“Where in the world did you come from?” Ravin suddenly asked.
“There’s been an accident,” Novak informed him while maintaining a look of distrust.
“Around here?” Ravin asked with surprise and looked beyond the driveway as if expecting to see wrecked vehicles on the property. His actions were bizarre.
“No, just off the main road,” Vander replied while studying the man in the doorway. “The bridge was out.”
“Oh, that,” Ravin said casually while placing a hand in his pocket. His look turned serious. “You must have walked a long way.”
“No kidding,” Harris mumbled. “Do you think we can use your phone and call for help? People have been injured. My friends are out there.”
Ravin stared at them a moment as if not understanding the question. “Oh, I’m afraid that’s quite impossible,” he informed them. “The phones haven’t worked for days. Perhaps you should come inside and warm by the fire.”
All four exchanged looks then hesitantly entered the hotel past Ravin. Devon hesitated just outside the door while clinging to her shoulders. She stared blankly through the open doorway. Something was very wrong, indicated by the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. A cold shiver ran up her spine, reinforcing what the little hairs were expressing. Ravin stared back at her in silent question. She didn’t even look at him. He was about to speak when Vander stepped outside, took her by the arm, and pulled her into the hotel while keeping her close to his side. Ravin watched them enter, appeared curious, and then followed them inside. He casually closed the door behind them.
†
Ravin passed fresh towels to the four, soaking wet guests now standing by the fire in the lobby’s massive, stone fireplace. The impressive lobby was stylishly rustic with exposed beams and expensive southwestern furnishings and decorations. Despite the hotel’s beauty and grandeur, Devon felt uneasy but couldn’t understand what was causing those feelings. There were times that she wished her gift came with a handbook. As she looked at her travel companions, she noticed they shared some of her concerns but obviously not the same ones. Novak and Vander seemed particularly suspicious of Ravin. She wondered if they had some divine inspiration when it came to reading people, or if they were just naturally suspicious of everyone. Her ability to read people was part of her gift she just recently started to understand and develop. Novak and Vander had an air of confidence about them. It wasn’t just a macho thing but something far greater. It was that odd feeling she’d get while passing the courthouse. She suspected it was because of all the overinflated egos in such a confined space.
Their suspicions of Ravin weren’t unfounded, in her opinion. Ravin’s expression and demeanor seemed oddly off, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. She felt as if he was hiding some dark secret, and each time she looked at the scratches on his neck, it sent chills down her damp spine. Any normal person would find the scratches concerning, naturally, but they screamed to Devon. She sensed the violence and trauma that placed them there, but she didn’t feel anything aggressive or dangerous about the man sporting them. He was almost too calm both outwardly and from the vibes she was receiving. The chills she received from just being inside the hotel suggested something traumatic. It seemed inconceivable that the calm, neatly dressed man sitting before them wasn’t aware of whatever had happened within the walls. Ravin sat on the arm of one of the sofas with little expression while studying his guests.
“Sounds like you’ve had a harrowing night,” Ravin said with almost no emotion. “I wish I could tell you something that might cheer you up, but I’m afraid things are about to get worse for you.”
Devon felt another shiver down her spine. The temptation to run from the hotel was strong, but she fought her secondary instinct and instead listened to what her gift was telling her. She needed to stay. For whatever reason, she wasn’t supposed to leave. The others just stared at Ravin with puzzled looks.
“Don’t tell me there’s no way to reach help, because that’s the last thing I want to hear,” Harris announced.
“Oh, if it was only that,” Ravin replied dryly. “The last thing you want to hear is far worse.”
Devon felt her entire body twitch to his chilling words. She couldn’t read his emotions, but whatever he was hiding was rapidly surfacing. That she was fearful but not of him made little sense.
“What happened?” she asked timidly.
He glanced at her with the most serious look and slowly shook his head. “Honestly, I have no fucking clue.”
Novak leaned closer to Vander and muttered, “He’s definitely on something.” He indicated Ravin with a tiny nod. “Do you want to take this one?”
