I knew without a doubt that sex with Isaac would be the best I ever had. But casual sex with him wouldn’t be enough, and I couldn’t handle a relationship. His chaotic energy would interfere with my routine and my goals. My brain knew that. My heart said ‘fuck it’. I wanted him.
I leaned back on my heels to examine my progress on the wine stain. It must have happened the last time I cooked here, before I started staying over at the Cressley with Isaac. There had been ample time since then for the stain to root itself in my floor. Despite all my scrubbing, it had barely lightened. I swiped a soapy hand over my forehead, leaving a wet streak behind. I couldn’t do anything more here.
I checked my phone. Water droplets from my fingertips speckled over the display. No new messages.
Isaac must have been distracted by work. Or he’d gone out to decompress with Olivia. Or maybe he was ignoring me. I took a deep breath and told myself there was nothing insidious going on at the Cressley Hotel. Isaac probably wasn’t home.
I turned my attention to wiping down the bench. I had to distract myself. The longer Isaac stayed out of touch, the more I missed him. The more I wished I’d succumbed in the basement. It would have been a mistake. If I had given in to my urges, I would have fucked him then and there — or worse, asked him out on a ghost-free date. It was better we spend this time apart.
So I bore my regret like a soldier, and I worried about Isaac while I cleaned. It had been over three hours since my last text from him. I’d messaged him twice since then, asking if he was at the Cressley, and what was going on. He hadn’t gotten back to me either time.
I didn’t want to be a needy not-boyfriend, but I didn’t want Isaac to get hurt because I was lost in a minefield of feelings. This was exactly the reason I shouldn’t have kissed him.
I wiped sticky crumbs off the bench with one hand and dialed Isaac’s number with the other. He didn’t answer. Dread dropped into the pit of my stomach.
I told myself I was being paranoid, but if this had been anyone except Isaac, I would have been out the door and on my way to the Cressley the moment I reached their voicemail. If this was anyone but Isaac, I wouldn’t risk them getting hurt so I didn’t seem clingy.
I threw my sponge on the countertop and flicked my hands dry. Cleaning could wait.
***
I was too large and distinctive to be sneaky. Little guys like Isaac could creep around undetected, but I always felt heavy and conspicuous.
Ben’s gaze sought me out as soon as I entered the lobby of the Cressley. I kept my expression steady, but inside, I was pissed off. I didn’t want to deal with him right now. I wanted to check on Isaac.
Ben narrowed his eyes at me. I ignored him and strode toward the elevators.
“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you,” Ben called out to me. He emerged from the front desk and half-jogged in my direction. I paused and sighed. I didn’t need this. I was in a hurry.
“I have every right to visit my boyfriend,” I told him. “You can’t kick me out.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You might not want to visit your boyfriend right now. He’s occupied.”
“What are you talking about, Ben?” I swallowed, trying to ignore the anxiety boiling in my chest. “I’m in a hurry.”
“Alright.” He smirked. “I’ll let you go, if you’re that desperate to meet his side chick. Or are you the side chick?”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “Ben, if you’re playing mind games to get me out of here-”
Ben shrugged, not bothering to hide his disdainful expression. “All I’m saying is he brought some homo-looking beefcake through the lobby earlier.”
My heart sank. I swallowed an unexpected lump in my throat and fought to keep my face stoic. I couldn’t let Ben see any sign of weakness.
Why should it matter to me if Isaac brought a man over? I was the one who told him to sleep with someone else. Only a few hours ago, I had been firm that he and I would never happen. But it didn’t matter what I told him— He’d followed my advice, and I felt shitty about it.
“That was Isaac’s friend,” I said stiffly to Ben.
“They looked cozy for just friends,” sneered Ben.
“They’re good friends.”
“I’m sure they’re best friends.”
Now I knew why Isaac hadn’t been answering his phone. My terror for his safety was replaced with bitterness. He moved on quickly. And what was he doing blowing our cover in front of Ben?
