Hell and Back

by Patricia Blackmoor

  “H,” Courtney read. “E, R, E. Here.”

  “Well, obviously she’s here,” Mitchell said. “That was a stupid question, Courtney.”

  “Sorry,” she muttered.

  “If it’s really a ghost, and not you being overly enthusiastic, we should ask her a question to make sure it’s really here,” he said.

  Courtney let out a deep breath. “Okay. Um, Meg, we just want to make sure it’s really you. No offense. So...how did we meet?”

  I moved my hand over the planchette.

  “R, O, O, M,” Courtney read out, scrawling the answer on a notepad, “M, A, T, E, S. Roommates. Well, that’s right. It really is her.”

  “This is dumb,” Mitchell said with a sigh.

  “Meg, can you hear everything we’re saying?” Courtney asked.

  I moved the planchette back to “Yes.”

  “Even Mitchell?”

  I moved the planchette off and back on to “Yes.”

  “So maybe shut up, yeah?” Courtney murmured to him.

  Once again, I moved the planchette off and back on to “Yes.”

  Parker snickered, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

  “Meg,” Courtney said, grabbing a tissue, “we miss you so, so much. You have no idea how hard things have been for us since you’ve been gone. We really, really miss you.”

  I rolled my eyes at Parker, and he rolled his back at me.

  “Aren’t you going to say something?” he asked.

  “Not yet,” I said. “I want to drag it out, torture them.”

  He shrugged.

  “What is it like, after death?” Courtney asked.

  I used the planchette to pick out the letters.

  “H, E, L, L. Oh,” Courtney murmured.

  “She went to hell?” Mitchell asked. “Shit, what hope is there for us, then?”

  “Shut up,” Courtney hissed. She returned her focus to the board. “Is it terrible?”

  I used the planchette to tell her yes.

  “Oh, Meg, I’m so sorry.”

  I rolled my eyes again.

  “Okay, um, well, we miss you a lot,” she said, shifting awkwardly.

  “For fuck’s sake, Courtney, can we hurry this up?” Mitchell asked.

  I used the planchette to point to “No.”

  “We have to do this on her time,” Courtney said.

  “Well, can you hurry up and ask the important questions?”

  Courtney cleared her throat, looking uncomfortably at Mitchell. She took a deep breath, a nervous breath, and I could tell she was about to ask me something that made her worried. Parker and I exchanged a glance, wondering what on earth she was about to ask.

  “Meg, do you know how you died?” Courtney finally asked me.

  “Why are you asking her that?” Mitchell muttered.

  I reached for the planchette again.

  “S, H, O, T. That’s right. The cops followed us, and you were shot,” Courtney said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Jesus Christ, does she really think I believe that? That’s ridiculous. That makes no sense.”

  “We were so upset,” Courtney said, pretending to sob. She had always been dramatic.

  “Meg, before you died, we robbed banks. Do you remember that?”

  I moved the planchette to the “Yes.” “Did she think I’d forget?” I asked Parker.

  “Did you hide the money from the first two robberies?” Courtney asked me.

  Once more, I moved the planchette to “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I, D, I, D, N, T, T, R, U, S, T, Y, O, U. Id...ididntru…”

  “It says ‘I didn’t trust you’.”

  “Oh, you’re right,” she said, looking at the notebook. “Um...oh.”

  I looked at Parker, my eyebrows raised. “You’re right, this is fun.”

  Courtney had turned a bright red, while Mitchell had his fists clenched on his lap.

  “But, Meg, why not?”

  I squared my jaw, annoyed at her.

  “S, T, O, P, P, L, A, Y, I, N, G, I, N, N, O, C, E, N, T.”

  “Stop playing innocent,” Mitchell said.

  I cleared my throat, adjusting my position on my knees. I moved the planchette once more, and Courtney read the letters.

  “Y, O, U, K, N, O, W, W, H, Y.”

  “I don’t!” Courtney protested.

