“Quiet!” Roland snapped and startled Jake half to death.
“Roland, what the hell is happening?!” Jake had pressed his back to into a corner, “I don’t hear anything.”
“Of course you don’t,” Roland looked over to him, “but I do, and,” he looked pointedly around the room, “I will be glad to hear them all out if they would kindly talk one at a time.”
Jake slid into one of the two empty chairs in the room and gestured for Roland to continue.
“Alright, I’m here for information. I know that most, if not all of you, were murdered by a man named Geoffery Sanders and I am certain you’re pissed off and confused as to why you are trapped here.” Roland paused and listened, “I can fix it, but I need to know who is orchestrating the sacrifices to the demon, where they are doing it, and anything else you can tell me about the demon or its master.”
Roland turned his head to stare into the corner of the room, pointing toward the calmest sounding voice, “You there, in the back. Come forward, please.” He could now focus in on the faint outline of a young woman, “What is your name?”
“Jenna.” The girl looked up from under a shock of pale blonde eyelashes at Roland, “I was the first murdered.”
“I am sorry about that, but what can you tell me about the happenings outside of this room?”
“It’s hard to leave this space.” She gestured to the crowd of wispy specters that surrounded Roland, “We are all fighting for a small amount of energy but, when I was newly dead, I did leave the room a few times. I don’t know where this demon is, but I do know that there is something wrong in the back of the freezer in the kitchens.”
“Jake, would you please take notes.” Roland glanced to Jake who was visible shivering by this point as the temperature in the room was frigid as the spirits all tried to draw in as much energy as they could at once, “Remind me to check the back of the freezer in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Jake picked up the notepad that was on the dresser and started writing.
“Do you know what is happening back there?”
“No, I got scared by the bad feeling and left.” She looked sadly up to Roland, “Can you really get us all out of here?”
“I can.” Roland’s voice rose as he tried to draw in the attention of all the spirits once again, “The only thing holding you back is the deal made with the demon in this building. If I can break the binding on the demon, or get rid of the person who made the deal before it is completed, you will all be able to move on properly.” He glanced over to Jake who appeared to be fascinated by, what to him, sounded like a one-sided conversation, “Does anyone here know where the sacrifice room is?”
At this point, a man made his presence known just behind Roland’s right shoulder, “I may be able to help you.”
Roland focused some energy on the man to help his form solidify enough to be seen, “You were part of the couple that was murdered here, yes?”
“Yes. I am Jeff.” The man gestured toward the door, “Doris is shy, but she is grateful you are here.” He looked back to Roland, “We were staying here long-term while we looked for a house in the area. I was an out-of-work architect, so I spent many long nights walking the halls and feeling sorry for myself. I recall noticing that every floor above the basement in this building has thirty rooms, except on level three. The south end of that floor has a wall where the other floors have a hallway, though the outside of the building looks normal. I never found a way in, but maybe you two could.”
“Write down that we need to check out the south wall of the third floor.” Roland glanced to Jake who was scribbling away at the notepad, “That is incredibly helpful. Thank you, Jeff.”
“It’s you we should be thanking,” the man nodded to Roland and then Jake, “I read of Hell in the good book many a times when I was alive, but never did I imagine purgatory would be just as bad.”
Roland nodded understandingly, “I am sorry you have all been trapped within these walls for so long. With any luck, we will soon be able to break all of you out. Should we defeat this demon, and any of you can not find your way to the light, please feel free to find me and I will be glad to help you.”
“Thank you,” Jeff smiled and looked around the room, “from all of us.”
“You’re welcome.” Roland managed a half-hearted smile, “We’re going to go investigate the rooms you have told us about. Hopefully, we can get this wrapped up quickly.” Roland looked to Jake, “We need to go back to my room and look at the blueprints.”
“Alright.” Jake stood up and looked around the room once more as if he would be able to see the spirits, “Bye, everyone.”
Roland chuckled, “They all said bye back.” He pushed out the door and came face to face with a surprised looking maid, “Sorry, we’re leaving.”
Awkwardly bypassing the woman and her cart, Roland gestured for Jake to follow him back to his room. Once on the staircase, Roland noticed that Jake seemed distracted.
“Are you okay?”
“I really need to get back to my room so I can send in the horoscope page for tomorrow. I don’t want to get fired, but I also don’t want to be alone in my room.”
“We can kill two birds with one stone.” Roland continued up to his floor, “Just let me grab my duffel bag and laptop and we can haul up in your room. I can check the blueprints and ward your room against the demon while you work.”
“Work.” Jake chuckled and patted his friend on the back, “You’re sweet for calling my bullshit ‘work’, but thank you.”
Over the next hour, the two men sat peacefully in Jake’s room and worked on their various projects. Roland, who had warded the room first, now sat on the edge of Jake’s bed as he looked over the blueprints on his computer. Glancing up, he watched the blonde send an e-mail before turning around with an expectant look on his face.
“Did you find anything good?”
“I did.” Roland cocked his head to the side, “Did you get caught up on your work?”
