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“Thank you.” Grant closed his eyes as if he was about to drift off, but then his eyes snapped open. “Oh! I haven’t told you!”
“What? Do you have more unicorn powers?”
“No! About what Aurora and I found out about the hotel.” Grant frowned. “Did you know there was a cult here?”
“A what?” Huck snorted.
“A cult! Here at the hotel.”
Huck blinked a few times. “Uh, well, I was not here when that happened.”
“No, it was back in the 1970s, so it would have been before the hotel reopened. I guess they were squatting here. They called themselves the Order of the Rising Sun or Sunburst or something like that. They apparently tried to sacrifice a few people? Hang on. I took pics on my phone.” Grant felt around for his pants. “I thought it was weird Myrna hadn’t mentioned it in her big tour.”
“I dunno.” Huck fidgeted. He couldn’t explain why, but there was a knot forming inside of his chest. “I could ask Sip about it. He probably knows. He would have been here, I mean.”
Grant had found his phone and was flipping through pictures. “Yeah? I’d like to meet him too at some point.” He paused on a photograph of a book page. “Here. This Order of the Rising Sun thought a comet was going to carry them away to a new world, but only if they made sacrificial offerings. Seven people died before they were stopped, and one of the survivors, Antonio Alton, wrote a book about it.My Escape From The Sun’s Fiery Grave.”
“That’s… cheerful.” Huck peered over Grant’s shoulder and made a face.
“Look at this.” Grant swiped over to his ebook app. “I haven’t had a chance to read all of Alton’s book, but I kinda skimmed through it while I was waiting for you. He talks about some conduit, a force right here in the hotel they were communicating with. Guess where.”
“I kinda don’t want to.” Huck’s grimace deepened.
“The Eastern Stairs.” Grant flipped to the specific page to show Huck. “See?”
“Uh-huh. I see.” Huck’s brow furrowed, and the knot tightened.
If this was true, which it certainly seemed to be with the evidence Grant had, Huck didn’t know why Precipitation hadn’t ever mentioned it. The Thing in the damn stairs being involved with a death cult seemed like something he should know about.
“There’s more.” Grant returned to the photos section of his phone to show Huck an old newspaper clipping. “Aurora found this. The Eastern Stairs maybe might have some sort of spirit inside of it that was possibly sort of worshiped as an ancient Aztec god?” He cringed. “I know it sounds nuts, but it’s right here in this paper. Mr. Charles had this insanely old tree cut down in Mexico to make the staircase. The people there rioted and went crazy because they said there was something bad in the tree that was now loose, and it’s very possible that the spirit came along for the ride with the lumber.”
“Whatever it is, it’s fucking evil.” Huck scowled as he sat up, his clothes materializing back into place. He pulled his hood up and shook his head. “I know that much.”
“Has it… ever tried to talk to you? Or communicate in any way?”
“No, and don’t you get any ideas,” Huck warned. “That damn thing is dangerous, okay? Spirit, god, whatever it is, it’s not good. Stay away from it. I mean it.”
“I will, I swear!” Grant promised. “I’m just trying to understand what it is exactly that we might be dealing with. A lot of people have died here, but not all of them are stuck like you and Precipitation and Mrs. Charles.”
“And Rebecca Flynn. Oh, and the shades if we’re counting them too.”
“So, why you guys and not the others? Where are the cult victims? Or that employee who killed herself?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry that I can’t help you.” Huck forced a smile. “My specialty is giving incredible orgasms, not creepy hotel history.”
“Well, if it’s okay with you, I want to talk to Precipitation.” Grant reached for Huck’s hand. “After we watch some moreWalking Deadand finish our date?”
“Okay.” Huck brightened back up a little. “Do you remember where we left off?”
“I can check the app on my phone. I fell asleep, remember?”
“Yeah. And you were very adorable. Even when you snored.”
“I snore? I don’t snore.”
“Like a little bunny.”
“How the hell do bunnies snore?” Grant chuckled.
