Hello there! For all those who watch the Superbowl, I hope you have fun tomorrow. But for now, how about we find out whether Logan and David will make it out of here alive? Enjoy!
I would’ve kept running, but I tripped.
Here’s something you should know. I’m not clumsy. At all. I mean, I'm no Spiderman, but still. Something had grabbed me. I felt the hand around my ankle, so cold it almost felt like it burned.
I kicked at what grabbed me and moved away. It was the ghost. Guess he heard me. I was backed up to a wall. There was nowhere to go. I just looked at the ghost, Michael Graham.
He looked similar to how he did in the picture Logan showed me. A little older, not that ghosts aged, at least I didn’t think they did. He was muscular. I wasn’t weak, but I could tell he could snap me in half.
Heels clicked against the carpet, muffled but still there. Adeline turned the corner, smiling with bright red lipstick. I smiled back. “I don’t think that’s your color,” I said.
She laughed bitterly, though I could tell I annoyed her. “Wow, hilarious for a dead man. You know, I didn’t want you to get caught up in this. You’re cuter than some other victims.”
I tried to move away further into the wall, but I couldn’t. “So I got good looks, terrible personality. No offense though, you’re not really my type.”
She shrugged. “Either way. Julian was cute too, but I got Michael to kill him only last week, didn’t you?” She turned to the ghost. His eyes seemed to scream help.
“Yes, Miss Delle.”
She took a step towards me. I looked around for an exit. There was none. “So you’re a witch or something? Controlling ghosts?”
She sighed, as if actually disappointed. “You know, witches get a bad rep. We aren’t all bad.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, killing people, what a humanitarian.” She turned to Michael, who kicked me in the ribs. It hurt more than it should’ve.
“I need to keep my magic. Sometimes you have to kill people for the greater good. Doesn’t make you a monster, it makes you a survivor. You should know that. I mean, you killed the demon, Belphegor. And Krampus. They both had lives at one point, and you took it from them.”
I shook my head. “They were monsters. Like you.” She smiled again. “Fine. That’s how you want to see this, I’ll be the monster.”
She pointed to me and began to walk away. My eyes turned to Michael. He raised a fist. I barely dodged and dove to the left. I continued running. I could hear him coming after me. I thought of throwing something, but that wouldn’t help. It’d pass right through him. That didn’t seem fair. He could hit me, but I couldn’t hit him.
I kept running. Eventually I saw Room 212. If I ran in there, he’d try to kill Logan and Alice. That was his original mission before Adeline saw me. Then again, I’d have a higher chance with them by my side. But could I put them in danger’s way? No, that was not happening. So I turned to face him.
But he was gone.
He had been there a second before, I was sure of it. Why would he stop coming for me? There was no one else in the hallway. I didn’t hear anything from Room 212, so he hadn’t gone back there.
I went to room 212. When I was sure he wasn’t there, I opened the door.
Alice jumped out from where she was hiding, her hand glowing a mysterious white. I put my hands up. “It’s just me, breathe.”
She lowered her hands. I motioned to them. “What was that?” She looked at them, but the glow was gone. She raised her eyebrows. “No clue.”
Before we could talk about it more, Logan came out from his position too. He looked at the clock. “David, it’s been a half an hour are you…what happened?”
I took a deep breath. “Hotel owner, Adeline. She’s a witch, controlling Michael,” I tried to explain. Logan somehow understood my rambling. His face turned serious.
Alice looked at the door, as if expecting Michael to barge in. “Where is he now,” she asked.
I finally was able to breathe. “I’m not sure. He disappeared when I turned to face him.” Alice nodded. “I can still feel him. He’s not far, but I can’t tell where he is.” She tried to focus, but nothing came to her.
Logan forced me to sit down and silently asked if I had anything to fight with. I showed him the pack of salt in my pocket, but he handed me a gun, which I quickly noticed was mine, not that I said anything. I just gave him a nod.
“So,” Logan started. “What do we do now?”
Neither me or Alice had any bright ideas. Then again, if we had it wouldn’t have mattered, because then he showed up.
Michael was here, but he wasn’t alone. He had Joe in his grasp, holding him by his neck. The kid fought, but it was no use. He was a feather to this guy.
Logan held up his hands. “Michael Graham, you need to stop,” he said. He hadn’t taken out any weapons. I looked at him, asking him what he was doing. He didn’t notice my look however.
