“I’m Calliope.” Her voice has a musical lilt to it that makes her name sound even more perfect.
“It’s nice to meet you, Calliope. And you can call me Harleigh,” I say.
Her eyes light up.
The elevator begins to rise with a gentle hum.
“How do you like working here so far?” she asks.
“It’s been … fun.”
“I’m sure,” she says with a conspiratorial grin. “Spending two weeks holed up with Miss Fairchild sounds like a ball of fun.”
I laugh. “Yeah. I’m happy to be past the orientation phase for sure.”
The elevator passes the second floor.
Then the third.
Calliope tilts her head slightly, studying me. Then she lowers her voice to a whisper and asks, “So … have you met The Lady in Red yet?”
I blink. “The Lady in Red?”
She nods slowly. “Yes.”
I hesitate. “Is she … someone who works here?”
Calliope’s grin widens. “Oh, no.” She leans closer, like she’s about to tell me a secret. “The Lady lives here.”
My brain does a quick little spin. “Lives here?”
“Yes.”
“But I didn’t think the Belicourt had apartments.”
Her eyes sparkle. “It doesn’t.”
Now I’m officially confused.
“Then how does she—”
“She haunts the hotel,” she says casually.
I stare at her. “Haunts? As in a ghost?”
“The ghost,” she says proudly.
The elevator glides past the fourth floor.
Calliope folds her arms and launches into the story like she’s been waiting all day to tell it.
“The Lady in Red has been seen wandering the corridors for decades,” she says. “Guests report seeing her late at night when the hotel is quiet.”
“A full apparition?” I ask, delighted.
“Oh, yes.” Her voice drops into an almost-reverent whisper. “Beautiful. Ethereal. Wearing a long red gown that floats around her.”
“That’s amazing.”