Now I had to choice but to go upstairs and walk in on Isaac in flagrante delicto or face Ben’s scrutiny.
“Excuse me, Ben,” I said. “I have to go see my boyfriend.”
Before he could respond, I walked away, exiting the conversation. The elevator was stuck on the 30th floor, so I took the stairs instead. The walk would do me some good. It would give me the chance to clear my head. Just because Ben had seen Isaac with another guy didn’t mean that Isaac wasn’t in danger. What if both of them were in danger?
I wanted to get to room 1405 instantly in case Isaac was in the grip of an evil spirit. And I never wanted to get there at all, because what if he was in the arms of another man? Both ideas crashed over each other like a storm, my solar plexus swelling with fear, jealousy, and — overpoweringly — dread.
I broke into a jog to make it upstairs quicker, ashamed of the emotion tearing apart my chest. This would never have happened with any other guest. I had to act normal, but when it came to Isaac, I didn’t know what normal was anymore.
I was so caught up in thoughts I almost missed the exit to the thirteenth floor. Shit. What was wrong with me?
I knocked hard enough on Isaac’s door my knuckles would be bruised tomorrow.
No answer. Was he distracted, or was something wrong?” Everything around me was darker than usual, colder than usual. I couldn’t tell if it was supernatural in origin, or if it was my body messing with me. I hadn’t felt this tense since I stopped speaking to my father. Panic warped my vision and throttled my breath. Everything was dim and blurry.
I knocked even louder.
“Isaac, are you okay?”
No answer. If he was in there with another guy, he would have come out by now, disheveled and taunting. I fumbled with the door. Locked.
With no job at the Cressley, I had no key to this room. I banged on the door. “ISAAC!”
Still no response.
I stepped back and sized up the door. A few solid kicks should do it in. Untrained people thought that ramming a door with your shoulder was the best way to force it open, but the key was to drive your heel in where the wood was weakest: next to the lock. I stood back to ground myself, give myself momentum. The force of my kick reverberated up my leg, and the door didn’t budge. I took a deep breath. Try again.
Now that I was literally kicking down the door, and there was no response from inside, I knew something was wrong. I actually hoped I’d see Isaac naked in bed with another man. Better that than murdered by ghosts.
On my third try, the lock gave. I burst into room 1405. It was freezing inside, and there was no one in the bed.
“Isaac?” I called. My voice sounded meek and scared. My hand felt for my taser. Maybe Isaac had gone out. People did leave their rooms, I told myself.
Not this time. I noticed Isaac and the spirit board at the same time. He was slumped over it, not moving.
“Isaac!”
I should have gotten here sooner. I should have trusted my instincts. This was what feelings led to: devastation. My heart stopped as I bent to feel for Isaac’s pulse. Was he- He couldn’t be dead. I couldn’t have let that happen.
I maneuvered him into the recovery position. As small as he was, he was heavy when he was limp like this. Dead weight. No. Not dead.
Now I could see Isaac’s face. Even his lips were pale. A trail of blood oozed out of his nose. My heart was pounding as I reached for his throat. I couldn’t feel a pulse.
“No,” I muttered to the empty room. “Nononono. No. Isaac
- Isaac, you can’t-”
And then a weak tremor of blood pressed against my fingers.
His heart was still beating. Barely. He was still alive. Barely.
How many times had I told him not to use that board? Opening a channel of communication with the spirits here was dangerous. The spirits were dangerous. Why couldn’t Isaac ever listen to me? How could he do this? How could he put himself in danger like this?
As I held my fingers against his throat, his pulse got weaker and weaker.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Stop it!” I shouted at the empty room. I didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t something you could train for. I’d been in frightening situations before, but never anything like this. None of my first aid training had prepared me for this. Whatever was hurting Isaac was supernatural in origin, and despite all my research, I didn’t know how to stop it.
