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“Justyou wait until it gets dark—that’s when they getreallyactive!”TheInnkeeperwidened her eyes.
“I’msureI’llbe up all night then.”Samanthasmiled politely.
Theycontinued the tour and it seemed toR’ornthat something awful had happened in nearly every room in the domicile—even the freshers and the food prep area, where a young man had been stabbed to death by the cook for daring to send back his morning porridge because it was too lumpy.
Finally, though, things seemed to be winding down.
“Now,I’vesaved the best for last,” theInnkeeperinformed them, as she led them back up the stairs to the second floor. “Themost haunted room in the wholeInnis where you’ll be staying tonight!”Andshe threw open the door of the room at the very end of the long hall with a flourish.
“Oh—Ican’t wait to hear all about it!”Samantha’seyes lit up as she used the camera on her phone to pan across the room.
Itwas larger than the other sleeping areas,R’ornsaw—maybe he could sleep on the floor and leave the bed forSamantha.Itwasn’t going to be a very comfortable sleeping arrangement though—the wooden floors looked hard and cold and there was only a single thin rug, between the fireplace and the large, four-poster bed.
Therewas a simple wooden washstand with a washbasin and a pitcher in one corner and a high-backed chair in another.Overthe fireplace was a tarnished silver mirror that looked older than theInnitself.
“Thisis what we callTheLover’sSuite,” theInnkeepertoldSamanthaproudly. “Itwas here thatCarolineAbernathyandBeauregardHartfordspent their honeymoon…and here that they were both murdered in cold blood before they ever had a chance to consummate their love!”
“Oh, that’sterrible!”Samanthasaid in a voice that indicated the exact opposite. “Please—tell us more!”
“Well, they came from rival families, you know—theAbernathysand theHartfordsalways justhatedeach other.Ithink it started over a land dispute because the two families were neighbors,” theInnkeeperbegan. “Theymostly kept strictly apart but thenCarolineandBeausaw each other across the room at a ball being held in another county that both of them happened to be invited to.Andwouldn’t you know it—it was love at first sight!”
“Loveat first sight?”R’ornasked, frowning.Itwas the first time he had interrupted andSamanthashot him a frown.Buthe couldn’t help it—the story was interesting and he found himself wanting to understand the details.
“Yes—love at first sight,” theInnkeepersaid.
“Forgivemy assistant—he’s aKindredand he doesn’t always, er,gethuman sayings,”Samanthasaid.Sheturned toR’orn. “Loveat first sight is what some people say happens when you meet the person you’re meant to be with for life.It’slike this instant attraction—a kind of spark that jumps between the two of you.Itdraws you together and makes you want to be with the other person forever.Doesthat make sense?”
“Er…yes.Iguess so.”R’ornnodded.Hecouldn’t help thinking of the way hisBeasthad roused itself and said,“MINE”the very first time he’d ever metSamantha.Butsurely that didn’t have anything to do with this human phenomenon they were talking about—did it?
“Anyway, the two of them fell in love and decided to elope,” theInnkeeperwent on, continuing the story. “Theywere supposed to take a train toBoston, but their carriage broke down and they couldn’t get to the station.OurlovelyInnhappened to be close by, so they decided to spend their honeymoon here with us instead.”Sheshook her head sorrowfully. “Ifonly they had chosen someplace besidesTheBelgraveMansion, their fate might have been different.”
“Why?Whathappened to them?”R’ornblurted out.Hecouldn’t help himself—he wasreallyinterested in this story for some reason.
Samanthashot him an annoyed glare.
“Yes—whatdidhappen?” she asked theInnkeeper.
“Well, they were assigned this very room.BeauHartfordeven carved their initials into the mantelpiece—see?”
Sheled them over to the mantelpiece over the fireplace and pointed out the“CA+BH”carved into the wood.
R’ornwaited forSamanthato film the initials and then leaned down to get a closer look at them himself.Ashe rose, he saw an image in the tarnished silver mirror hanging over the fireplace.
Itwas a human male—tall, at least by human standards—and dressed in very strange clothing.Hehad on an oddly formal looking jacket and trousers with a large white piece of lace at his throat.Hiseyes were dark brown and seemed to burn intoR’orn’sown when their gazes met in the mirror.
Fora long moment,R’ornfound he couldn’t look away.Thenthe man leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder and his paralysis broke.
“Whatin theSevenHells?Getyour fucking hands off me!” he growled, whirling around to confront the human.
Butthe male was gone—he had vanished as though he didn’t even exist.Eventhough he could still feel the heat of the other male’s hand on his shoulder, the space directly behindR’ornwas empty—except for a frustrated lookingSamantha.
“Look, can youpleasestop interrupting and making noises?” she hissed at him, waving her phone. “I’mtryingto film this, you know.Thisis important footage!”
“Butthere was someone here just a minute ago—a human male.Hewas right behind me, leaning over my shoulder!”R’ornprotested. “Isaw him in the mirror, but then he was gone.Just…gone.”
Hepointed at the tarnished silver surface, which now reflected only himself,Samantha, and theInnkeeper.
“Ahh, you may have seen something in our spirit mirror.”TheInnkeeperglided over to him, a mysterious little smile on her face. “Wekeep it here because this is the most haunted room in ourInn—it allows the living to see images of the dead, you know.”
