Black Hotel

by Renee Wakefield

  ‘There is no place like home. There’s no place like home.’ It was all he could think of. It didn’t work.

  The old man stood erect. He seemed to be getting bigger by the moment. All puffed up. Jack backed further away. Terrified. Maybe he had had enough. Perhaps it was time to reconsider whether he wanted to work at Black Hotel anymore. The demented magician eyed Jack with fury. Very upset about something. He reared, charging towards Jack.

  Jack jumped to his feet and bolted —

  SMACK!

  — crashing directly into somebody. Charlotte. Confused, Jack shot a look back over his shoulder.

  The old man had disappeared.

  Jack turned back, struggling to regain his bearings.

  Behind Charlotte stood Merch and Nicolette. A heavy tension hung in the air.

  31

  A New Tactic

  Jack and Merch sat on the Grand Staircase, a few stairs down from the landing.

  ‘You all right, amigo? You’re shaking.’

  ‘Been a bit of a freaky night. You know that little girl?’

  ‘Amanda?’

  ‘I think she was killed here. In the bathtub.’

  ‘Whoa. And what, it’s all been covered up?’

  ‘That’s the part I’m not too sure about.’

  ‘Who would cover that sort of thing up? And why?’

  Jack shrugged. The lobby stretched out in front of them. Charlotte and Nicolette were by the reception booth. Jack eyed them. Only then did it occur to him the twins were arguing. A fairly animated argument, too.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  Merch rolled his eyes. ‘Major tension. They’ve been bickering ever since you walked out of the diner. Evidently you managed to convince Charlotte something is going on here.’

  The argument became even more animated.

  ‘Charlotte is very keen to try some new… tactic.’ Merch continued. ‘Nicolette isn’t too happy about it. Mother wouldn’t approve, apparently.’

  Jack nodded. ‘How did you get in here?’

  ‘Well, we rang the night bell, but you didn’t answer. So, we —’

  Before Merch could finish they were interrupted by Nicolette striding up the stairs.

  ‘Please don’t let her do this. Please…’ It was the first thing Nicolette had ever said to Jack that wasn’t mean or condescending. A look of genuine concern etched on her face.

  Charlotte shook her head dismissively. ‘Don’t listen to her, Jack.’

  ‘Don’t let her what?’ He was addressing Nicolette but Charlotte answered.

  ‘It’s a simple test.’

  ‘Bah!’ Nicolette yelled, followed by a long string of words in their Eastern European language. Jack had little hope of understanding. Immediately things escalated, with the sisters yelling at each other and gesturing wildly. Jack glanced at Merch, who shrugged.

  ‘Okay, okay.’ Jack interjected, trying to calm into the situation.

  ‘You wanted us to look for ghosts,’ Nicolette said to Jack. ‘What she is suggesting has nothing to do with ghost-hunting.’

  ‘What is it then?’

  The twins exchanged a quick look. ‘Witchcraft,’ Nicolette stated.

  ‘Oh, don’t be so dramatic,’ Charlotte counted. ‘Don’t listen to her, Jack. It’s fine.’

  It was quite obvious Nicolette didn’t agree it was fine. She looked pleadingly at Jack, her eyes imploring him to do the right thing. Charlotte smiled in a carefree manner, with an expression suggesting the whole thing was no big deal. Jack looked to Merch who gave him nothing. Jack weighed it up but the decision was easy.

  ‘Do it.’ All eyes were on him. ‘If there is a way we can figure out what’s going on in this hotel, go for it. For sure.’

  It was as though a dark cloud passed over Nicolette’s face. Jack surmised Nicolette probably wasn’t a good person to get angry, but it was already too late for that. She moved her face that bit too close to Jack, staring him right in the eyes. ‘This is on you,’ she hissed at him. ‘If anything goes wrong, I will hold you responsible.’

  Charlotte and Nicolette hurried about setting everything up in Room 8, saying little except for the occasional snipe at one another. Merch offered to help Nicolette but she sniped at him too. Jack had a moment or two to catch his breath from what had thus far been quite the eventful evening.

  ‘The arguing in a foreign language was a nice touch, don’t you think?’ he commented when Merch ventured back over.

  A stunned look on Merch’s face was followed by a shake of the head. ‘Your cynicism knows no bounds, my friend. You still think this is some sort of con?’