Vander tossed his towel onto a nearby chair, removed his badge from his pocket, and flashed it at Ravin.
“I’m Special Agent Vander Hawk, FBI, and this is my partner, Special Agent Novak Delano,” Vander announced in a stern, authoritative voice.
Novak flashed a smile along with his badge. Harris and Devon looked at both men with surprise, although it did explain the vibes she was getting from them.
“You can either start cooperating,” Vander informed him, “or I’m arresting you for substance abuse and failure to assist a federal agent in an emergency.”
“Substance abuse?” Ravin asked with genuine surprise while anxiously standing. “I’m not on anything, I assure you, but I am glad you’re here.” He suddenly seemed more enthusiastic and actually appeared almost relieved. “There’s something I think you should see.”
Ravin hurried into the grand hallway with all four following. He paused before the dining room and unlocked the doors. As he opened the door, Vander and Novak looked inside. Both men stared with shared looks of horror at the gruesome scene.
Harris peered over their shoulder and jumped back with alarm. “Oh, shit!”
The day old remains of those poisoned remained within the dining room where they had fallen. Nothing had been disturbed, not even the food on the tables. Novak suddenly grabbed Ravin, slammed him face first against the nearby wall, and removed his handcuffs.
“You’re under arrest!” Novak cried out.
Ravin barely reacted to Novak’s outburst and physical contact. His look remained callous and unchanged. “I didn’t do this,” he casually replied. “The hotel’s haunted.”
Novak handcuffed Ravin, roughly turned him around, and pushed his back against the wall. “Nice try.”
Devon couldn’t look away from the massacre within the dining room. As she stepped into the doorway, Vander immediately stopped her. She stared, as her mouth hung open, at the nearly seventy spirits floating around the dining room circling the dead bodies. A few looked at her with the same confused expression as the spirits within the woods. Every spirit suddenly stopped and stared at her. Devon rubbed her chilled arms and stared back at them. Why were they staring at her like that? It was unlike anything she’d ever encountered before. A tidal wave of horrifying images flashed through her mind of the men and women vomiting and grasping the tables while attempting to stand. She watched them collapse while gasping for air and clutching their stomachs. Frightened screams echoed throughout the room as others watched helplessly or attempted to comfort them. Devon took a deep, shaken breath, and suddenly grabbed Vander’s arm for support. He pulled her away from the doorway to keep her from seeing the grisly sight. She leaned against the wall and panted while holding her head. An enormous headache struck her and pounded within her skull. She’d never felt such intense pain before, but then again, she’d never witnessed a scene of mass death before.
“I didn’t kill them or the others,” Ravin said calmly.
Vander released Devon and approached Novak. Both federal agents exchanged horrified looks to his comment about ‘others’ then glared at Ravin. Neither seemed to know how to react.
“Others?” Vander demanded in disbelief. “There are more dead people?”
He nodded. “We’ve all seen the ghosts,” Ravin informed him. “They’
re causing some sort of mass paranoia among the others. I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t been affected.”
Devon slowly raised her head without releasing it and looked at Ravin with surprise to his ghost comment. If her head hadn’t been pounding as it was, there was a chance she’d be able to understand what happened better.
“Where are these other live people?” Novak demanded, although his tough guy attitude had been replaced with something resembling alarm.
“It’s one o’clock in the morning,” Ravin replied matter-of-fact. “The others are attempting to get some sleep. I could wake them, if you insist.”
Novak sneered at him and raised a cocky brow. “Yeah, I think we’re going to insist.” He forced Ravin away from the dining room.
Chapter Eleven
The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor to reveal Ravin with his hands cuffed behind his back and Novak standing alongside him. He pushed Ravin into the corridor. Vander, Harris, and Devon followed Novak and his prisoner. The fourth floor corridor was wide with multi-colored carpeting and tasteful decorations that screamed glamour and glitz. The resort was obviously a wealthy man’s rustic retreat. They headed to the end of the hall and paused before the corner suite.
