The Haunting of Anna McAlister

by Jerome Harrison

  “I did.”

  “Did you have someone dig them up and mail them here?”

  “No, I would never have done that.”

  Anna walked slowly away from Tom and the boxes. She wanted to be sure that he really was who he again seemed to be. Her throat, vagina, breasts and face ached from his assault. With her tongue Anna could tell that a filling was missing and another tooth seemed to be loose.

  Tom meanwhile quickly put on his pants.

  “Why did you do that to me?” Anna lost control. She raced back to Tom and started pounding on his chest. “Why?”

  Tom held her close. She could tell that he was fighting to keep back his tears. “I don’t know. It was like I wasn’t really doing it, but I knew that I was. I mean I was watching my body, but couldn’t stop what it was doing. I saw you there, but it wasn’t really you. You have to believe me baby, I wouldn’t hurt you. You know that, you have to know that.”

  “What did you do after you left me today?” Anna asked.

  “I’m sorry about that too. First of all I came back looking for you. That was weird. I saw you walking into a bunch of people, so I ran back to get you. But, when I got there, I couldn’t find you anywhere. I figured that you must have gotten a cab.”

  Anna sat down on the bed. Tom sat down next to her. She didn’t move away.

  “So then I just came back here and walked all around this damn hotel.” Tom put his hand on Anna’s knee. She flinched but left it in place as Tom continued.

  “I hoped that maybe I could find something, or feel something. I must have walked every inch of this place.”

  “You went to room 531?”

  “That was my last stop. It’s really a great room, you know,” Tom said casually. “It’s a lot bigger than this one.”

  “You got inside?” Anna sounded shocked, excited and scared. “It wasn’t locked?”

  “No, in fact when I got there the door was just a little open. I knocked, but when no one answered I decided to take a look inside.”

  “The hotel manager said that the room had been locked up tight for fifty years. That no one had gone in there.”

  “Well, he must have been wrong,” Tom smiled. “When I walked in all the lights were on and everything looked great. It’s actually more than just a room, it’s a live-in suite, like an apartment . . . only bigger.”

  “What did it look like inside?”

  “Fantastic. It’s filled with antique furniture that looks as new as when it was made. The workmanship is incredible.” Tom took a deep breath. “And you know what’s even weirder. I think someone’s still living in that room.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “The table was set for two with this incredible china and crystal. That stuff had to be worth a fortune. Oh yeah, I also remember that there were red roses everywhere.”

  “How long were you in that room?” Anna asked.

  Tom paused and thought about the question. It was as if he were trying to make sense of something he didn’t understand.

  “How long, Tom?”

  “Hmm,” Tom said with a little laugh. “That’s funny. I’m not really sure.”

  “Did you see anyone?”

  Again Tom paused as if the question didn’t make sense. “No, I mean I don’t think so.”

  “Tom, there’s a big difference between no and I don’t think so.”

  “I was just getting so tired. I remember not being able to keep my eyes open so I came down here. Then, I don’t know, I must have gone to sleep.”

  “Must have?”

  Tom nodded his head. “Yeah, I must have because the next thing I knew I was . . . well, you know.”

  Anna rubbed her neck. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Oh, baby,” Tom put his arm around Anna and hugged her close. “Again, I am so, so sorry. I would never, ever hurt you. When you mentioned that guy I must have just really flipped out . . . or something.”

  There’s a lot of ‘or something’s’ going on around here, Anna thought.

  “Come on,” she said. “Phillipe’s waiting.”

  * * *

  After the three people shared the second bottle of wine, Anna did what she promised herself she wouldn’t. Despite her vow of secrecy, Anna told Phillipe the whole story from the purchase of the music boxes back in the states to their arrival at her room earlier that evening. Anna left out her encounter with Tom. She blamed the sun for the sudden redness of her face, and a recent auto accident for the new bruises on her neck.

  “I did not notice them earlier at the library,” Phillipe said.

