After about 2 weeks of cleaning, restoration, and some minor repairs, we finally got the hotel back in order. I was thankful for Deb’s help and company; it helped ease the workload and kept me from being lonely. I hadn’t noticed until then, how lonely I had been at the hotel and in the town, mainly for friendly company. I loved my old job for its ever present companionship from coworkers, and I wondered why the owners, Mary and Martha, had only ever hired one caretaker at a time, especially given that at any one time the job would easily capture the attention of three of four people. At any rate, I came to look forward to the various guests that would drop by, or the visits I would get from the townspeople.
The morning after everything was finished Deb came down the stairs, luggage in tow, and a cheerful looking Wally on her shoulder. At last it came time for her to leave us at the Hotel Bella Muerte, and to be honest, despite our differences and all that had transpired between us, I was sad to see her go. In the 2 weeks after the yearly night raid, we had become quite close. We spoke often of times long past and she shared all the information on the town and the hotel that she knew. It gave me clarity and a new focus. If I was going to be stuck for the rest of my life in a haunted and mysterious town, I was going to make the best of it. She and I said our goodbyes and she left, closing the door behind her, making the ever silent hotel seem even more daunting.
As I stood there just past the threshold, staring towards the recently closed door, I heard a sound coming from upstairs. The sound of someone or something muttering began to tumble down the stairs from up above. I was curious to see what it was, thinking it could maybe be our residential Jesus, but wanted to check just to make sure. As I walked up the steps it seemed the sound kept moving away from me rather than coming closer, strange I thought that I hadn’t found the source of the sound yet. I was hoping to find it soon because it was repetitive and slightly annoying. But as soon as I would come close to where I thought the sound was it would flee before me unseen and go into another part of the hotel. At last I thought I had it cornered in room #11, but it quickly jumped to room #12 across the hall. Not to be one outdone by a phantom sound, I dashed across the hall and thrust open the door in a flash only to see something I had never seen before.
In the room was of course the normal things you would hope to see in a hotel room, a bed, a small sitting area, and a bathroom. As I entered the room I walked in to see nothing. Not a single solitary soul. That was when the sound started up again, except this time it was in the bathroom. I quickly proceeded to enter the bathroom and that’s when I found the source of the sound. There in the bathtub, at the very bottom was an orb, a shiny, glowing, floating, bluish orb. I wasn’t sure what it was so I didn’t touch it in case it could bite or something. After standing there a minute I was able to distinguish the sound as a small child, perhaps even an infant’s babbling, cooing, and crying.
After a few more moments I grabbed the plunger from beside the toilet and gave it a quick poke. It was a solid mass that moved as I pushed it, about half a foot in diameter and equally round, wavering and wobbling like a bubble would. At my touch it seemed offended, just as I’m sure I would have been if someone had pushed into me with a toilet plunger, and it fled from me down the drain, crying out as it went. I could then hear its mumbled and muttered sound going through the hotel once again. Great I thought, now we a have bathtub pipe ghost. Just when I think everything is getting back to normal I’m hit with this. Not knowing anything about plumbing I decided to seek out the help of our residential handyman, Jasper Moon, hoping he could do something about the bathtub ghost.
Over the past two weeks Jasper had been almost indispensible. After the raid happened, He helped fix up most of the town. As it turned out he was very handy with a wrench, a screwdriver, and a hammer. I got to know him a little better during that time and honestly, he was almost likable, almost. He had a certain way about him that made you feel safe and protected, even if he could be a jerk sometimes. I didn’t mind though when I saw the quick progress he made in the restoration of the hotel.
I made my way down to the first floor, and out the front door, headed for the post office. Once there I knocked on the door before entering, and heard Jasper call out, “Its open!” I walked in, taking note of how good the new door looked, especially in comparison to the rest of the place and entered.
“Hi Jasper. How are you today?” I asked.
“Doing just fine, and you?” He answered.
“Well, I got a problem.” I told him coming closer to where he was in the back of the room sitting in the rocking chair.
“You always seem to, don’t you?” He retorted with a chuckle.
“Not always…..well…maybe some of the time. Anyways I got a pipe ghost.” I explained
“A what?” He asked raising an eyebrow.
“A…pipe ghost……in the bathtub in room #12?” I said now fully aware how strange what I had just told him sounded.
“Ah, and what did this pipe ghost do? Did it yell boo at you?” He teased.