  Jack smiled in a way he hoped gave the impression of being breezy and noncommittal. In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure what he thought. He was having difficulty getting his head around the idea that he managed to convince Charlotte of anything. She had been far more convincing during their movie and diner conversations and if anything had almost made Jack believe he was making it all up. Whatever, he remained hopeful of finding answers and if this new technique could do that, bring it on. Although somewhere deep inside of him an army of nerves grew steadily.

  Charlotte set up two chairs facing each other. She indicated for Jack to join her. She continued to smile happily although Jack detected a slight change in her demeanour. Everything appeared all a touch forced. Faux relaxed. Jack glanced over to Nicolette who was setting up a control panel and monitor on the room’s desk.

  ‘So, what are we doing exactly?’

  ‘Just running a simple test.’ Charlotte replied.

  Nicolette snorted derivatively. ‘Keep telling him that…’

  Charlotte didn’t bother to look at her. She mumbled something at her twin in a low voice.

  ‘What did you say to her?’ Jack asked Charlotte.

  ‘I told her if she doesn’t want to be here she should go home.’

  The gnawing sense of discomfort festered in Jack’s stomach. He was torn. Desperate as he was to find out what was going on the hotel, perhaps this wasn’t a good idea. ‘Is she alright?’

  ‘Don’t worry about her. She is being a big baby,’ Charlotte assured him, reaching over and attached two electrodes to Jack’s temples.

  ‘Spirits are a form of energy. We are going to amplify the energy levels.’ She sat back in her seat. ‘Think of it as a radio. What do you do if you want to hear a radio more clearly?’

  ‘Move closer to it?’

  ‘You turn up the volume. We are turning up the volume of the room.’

  Nicolette clicked her tongue and stomped out. Jack became aware of a slight quiver in Charlotte’s hands. ‘Is it dangerous?’

  She ignored him, focused on what she was doing.

  ‘Charlotte… Is this dangerous?’

  ‘What dangerous?’ Charlotte replied. ‘Crossing the street is dangerous. Driving a car is dangerous.’ But those hands of hers continued to shake. And with every shake, Jack became more and more convinced whatever they were about to attempt was very, very real.

  Charlotte handed Jack a jar of vile liquid.

  ‘Drink this.’

  Jack examined the jar. The liquid content at first appeared black but on closer inspection was, in fact, a very murky dark green. Akin to sludge, not terribly viscous.

  ‘Will it make me very small? Or very tall?’ quipped Jack. Charlotte stared back blankly. ‘Not an Alice in Wonderland’ fan?

  ‘Not a who in the what fan?’

  ‘Alice in Wonderland. Seriously… You’ve never heard of Alice in Wonderland before?’

  ‘No. What is it?’

  Jack didn’t think he had ever met anyone who hadn’t heard of Alice in Wonderland before. Not that he had asked every person he’d ever met.

  ‘It’s a story. About a girl who … Never mind.’

  Jack attempted to slosh the liquid about in the jar. It barely moved. He eyed Charlotte with uncertainty but knew he had no choice. Blue pill, red pill time. Last chance. No turning back. Time to see how deep
the rabbit hole actually went. Of course, he didn’t bother to say this to Charlotte. If she didn’t know Alice in Wonderland, there was no chance she’d be up on The Matrix.

  The feral concoction tasted as good as it looked. Neither sipping it slowly or chugging large mouthfuls made swallowing the disgusting muck any easier. The whole jar took him a good 20 minutes to down. Charlotte insisted he finished every last drop.

  And with that, they were ready to go.

  32

  Tell me what you see

  Nicolette switched off the lights.

  Everything went quiet other than a gentle whir from the control panel. Nicolette took her position behind the panel, monitoring the readings. Slight spillages of light from the screen illuminated her face. Merch lingered behind her in the shadows.

  Jack sat in his chair, with the two electrodes attached to his temples. He registered a very slight burning smell, although it was difficult to be sure. The aftertaste from the muck he had drunk continued to play havoc with his sense of smell and tastebuds.

  Charlotte sat opposite, very close. Matching electrodes attached to her forehead. Both sets fed into Nicolette’s control panel. Jack found it difficult to breathe. Not uncommon when he was nervous. Still, he wondered if this was something more. Was it the drink? Should he have drunk it? He had no idea what the drink was. He didn’t really know Charlotte or Nicolette either and he certainly didn’t trust them. Panic bubbled away within him, coming to the boil. Maybe he shouldn’t do this. Wasn’t too late to stop it? Probably, since he had downed the drink. Besides, he didn’t want to stop.

