you wanted to.” Roland gestured to the window behind his head, “Never be alone while the sun is down. Darkness is their domain.”
Shivering at the somber statement, Jake nodded and moved to the bathroom to wash his face before trying to sleep. Roland, on the other hand, grabbed the bundle of folders and his laptop where he intended to make a simple list of the basics of each victim as he knew this case would probably go more smoothly if he could get information from some of their spirits.
Looking up as Jake came back out of the bathroom, Roland sent him a half smile, “Rest easy, okay? I swear that nothing is getting in this room through my wards.”
Smiling back, Jake nodded as he kicked his shoes off and crawled into the bed, “I believe you.”
Reaching over to turn off all the lights in the room, aside from the small lamp directly behind the table he was working at, Roland hoped that he would be able to wrap this case up quickly and without the body count going any higher than it already was. Cracking open a second soda, Roland prepared himself to work harder than he ever had before.
~~~
Jake’s eyes slid open as a beam of light from the window had become unbearable enough that getting up was less miserable than trying to avoid it. Sitting up, Jake found himself momentarily startled as he was in a tidy room that didn’t have a kitchen like his did. Turning to the right, the blonde couldn’t help but smile lightly as he noticed that Roland was fast asleep in the chair he had been sitting in hours ago when Jake had fallen asleep.
Standing up, Jake crept his way over to see how far the medium had actually managed to get before passing out for the night. Sitting open on the table directly in front of Roland was a laptop that had gone to sleep, four empty cans of soda, and the stack of all sixty-four folders that had toppled over and covered the tabletop. Running his finger over the mouse pad on the laptop to wake it up, Jake noticed that Roland had also taken a few notes by hand. Never once feeling like he was overstepping his boundaries, Jake gently lifted the pad of paper and read over the barely legible notes that had been scribbled out the night before.
-Room 415
-Find/seal sac. rm
-Call Jan
-Ward Ja rm
There was a fifth line of writing on the list, but Roland had thoroughly scribbled it out for a reason that was beyond Jake. Setting the pad of paper back down, Jake checked his watch and noted that it was just after ten in the morning. Leaning over again to see the now bright screen of his companion’s laptop, Jake felt pride bubble up in his chest as he saw the end of a lengthy typed document that had all of the necessary details of each death on the hotel property neatly organized and presumably backed up in a way that was much more permanent than depending on the survival of the original documents.
Reaching into his pocket to grab his cell phone, Jake was startled to find that it was missing. Thinking back to the night before, the blonde sighed as he realized he had left the object hiding on the shelf in the basement. Muttering under his breath, Jake casually borrowed Roland’s phone and snuck into the bathroom to make a call.
~~~
Jerking awake as the smell of brewing coffee met his nose, Roland looked wildly around the room in an attempt to figure out who or what had turned on the machine. Off to Roland’s left, he noticed that, not only was his bed made for the first time since his stay had started, but also that Jake was talking to someone at the door. Standing up, Roland stretched his arms over his head as he realized that his entire room was pristinely clean at this point.
“Ah, you’re up!” Jake was walking back from the door with a large plastic sack that he placed on the dresser, “I ordered in breakfast.”
“What the hell, Jake?” Roland was rubbing his face as he wasn’t accustomed to anyone being this perky right after he’d woken up.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I figured we should start it with a hearty breakfast.” Jake poured two Styrofoam cups of coffee, “You did a big chunk of the work last night, so I figured the least I could do was get you something warm to eat.”
“Thank you.” Roland rubbed his eyes and accepted some sugar packets from Jake, “Trust me, I do appreciate it. I’m just not accustomed to interacting with anyone, living or dead, this soon after waking up.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jake was opening a container of pancakes, “My mouth will be occupied post haste.” He pointedly crammed a massive bite into his mouth and gestured for Roland to open the other containers.
“Christ Almighty, are you eating for two?!” Roland was currently staring down his own stack of four pancakes, twelve slices of bacon, what looked to be about half a pound of scrambled eggs, a stack of flat potato cakes, and a small mountain of condiments.”
Jake shrugged, “I wanted to make sure we definitely had enough energy to deal with your list.”
“You read my list?” Roland was nibbling on a piece of bacon.
“You read my book.”
Roland rolled his eyes and grabbed a plastic fork to get going on some of the eggs, “You are really weird, you know that, right?”
Tapping his nose, Jake swallowed before speaking, “Reclusive fiction author.”