  “Then I guess you weren’t looking at my neck.” Anna ended the interrogation with a tease.

  Tom had agreed to meet and have dinner with Phillipe. He was polite and said very little. While Anna and Phillipe did virtually all of the talking, Tom sat silently at the table playing with his dinner knife.

  “What I don’t understand,” Anna said. “Is what happened to the music box with the rose. That seems to be the most important one, and that’s the one that’s missing.”

  “Maybe it had something else to do,” Tom said while slowly slicing down the middle of his napkin.

  “What?” Anna asked.

  “Oh, nothing important,” Tom twirled the knife on its tip. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation with Phillipe.” Tom’s eyes never left the blade of his knife. “So sorry.”

  Anna stared at Tom. “Excuse me? Do you have some kind of a problem with my . . .”

  “I would love to see those music boxes,” Phillipe interrupted. “You say you have them here at the hotel?”

  “All but one,” Anna gave Tom a final angry glare before finishing her wine and refilling her glass. “Would you like to see them right now?”

  “No!” Tom shouted and stabbed the knife down into the table.

  Anna and Phillipe looked at Tom in complete silence. A shadow seemed to pass over his face and then was gone.

  Tom let go of the knife, which stood on its blade. He took a deep breath. “Oops, I guess I’m stronger than I thought,” Tom batted the knife with his hand but it just swayed back and forth while staying embedded in the wood.

  “Why don’t you want Phillipe to see the music boxes?”

  “Remember what happened to Duncan and Jeffrey,” Tom warned.

  “He’s right,” Anna said. “Maybe we shouldn’t. . .”

  “Nonsense,” Phillipe said. “You can’t tell me such a story and not show me the music boxes.”

  “Maybe you should just go back to your university of wherever you came from and not get involved in something that isn’t any of your damn business,” Tom snapped.

  “But I am already involved,” Phillipe said. “Sorry.”

  “He’s right Tom,” Anna said. “If he’s going to help, he needs to see everything.”

  “Okay, but let’s wait until tomorrow. Our room is such a mess.”

  “Oh now you’re just being silly,” Anna dismissed his words with a semi-drunken wave of her hand. “Have you seen your office or your bathroom lately? Compared to them, our room is sterile. Come on, let’s go.”

  Okay?” Phillipe looked at Tom.

  “Sure,” Tom shook his head and scoffed. “Why not?”

  Anna touched Phillipe’s arm. “Phillipe, will you do me a favor and get the elevator? We’ll be right there.”

  “Or course.”

  Anna had never been one to take an elevator to the second floor. “What’s wrong with you?” she whispered to Tom as soon as Phillipe slipped from earshot.

  “What do you mean?” Tom sounded genuinely unsure of the reason for Anna’s question.

  “You were being so rude.”

  “Was I?”

  Anna looked in his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she hesitated. “Not like before? ”

  “No, I’m fine, really,” Tom looked away. He pulled the knife from the table and placed it on the shredded napkin.

  “Maybe you should wait down here while I
show Phillipe the music boxes.

  “Why?” Tom said nonchalantly. “So you can fuck him?

  Chapter 21

  “Fuck you,” Anna got up from the table and walked toward where Phillipe waited at the elevator. As she did, she held up her middle finger to emphasize her point and deliver a parting message.

  “You always have to have the final gesture, don’t you?” Tom said as he walked up behind her. “I was only kidding for Christ’s sake. Do you have to be so fucking sensitive?”

  Anna again raised a finger, this time she hid it behind her head where only its intended target could see.

  “Merci, Phillipe,” Anna said as she stepped onto the elevator.

  “Yeah, thanks Phil,” Tom followed her.

  Phillipe released the door and held his hand up to the buttons. “Which floor?”

  “Two,” Tom said.

  “No,” Anna countermanded Tom’s order. “Push five.”

  * * *

  When the group arrived at room 531, they found the door locked and the hallway dark and deserted. Anna tried to turn the doorknob but it wouldn’t budge, as if it were frozen or rusted in place.