Ice-cold and red-hot tremors racked my body. It had never been so hard to think clearly. I prided myself on my logical, organized mind, but now my thoughts were scattered and irrational. My hands shook, and my eyes had started to prickle. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to cry.
“You’re killing him!” I shouted.
If the ghosts heard me, they didn’t care.
I had to get Isaac out of here. These spirits were sucking the life out of him. Maybe he had a chance of making it if I got him away from the Cressley. It was this hotel draining his soul. This place was taking him away from me.
I scooped Isaac from the floor, An Officer and a Gentleman style. If I had imagined holding him like this, I imagined him awake and warm, participating. Not cold and limp in my arms. Too cold to be so limp. Like a frozen noodle that was still al dente.
What a senseless thought to have. My brain had finally reached peak stress; it had stopped functioning entirely.
Gotta get Isaac out of here.
Mr. Partridge was waiting for the elevator when I emerged from room 1405. He took one look at Isaac, and his face washed out.
“What happened?” he stammered. He grasped at his necklace. The way he reached for his wife’s wedding ring reminded me of the way I used to reach for my peridot — only clearly, the crystal didn’t work, considering it was hanging around Isaac’s limp neck.
“He needs to get out of here,” I said.
“Should I call an ambulance?”
I shook my head. I knew Isaac couldn’t afford hospital bills, and neither could I. He would be furious if we called an ambulance. Besides, I didn’t think doctors could help with this particular ailment.
“I need to get him out of here.”
Mr. Partridge looked confused, but the elevator dinged open before he could ask any more questions. This wasn’t the time for questions. This was the time for action.
Going from the fourteenth floor to the ground floor of the Cressley Hotel had never taken so long. This was the longest elevator ride of my life. It struck me as absurd to have Mr. Partridge there, hunched over in the corner, going downstairs to carry on like normal. How could life be normal for anyone when Isaac was on the brink of death?
When we got down to the 5th floor, Isaac’s eyes fluttered open. Thank god. He was going to be okay. I hoped. I needed to get him to Elliot’s house as soon as possible. Elliot was a dentist, but he’d been through more medical school than me, and he definitely knew more about Isaac’s current condition than any nurse in an emergency room.
It felt like hours before we reached the lobby. Every second wasted stole Isaac more away from me. I didn’t know what Ben would say when he saw us, but I had never cared less about his opinion of me. I only cared about Isaac.
I shifted Isaac’s listless weight in my arms and lumbered out of the elevator. All eyes in the lobby instantly drew our way. In a rare twist of good luck, I spotted Kyle, and not Ben, at the front desk. Kyle’s jaw dropped and terror flashed over his face. He was a believer. He knew what was going on.
Before I could indicate that he should get back to work and pay no heed to the emergency in front of him, Kyle ran to my side like a loyal golden retriever. He matched my pace while I strode as fast as possible toward the exit.
“What happened?” he gasped. Pale-faced, he looked from me to Isaac and back again.
“Ghosts,” I muttered. “Fucking ghosts. I need to get him out of here.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Kyle’s voice trembled.
“I need to get him out of here,” I repeated. I didn’t know how to come up with any new words right now. I was entirely single-minded.
“Okay,” urged Kyle. He ran ahead to open the door for us.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Is he going to be-” Kyle started meekly.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then hurry.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
My car was parked a short walk down the street. It was warmer out here than it had been in room 1405 — the North Pole was probably warmer than 1405 — but it was less stuffy, less suffocating. Where the misty Seattle rain pattered onto my skin, it reminded me that I was part of reality.
People stared at us. How could I blame them? Isaac was cradled in my arms, deathly white, immobile, and covered in blood, I must have looked… Well, like I’d seen a ghost.
Isaac moved slightly in my arms and curled his fingers into my shirt. “Roman?” he mumbled.
He was talking. He was lucid. He was alive. “Save your strength,” I told him.
“You’re holding me,” he said.
