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“Nope. Sure can’t.”
This was not the first time Huck had heard this rant and seeing how he and Precipitation were both dead and stuck here at the Allan Hotel together, it would very likely not be the last.
Huck figured out thestuckpart fairly quickly. After his tumble down the stairs a few years ago, the world became foggy and devoid of color. It was a grayscale haze he wanted absolutely nothing to do with, and he’d tried running right out the nearest door. That, however, was like racing face-first into a concrete wall, and every exit was the same way, even the windows.
Huck didn’t want to accept that he’d died at first, but coming back and seeing his lifeless body crumpled at the base of those stupid stairs was a pretty big clue. He cried and screamed a little, and that’s when he found out that he wasn’t alone.
Precipitation Per Chance was the first spirit he met, the ghost of a young man who had died at the turn of the century. He was in fact not a young bride, but the brother of a bride who had decided to take both the wedding dress and the groom for a spin the night before the ceremony. His sister was furious, Precipitation was drunk, and the last thing he remembered was getting cracked over the head with something heavy.
His unusual name was pretty common for the time—his sister was named Jubilation—and his boisterous personality in life made for a very vivid spirit. He’d been happy to show Huck around and teach him everything there was to being a ghost.
Huck was happy to have a friend in this weird miserable excuse for an afterlife. Though Precipitation didn’t have any answers about why or how they were stuck here in the hotel, it was nice to have company.
Except when Myrna gave tours.
That’s when Precipitation would rant and moan andbitch.
Huck already knew he was going to be hearing about this for days now, and he pulled his hood tighter around his head as if he could block the sound of Precipitation’s whining from his ears. He regretted coming along for the tour, but it wasn’t like they had anything better to do.
It wasn’t anywhere near nine o’clock, so they didn’t have to worry about Mrs. Charles yet.
Huck had hoped Precipitation would be too distracted by the new people and fancy camera equipment to get upset about the ghost story. They hadn’t had any guests for months, and there was a small chance Precipitation would be more interested in learning about this television show thing or planning some fun pranks like he always did when ghost hunter people came around.
Huck should have known better.
The very second Myrna entered the Rose Room with the TV people for that particular part of the tour, Precipitation startedbitching.
Huck did his best to be supportive. He figured it had to be difficult to hear other people talking about his death so erroneously. Huck wouldn’t know since his death wasn’t exciting enough to make any of Myrna’s tours, but he suspected that he probably wouldn’t like it.
He turned to look over the people hiding back behind the camera, and he frowned.
Something… odd was happening.
One of the crew, a big guy with a scarf, was different from the others.
Usually, the living appeared as if there was a sheet of frosted glass in front of them. They were cloudy silhouettes with faint amber glows just bright enough to stand out in the otherwise dismal fog. Precipitation had explained that this glow is what got some of the other spirits stirred up. It was supernatural catnip, and they were drawn in right away.
Especially with so many together like this, it was sure to get the other ghosts going.
But this guy wasn’t just glowing.
Huck couldseehim.
He could see the guy’s short hair was brown with splashes of red when the light coming in from between the curtains hit it just right. His skin was fair, his cheeks a little rosy, and oh!
Freckles!
The guy had freckles!
Huck moved away from Precipitation, staring in disbelief at the stunning vision before him. This guy was fading in and out of color, but he was as crystal clear to Huck as Precipitation was, and well…
He was pretty cute, actually.
Precipitation was still rambling away, and Huck cut in. “Hey, Sip, why can I see this guy?”
“What?” Precipitation made a face at being interrupted, but he came over to see what Huck was talking about. “Oh, he’s probably a medium.”
“A medium?”