  “You said the door was open?” Anna looked at Tom.

  “It was. I swear it was,” Tom said. “Someone must have come up and locked it.”

  “And painted it,” Phillipe noted that the door had actually been painted shut, with a solid line of paint between it and the frame. He tried to turn the knob, but his luck was no better than Anna’s.

  “Let me try,” Tom said. He didn’t bother with the knob. He pushed against the door with his shoulder as hard as he could. It was like he was trying to push his way into a boulder. Tom gave up and rubbed his shoulder. “I’m telling you, it was wide open. It was like whoever was in there was expecting company.”

  “Perhaps you only dreamed of this room,” Phillipe suggested.

  At dinner, Anna had told him about Tom’s search of the hotel. She had ended that part of the story with Tom’s feeling tired and needing a nap. Again she omitting his later assault.

  “It was no dream,” Anna said, feeling at first uneasy and then scared. She knew something was coming toward them from inside the apartment.

  “Let’s go,” Anna backed away from the door. It was there, just on the other side. She knew it.

  The men hesitated.

  “Now!” Anna turned and ran. The men followed.

  Anna moved down the hallway as fast as she could. “Don’t look back!” she screamed the order to Tom and Phillipe.

  As she ran, Anna remembered the old woman she had seen the last time she had been in this hallway. She knew she was dead. She knew how she died.

  Anna ran faster. She reached the elevator a few steps ahead of the men and pressed the down button. She pressed it again and again until the doors finally parted and she and Phillipe stepped inside. Tom was the last in line. As he followed he happened to glance over his shoulder.

  “Oh shit!” Tom saw that the hallway was now full of people, walking slowly toward them. “Push the button, Anna. Hurry!”

  Fortunately Anna had done just that as soon as she had gotten into the elevator. When Tom cleared the door, it immediately closed behind him.

  “Come on . . . come on . . .” Tom said, expecting the door to again open, and for the crowd of whatever they were to come pouring in before the old elevator had a chance to move.

  “Come on!” Tom jumped up and down, jarring the elevator to life. As it dropped, Tom swore he could hear the door opening above.

  “What did you see?” Anna asked as she watched the numbers above the door click down from five to four to three.

  “Tell you later,” Tom said as they arrived at two and the door opened.

  Tom was relieved to see the that hallway was empty, but as he exited the elevator he thought he heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the elevator’s ceiling and words in French being whispered from above.

  Anna led the way, and started walking very quickly to their room. She was in a hurry, and it had nothing to do with ghosts, murderers or goblins of any sort. Anna realized that she hadn’t peed since she returned from the library, and that she had consumed enough wine since then to make that a very uncomfortable situation. So uncomfortable in fact that the fullness of her bladder overcame any terror of the moment.

  “Gotta go,” Anna said as she picked up her pace

  When she had been running from room 531 Anna almost lost control, which would have made her current state of urgency unnecessary. However the fear of embarrassment had prevailed.

  “Sorry to walk ahead,” she called back to the men. “Meet me in the room.

  Now, Anna semi trotted, holding her legs tightly together as she did. Tom followed, with Phillipe several feet back. Anna made it to 201 with little time to spare. She left the room door open and closed the bathroom door behind her.

  When Tom stepped into the room, he stopped and turned around to face Phillipe. He braced one hand high on either side of the door frame.

  “Excuse me,” Phillipe tried to slip under Tom’s left arm, but he dropped it to block the younger man’s path.

  Tom’s eyes flared angrily. He moved his face within inches of Phillipe’s. “Get out,” he hissed.

  Phillipe stared back at Tom, almost equaling his intensity. Then, he smiled, bowed and left.

  “Where’s Phillipe?” Anna asked as soon as she came out of the bathroom and saw only Tom waiting for her on the bed.

  “He changed his mind,” Tom said without expression or concern. “Something about other plans.”

  Anna felt her anger rising, although she wasn’t sure why she was so mad.

