The Haunted Halls

by Glenn Rolfe

  Jeff closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stood up. “What do we have to do?”

  Chapter Nine

  Eric hurried up the stairs and down to his room. He saw the look on her face. He couldn’t tell if she knew what he’d done or not, just that his Ice Queen was not pleased to see him drenched to the bone, dripping all over the lobby. Her stare had been one of intent. She would be coming to see him. As much as he’d been longing for and dreaming about it, he had a feeling this would not be a pleasant visit.

  Just as he finished the thought, there was a knock at his door. He knew it was her. Outside his window, beneath the violent thunderstorm, the day was dying. For the first time since his change, Eric wondered about his own mortality.

  He opened the door. Kenneth the Rat stood dripping water and mud all over the floor. His eyes were nothing but black orbs. He grinned behind a dirt-covered face. Eric wasn’t sure how the weakling was standing before him and not buried in the grave he had made, but he was damn sure going to put him back in it.

  “You can try,” Kenneth said, stepping forward. “But I wouldn’t if I were you.”

  How he had just read his thoughts, Eric wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like that he couldn’t do the same.

  “You’re services are no longer needed,” Kenneth said.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re going to–”

  Kenneth grabbed Eric’s wet shirt and threw him backward, taking the big guy off his feet, and sending him sailing into the far wall.

  “How…what…” Eric tried to say. Kenneth stepped aside as a man in a dress shirt and slacks with shoulder length blond hair entered the room. The temperature dropped as if she were here. Something erupted inside Eric that he hadn’t felt in years–fear.

  “Who the hell are…?” It took a second for Eric to recognize him. It was the guy with the shaved head from the pool, the one that she was toying with. Timothy.

  “As young, obedient Kenneth stated, you’re services are no longer needed.”

  In a blur of movement, the chosen one was at his throat. Eric felt a strange and painful sensation rush through him. He watched the room go red and then fade back to normal. His chest hurt, his eyes burned, his muscles went numb. He knew he was no longer one of them. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll do whatever She wants. I’ll–”

  “Too late,” Timothy said.

  He pulled Eric to his feet and threw him. Eric’s body smashed through the window. He thought of Jimmy and knew he had this coming. The pavement below rushed to meet his face. His neck snapped on impact.

  “Should I put him with the rest of the bodies?” Kenneth said.

  “Just drag him out of sight,” Sarah said from the doorway. Both of her boys turned to her from the shattered window now being assaulted by the torrents of rain whipping in from the storm. “After tonight, there will be no one left but us.”

  VOLUME V

  Awakening

  Rain thrashed the building like a thousand angry insects crashing against an unseen force. The hallway, as dangerously quiet as a path through woods almost remembered, stretched outward. Tan walls, holding portraits perched like gathering crows on a telephone line, waited in silence along the corridor. At the far end, an EXIT sign glowed like a welcoming threat. Voices came to life:

  “Should I keep him with the rest?” a male voice said.

  “It doesn’t matter. After tonight, there will be no one left but us,” the female responded.

  Unsure of who or what any of them were–Ghosts? Spirits? More? Less?–and only now cognizant of its own existence, the entity floated down the unattractive hallway. It was, or had been, alive. Now, it was again, in some manner of speaking.

  Longing for warmth and communion with someone, something, she–yes, she, it remembered– Christina moved toward the others.

  “It doesn’t matter. After tonight, there will be no one left but us.”

  The words were clear. The ominous message spewed poison into the air. That voice…she knew that voice. Something reached out–something dark. The young spirit, suddenly frightened, moved away, knowing there was something rotten among the group. The hum of a soda machine momentarily stole her attention, its steady drone broken only by a door opening down the hall and then slamming shut. A raggedy looking man appeared, covered in mud, dripping wet from head-to-toe. He paid her no mind as he turned the other direction and vanished through the doorway beneath the EXIT sign.

  The smell of chlorine stung her burgeoning senses. Something like a nightmare crossed her waking mind–something with swimming pools and sirens… If a spirit can shiver, she did. Fearful of being discovered by the familiar one, she slipped farther away.

  Thunder boomed on the other side of the walls. A wicked night was saying hello.

  Chapter One

  Kenneth’s blood was alive, pumping through a vengeful heart with an excitement previously unknown. He stared out into the rain. Lightning sparking across the sky lit the lot below. The motionless body of the goon who tried to kill him lay sprawled in an awkward display. Eric had landed face first on the paved lot with the rest of his body flopping over, nearly decapitating him. He lay still–dead and broken.

  “What shall we do next?” Timothy said, stepping to her side.

  “Why don’t you tend to those left up here, while young Kenneth heads down to my room to wait for his new girlfriend,” she said. “I’m going to go have a little fun with Jeffrey and his spiritual guru.”

  Kenneth felt like his moment had arrived. He had managed to topple Eric in their battle for her affection. There was still Timothy, but he liked Tim. He could sense something special behind the man’s eyes, under his skin, something just beyond. There was an admiration, a respect, he felt toward her chosen one that validated the man’s presence. Kenneth stepped next to Timothy, who looked amazing and menacing dressed all in black.