“Would you mind knocking for me? I’m a little tied up right now,” Ravin casually said while indicating his cuffed wrists behind him.
Novak groaned with limited patience and knocked on the door. There was no response. Novak waited only a moment before pounding on the door.
“That’s not such a good idea,” Ravin announced and fidgeted for the first time. He attempted a tiny, nervous smile. “My, uh, girlfriend is a little out of sorts.”
“This is your room?” Vander demanded and quickly became annoyed. “Where’s the key?”
“Oh, that’s not wise, Special Agent Hawk,” Ravin said as his eyes widened. “Even I wouldn’t go in there without her permission. She’s not exactly herself right now.”
Novak slammed Ravin face first into the wall and searched his pockets for the key. Devon and Harris jumped with surprise by his burst of hostility. Ravin didn’t even react. Novak removed the card key from Ravin’s jacket pocket, flashed it with a smirk, and unlocked the door. It made a metallic chirping as it electronically unlocked. Novak opened the door and looked around the suite. There wasn’t anyone home. Vander pushed Ravin inside. The condition of the once lavish suite was frightening. Several busted items lie scattered about the room as well as empty bottles of wine, bottles of water, and large cans of half-eaten fruit. Novak walked across the room while Vander remained with Ravin just inside the doorway. Devon and Harris peered into the room just over Vander’s shoulder.
Ravin casually called out, “Darling, we have guests.”
Novak slowly approached the open doorway to the darkened bedroom. Nothing moved and there was no response. The silence frightened Devon, and even though he wouldn’t admit it, she could sense Novak was frightened too. Gemma lunged from the bedroom and tackled Novak to the floor. She landed on top of him, straddling his waist, and punched him in the face while crying out like a wild animal. Vander grabbed Gemma around the waist from behind and hoisted her off Novak. She kicked and screamed wildly with her arms and legs thrashing against him. She was nearly impossible to hold. Vander tossed her onto the sofa. She bounced with a scream, leaped to her feet, and lunged for Vander. Vander swiftly caught her wrist, and in one fluid motion, twisted her arm behind her back. He pushed her face first against the nearby wall and held her immobile. Although not physically hurt, she appeared stunned by her confined position.
Ravin hadn’t moved and showed no reaction to the attack or capture. “She’s quite vigorous,” he casually announced, surprising everyone.
Vander swiftly cuffed Gemma’s wrists behind her back. His attention was immediately drawn to the bruises already on her wrists. He spun her to face him. Gemma threw her back against the wall and stared at Vander with fright.
“Who are you?” Gemma demanded with a gasp. She had the look of a wild woman with unkempt hair and oversized clothing that obviously belonged to a man.
“It’s okay,” Vander announced while attempting to sound calm and reassuring. “We’re here to help you. You don’t have to be afraid. It’s going to be okay.” He indicated Ravin across the room. “What’s he done to you?”
Gemma was puzzled and looked at Ravin near the doorway. He smiled charmingly at her. She suddenly smiled with enthusiasm, completely reversing her earlier hostility.
“Hey, baby,” she chirped.
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks. Obviously, something was wrong. Vander hesitantly removed Gemma’s handcuffs. She gingerly rubbed her bruised wrists but didn’t seem the least bit affected by any of what happened. It was almost as if she didn’t even remember the last five minutes.
“Where did you get the bruises?” Vander asked her.
She stared at Vander with surprise then glanced at the bruises on her wrists. “It wasn’t his fault,” Gemma insisted while looking back at Vander. “I went a little crazy.” She looked at Ravin and smiled apologetically.
“Just a few scratches, dear. I forgive you,” Ravin gently informed her then looked at Vander. “I didn’t mean to cause those bruises, but you saw her zesty exuberance.”
She flashed her neatly trimmed, polished fingernails with great pride while grinning. “He gave me a manicure.”
Harris stared at the scene with his mouth hanging open then turned slightly to Devon and muttered, “What the hell is going on here?”
Devon slowly shook her head while staring at Gemma. “I have no clue, but it’s starting to freak me out a little.”
