“Do you think someone put some salt or iron around the building?” I asked Rebecca.
She shook her head. “No. This felt different. It felt like something alive, or at least with some consciousness, pushed us back.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said.
“What is it?” Kane asked me.
I told him what had happened.
“So even the ghosts are trapped inside?”
“Yup.”
“That’s not good,” he said.
“You’re telling me.”
“What’s not good?” Troy asked, joining us.
I let Kane fill him in while I focused on the exit.
Rebecca and the sheriff, for their part, tried to get out of the building through walls, windows, and even the ceiling, but all to no avail.
“Whoever is here, show yourself,” I said in a demanding voice.
I could feel hundreds of eyes on the back of my head, but I ignored the living. I was here to speak to the dead.
I told Kane to bring me my purse. I took out a packet of salt I had there just for emergencies. I took a handful of it and threw it at the door. As soon as I did, I felt something getting angry.
And then, to my great surprise, I felt it push me backward. Kane and Troy, thankfully, cushioned my fall so I didn’t completely fall on my ass.
“Well, that was rude,” I said, dusting myself off.
Several gasps could be heard from the crowd. Jonathan came over, obviously annoyed with my shenanigans.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” He asked me.
“Jonathan, this isn’t a joke. We’re being held prisoner by some very angry, and not to mention powerful, spirits.”
Sarah joined us when she overheard. “I thought you said this place wasn’t haunted?”
“It wasn’t when I was last here. But now it is, and badly. I don’t know what awoke these spirits. It might have been the sheriff’s murder that did it. It’s hard to tell. But they’re here now. I’ve never felt so many spirits working together, as a collective. Separately they wouldn’t be this powerful. But together? Who knows what they’re capable of.”
“Can’t you talk to them? Can’t you help them move on so that we can get out of this place?” Sarah said.
“You saw what happened when I tried. They’re not going to listen to me. Maybe if I could get one of them to separate from the collective, but that seems like an impossibility at the moment.”
I turned to the sheriff.
“Do you know what this could be about?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “No. Why do you think I would?”
“They showed up after you died, that’s why. Or maybe they were always here, hidden, until something traumatic enough woke them from their slumber.” I turned toward the hotel manager, whose mouth was agape as he listened to what I was saying. “Do you know the history of this place?”
He shook his head. “All I know is that this place is a new construction, built from the ground up. But there might be some information back in my office.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Jonathan stepped in front of us.
“I’m the one in charge here,” he said. “At least until the backup arrives.”
“I don’t think the backup is coming,” I said. “Whoever you talked to, I have a feeling the ghosts out there were masquerading.”
Jonathan didn’t look convinced. “There’s still a killer on the loose. I can’t let you guys go wandering around by yourselves.”
“Then come with us,” I said. “Or send one of your officers along.”
Jonathan looked around.
“Please don’t leave me,” Sarah said.
Jonathan held her close. “Don’t worry, I won’t. But I have to do my job. You can stay here with your family and friends, and the officers will look out for you.”
Sarah didn’t look too reassured. “Fine, I’ll be here. But if you guys don’t come back soon, I’m coming after you.”
Jonathan kissed her on the forehead. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
So Jonathan went along with us. I was hoping he’d send one of the other officers along with us, but we had no such luck.
Troy and Kane were with me, and of course, the sheriff and Rebecca followed along, too. They both looked spooked by the whole situation, weary of the walls and exits now that they knew what was outside.
The hotel manager led us to his office in the back, which was smaller than expected. It already felt crowded with just the living in there, but with the sheriff and Rebecca there, it was absolutely packed.
The hotel manager looked through a filing cabinet. “I’m sure we have a file on it here somewhere.”
We waited, some more impatiently than others, until he finally found the file, which was surprisingly thin.
He opened it on the desk so that everyone could see it.
“It says here that this lot’s been empty for close to a hundred years,” the hotel manager said. “It used to be a forest before that. Then the trees were cut and then it was just a field for years.”
“I remember, we used to play here as kids,” the sheriff said. “There was always something off about it, though. Especially during the night time. We never played here after dark, I know that.”
I relayed the info to the rest of the crowd.
“Can she really speak to the dead?” The hotel manager asked Jonathan.
“I’m right here,” I said. “If you have a question, you can ask me. Thanks.”
“Sorry, I just can’t believe this is actually happening. We’re in the middle of nowhere and we’re being held prisoner by ghosts? Sorry if I don’t buy it. Actually, I’m not sorry. Everything you say sounds crazy. What am I supposed to say to our guests?”
“That’s your problem,” I said, “but pretty soon, they’ll start noticing that something is wrong. So you either tell them the truth or come up with a clever lie.”
“She has been right about things before,” Jonathan finally spoke up. “I’m not sure I’m willing to buy this, either, but I don’t think Meredith would willingly lie to us. Would you?” He asked me.