He took a hesitant step towards the ghost, as if he were standing on landmines. “We know you don’t want to do this. You’re not that kind of ghost. Don’t let her control you.” The ghost’s eyes turned less viscious for a second, before returning back to their original appearance.
“Your life for his. Which is more important,” he asked, tightening his grip. Joe still could breathe, but it was becoming more difficult.
Heels clicked. “Good Michael,” Adeline said, as if complimenting the ghost, though her tone said the opposite. “What’ll it be boys?”
She noticed Alice. “Haven’t met you before. New ghost to play with?” Alice scowled. “I’m no doll.”
Adeline smiled. “Beg to differ.” She began to speak, but I couldn’t understand the words. Alice flinched.
The words seemed to be creating ropes between Adeline and Alice. Logan was still talking to Michael, but it wasn’t working, it was just keeping him hesitant enough that he wasn’t breaking Joe’s neck. I heard banging on the door, which I assumed was Sydney, who woke up and saw her son was missing.
I took out the salt and threw it at Michael. It hit him in the arm, causing him to fall back. He let go of Joe, who ran behind Logan, who was using his own body as a human shield.
Michael looked at me, his eyes wild. He took a few steps towards me and punched me in the face. I fell into the night stand and turned my attention for a second to Alice. She seemed to be struggling, but not as much as Adeline hoped. The words she spoke, which I now know were latin, grew louder, as if she expected that to help her control Alice.
That was when I learned Alice was uncontrollable.
The ropes between Adeline and Alice weren’t actually there, but I felt like I could hear Alice cut them. She took a deep breath and looked at me.
We made eye contact, and I pointed to Adeline, who was holding her head in pain. I dodged another punch from Michael.
Alice passed through Adeline. There was a light behind Adeline’s eyes. Then she looked at her hands as if she never noticed them. That’s because it wasn’t Adeline.
Alice smiled at me through Adeline. “Michael, stop.” The ghost stopped attacking me. His eyes lit up and he turned to Alice. “I release thee from my control," she said.
Michael glowed blue for a second, and I saw chains around his neck, legs, and arms. Then they fell off and disappeared. Michael looked around, as if seeing everything for the first time. His eyes landed on Alice, who was still in Adeline’s body.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice raspy. I wondered if the only reason his voice hadn’t been like that before was because Adeline was speaking through him.
Alice’s smile disappeared. She lurched over as if in pain. I looked over at Logan. He looked right back at me, wide eyed.
“NO,” a voice yelled, a mix between Adeline and Alice’s. Suddenly, Alice stood up straight. She took a deep breath, and I could tell from the way she stood it wasn’t Alice.
Adeline glared at me. “Nice try.” She began to speak Latin again, and Michael tensed. I couldn’t think. I just saw red.
I don’t remember taking out my gun. I don’t remember aiming it. All I do remember is pulling the trigger, and seeing the bullet go right through Adeline’s head.
My hand shook. The gun fell out of my hand, luckily not making another bullet fly. Adeline’s body fell to the ground. She wasn’t moving.
Alice was back. I don’t know if she’d been in the room since Adeline forced her out, or if she had just showed up.
The silence was deafening. The only thing I could hear was my own jagged breath.
Then I felt something wrap around me.
Logan.
He hugged me gently as I felt like I had gone over the edge. I had never killed any human. But Logan was still there, not seeming to judge at all. Maybe because he had been through the same thing.
I hugged him back, and we stayed like that for a while.
It felt like centuries, but it would never seem enough, like every other hug. Finally I began to think maybe we had to move and let go. Logan’s hands still rested on my shoulders though. There was no smile on his face, but he didn’t seem angry, or sad.
He just seemed relieved, glad this was over and we weren’t dead.
“What are we doing with the body,” Sydney asked, glancing down at Adeline, who was even paler now. She had gotten into the room right after I shot her.
Alice put her hands in her jacket pockets. “Well, I need to be heading back to the veil. It’s not safe for a ghost to stay away from their own world too long. I can take her with me,” she said. She looked at the body, disgusted. “I can feel her trying to stay here.”
I nodded, then looked at Logan. He didn’t have any objections, so Alice grabbed the body.
She looked at Michael. “Hey, could you help me with this?” He flickered, becoming slightly brighter. “Me?”