“Is he holding you against your will?” Vander asked Gemma with a little more sympathy.
She appeared surprised by the question. “Who? Ravin?” Gemma suddenly asked. She looked back at Ravin, gave him a seductive once over, and smiled lustfully. “No, of course not. He’s my little stud muffin.” She blew Ravin a kiss from across the room and winked at him. She seductively ran her fingers along her cleavage in an attempt to arouse him.
Ravin grinned with a dreamy sigh and looked at Harris. “I’m her stud muffin--”
Harris and Devon exchanged looks but withheld comment.
“You’re kidding, right?” Novak suddenly bellowed out with disbelief.
“Why is he handcuffed?” Gemma politely asked.
Vander seemed stunned by the question. “Because there are dozens of dead bodies littered across the dining room, and he makes a damned fine suspect.”
She defiantly shook her head. “No, it wasn’t him, it was the ghosts,” Gemma announced with conviction and immediately turned fearful. “The ghosts poisoned them and made the others kill themselves. We didn’t touch anything. We didn’t want to--” She hesitated then glanced at Ravin with a curious tilt of her head. “What was it you said?”
“We didn’t want to compromise any evidence,” Ravin replied casually.
Gemma groaned lustfully. “He’s so smart.” Her look almost instantly turned serious. She frantically looked from Vander to Novak. “The others know what happened. You should talk to them. They’ll tell you. They’ll tell you it was the ghosts. You can’t arrest Ravin. He didn’t hurt anyone, I swear. He wouldn’t.” She suddenly turned paranoid and grabbed Vander’s arm while pleading with her eyes. “I can’t live without him. I’ll die for sure. Don’t take him away from me--please!”
“Okay, that’s enough of ‘psycho love story’,” Novak snarled then glared at Ravin. “Wake the others. This entire situation is starting to creep me out.”
“Tipped my ‘creepy-o-meter’ long before this,” Harris muttered to Devon.
“Mine too,” Devon replied in response. “And that’s tough to do.”
Chapter Twelve
It was a little before two o’clock in the morning by the time Ravin had gathered the remaining survivors in the lobby. Apart from Ravin and Gemma, Dino, Cody, Tyson, Sonya, Felicia, and Darlene were all
that was left. Vander, Novak, Harris, and Devon again stood near the fireplace in their still soaked clothing. Devon was shivering partly from dampness but mostly due to their alarming situation. The remaining townsfolk shared Ravin’s take on what happened within the hotel over the last forty-eight hours. Novak and Vander were less than convinced. Harris just stared without comment, but he obviously thought the same thing. They were all out of their minds! Devon couldn’t get a read on any of the other survivors. It happened often while around groups of people. In this case, stress levels were alarmingly high, even among those in her group. General consensus told her they were telling the truth; or at least they believed they were telling the truth. Either way resulted in the same disturbing outcome. Gemma stayed close to Ravin. Felicia, on the other hand, seemed to be working the room and was nearly oblivious to the conversation. She stopped and flirted with Dino.
“Seriously, you’re all sticking with the ghost story?” Novak demanded and appeared less than impressed.
“We know what we saw,” Dino informed them. He wasn’t pleased with Felicia’s hands caressing his shoulders and aggressively forced her away from him. He maintained his serious attitude and kept his attention on the federal agents. “I’m the mayor for Christ’s sake. I know how it sounds, but I wouldn’t make this up.” He attempted to collect himself and drew a deep, shaken breath. “Unfortunately, you’ll see for yourself soon enough. It’s been quiet the last few hours. Too quiet, if you know what I mean.”
Dino’s cold rejection didn’t even faze Felicia. She moved on to Tyson, who attempted to ignore her advances.
“We all saw them over the past twenty-four hours,” Sonya said with some insecurity. “You wouldn’t believe the hell we’ve been put through.”
“One guy went completely mad and took a baseball bat to a few of the others,” Darlene explained. “We saw him do it. He said they were possessed. The ghosts made him do it. Those were his words, Agent Delano.”
Dead Village Page 6