“Touché.”
“Seriously though,” Jake was dipping a potato cake in ketchup, “what’s up with that room on the fou
rth floor?”
“Oh, yeah!” Roland nearly dropped his fork in excitement, “It’s really gruesome, but it was the room this serial killer lived in long-term.” Roland made a grand gesture, “He wasn’t even hired by whoever orchestrated this whole mess; it was just a coincidence or some sort of attraction to the natural darkness. Within the confines of room four-fifteen, this sick bastard murdered ten hookers, two guests, and a maid. Chances are pretty high that I’ll be able to communicate with at least one spirit in there.”
Jake’s excited chewing slowed at this point, “That’s the room directly under mine, isn’t it.” It was not a question.
“Yes, but this all took place between nineteen-fifty-seven and nineteen-sixty-one.”
“Right.” Jake nodded as his anxiety eased slightly, “I thought the people had to be killed in the special demon sacrifice room with a ritual and all that mess.”
“Only the first and last sacrifices have to be ceremonially murdered by the person who started all of this. The other sixty-four of them just have to be in the building.”
“Well, that does seem fair.” Jake’s tone had a hint of sarcasm to it, “We wouldn’t want whoever set this up to have to go all the way to the same room every time they want to make a sacrifice to Satan.”
“You’re handling this alarmingly well.”
“I’m a bit twisted.”
Nodding, Roland started in on his pancakes, “We need to find whatever room that does happen in though.”
Jake hummed as he tapped his chin and chewed a large bite of bacon, “We did sort of run out on four basement rooms.”
“We did.” Roland nodded, “Also, the blueprints have a fair few more hidden rooms that I haven't gotten around to yet.”
“So, we get to spend today wandering around until you can find a way into a room that may or may not be occupied right now?” Jake’s tone was once again casual.
“Devon said they’re checking out today so, around eleven, there’s a good chance it’ll be empty for awhile.”
“Nice.” Jake nodded, “This place doesn’t allow check-ins until four p.m. to make time for the ridiculously small number of maids to get to all the rooms. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“Speaking of time, what time is it?” Roland was stretching his arms over his head, “I didn’t actually intend to sleep at all last night.”
“It’s about ten-forty-five in the morning. It’s good you got some sleep seeing as we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I guess.” Roland ran a hand over his chin, “We could go see if the room is empty already if you want.”
“Before we do that, could you maybe explain to me a little more about that ritual? I read the whole thing, but a fair amount went right over my head.”
“Sure.” Roland leaned back and handed Jake his coffee cup for another refill, “So, you do understand that some shitty human murdered another human to get the attention of one of Satan’s henchmen, yes?”
“Mm-hmm.” Jake nodded as he leaned back to get more comfortable as well.
“Alright, in this particular case, the human that decided to do this was aiming to bind a demon to be their slave. When the time of the sixty-sixth murder in this building comes, whoever is in control will have to take the living sacrifice to the same place they took the original and go through all the fancy ritualistic things before murdering the person.”
Jake nodded, “It’s really that simple?”
“Technically, they will need a sixty-seventh person to act as a vessel for the demon and the ritual isn’t exactly simple. Housing a demon is not a position most would be willing to do so the last sacrifice will probably be part of a couple.”
“If the first murder was in the fifties, wouldn’t this person be freakin’ ancient? What would the point be in selling all of these souls for maybe a few years of having a pet demon?”
“If you’ve got a demon at your command, you can much more easily access the type of dark magic that would help keep you alive and perhaps even reduce your age.” Roland ran a hand through his hair, “I’m not incredibly well versed on the exact temptations a demon can actually provide as that’s Janette’s job, but I know the big ones are all in there.”
“What are the big ones exactly?” Jake’s eyes were wide and shining.
“Money, sex, fame, youth, power, and revenge.” Roland stated simply.
“What about love?” Jake was running his fingers around the lip of his cup, “Don’t you think love would be a hefty temptation?”
Roland shook his head, “Lust maybe, sex definitely, but even the devil himself can not make someone fall in love. It’s one of the only forces on this earth so sacred that it can’t be tampered with.”
A light smile crossed Jake’s lips, “That’s beautiful.”
Chuckling, Roland tossed his once again empty cup in the trash bin, “I wasn’t being poetic. It’s just the truth.”
“Well, the truth is beautiful.” Jake nodded and sat up straighter, “Have you called your person yet?”
“My w.. oh Janette!”