“I did.” Jake smirked and moved to sit next to Roland, “I also set the next five days to auto-send at midnight the night before so that I can focus entirely on the exciting part of my life.”
“You wrote all of those in an hour?” Roland was stunned.
“It’s not hard to vaguely lie to people when you’re a fiction author. Also, after all this time being an author, I’m pretty damned fast at typing.” Jake gestured to Roland’s computer, “What’s up with these hidden rooms the ghosts told you about?”
“The blueprints actually maintain the south wall on the third floor is made of completely normal rooms. There isn’t a marked ‘secret’ way to get into them so that adventure will take some physical investigation. The freezer, on the other hand,” Roland handed the laptop to Jake and pointed, “does have a second room behind the main walk-in that is used regularly. I definitely need to investigate that.”
“WE need to investigate that.” Jake corrected Roland and handed the laptop back, “I traded that bottle of Patron for my services as your second. I am not sending you into battle alone.”
“It might be gnarly…” Roland was unsure of what he would find, but knew that a hidden walk-in freezer was rarely a good thing.
“That’s fine with me.” Jake patted Roland on the shoulder, “I feel like if it was too terrible, someone would have noticed by now.”
“I hope you’re right.” Roland stood up as his text-tone sounded, “We’ve got to get down there now. Devon says the kitchen is closed between breakfast and dinner, but they’ll come down to start prepping the food at two so we’ve got about an hour to get in and out”
“You were hired for this. Shouldn’t you have unconditional freedom to roam any part of this building as you please?”
“I technically do but, as we do not yet know who is doing this, I’d rather they not notice me following leads.”
“Oh gods, I hadn’t even considered that.” Jake shoved his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans as
he followed Roland down the stairs, “How much danger does this put us in?”
“You should be afraid for your eternal soul.” Roland answered honestly, “I was serious when I said I was willing to do this part alone.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to Hell anyhow.” Jake was staring at his feet, “I hear the big G upstairs isn’t a fan of transsexual gay men.”
“He doesn’t care.” Roland replied simply.
“What?” Jake stopped on the platform between floors two and one.
Roland turned to fully face his companion, “He doesn’t care. Anyone who has ever made you feel bad for being who you are is entirely more likely to go to Hell for their hate than you will ever be for who you love or how you altered your body to fit your soul. No human has the power or the right to cast judgment on you or anyone else.” Roland rested a hand on Jake’s shoulder, “You are not going to Hell for being either gay or trans.”
“So you don’t care that I’m… That I went through…?”
“Nope.” Roland started walking down the stairs again,” I couldn’t possibly care less what body parts you fixed to fit who you really are, nor do I care who you sleep with as long as it’s mutually consensual.” He looked Jake straight in the eyes, “If it makes you believe me more, I’m pansexual. I, too, have been with men.”
“Where have you been all my life?” Jake’s tone was joking as he tried to forcefully hold back tears of relief.
“Skulking around moldy basements mostly.” Roland paused at the door that would lead them out onto the first floor, “Are you okay to continue or do you need a minute?”
“I’m okay.” Jake nodded and wiped his eyes on the neckline of his t-shirt, “Thank you.”
Roland winked to the other man, “Anytime.”
Sneaking into the kitchen, Roland was glad that his intel had been correct and nobody was around. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, he stood just outside the heavy metal door that led into the freezer and stared down at the handle.
“So, you know how in movies, people get locked in freezers because they only open from the outside?”
“Shit.” Jake muttered as he stood next to Roland, “What should we do?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t considered the technicalities until this moment.” Roland looked around the room, “I guess we could prop it open with one of these crates and simply hurry so it doesn’t ruin the food.”
“No.” Jake shook his head as he started looking through the drawers, “I’ve seen about every American and Japanese horror movie in existence and that bastard will definitely move the crate.” Jake pulled out a butcher’s knife, “We’re taking the door off its hinges.”
“Brilliant!” Roland moved to brace the door while Jake started prying at the hinges, “Seriously, if we both survive this, you should come work as my second.”
“And leave behind my lucrative career at the newspaper?” Jake carefully set one of the hinge-pins on the counter, “I’m not sure it’s worth it.”
Roland tilted his head to the side, “I had assumed that your newspaper job was just to cover the bills until your next book.”
“It’s comfortable.” Jake set the second of the three hinge-pins on the counter, “A guaranteed salary is a nice change.”
“You know I can read when you’re lying to me, right?” Roland braced the door as the last of the hinge-pins was pulled out.
“I had surmised as much.”
Jake helped Roland carefully open the door in a way that kept it from falling to the floor. Stepping into the front room, the two men wrapped their arms around their torsos as the frigid air hit their skin. Moving straight to the back, they stopped in front of a shelf that appeared to be propped up against a solid wall.
“Hidden door?” Jake inquired as a puff of misty breath escaped his lips.
Roland started looking around the sides of the shelf, “Yeah, come here and help me pull.” He waved Jake over.