I glanced at him. Big mistake. The look in his eyes was unbearable. No one had ever looked at me with that kind of trust before. As pallid and bloodless as he was, his eyes sparkled. A dew of rain speckled his face.
“Here’s the car.”
I loaded Isaac gently into the front seat. He was conscious enough to help maneuver himself, but I had to do up his seatbelt for him. I gently dragged it across his chest, where I could feel the stutter of his heart. That was not the way a heart was meant to beat.
I hoped I was doing the right thing. What if this actually had been caused by something natural? What if he’d had a stroke or something, and the hospital was the right place to be?
But what if my instincts were right? It wasn’t like being a con artist came with health insurance.
Either way, I had to call Elliot.
He picked up immediately. “What’s up?” he asked.
I filled him in on what was happening. I glanced at Isaac every few seconds, watching his chest to make sure he was still breathing. I hated having to do this. Why couldn’t he follow my damn advice?”
“Shit,” said Elliot. “Bring him to my place.”
It was an immediate relief that Elliot was thinking the same way as me. He was the smartest man I knew.
“He doesn’t look good.” Isaac was unconscious again. His head lolled forward. “He looks really bad.”
“Then break the speed limit. I’ve heard of this happening before.”
“Were they okay? The people this has happened to before?”
“Get him here fast.”
That didn’t bode well. I couldn’t lose Isaac. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to live in a world without him in it. The idea filled the pit of my stomach with stony dread. I couldn’t fail Isaac like this.
I hung up on Elliot and pressed my foot down on the ignition.
“I’m okay,” Isaac murmured.
His head was pressed against the back of his seat now, but his eyes were closed. A scarlet streak of blood dripped from his nose and set in the cracks of his colorless lips.
“You’re not okay,” I told him.
“I don’t need the hospital,” he murmured. “I’m just a bit dizzy.”
He was definitely more than a bit dizzy. “We’re not going to the hospital. We’re going to Elliot’s place.”
“I can see Hannibal.” He smiled weakly.
***
Isaac was more lucid by the time we got to Elliot’s, and
he insisted that he could walk inside himself. I doubted it, but he was incorrigible.
“Okay, you can try,” I humored him. It was nice to see him his stubborn self again. Maybe I got him out of the Cressley in time.
Isaac took half a step before he stumbled. I caught him halfway to the ground. His body fit perfectly into the crook of my arm. When I made eye contact with him, my throat nearly closed up. How close I’d come to never seeing that shocking shade of green again.
“Aren’t you my knight in shining armor today?” he said.
So Isaac was well enough to make me feel awkward. A good sign.
He kept trying to walk to the door on his own, despite my insistence that it would be easier for me to carry him. With our height difference, I had to stoop while he half clung to my bicep to steady himself. I ended up supporting most of his weight, anyway.
Apparently, pride also cometh after a fall.
I rapped Elliot’s coded knock on the door.
Elliot came to the door painfully slowly. I couldn’t exactly fault him, considering I could hear the scrape of his crutches on the floor. He was moving as fast as he could. When he finally reached the door, he knocked back from his side of it. I responded with more coded tapping, but we didn’t have time for all the usual security measures.
“It’s me, Elliot. Let us in. Isaac’s sick.”
He swung open the door. “He’ll feel better inside.”
I helped Isaac over the threshold. The minute we were inside, he retched up a grey-ish mush onto the carpet. It was streaked with slashes of red.
“Is that blood?” I asked. I was so nervous my voice was meek. I wasn’t afraid of the sight of the blood or vomit, but I didn’t like seeing them together, and I definitely didn’t like seeing them coming out of Isaac. I gently rubbed his back. That was what Nana used to do when I came home drunk and spewing after sneaking out. It always made me feel better.
“Yeah, it could be blood,” said Elliot. He sounded less anxious than I felt. He might have been acting, but it reassured me nonetheless. “Take Isaac to my library. It’s the safest room in the house.”
The New Paranormal Page 23