“Yeah, that person.” Jake nodded.
“I will after breakfast.”
“How did you wind up having a demonologist for a friend? Doesn’t that mean you work for the Catholic Church?”
“Not at all.” Roland waved his hand, “Janette’s work is recognized by the church, but she’s what you’d call a free-lance demonologist. Her father, Donovan Schneider, was a scholar that was determined to figure out everything about spirits, demons, and the afterlife. While his work isn’t finished, and probably never will be, the facts were ingrained into Janette’s head from the very day she was born and now, at thirty-two, she is the youngest fully-fledged female demonologist to ever be recognized and supported by the Catholic Church.”
“Wow,” Jake nodded and gestured for Roland to continue, “and you ended up working for her?”
“Yup.” Roland nodded, “As I said awhile back, I was born with these abilities and they run in my family. My mother would often scope out cases for Janette’s father before he would travel across the country to ensure the haunting was actually demonic. I know he respected her in the long run, but I’m pretty sure he gave her the job in the first place because she was a single mother as my dad died in a car wreck when I was an infant.
When I was nine, my mom bumped into her first real demon and Donovan flew out that night and the two abandoned me with Janette at this boring old church for the next three days while they settled the case. We wound up being friends and, now that I’m an adult and our parents are mostly retired, I do for Janette what my mother did for her father.”
“Wow.” Jake smiled, “That is incredible! Have you ever come across a demon before?”
“Not before this place, no. The nastiest thing I’ve ever dealt with previously was a mass Native American haunting that was affecting a ranch and killing off all their animals. It was a mess but, once I met with the elder of the remnants of the tribe and talked it out, he helped me hold a ceremony that made peace between the spirits and the homeowners.”
“That sounds like it would be incredibly sad.”
“It was.” Roland nodded, “To this day, I’m not sure why the spirits were killing animals as they were said to revere nature and the earth, but I figure that spirits have a hard time focusing on our reality after being dead awhile. Like…” Roland waved his hands as he thought, “Even the nicest spirit could get so focused on what’s holding them back that they no longer remember their values as the desperation, despair, and frustration take over. It makes them an imprint of the worst parts of humanity.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be a poet?”
Roland chuckled and rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Jake.”
“Seriously! Your perspective and thoughtfulness…” Jake stopped as Roland threw a bit of cold scrambled egg at his cheek, “Oh, you're rude.”
“Say I’m not a poet!” Roland challenged.
“Nope.” Jake cro
ssed his arms, “You have a beautiful soul and nothing from Heaven or earth could change my mind!”
“What about from Hell?” Roland’s tone had shifted only slightly.
“Right!” Jake nodded, “We’re working a case. You should call Janette to get her butt down here so we can get back to this investigation!”
Roland couldn’t keep an amused grin form crossing his face, “If you insist.”
5
Standing just outside the door to room four-fifteen, Roland was nervously chewing on his thumb nail, “How do we even know they’re gone?!”
“It’s eleven-thirty!” Jake rolled his eyes as Roland continued to look incredibly nervous. Stepping forward, he rapped his knuckles against the door and spoke in a falsetto tone, “Housekeeping!”
The two listened carefully for twenty seconds and heard nothing but silence. Jake sent Roland a pointed look as he gestured to the door. Nodding, the medium grabbed his all-access key-card and waved it in front of the censor that was attached to the room’s door. Turning the handle as he heard a click, Roland pushed forward into the space beyond.
As soon as he entered, Roland felt like all of the air had been knocked out of him. Rubbing his hand over his chest, he paused to take a few pointedly deep breaths.
“Roland?” Jakes voice was concerned.
Holding up a finger to let Jake know he needed a moment, Roland took another steadying breath before speaking, “I’m fine. There is just an insane amount of bleck in here.”
“Bleck?”
“Residual bad vibes left over from traumatic happenings in the past. I’m particularly sensitive to them,” he took another deep breath, “but I’m fine. I was just caught off guard by how strong it was after so many years of this room being dormant.”
Jake closed the door behind himself and locked it, “What do we do now?”
The question fell on unhearing ears as Roland stood in the middle of the disheveled room that the maids had not cleaned yet. His eyes had glazed over as he was hearing what sounded to be a crowd of voices shouting at him all at once from every possible direction. Tilting his head to the side, Roland tried to focus on just one at a time, but failed miserably as the entire group simply got louder.
The Moorsfield Hotel Page 6