  I bit my lip, shaking my head. I was so angry, and normally, when I had been alive, I would have been crying when I was this mad. But of course, I didn’t have that catharsis as a woman free from hell.

  “H, O, W, L, O, N, G. How long what, Meg?”

  “You know what,” Mitchell scoffed. “She wants to know how long we’ve been sleeping together.”

  I moved the planchette to “yes.”

  “How does she know about that?” Courtney asked.

  “W, A, T, C, H, I, N, G, Y, O, U. Oh.”

  “She’s been watching us?” Mitchell asked. “How long?”

  “A, L, L, D, A, Y.”

  Mitchell looked ready to throw up.

  “H, O, W, L, O, N, G.” Courtney sighed, wiping away a fake tear. “Not that long, Meg.” She turned her attention back to the board. “T, E, L, L, T, H, E, T, R, U, T, H.”

  Courtney sniffled. “A year,” she muttered.

  I scoffed, turning to Parker. “A year? A fucking year? They’ve been fucking for a fucking year? What the fuck?”

  I reached over, striking out at a candle, knocking it to the floor. The carpet started smoldering.

  “Shit, shit,” Courtney said, grabbing a blanket off the couch and snuffing it out. “Meg, I’m so, so sorry. We should have told you. I’m so sorry.”

  I reached for the planchette again. “L, I, A, R.”

  “I’m sorry, Meg,” Courtney sniffled again.

  I glanced over at Mitchell. He had hardly moved an inch, his face stoic. I wondered what he was thinking.

  “W, H, Y.” I spelled out.

  “We didn’t mean for it to happen,” Courtney said. “We were planning the robberies, and it just sort of happened. It wasn’t intentional. I’m sorry.”

  “W, H, Y.”

  “We should have told you, I’m sorry. We were afraid you’d be upset.”

  “I, A, M.”

  “I know, Meg, I’m so sorry.”

  She had actual tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Meg, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear I didn’t.”

  “L, I, A, R.”

  “I’m so sorry, Meg. So sorry. I’m a terrible person. We’re terrible people,” she said, clutching Mitchell’s arm.

  He shrugged her off. “Don’t drag me into this,” he said.

  “Come on, Mitchell,” she hissed, as if I couldn’t hear her. “We’ll never get her to tell us where the money is if you don’t act apologetic.”

  He sighed. “I’m really, really sorry, Meg.” He didn’t sound sorry at all.

  “What a gentleman,” Parker said.

  I shook my head. “I really don’t understand what I saw in him. What an ass.”

  Mitchell leaned forward. “Look, Meg, I know we did some terrible things. We never meant to let it get as deep as it did. We fell in love and we couldn’t stop it. We didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  “L, I, A, R.”

  “I’m not lying, Meg. I’m really sorry we got you tangled up in this. That was never supposed to be the plan. We just want a nice life together. Can you please tell us where the money is?”

  “You can’t ask her like that,” Courtney hissed.

  “What, like I haven’t groveled enough?”

  “No, you haven’t,” she said.

  “Here’s the thing, Meg. I loved you. I really did. But I wasn’t the right person for you. You deserved someone better than me, someone who wouldn’t drag you into this kind of crap. I’m really, really sorry we got you killed. It wasn’t what we meant. Meg and I just want to have a nice life together. We promise we’ll never forget you. We care about you so much.”<
br />
  I only raised my eyebrows at Parker, who shook his head.

  “Now, Meg,” Mitchell said with a sigh. “Please, let us have a quiet life. We’ll never hurt anyone again. Will you please tell me where the money is?”

  I gave Parker a long look as he smirked at me. I tilted my head, watching Mitchell as he waited for my answer. I was going to torture him as long as I could. It gave me an incredible satisfaction. Petty, but the best I could do considering my current condition. When he looked like he was going to explode, I put my hand back on the planchette.

  “N, O.”

  His shoulders slumped. “Meg, please. Why not?”

  “Y, O, U, K, I, L, L, E, D, M, E.”

  Mitchell looked at the letters. “Fuck.”

  “F, U, C, K, Y, O, U,” I spelled out.

