Page 9 of A Haunting at Keystone Manor

I nod, throat suddenly tight. “In the meantime, this place will be reopening in a few days. We have a hotel to run!”

He steps away from me and heads to the door. Before he walks out, he turns back to face me with a wry smile playing on his lips. “If you change your mind about the… cuddling, let me know. I’m a very generous lover,” he says with a saucy wink.

I let my head fall back against the wall with a dull thud and watch him leave.

What a brat.

Chapter seven

A Grand Reopening

Jake

I try to avoid Alex as much as possible over the next few days. He's dangerous. He'd be too easy to get close to, to trust. I don't want to put my trust in anyone, but I'm low on options.

The hotel is about to reopen, and Kayla has set up a few decorations for the new guests. News of my death has largely been kept out of the media, due to my father’s connections. It was barely a line in the local paper before the news cycle moved on, but I doubt it'll gain more attention than that. As far as most people are aware, Keystone Manor Hotel shut down due to a major pipe leak and is reopening after extensive repairs. Not that anyone cares. I don't know why they're bothering with these pretenses, this place is a huge money laundering scheme, not a business.

I’m not surprised they couldn't be bothered to show up. They don’t actually give a damn about this place. All the work of reopening has been left to Kayla. She’s a great manager but I can tell she’s been run a bit ragged by my parents, often disappearing for long stretches of time. Alex has been helping her as best he can, using Brandon to leave helpful notes when things need replacing or fixing. I can tell she’s not sure what to make of Brandon because I keep catching her side eyeing him when he's not looking, but so far she hasn’t questioned it. I guess she assumes my parents hired him to help her out.

The corridor to the west wing, where my room is located, has been sectioned off to keep prying eyes far away. Crime scene tape still covers the door, and no one has bothered to remove it. The room feels tainted now. Maybe they’ll leave it sectioned off forever, who knows.

As Kayla gets our new guests checked in, I look around for Alex. He’s not in the lobby, which is unusual. He’s typically anywhere that people are. I have to hand it to him, he’s probably the one person in the world who actually cares about the success of this hotel. I’m not sure why my parents bought it. It’s never been profitable and they’ve never made any real attempt to fix it up to attract more guests. If they wanted to launder money for their Russian clients, they could have used any of their countless charities.

This is a house fit for ghosts and not much else. I guess that’s fitting.

My gaze flits around the mostly empty lobby, not taking in much. Kayla has a table set up along one of the walls, the snacks and drinks untouched. A few sad decorations line the perimeter. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to work through my feelings. Since my death I haven’t felt like myself. I have no purpose anymore, and no future.

The only good thing I have is Alex. But I don’t have him. I can never have him. He’s good and sweet despite his bratty side, everything I’m not, and being around him is a stark reminder that I will never belong anywhere or to anyone. I can tell that my rejections have hurt him, but I can’t let myself care. I still can’t figure out what he sees in me, why he spends so much time begging for my attention. I guess I’m one of the only people who can give him attention anymore, and he doesn’t seem like the type to tolerate or appreciate solitude.

“BOO!”

I almost jump out of my skin as I whirl around to find him standing behind me, looking pleased with himself. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. “Jesus, Alex. You damn near gave me a heart attack.” I rub my chest where my heart should be beating.

He laughs. “You’re dead, you can’t have a heart attack.”

I swallow thickly. “Thank you for the reminder. What are you doing here? Don’t you have a few murders to solve? Or have you already grown bored of that?”

“When I first woke up dead here, I thought I’d try my hand at haunting the guests. Doesn’t work so well without a body, or the ability to make sounds anyone can hear.” He tilts his head as he looks up at me, a sly smile still on his perfect face. “Maybe I can haunt you.”

“You do haunt me.”

“Okay Mr. Grumpington. Listen, I do have a small update for you. Turns out, Brandon does know a psychic. We are all shocked by this news, I know. He’s trying to arrange a trip out here as we speak. Hopefully the guy can help us figure out a way to… solidify our ghostly essences or whatever it is ghosts do. It would be amazing to touch something again that isn’t you. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“Sounds like you’ve been busy.” I have no idea what he’s going on about. I do know I’d like to see the credentials of this so-called psychic. Knowing what I do about Brandon, I can take a guess at how this will go. I continue to stare out at the lobby, feeling unmoored. This is a waste of time.

I’m just about to head back to my room when Alex grabs me by the hand.

“Dance with me,” he says and drags me to an empty spot in the middle of the room, directly under the ornate chandelier that dominates the ceiling.

“I can’t dance,” I protest.

“It wasn’t a request. Plus, dancing is easy. Here, I’ll lead. Put your arms around my neck.” He places his hands gently on my waist and starts swaying us to the low music that’s playing. I reluctantly do as he says and rest my arms on his shoulders. I’m glad no one can see us.

“We look ridiculous. You’re too tiny to lead me.”

“Jake, I say this with love. Shut up. I’m going to lead you, and we’re going to dance and have some fun for a minute. We’re ghosts; we deserve it. It’s not like there’s anything else to do.”

“Well, I have no rebuttal for that.”