  “Kenneth,” Sarah said. “Before you get your prize, I want you to scrape up that mess in lot, but don’t worry about laying him to rest with the others. Just get him off the blacktop. When you’re finished with that, you may go wait in my room. I’ll send your angel right along.”

  “I’ll be ready,” he said.

  She moved to him, gently sweeping his wet bangs across his forehead. He gazed into her eyes as she said, “I know you will, dear. I am so proud of you.” She kissed him on the lips, arousing every sense in his body. He wanted to weep, even more, he wanted to destroy. For her, all for her.

  He pulled away, slipped into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and left to clean up the mess in the parking lot.

  Descending the stairs, his thoughts were held hostage by the cute girl from the front desk. The one she would be sending to him. He knew her name was Rhiannon. He could tell she was one of those cute, but tough kinds of girls. He’d been timid in his limited conversations with her throughout his stay, but tonight, tonight would be different. He was different. Everything was different. Shy, pathetic Kenneth was gone. The loser she’d thrown annoyed looks at and given the cold shoulder to was about to make her squeal and squirm. Maybe she would beg for mercy. Maybe she would beg for death. Maybe he would make her like him and she would just beg.

  …..

  “Where will you be–” Timothy said.

  “Shh...” Sarah placed a finger to his cold lips. For a moment, she felt…movement. “Try not to have too much fun without me, my love.”

  Taking her hand from his lips, she went into the light of the hallway and closed her eyes. There had been something... Was it the half-hearted shaman? Maybe, but it felt more familiar. No matter–it was gone. Timothy was watching her.

  “What is it?” he said, standing in the doorway.

  She walked up to him, kissed his open mouth and smiled. “I have things to tend to, and so do you.” She moved toward the stairwell, stopped and gestured to the tunnel of doors, giving one last look for the disturbance. “When you finish whoever remains up here, finish off the rest.”

  …�
��

  Timothy wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he could tell something had bothered her. Having not seen an ounce of weakness slip from her since they met, whatever it was she wasn’t telling him had broken through her defenses. Before he could think on it any further, two women emerged from a room two doors down holding towels and beers.

  Time for him to earn his keep.

  Chapter Two

  “Hello,” Timothy said. The two girls smiled.

  “Hi,” the redhead on the left said. The brunette beside her, giggled as they stopped.

  “My name’s Tim. Weren’t you at the pool yesterday?” He looked at the redhead.

  “Ah, I don’t think so. We just got here. Sorry.”

  “Oh, well it must have been another beautiful girl who looked like you.”

  “Yeah, must have been.” She smirked to her friend. “Well, we were on our way down to the pool for a dip. Care to join us?”

  “No, no. I had something else in mind.” He gazed at the brunette next to her like she was welcoming him into her bed. He watched the shorter, dark-haired girl go from smiling to tightlipped and fidgety.

  “Okay, well we’re going down, so if you change your mind–” Red began.

  “No,” he interrupted. “You’re not. You’re not going anywhere.”

  The redhead pulled her towel up over her chest. “Sorry, Tim, but yeah, we are.”

  He stepped in their path placing his hand on the wall, blocking their route.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Red said.

  “Come on, let’s go.” The brunette yanked on her friend’s arm and pulled her back the way they came.

  Timothy reached out and grabbed Red’s other arm. “Hey,” he smiled at the brunette and flashed his charcoal eyes, “let’s see who gets to get their wish.”

  “Hey,” Red screamed. Timothy punched her in the face, dropping her to the floor unconscious. The brunette took off running.

  The lights in the hallway flickered like strobe lights at a rock concert as the whimpering girl stumbled down the corridor. Just before reaching the elevators, a picture of the Maine State House flew free from the wall, smashing her over the head and knocking her feet out from under her. Timothy watched her face bounce off the floor.

  He dragged Red into Eric’s room and then retrieved the brunette.

  The rain was still blowing into the room from the broken window he’d thrown Eric through as the brunette opened her eyes. “Good morning, Sunshine,” Timothy said. He watched from the room’s second bed as she looked around the room. Her eyes went wide. “You scream and I’ll tear pretty little Red over here’s eyes out.” Red sat slumped against the bed from her spot on the floor; the bruise next to her eye was already purple. Timothy stroked the unconscious girl’s hair.

  The brunette cried as she shook her head. “What do you want?”

  He rose up from the corner of the other bed, smacking Red’s cheek with the back of his hand. Red blinked her eyes, raising a hand to protect her from his. He looked over the brunette’s bikini-clad body and said, “I can think of a couple things.”

  …..

  Sarah stalked down the first floor hall glancing around, searching for something. She stopped by the pool room. A couple and their two children splashed around inside. The two little blond kids played in the shallow end while the adults treaded water in the deep. Sarah placed a hand against the glass. Frost quickly formed beneath her touch. She drifted back to a memory of her own childhood. If only she could have had such enjoyment. Her past was tarnished by an egocentric, perverted father and his filthy whore of a fiancée.