“Of course not,” I said. “I have nothing to gain by lying.”
“So I won’t be getting a bill in the mail after you get rid of these supposed ghosts?” The hotel manager asked.
“Scout’s honor,” I said. “I want to get out of here as much as anyone. We’re all in this together.”
In that spirit, I looked at the folder again. It didn’t go past the hundred-year mark. I wondered what was here before that. I looked at the computer on the hotel manager’s desk.
“Do you have internet on that thing?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, booting the computer up. “We have Wi-Fi all around the hotel.”
His face turned into a frown. “It’s not working,” he said. “It says we’re not connected to the internet.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. Not only are these spirits powerful enough to keep us locked in, they’re also powerful enough to interfere with Wi-Fi and who knows what else.”
“That’s…alarming,” Troy said. He took his cell out. “I don’t even have any service in here.”
Kane looked at his phone and found the same.
Jonathan took his cell out. “But it worked when Sarah called me,” he said.
“Maybe they waited for us to try getting out before cutting off all forms of communication?” I said.
“So while I was busy locking up this place physically, these spirits were working on locking it up by other means?” Jonathan said. “Sorry, but I can’t wrap my mind around that.”
“Well, you’re going to have to,” I said. “There’s no more denying what’s happening. We have to work together on getting out of this place, preferably alive.”
“You don’t think they can actually hurt us, do you?” Kane said.
“You saw the way they pushed me back. I don’t doubt that they could do som
e real damage if they wanted to.”
The sheriff instinctively touched his chest. “You don’t think…?”
“No,” I said. “I mean I guess it’s possible, but I think I would have felt it if there was that much spirit activity.”
“What are you talking about?” Jonathan said.
I explained what the sheriff had suspected.
Everyone’s faces turned white.
“If that’s true, then everyone’s in danger,” Jonathan said. “If the lights go out again…”
I tried not to think about that. We needed to focus on getting out of here, not on all the terrible things that could go wrong.
“We need to go back to the hall,” Jonathan said. “There’s nothing more we can do here and everyone there is in danger. We have to warn them.” Then he looked right at me. “Is there anything you can do?”
I thought about it. “The only thing I can think of is salt. Creating a barrier of salt all around the building, but I don’t think this place has enough salt for that. And even if it did, we all saw what happened when I tried that the last time.”
“I can look in the kitchen,” the hotel manager said. But he looked around nervously and didn’t move. “I don’t want to go by myself,” he said, when we didn’t get the hint.
“I can go with you,” Troy offered. “You better not be the killer, though.”
“I’ll go with you guys as well,” I said.
“Then I’m going as well,” Kane said.
“Make it quick then,” Jonathan said. “I guess I’ll go back to the hall. By myself.”
We watched as Jonathan joined the rest at the great hall, then we headed for the kitchen, following the hotel manager.
“I’m not sure what good this will do,” Troy said. “What with the size of this place and what happened to you before.”
“I know,” I said. “But it might come in handy. Kane can attest to that.”
Troy looked at Kane. “Spill it, bro.”
Kane told him about our little ghost hunting trip and the difficult spirit I had to deal with.
“A circle of iron and salt,” Troy said out loud. Then he turned to the hotel manager, who was rummaging through the cupboards now. “You wouldn’t happen to have any iron filings just laying around?”
“Not that I know of,” the hotel manager said. “But you’re more than welcome to look around.”
“Madame Darke,” Kane said.
“What about her?” I asked him.
“She had the ability to control spirits. Maybe if you tried…?”
I shook my head. “I tried and failed. You saw it for yourself.”
“Maybe you just need some practice,” he said.
“No, what I need is to somehow trap one of them in a salt and iron circle. That’s the only way I know how to control them.”
We gathered all the salt we could find and carried it back to the great hall. We had a couple of pounds, not nearly enough to protect the whole building.
“Let me try something,” I said to the hotel manager, taking one of the bags of salt.
I went to the edge of the great hall.
“What are you thinking?” Kane said.
“I’m thinking that we only need to protect this hall. The manager can get the rest of the guests down here if it works.”
My heart was almost beating out of my chest as I started to pour the salt around the edge of the hall. As soon as I started, I felt something dark starting to stir. The lights flickered. I was making them angry, but I just continued with what I was doing.
Pretty soon, I felt their presence, now stronger than ever. An invisible astral wind blew the salt line away, basically making it useless.
Kane looked at me. “Any other ideas?”
“None whatsoever,” I said. “We’re screwed.”
Twelve
“Step out of the way,” Jonathan said. “Let the men do their job.”
I scoffed at that but took a few steps back anyway. I wanted to see this.
Jonathan, Jackson and a few other officers gathered around the entrance.
Two at a time, each tried to break through the door. It was as if they had tried to break through a brick wall. One of them had the bright idea to take a chair and slam it against one of the windows, much to the shock and horror of the hotel manager.