Alice looked around. “Well I don’t see any other ghosts here. Come on. You need to heal up anyway. That witch had her grimy hands all over your brain. She tried to control me, and it hurt like hell. Can’t imagine what it felt like for you for so long.” She held out her hand.
For the first time since I had met Michael Graham, he smiled. He took Adeline’s body from Alice easily and took her hand. She smiled back and turned to us. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She gave me a fake salute, and then she was gone, Michael and Adeline's body with her.
We were packing up. With the hotel owner seemingly missing, this place would probably get closed soon. I had a feeling Michael would come back here. I had read up more on him after everything. He had been a lonely man. This was the only home he’d ever known. Now it would be peaceful.
I noticed Sydney had her purse on and was near the door. “You leaving now,” I asked.
She nodded. “This may be your life, but it’s not mine. I can’t thank you two enough.” I waved her off. “Our pleasure. It’s our life.”
She looked behind me at Logan. “Will you two be okay? I mean, if you needed anything, even just a ride to wherever you live,” she offered.
I shook my head. “Will be fine, but thanks. If you and Joe need anything-”
“Like another ghost and witch try to kill us?”
I cocked my head to the side. “I meant with anything, though that is our expertise. Joe’s probably gonna have questions all the time.”
Sydney smiled. “Oh, you’ll be deleting my phone number by the end of the month because of that kid. He’s really into this stuff, if you couldn’t tell.” I looked over to the kid, who was talking with Logan.
“Yeah, I can see that,” I said. I shook out my hand and Sydney shook it.
“It’s been nice to meet you,” she said. I smiled back. “Right back at you.”
She called Joe to hurry up. They needed to go to room 212 to get anything they forgot. Joe obviously didn’t want to leave, but his mom was insistent.
Logan knelt next to him. “It’s okay Joey. We might see you again soon. Plus, you can call whenever, just not too early. Sleeping beauty over here needs his rest,” he said, pointing to me. I pretended to be offended, which got a laugh out of the kid.
Joe turned to Logan. “When I’m older can I help you guys?” Logan’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, well, you’d have to ask your mom about that one,” he said, looking at Sydney. I kind of hoped Joe forgot about this. If he got obsessed, if he became what we were, he’d never be able to go back. Or worse, he’d get himself killed before he was even out of college.
Sydney held out her hand, and Joe took it. He waved to us. I felt something behind me and turned. Alice was back. “See you around Joe,” she said, waving. The kid’s smile brightened, and he waved back. Then the door swung shut, and they were gone.
I hoped they would be able to move on. I doubted they’d ever go back to being a normal family. I was a prime example of not being able to. But I had to hold out hope for them, right? It was all I could do.
Logan went to the bathroom. He told me that when he came out, we could leave. I couldn’t say I’d miss this place. It wasn't exactly a cozy and fun time. My ribs still hurt from Michael kicking me, and I had a black eye to compliment the old scar on my face.
Alice turned to me. She seemed a bit awkward, not knowing what to say. I did. “I should’ve let you help earlier,” I told her.
Alice shrugged. “I understand why you didn’t. Even if it was a stupid reason.”
I didn’t know if it would work, but I tried to put my hand on her shoulder. My hand didn’t pass through her. A shiver went through my body, but when it was gone it seemed normal. I smiled. “It was stupid,” I said. “You did good, Alice. I mean that.”
Alice’s eyes softened. She held my hand which was on her shoulder. She was cold, but more like ice water on a hot day than how Michael felt earlier.
“Thank you,” she said. “Now I should go. You two need to get on the road.” She moved away. She began to fade a little, but she wasn’t gone yet.
“Wait a minute,” she said, waving her hands. “Does this make me part of the group?”
I put my hands up. “I’m gonna have to ask Logan about that.” Alice rolled her eyes with a smirk. “See ya David.” Then she was fully gone.
She was part of the MPS now. Logan would’ve agreed to that if he was here. We’d probably be dead if it weren’t for her, after all.
When we got in the car, Logan handed me a piece of chocolate. I furrowed my eyebrows. “Where did you even get that?”
He shrugged. “At the receptionist desk. They’re free,” he said, showing me 3 bars.
I laughed and took the piece he offered me. Then I put it in my mouth and stepped on the pedal.
As we left, I swear I saw Michael in the window. He waved.
Now I wasn’t scared to wave back.
And here we are! How did you like it? Do you think Alice should come back for more adventures? See you around, and have a good day!