  “Hey,” a voice said, bringing her back to the pool room window. “Did you still need me to come up and check that A/C unit?” It was the girl, Rhiannon, from the front desk. Sarah pulled her hand from the frosty glass, placing her back against the cool surface.

  “Actually, yeah, I have some errands to run right now. Do you need me in the room to check it out?”

  “Not if you don’t mind me being in there when you’re not,” Rhiannon said.

  “Great, why don’t you go ahead and do that.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely, I’m not the type of girl who gets all freaked out about her possessions. I’ll check in with you at the desk when I get back.” Sarah wore her best normal person smile.

  “Okay, I’m not promising results,” Rhiannon said, “but I’ll see if it’s something I’ve dealt with before or if we just need to switch you to another room.”

  Sarah’s smile came easy as she thought of Kenneth. “Whatever you need to do to get it resolved is fine by me. I’ll see you in a bit?”

  “Sure.”

  Sarah glanced over her shoulder; the ice was gone. She nodded at the front desk girl and walked toward the lobby pretending she had someplace else to be. She heard the stairwell door close behind her and thought of Kenneth awaiting his prize.

  Chapter Three

  Kenneth stepped into the downpour, letting it wash over him. He glanced over at the broken body of his nemesis–just as he thought she had not cared. Quite the contrary actually, she seemed pleased with his act of revenge. His smile faded as he wondered what her plans were for him. After tonight, would he too become expendable? He shook the thought from his head and ran to clean up Eric’s crooked carcass.

  After dragging the body behind the trees, following her orders not to bother with burying it, he brushed his hands on his pant legs and headed back inside–his reward for being a good boy would be waiting for him.

  …..

  Rhiannon reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway. The corridor, finally calm and peaceful–no naked people running from room to room, no crying babies, no odd complaints about voices coming from unoccupied rooms–offered Rhiannon a moment of quiet, welcomed solace. Gone, at least for the moment, were the various fears induced by the last thirty or so hours.

  Approaching the door to room 209, she noticed something–the picture of the State House was gone. A cursory glance around the hall and the little area before the elevator told her what she already knew–college kid shenanigans. Happened every weekend they stayed. Two weeks ago, a group of eighteen and nineteen-year-old camp counselors stayed. The hotel had to replace the portrait of famed Maine adventurer (she still wasn’t sure what an “adventurer” was) Tom Frost that had been hanging in the hall for years–someone had drawn a semen-spewing dick in front of his mouth. They also had to throw out the plant that used to sit next to the Pepsi machine–a guest told her and Kurt that she’d seen one of the boys stumble over and urinate in it. They usually fucked with things on the second floor where there was less of a chance of being caught by one of the desk agents. Typical crap. Most of the college kids had departed this morning; the few remaining stragglers were due out tomorrow.

  Tomorrow. For some reason the thought felt empty. She was at the door to room 209 before she could ponder the depressing feeling further. The girl, Sarah, had said to go in. She couldn’t recall whether she said she was alone or not. Rhiannon knocked. “Front desk?”

  No answer. She pulled her master key and opened the door.

  …..

  Kenneth watched his prize walk down the hall.

  Shit.

  He didn’t want to fuck this up, didn’t want to end up like the big guy. He moved like a ninja, coming up on her swift and silent, ducking in the space by the elevators as she reached the room. He watched her, waited for her to crack the door and then…

  …..

  Cold air rushed out from within the room just as wet hands grabbed and shoved Rhiannon from behind. She spun around to find Kenneth McGowan leering at her from the doorway. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she said, holding back the fear tracing her spine like the tip of a blade. “You can’t be in here.”

  “I can be in here. In fact, I was told to come here by the girl staying in this room.”

  “I don’t think so. If you don’t get
out of here, I’m going to call the police.”

  “Oh no…” He held his hands up to his mouth feigning cowardice. His pale skin dripped mud to the floor of the freezing room. The hungry look in his beady eyes covered her flesh with invisible maggots. She watched him turn and twist the bolt on the door. He turned back toward her and said, “Now, I want you to know that I won’t kill you if you don’t make me.”

  Rhiannon backed away trying to think of a way out. She glanced at the window over her shoulder.

  “I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” he said, beginning his approach.

  “Stay the fuck away from me!” She eyeballed the phone by the bed.

  “Ah yes, you were going to call the police…” He nodded toward the phone. “Go on.” It was like he was reading her thoughts. A bad feeling crept over her already anxious mood–this wasn’t the same quiet guy that checked-in [however many] days ago. He was different. “You have no idea,” he said. “I want you to meet her. I think she’ll give you to me if I ask.”

  “Who?”

  “The Ice Queen. She’s been waiting for us, for this moment. You’re going to be a part of something special.”

  Rhiannon needed to get out, and fast. Trying to act, not think, she rushed him.

  He grabbed her as she plowed into him and they fell to the floor. He wrapped his arms around her legs. With his nose inches from her crotch, he started sniffing at her like a dog as she struggled against his clammy grasp.