“No! It just cried and babbled like a baby or small child.” I said as I crossed my arms defensively.
“Ah. I know what you mean now. What you just described is actually the spirit of an unborn baby. Since it never had a body at the time of the raid, it can’t take a form other than an orb. I’ve seen a few before, never stuck in a bathtub pipe before though.” He continued, “I’ll take care of it. Just give me a few.”
“Great thank you.” I replied before I realized what I said.
“Was that a thank you I heard? He began.
“No!” I said turning on my heel walking away before he could tease me further, leaving the key to room #12 on the table as I went.
I decided to walk around the town then, thinking of visiting the only buildings left in the town that I hadn’t already seen. I came to the pharmacy, and as I stood before it, I became curious as to what the building held. I entered with a ding above me; apparently all the buildings in town had a bell, and walked inside. There on the side of the room, spanning the entire length, was a counter with hundreds of jars lining the shelves behind it containing various herbs and roots of plants. I had never seen an old timey pharmacy before and it piqued my interest. On the other side of the store were all types of candies, anything from mints, to licorice, to chocolates and hard candies. I loved the look of the place, it was very inviting. On the counter sat a bell, interested to meet who ran the place I rang it.
In seconds an older man, probably around the age of 70 if I didn’t know any better, came from a back room. He had a cheery, wrinkled smile that was very charming, long white and gray hair, and a creamy complexion that was dotted with liver spots. He wore the appropriate time period clothing, a pair of slacks and a plaid shirt with an apron sitting over it. He looked kind and as he came up he walked with a slight limp. I stood at the counter as he came slowly up, waiting to greet him. That’s when I recognized him as one of the townspeople that had stood with us in the line during the raid.
“Good Day M’am. How can I help you today?” He asked politely.
“I’m wonderful. I just came to say hi and introduce myself to you now that things are settled at the hotel. My name’s Autumn Winters.” I replied.
“Nice to finally properly meet you Miss Winters, I’m Mr. Joseph Herd. I was hoping you would stop by my shop one day.” He said with a cheery voice.
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long. I would have been by sooner to return a few pill bottles, but I’m afraid they got lost during the raid.” Then I added, “I wish I still had them to give you.”
“It’s of no consequence. I can make more for whoever they belonged to. I’m just happy to finally meet the new caretaker.” He said
“Well I’m happy to meet you as well. I always wanted to see what an old pharmacy looked like and I must say it doesn’t disappoint.” I told him.
“I’m glad you like it, but I’m afraid I have a lot to do at the moment and I have to get back to my work. I hope you don’t mind, otherwise I would invite you in for some tea to talk and chat further.” He said as he looked at me with a sorry look on his face.
“Oh that’s perfectly fine, I should probably be getting back to the hotel myself. I will hopefully be able to stop by when we both aren’t so busy one day and I’ll take you up on that tea offer.” I said smiling.
He smiled back and told me “You have a good day Miss Winters, and be sure to get a piece of candy on the way out. All the kids used to call me the candyman!”
With that he turned to go back into the back room, leaving me alone once again in the store. I walked the various aisles looking at the different types of candy before making my selection. I finally decided on a peppermint stick the length of my hand and took it from the jar it sat in. It had been so long since I had had any candy, I began to suck on it immediately, enjoying the sweet flavor and the minty after taste. I loved peppermint; it had to be my favorite candy over all others, simple but good nonetheless.
I continued to suck on the hard candy as I left the pharmacy on my way back to the hotel. As I stood before the hotel, I became aware that suddenly I felt, funny. Not bad just funny. I began to walk a little slower, trying to determine what it was making me feel so strange, that’s when I spat the candy out onto the sandy earth. The candy! I had forgotten the rules once again. Rule #130 Never take candy from the pharmacist. I was instantly worried, especially after the stamp incident.
I quickly made my way back into the hotel in case I needed to lie down. Once inside I heard a banging noise coming from upstairs. I walked up the steps, still feeling strange, and made my way towards the newest sound. I found Jasper in room #12 banging on the pipes underneath the sink with a wrench.
“I think I’ve almost got it to come out.” He stated as he continued banging.
“Jasper…..” I started.
“What now” He asked looking at the worried look on my face.
“So I may or may not have taken and started eating candy from the pharmacist.” I continued “What happens now.
“Oh my God! You didn’t. I don’t think you’re gonna like what happens next.” He said
“What, what happens?” I asked, fear creeping up in my voice.