  He fought the panic, shoving it way down deep inside.

  Charlotte took Jack’s hands. Her hands felt warm. Soft. Nice. Was that how he would normally react? His reactions appeared slow. Off somehow. Was it the drink? Or all in his mind?

  ‘Okay, Jack,’ Charlotte said in a soothing voice. ‘We’re about to begin.’

  Jack stared blankly into her eyes. Charlotte had nice eyes, he decided. Nice hands. Nice eyes. Oddly pretty. Oh, crap. Could she hear him? Could Nicolette? He was pretty sure he hadn’t said that out loud. Is that what the electrodes were for? So they could read his mind?

  ‘This is very easy,’ Charlotte continued in a hypnotic tone. ‘All you have to do is tell me what you see.’

  Okay, Jack thought. That’s easy. It took a moment for him to realise he was supposed to answer.

  ‘I… see you.’ His voice sounded strange. He glanced at Merch for reassurance. Merch gave him nothing.

  ‘Good, Jack, good. That’s all you have to do.’

  Was she trying to hypnotise him? He had never been hypnotised. It was something he had always wondered about. Something he’d quite like to try one day. Once when … God. He had to stop his mind. Turn it off. Stop the endless babbling. Charlotte was talking again.

  ‘Now, Jack, this is very important.’ He strove to concentrate on what Charlotte was saying. It sounded important. ‘No matter what happens, stay calm.’

  Stay calm? The very suggestion obliterated any calm he had.

  ‘Why? What is going to happen?’

  Charlotte let out a strange laugh. A laugh that didn’t fit. As though he had said something very witty. Had he? He couldn’t remember what he’d said.

  ‘I need a safe word. A safe word. What do I do if I want to stop?’ he managed to blurt out.

  ‘You’ll be fine, Jack.’

  ‘Ha! There is no stopping,’ scolded Nicolette in a harsh voice. Or did she? Her mouth didn’t move. Did Jack just imagine she spoke? Had she projected the words into his mind? Or was it merely the sort of thing he thought Nicolette would say?

  ‘You’ll be fine, Jack,’ Charlotte reassured Jack, doing him the courtesy of moving her mouth when she spoke. ‘Don’t worry.’ She continued her slow, hypnotic tone. ‘Just tell me what you see.’

  A sound rushed by Jack’s head. A whooshing. With a flash. Jack blinked, shaken. The whoosh disappeared. Gone as quickly as it appeared. No doubt about it. Things were starting to happen.

  ‘Tell me what you see, Jack,’ Charlotte reminded him.

  ‘Whoosh…’ stammered Jack. Charlotte watched him intently. Everybody was waiting on him. The room was quiet. Silence engulfed him.

  ‘Jack,’ said Charlotte.

  ‘Ja - ck … Ja - ck …’ The taunting voice. His head snapped around. He’d heard that voice before.

  ‘Ja - ck …’ Where had he heard the taunting voice? That’s right. The lobby. For an instant he was back there in the lobby. Was it now or was it then? Was he in Room 8 or downstairs? Maybe both.

  ‘Ja - ck …’ Charlotte’s lips weren’t moving. She wasn’t the taunting voice. Was it the hotel itself? The taunting voice seemed to be coming from the walls, managing to be soothing and smooth and feminine and yet terrifying and brittle, all at the same time.

  ‘Ja - ck … Ja - ck …’

  Jack flinched. He tried to move his hands but Charlotte wasn’t letting go.

  ‘Jack. Tell me what you see.’ Was she mad at him? She sounded annoyed.

  ‘Jack? Jack?’ Jack looked at Charlotte, confused. Her voice became Merch’s voice.

  ‘Jack?’

  He glanced to his side. This wasn’t right. Where had the hotel gone?

  ‘Jack?’ Merch waited beside him. On their couch. At home. ‘I told you she was ranting. It’s a kids’ book. Nothing.’

  What a kids’ book? Jack’s eyes drifted down to his hands. He was holding a book. Some sort of odd looking children’s book.

  ‘Aren’t we at the hotel?’ he asked Merch in a soft, confused voice.