  “He changed his mind about seeing the music boxes?” Anna’s voice was hard and cold. She became even angrier when Tom answered almost happily.

  “Yep, I guess your boyfriend dumped you, huh?”

  “Asshole.”

  “Yeah, he really is.”

  “I mean you, not Phillipe.”

  “Hey don’t blame me if you can’t get your boyfriend to your bedroom.”

  Anna wanted to throw something. Instead, she sat down in front of the dresser mirror and started furiously brushing her hair. “Oh, well,” she said, trying to match Tom’s casual tone. “He can see the music boxes tomorrow, when he picks me up. He really has been so helpful, I wish there was some way I could think of to say thank you.”

  Anna could see Tom’s reflection in the mirror. Her words had been meant to hurt and it was obvious from the look on his face that they had.

  “I’m sorry,” Anna put down the brush. She got up and moved next to Tom. She put her hand on his arm. “I didn’t mean to be a bitch. Sorry. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Tom said softly.

  Anna looked deeply into Tom’s soft blue eyes, the eyes she had fallen in love with when they first met. For a moment Phillipe’s caramel colored eyes flashed through her thoughts. Anna quickly put their beauty out of her mind.

  “Are you really seeing him tomorrow?” Tom asked.

  “Seeing who?” Anna joked and hugged him. Tom pulled away.

  “I’m serious. Are you seeing him tomorrow?”

  Anna paused before nodding. “Tom, Phillipe is helping translate records. That’s all. We’re going to the police station where he knows someone who can get us in. I can’t do it alone. I need him.”

  “I’m sure you do,” Tom sneered. He got up from the bed and walked across the room.

  “Tom, please don’t. Why are you being so jealous?”

  “Am I being jealous? Is that all it is?”

  “Yes, that’s all it is,” Anna lied a little. “Phillipe is just a friend who can help.”

  “But why can’t I just go with you? Why do you need him?”

  “Because he can read French?” Anna suggested.

  “So can I.”

  Tom could feel something happening. His heart beat faster and his blood pounded in every artery. He saw himself from abov
e, and then through Anna’s eyes. He saw himself as a woman, a stranger, a monster. He shook his head. Now he was looking at Anna. He wanted to scream. Then, he wanted to hurt. Tom clenched his fists and fought for control.

  “Tom?”

  Anna looked scared. Part of Tom now liked that.

  “Are you all right, Tom?”

  Tom hit the mirror with his right fist, shattering it and slicing three of his knuckles open.

  “Tom!”

  Tom held his right hand with his left, fighting against the rage within him. He now remembered everything that had happened earlier in the room after Anna’s return. He remembered and he became erect.

  “I have to go,” Tom said and started for the door.

  “No, Tom, don’t.” Anna blocked his path.

  “I have to go!” he screamed, roughly shoving Anna to the floor.

  “Tom!” Anna cried.

  Tom threw open the door so hard that the knob knocked a hole in the plaster wall where it hit. As he walked out, Tom paused. Without looking back he whispered “I love you.”

  “Then stay with me.”

  Tom screamed, as if in pure agony. He stepped out and slammed the door behind him.

  By the time Anna got up and ran after him into the hallway, Tom was gone.

  Tom did not return that night, leaving Anna alone and shaken. When she finally did sleep it was only in short spurts measured by minutes. When she did dream, she dreamed only of death.

  Chapter 22

  Anna turned off the light next to the bed, with the rising of the sun, false daylight was no longer needed. It had started to get light a half hour earlier. Why is it so much easier to be scared at night? Anna thought, knowing that there probably was an answer. An answer she would rather not hear.

  But, as welcome as this dawn was, it also had a much darker side. It signaled the fact that Tom had been gone all night. She had no idea where he was. She only knew that she was still alone.

  Anna picked up the telephone. Maybe the concierge had seen Tom, or he might have left word.

  When a friendly voice answered, “Bon jour,” a gentle knocking at the room door made Anna’s questions unnecessary.