He took a deep breath in and started, “You’re not going to like it, but unfortunately you’re going to grow a tail and antlers.”
As he said that a mischievous smile played on his face and I knew he was just kidding me. I swatted at him, and said, “Not as big as the bump on your head that you’re going to get from me!”
He chuckled and went on to say, “Nothing bad is going to happen, you’ll just see things that aren’t there for a little while.”
I looked at him long and hard to see if I could tell if he was kidding or not, but I couldn’t see any evidence that he was. “Great, I’m going to be seeing pink elephants.”
“Not quite. The things you’ll see are real, or at least were, you just see events that happened unfold.” He told me.
“Well at any rate I think I’ll go to my room for a while and just wait for things to happen then.” I responded, turning from the doorway of the bathroom and heading to my room.
I sat down on the edge of my bed, kicking my shoes off. I figured if I was going to be seeing things I might as well get comfortable so I laid down on the bed and got settled. I made a mental note to rewrite all the rules I could remember later, since the original letter I had got destroyed in the raid. I figured I could even add a few of my own. In only a few moments, I had closed my eyes and right about the time I started to drift off to sleep, I heard a woman scream.
My eyes shot open, and I glanced around the room to see if I could see where the scream had come from, but I saw nothing. After a few moments of not hearing anything, I started to settle back down into the bed. I once again closed my eyes, when suddenly, I heard the scream once again. I shot up in the bed again just in time to see someone run into the room. It was a woman dressed in a flowing, white night gown. I stared for a few moments at her before I recognized her. Her black hair was down and fell just below her waist, her brown eyes were filled with fear, and her tan hands were shaking. The raid had begun on the hotel. She came hurriedly over to the edge of the bed, standing at the foot of it as I watched two identical twin girls run towards her into her arms. It was Rosa Bennett.
She quickly hurried the girls from the room and I got up from the bed and followed. They hurried down the hall, passing by the open door to room #15, and headed to the dining room with Mr. Bennett not far behind. Mr. Bennett and Rosa both quickly blocked off the door to the dining room using whatever they could, tables, chairs, and dinner carts. Once the door was blocked, they huddled in the far corner of the room, the whole family together, behind a tipped over table. Mr. Bennett had a riffle ready to go, propped atop the corner of the table. Rosa held the little girls as tears streamed down the three of their faces. That was when I saw a sudden change in Rosa’s face, like an idea had hit her harder than a freight train.
She jumped up from the floor and ran to the kitchen and came back with jars and jars of spices and herbs. She sat on the floor making a ring of salt around her. She burned various herbs and spices in the center and spread the ashes on the salt as she began to speak phrases in Latin. The room began to shake and the walls grumbled under the strain of the overwhelming pressure that settled in the room. Her voice began to echo and grow louder with every passing second. Finally she slit her hand, blood pouring out into the middle of the circle. Then as soon as the rumbling began it stopped. In its place, a sudden yellow glow illuminated the room from the center of the circle and expanded ever outward, through the walls and out of the hotel, throughout the entire town and surrounding land before petering out and disappearing. Whatever she did, stopped the raid from continuing upon the hotel. The dead could no longer enter.
My hallucination faded then and I blinked a couple of times before I was seeing things as they were currently. The tables and chairs had all gone back to what they had before, and the dinner carts were once again lined against the walls. Everything looked normal. I tried to shake off what I had just seen, though I was very curious to find out what the spell she had cast was. I figured if anyone knew it might be the librarian. I made up my mind to go to the library, feeling much better now, and find out if she knew what Rosa had done that night.
Once at the library I entered into the room. I loved the smell of books and the way their pages bent and crinkled. Libraries always felt like home to me, even if the librarians scared the crap out of me. I walked up to the librarian’s desk and waited for her to look up. It took a few moments before she did so, and when she finally did she had a look of annoyance on her face.
“Can I help you?” She asked incredulously.
“Hi, I’m looking for a letter that was sent to Miss Rosa Bennett by her grandmother. Can you please tell me if there is a record or copy of the letter here?” I asked politely.
“You’re looking for her letter?” She asked questioningly.
“Well, yes. I was hoping I could read it to find out some information on the hotel.” I told her.
She continued to look at me for a few minutes before answering. “If you go upstairs, right hand side, in the town records section, you can find the letter in a locked glass cabinet in the binder of hotel records. Here’s the key.” She said as she opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a shiny skeleton key. “I have to warn you though, no one has ever been able to read it, it’s entirely in Spanish and Latin.”