With hardly any effort at all, the back wall of the freezer started to slide open. In mere seconds, the two men were standing before a sub-freezer that someone felt even colder than the one they were in now. The room beyond was dark, though Roland could see a faint reflection of the light from the first freezer in the center of the ceiling of the room beyond. Using his small flashlight, he saw that the bulb in the center of the room had a pull-cord attached to it.
“I’m just going to get the light on.”
Roland felt Jake’s hand tighten around his wrist, “I’m coming too.”
Shaking his head in good humor as he stepped forward, Roland decided it would be easier to simply deal with Jake’s clinginess than to fight it. Sliding slightly as the floor was apparently covered in a thin sheet of ice; Roland made his way to the center of the room and yanked the cord hanging over his head.
Flickering on and off weakly for a few moments as it warmed up, the light bulb sputtered slowly into life. Once it had fully succeeded, Roland spared half a glance around the room before wishing the bulb had been burnt out entirely.
A thick layer of off-colored frost covered the walls and parts of the floor. The back wall held a line of neatly placed, unmarked metal barrels. The center of the room was taken up mostly by a wooden table that was stained crimson with what Roland figured could only be blood. A small array of knives and saws were piled on the far end of the table; haphazardly left behind by whoever had used them last.
Heart rate rising as he spun around, Roland saw that the side walls were lined with large, transparent trash bags that, while frosted over as well, were clearly full of organic material. Bits of the frost around the walls were crystallized crimson liquid that, upon Roland’s adrenaline spike reaching its peak, he realized had a faintly metallic odor to it.
“R-Roland…” Jake’s body was shaking, though it no longer registered the cold.
“Jake,” Roland was unable to move just yet, “you need to go back out into the kitchen now.”
“I’m not le-leaving you, Roland.”
“Jake, I need to see what’s in these barrels. I don’t want to put you through that. You should step out.”
“That sounds like a dangerous plan.” Jake’s face was whiter than Roland had ever seen on a living person.
“I have to.” He placed his hand on Jake’s shoulder, “You should at least stop looking at it before you faint.”
“I am in the process of…” Jake blinked hard as if he was trying to get his mind together, “Convincing myself that we are mistaken and that this room is simply being used to butcher animals so the meat served here is always fresh.”
“Keep thinking that.” Roland replied calmly, “I’m going to look in the barrels and I highly recommend that you stare at the ceiling and breathe.”
“Wait!” Jake’s voice came out louder than he had intended, “Sorry, but what if whatever is in those is toxic or something?”
Roland pointedly pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose before walking forward. This was the worst thing he had ever encountered personally, though the small voice in the back of his mind was glad that it was in a freezer instead of somewhere where the smell of decomposition would be stronger.
Carefully grasping the handle on top of the cleanest looking barrel, Roland had to use a small amount of force to wiggle it loose. Looking down, he saw that the barrel was about four-fifths full of a disgusting, dark sludge that carried with it a strong chemical odor that couldn’t be stopped by the fabric of his shirt. Shaking his head as he gently replaced the lid, he took a step back just in time to see that Jake was moving toward one of the bags.
“JAKE DON’T!”
Roland’s warning came too late, however, as Jake had wiped away some of the frosted-over condensation to uncover the side of a man’s severed head.
Screaming outright, Jake slid on the icy floor and landed hard on his back. Crab-walking backward in his panic, Jake managed to get through the crack that led to the first freezer where he jumped to his feet and ran out to th
e kitchen.
Sparing half a glance at the mostly intact man’s face, Roland yanked the light cord and followed his companion back to the kitchen. Pausing to close the hidden door, Roland’s ears were assaulted by a violent retching from just beyond the freezer door. Feeling awful for his companion, Roland walked into the kitchen where he found Jake doubled over a trash bin in the back corner of the room.
“Ugh, I’m sorry.” Jake coughed and spit into the bin, “I had managed to convince myself that,” he paused to retch again, “it really was just a normal meat freezer.”
Now rubbing his friend’s back, Roland felt guilty that he hadn’t insisted that Jake leave the room sooner, “I’m so sorry, Jake.”
“It’s okay.” Jake seemed to have gotten his breathing back under control, “I just,” Jake accepted a hand-towel from Roland to wipe his mouth on, “recognized the guy from around the building.”
“Oh.” Roland’s own stomach was churning slightly as his empathy for Jake grew, “How about we get back upstairs so you can lie down for a little bit. You look like you’re pretty well in shock.”
Jake nodded, “Please, Roland, can we please take the elevator?”
“Yes.” Roland wrapped an arm around Jake’s waist as the man looked as if he might pass out at any given moment, “Hang in there for me just a little longer, alright?”
The only reply that rose from Jake was a grunt as Roland started walking him through the dining room that would lead into the billiards room which was just before the elevator. Flexing his muscles to keep Jake walking in something that resembled a straight line, Roland was just about to succumb to a panic attack when a familiar voice spoke over his shoulder.
“What happened?!”
Looking back, Roland saw that Devon was half running up behind him, “Oh, thank God! We had some bad stuff happen just now and I need your help getting Jake back to his room before I tell you, okay?”
The Moorsfield Hotel Page 7