  ‘Haunted? Get the fuck out of there!’ Merch exclaimed. Jack tried to focus on him but they weren’t on the couch anymore. They were outside, in the driveway. Playing cricket. ‘Hauntings never end well…’ Merch continued.

  Wait. Haven’t we done this? Jack had been here before. This all seemed familiar. He glanced down. The book had gone, replaced by the cricket bat. Merch bowled.

  ‘Blood could be oozing from the walls. It’d still be better than most of the jobs I’ve had…’ Jack found himself saying. His words slow. He had said all of this before.

  ‘Jack…’ Charlotte’s voice cut through.

  The driveway disappeared. He was back at the hotel. Back in Room 8. Charlotte opposite. Holding hands. What happened to the warmth? Her hands were now stone cold. ‘What was that, Jack?’

  He struggled to articulate a response.

  ‘Okay, Jack, we are about to begin.’

  Begin?

  ‘This is very simple, Jack. All you have to do is tell me what you see.’

  Wait, didn’t we do this part already?

  ‘Now, Jack, this is very important.’

  He didn’t get to hear what was important. He was gone again. Back at his desk. The reception booth. In the lobby.

  Everything was quiet. Jack stretched. He glanced around in a daze. He must’ve nodded off. Was all of that nothing more than a dream? If so, what parts? When did the dream begin? He tried to put the pieces together, no idea where reality ended and the dream started. Like trying to find the end of a roll of sticky tape. Around and around and around. Maybe there was no end. No beginning. Only —

  CLOMP … CLOMP … CLOMP … CLOMP …

  Footsteps roused him from his thoughts. Loud in the otherwise silent lobby. The footsteps approached. The demented magician. Jack watched him passively. The old man in the tuxedo ambled up to the desk.

  ‘Hiya, Sport.’

  The demented magician clicked his fingers. Jack turned slowly.

  The man on fire appeared on the stairs. He tripped and fell, spilling all the way to the lobby floor. Finding his feet, he danced in slow motion through the lobby. The demented magician laughed maniacally. The evil laugh terrified Jack. He ran.

  Jack found himself at Colonel Black’s portrait. The eyes moved. Colonel Black glared down at Jack. The figure on the horse started to talk.

  ‘The Black Hotel is owne
d by Miss Daniels. It means a lot to her. I am Colonel Black. Her great-grandfather. I built the hotel.’ The portrait’s voice was angry and accusing. ‘You like model trains, don’t you, Jack?’ Colonel Black boomed at him. ‘Jack!?’

  ‘Jack?’

  Jack found himself back in Room 8. That’s it. He’d had enough now thanks. Time to get off.

  ‘Tell me what you see.’

  ‘Colonel Black.’ His voice was timid and unsure.

  ‘I don’t know who that is, Jack.’ Charlotte reprimanded. ‘Concentrate. Tell me what you see…’

  Before he could answer, the control panel screamed. Loud, incessant beeps.

  ‘Something is wrong!’ Nicolette yelled. ‘Something is wrong!’ She jumped to her feet, awash with panic.

  With a gust of terror, Jack looked at Charlotte. She appeared calmer than a Hindu cow. The machine continued to scream, however. Louder and louder.

  ‘Something is wrong!’ Jack called out, echoing Nicolette. He tried desperately to wrench his hands-free. Charlotte wasn’t having it.

  ‘Nothing is wrong, Jack. Stay calm.’

  As quickly as they appeared the beeps disappeared. Nicolette remained in her seat. Focused but relaxed. Jack shook his head, rattling his brain. Charlotte studied him.

  ‘Okay, Jack… We’re about to begin…’

  ‘No,’ Jack protested. ‘No.’

  ‘This is very easy. All you have to do is tell me what you see.’

  ‘We did this part already.’

  ‘Nothing is wrong… Stay calm… Tell me w h a t y o u s e e . . . ’

  Her words slowed as though she was running out of power. Like her batteries needed changing. Charlotte hadn’t moved but her appearance altered dramatically. She looked old and sick. Drained. Her hair grey. Face withered. Jack shuddered at the sight of her. Something was very wrong with Charlotte.

  ‘Tell me what you see…’

  ‘You.’

  He looked to Nicolette and Merch. Why weren’t they doing anything to help? Charlotte needed help. What was wrong with them? Why weren’t they reacting in some way? Why weren’t they upset? He looked back. Charlotte appeared normal once again.