“Thanks.” I said taking the key from her outstretched hand.
I started up the right staircase. Entering the records section of the library, I saw the glass case the librarian had talked about. I hurried over and put the key in the lock. Turning it, the door to the case wouldn’t budge for a moment, but quickly gave way. I opened it with a squeak, peering inside at the giant binder. I carefully pulled it out, and walked over to one of the tables and pulled out a chair as I laid the binder on the table. As I opened it, it made that crinkling sound I loved, and it smelled old. Being made of leather, red in color, with ornate patterning on the front; it looked beautiful.
The records the red binder held were all types. Everything from records of the people that stayed at the hotel, to little warning notes about the hotel and even daily logs about the happenings of the hotel, the binder held so much. In the very front of the binder, was the letter, just as the librarian said, written all in Spanish. Thankfully I had become quite proficient in Spanish in high school and living where I did there was able to stay fluent in the language. I began to read the letter.
The first half of the letter was just Rosa’s grandmother writing and sharing all that had happened in her last correspondence. Towards the middle, however, was where she started detailing the various spells and curses that Rosa could use. They ranged from the mundane to the extraordinary, most in Spanish and a few in Latin. I read through all of them that I could, but none of them were like the protection spell Rosa told me she used in the vision I had. I flipped through the various pages, there were quite a few, and on the last page toward the bottom, was one particular spell written in Latin.
It was long and had many ingredients used in it. Being as long as it was and recognizing some of the words as being the ones Rosa had spoken in my hallucination, I was sure this spell was the one. After sitting for a moment and thinking of anybody in the town that could translate, I finally settled on Mr. Herd. Being the pharmacist I was sure he had to know some Latin. I closed the door to the cabinet, noticing then that there were over a dozen other cabinets with binders in them all around the room, and walked downstairs with the binder. I stopped by the desk to ask the librarian if I could borrow the binder but she was gone to lunch a note sitting on the top counter. It read:
Gone to lunch, be back in a few. If you need to borrow the binder go ahead. Just make sure to bring it back in 2 weeks.
-The librarian
After I left the library I headed straight for the pharmacy, hoping the pharmacist would be able to help me. I entered the store and saw Mr. Herd standing at the counter, mixing what I assumed was drugs together.
“Mr. Herd?” I began. “I do you have a moment? I need to ask you something.”
He turned around and smiled. “Of course! Of course! Please come on over. What can I help you with?”
I walked up to the counter and asked, “Do you by any chance speak Latin?”
He looked at me as his face lit up. “Ah yes, yes I do. I had to learn it in school long ago. I’m a little rusty though, I have to warn you.”
“Rusty is better than nothing!” I joked. “Can you translate this last page for me, or at least tell me the jist of what it says?”
“Of course, it would be my honor.” He replied.
I handed over the letter and he flipped to the back page. As he stood there a moment trying to decipher the words, he suddenly got a funny expression on his face. “What sort of letter is this?”
“It’s a letter between Rosa Bennett and her grandmother. She cast a spell the night of the first night raid by the villagers. I need to know what it says. Can you tell me?” I asked.
“Well yes but…..” He started.
“But what?” I said as I tried to draw it out of him.
“You aren’t going to like what it says.” He finished.
“So you can read it?” I asked excitedly.
“Yes. It basically is a protection spell, but, it has its drawbacks. The spell itself offers the ultimate protection over the ones it is cast over. However, there’s a catch.” He said.
“What do you mean catch?” I asked trying to push him to get to the point.
“The catch is that once enacted you have to sacrifice your future generations. At least one person per generation, to forever be bound to the place you cast the “safety net” over. Whether that be a house, a business……” He trailed off.
“A hotel?” I said
“Yes, even a hotel, and it seems that was what she did.” He finished telling me.
I had a lot to think about, what the spell meant, what had bound Rosa’s descendants to the hotel, and what all that had to do with the town. “Thank you Mr. Herd. I really appreciate your time and translating the letter. I hope that you have a good day.”
He handed the letter back to me and I placed it into the binder. “I hope that helps you. You have a wonderful day as well.” He said.
I walked out of the pharmacy and headed back to the hotel. Once I walked into the lobby I was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. Standing there in the lobby, dressed all in red, was a new visitor.
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