  Then, with great satisfaction, I put the planchette on “Goodbye”.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “That felt amazing!” I cried out as I bounded down the front steps to the sidewalk. My heart was light, my skin felt clear, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this alive.

  “It was amazing to watch,” Parker said as he followed after me. He wrapped me in a hug and I hugged him back, pulling him in tight.

  “I can’t believe I wasted my life on those two,” I said, still wrapped in Parker’s arms. “I feel so foolish.”

  “We all make mistakes,” Parker murmured.

  I pulled away from him, still holding him in my arms. “What should we do now? The night is young!”

  “Actually,” Parker said. “I may have an idea.”

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll just have to trust me.”

  I looked at him skeptically, but with a smile still on my face. “Well, you’ve gotten me this far. Lead the way.”

  Parker hooked his arm in mine and we strolled along the river toward the transit station. Parker wouldn’t let me look at the map or the schedule, instead whisking me onto one of the buses. My heart thrummed with excitement as we rode along.

  “Come on, tell me where we’re going,” I begged.

  “Nope. It’s a surprise,” he said, flashing me his charming smile.

  “A hint?”

  “Somewhere special.”

  “Well, that’s vague,” I said, crossing my arms and sinking back in my seat.

  He grabbed my hand, pulling it gently from where it was tucked. “It’s worth it, I promise.”

  I rested my head on his shoulder as we rode. At this time of night, the streets were quiet and the bus was too, very few people riding along, even in the city. I didn’t even realize we were at the right stop until Parker jumped from his seat and pulled me out.

  When I stepped off the bus, I realized we were downtown, tall buildings and neon lights surrounding us.

  “What, do you want to go bar hopping?” I asked him.

  “Not exactly,” he told me. “Come on.”

  He took my hand and led me down the street and toward a building. I had to look up to see what we were walking into; I wasn’t terribly familiar with this part of town.

  “The Carter Hotel?” I asked. “What are we doing here?”

  “I had an idea,” he said, still with that goofy grin on his face.

  We entered the lobby of the hotel. I had never stayed in a hotel like this; everything was modern, lights in shades of blues and pinks and purple, high ceilings, shiny lights.

  “Wow,” I murmured. “This is so cool.”

  “Remember how I said I worked for a tech company?” he asked. “The Carter Hotel was one of our clients. I never stayed here, but when I first started out, I made a few service calls here. I always thought it was really cool. The building is super old, but they’ve modernized it.”

  “It is really cool,” I agreed. “But I don’t understand what we’re doing here.”

  “I thought we could have a nice night,” he said. “Before we have to go back to hell.”

  “Ah,” I said. “I like the way you think.”

  “Come on,” he said, pulling me by my hand as we slipped into the elevator. We rode up with another couple, who clearly couldn’t tell that we were there, as they were all over each other, his hand up her skirt. We stepped out at the penultimate floor, the hallways quiet, as the couple escaped to their room.

  “Where to?” I asked. “How do we know what rooms are open?”

  “We’ll just have to pop in and see,” Parker said. We started down the hall, and as we walked, I saw a woman walking toward us. I wouldn’t have taken a second look except she looked like she had drowned, and blood was splattered on her long, white, turn-of-the-century nightgown.

  “Is she okay?” I murmured to Parker.

  The woman looked up at us. “You can see me?”

  “You can see us?” Parker asked.

  She tilted her head. “You aren’t from this realm, are you?”

  “Not exactly,” Parker said, glancing at me.

  “How can you see us?” I asked.

  “Oh, I’ve been here for ages,” she said with a sigh. “I live outside the realm of the living. Some can see me, some can hear me, others cannot.”

  “How long have you been here?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I can’t remember how many years have passed. I died in 1917.”

  “Wow,” I murmured. “A hundred years.”

  “A hundred years,” she said sadly.

  “Why are you still here?” Parker asked.

  “I was murdered. We don’t go quietly.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “Here in this hotel?”

  “Yes. My fiancé. I wanted revenge on him, but of course, he died long ago.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I repeated.