The chair just bounced off, without even touching the glass it seemed.
“What the hell is going on here? Is this real life?” Jackson said, frustrated.
“I told you, we’re dealing with some very powerful spirits here,” I said.
All eyes were on me then.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Jonathan asked, obviously sure that I had no idea what I was talking about. “Do you want us just sit around and wait for them to pick us off one by one?”
Gasps could be heard from the crowd.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Jonathan was quick to say. “I’m sure there’s a far too human killer among us.”
The gasps became even louder. Mothers were clutching their children, covering their ears.
“What I meant was that this is a human problem with a human solution. I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for this. Someone is probably playing a prank on us,” Jonathan said, trying to calm the crowd.
“Good luck with that,” I said. “The sooner you open your eyes to the problem, the sooner we can all go home.”
“She’s right,” said a guy’s voice from the crowd.
“Yeah, we all saw what happened. I’m scared,” said a woman’s voice in the back.
“Everyone calm down. My grandson knows what he’s talking about. He has this under control,” Mrs. V defended her grandson.
“Under control? They can’t even open the front door and we’re stuck here with a corpse, God bless his soul, but this is far from under control,” said an older woman in the back.
“You leave my grandson to do his job, you old bat,” Mrs. V retorted.
I couldn’t suppress a chuckle.
“This is no laughing matter, missy,” Mrs. V glared at me like I was the devil. “You’re trying to scare us all with your ghost stories, but I’m not buying it. As my grandson said, there’s a far too human threat here with us.” She looked around suspiciously. “Any one of you could be the killer and this ghost business is just a distraction. Our poor sheriff is dead. Let’s focus on that.”
“Virginia, I know you’re trying to defend your grandson, but please don’t throw my granddaughter under the bus while doing it,” Gran said to Mrs. V.
That made me smile.
“Thanks, Gran,” I said.
But Mrs. V wasn’t having any of it. She stepped forward and faced my grandmother.
It looked like they were about to get into a fight.
“Your granddaughter is a charlatan,” Mrs. V said, her voice full of venom. “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t say.”
“You’re walking a very thin line,” Gran warned her.
Sarah stepped in between the two women before things could escalate any further.
“Could everyone please just stop fighting! This is my wedding and I will not stand for this! Both Jonathan and Meredith have their points. Yes, there’s a human killer among us. But I also know that there are spirits here as well. If Meredith says she sees them, then I believe her. She’s not a charlatan. She’s the real thing.”
“I can’t believe you married her,” Mrs. V said as she turned her back on Sarah.
“Grandma, please,” Jonathan said. “Say what you will about Meredith, but leave Sarah out of it. She’s my wife now and I will not stand for it.”
“Nice,” I said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
“Why don’t we all just calm down,” my father said, with a drink in his hand. By the slur in his voice, I could tell that he had already had one too many. “Let’s enjoy this lovely wedding, all right?”
“Shut up, Richard,” my mother said.
> “Don’t you tell him to shut up,” Rachel said.
“Meredith knows what she’s talking about,” Troy chimed in.
Kane put his arm around me. “I’m with Meredith on this one.”
“What a surprise,” Jonathan said. “You two deserve each other.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said.
“Neither of you has respect for the law. It’s despicable,” Jonathan said. “But I’m in charge here and I say we focus on finding the killer. If you can’t help us with that, Meredith, then keep your hysterics to a minimum, thanks.”
“The sheriff didn’t see who stabbed him. It was pitch dark in here, remember?”
“How convenient,” Mrs. V said. “She’s just making it up as she goes along. I’m sure once Jonathan has a prime suspect, the sheriff’s ghost will suddenly remember who killed him. Despicable, indeed.”
Sarah started to say something, but I stopped her.
“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s not worth the trouble.”
“It is when it comes to you. I won’t have anyone talk to you that way. Not at my wedding.” She looked at Mrs. V and Jonathan. “Is that understood?”
“Trouble in paradise, already?” My father said. “Take it from me Johnny boy, run while you can. That’s a crazy family you just married into.”
“Dad, please do shut up,” Troy said.
“That’s my boy,” my mother said, seemingly proud.
“I didn’t do it for your benefit,” Troy spat back.
“This is the worst wedding ever,” Sarah said as she started sobbing. “You people are just awful.”
Mrs. V and Jonathan tried to calm her down, but she escaped their grasp.
I took her hand. “Sarah and I need some time alone. So everyone back off.”
“But what if the lights go out?” Jonathan called after us.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” I said. “I’m pretty sure you guys are in more danger than we are.”
I took Sarah to the bathroom to clean up a little. She looked like quite a mess. I couldn’t really blame her, what with everything that had happened.
While she splashed some cold water on her face, I took a couple of paper towels and then handed them to her when she was ready.
“Better?”
Ghostly Wedding (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 3) Page 8