  “Anyway, what are you two doing here?”

  Parker and I glanced at each other. “We’re on a brief vacation from hell,” he said. “We were hoping to, um, rent a room. Do you happen to know which ones are empty?”

  “Room 1308,” she said. “That’s the room I died in. They don’t rent it out anymore because I’ve disturbed too many of the guests. But you can stay the night, if you’d like.”

  “Thank you so much,” I said.

  “Oh, of course. I remember what it’s like to be in love. And since you’re already dead, he can’t murder you.”

  “That’s a bonus I never thought of,” I said to Parker.

  “Have a good night,” I said to the woman’s ghost.

  Parker and I started down the hallway before I paused. “Wait, ma’am?”

  “Please, call me Agatha,” she said.

  “You’ve been a ghost for a long time. Can you touch things, move things?”

  “Of course.”

  “How?”

  “Focus,” she said. “Focus and emotion.”

  “So pretty much what we thought,” I said to Parker. I turned back to Agatha. “Thank you!”

  “Have a nice time,” she said.

  Parker and I turned again and hurried back down the hallway. I felt like a schoolgirl. Or, more accurately, I felt like I had on prom night.

  The room was mostly dark when we entered, with only a thin strand of light sifting through the curtains from the neon lights outside. I found the light switch on beside the door. I took a deep breath.

  “All right, let’s see if this works,” I said. I concentrated with everything that I had, feeling the emotion run through my veins.

  It took three tries, but I finally managed to flick the switch, bathing the room in light.

  “Wow,” I said glancing around. The room was a beautiful shade of purple, almost glowing in the soft light. A large, king-sized bed rested against one wall, and the bathroom was off to the left.

  “This is even better than I could have imagined,” Parker said.

  “Oh. Oh my God.”

  “What?”

  I glanced down at my hands and my dingy clothes. “I look awful.”

  Parker came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “Y
ou look beautiful.”

  “But...what if we took a shower?” I asked him.

  “I think I can agree to that.”

  We crossed to the bathroom. I had never seen a shower this big, except maybe in a movie.

  I sucked in a deep breath as I reached for the faucet. I let all my excitement about this night with parker flow into my fingertips. I felt the handle cold in my hand, and after figuring out exactly how to turn it on, hot water came streaming from the showerhead.

  “Ready?” I asked, breathless.

  “When you are.”

  I grabbed my shirt from the hem and pulled it up over my head, tossing it on the ground. I couldn’t look at Parker as I stripped, embarrassed for whatever beat-up shape my body was in. Instead, once I was naked, I stepped inside the shower and let the water wash over me. A few moments later I felt Parker’s hands on my waist and his lips on my neck. I let out an involuntary moan.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered.

  I turned to face him, our wet, naked bodies pressed together, my hands against his firm chest. Parker tilted his head down and our lips met, water streaming down our faces. I reached my arms around his neck, pulling him close to me as his hardness pressed against my abdomen.

  “I never thought I’d feel this way again,” he murmured. “I’d resigned myself to eternity in hell.”

  Our lips met again as Parker’s hands wandered from my waist down toward my ass, grasping me tightly. He hoisted me up, and I wrapped my legs around him, his cock pressing against me. He pushed me up against the wall, supporting me with one hand while another tilted my chin up. He decorated my throat with his lips, planting warm kisses as I closed my eyes, water beating against my feet. My fingers dug into his back, the pleasure flowing through my body as the steam filled the bathroom.

  I tilted my head back toward Parker’s, and our lips met once more in heated kisses. Parker spun me around, planting my feet on the ground. With one hand behind my back he dipped me backward, letting the water drum against my skin as he took one of my nipples in his mouth, sucking so hard I cried out in ecstasy. When he pulled me back up, he kissed down my stomach to the valley between my legs. As I steeled myself against the tile wall of the shower, he spread my legs apart and darted his tongue between them, sliding it up my slit.

  “Fuck,” I moaned as waves of pleasure washed over me.