“I am, but also nervous.” She stepped in, and Sven shut and locked the large door behind her. The thud of the door echoed in the empty entranceway. Like it was sealing her fate.
“About Magnus? You don’t need to worry about him, he’s okay with it. Now.” Sven looked to the side, giving Mercedes a feeling that Magnus wasn’t completely okay with it.
That’s not your concern. Sven hired you and as long as you do your job, you’ll be fine.
That’s what she had to keep telling herself. She was a hard worker and she was going to give this job her all while she figured some stuff out. She had every right to work here, especially since she didn’t know anything about their curse or the supposed revenge issue with Magnus.
“When are you planning on opening?” Mercedes asked as she took in the sights of the impressive front lobby. She could see where they were still working on aspects of it. This lobby had been a new addition built onto the Victorian architecture. The peachy carpet and textured wallpaper gave it away as construction from the late eighties or early nineties. Maybe as the funeral home expanded?
“Soon. We’re a work in progress. I’m hoping our guests will overlook this front entranceway. A lot of the renovations we’ve done ourselves. Come on, I’ll show you around.” Sven floated up the stairs to another lobby, and Mercedes ran up after him. There was an elevator, which was good, but when she got to the top, she marveled at the sight of the dark wood, intricately carved banister and staircase that wound its way up to, what she assumed, would be a bedroom. There was a gorgeous parlor area and dining room, all antique and lush. Lots of jewel tones.
The front desk stood next to the winding stair case. She craned her neck to take in the full scope of it. There was a beautiful gilded chandelier way, way up. The landing had a large stained-glass window with a window bench. Almost like the perfect place to curl up and read.
It was then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, a flash of gold and wispy light, then intense green eyes stared at her, narrowing, before it vanished through a wall.
A spirit, and one who was a bit suspicious of her. Except, not a traditional ghost like she’d dealt with before.
Who was that?
More importantly, what kind of haunts lurked here?
“You seem particularly focused on the landing,” Sven remarked, curiosity lacing his voice as he craned his neck to look.
“You have ghosts,” Mercedes stated.
“I assumed we do, but I can’t communicate with the dead. It’s a bit weird being undead, but not really able to communicate with mortal spirits or see them,” Sven replied.
“Maybe they don’t trust you. I mean, you should be able to.”
“Who knows. I do…” Sven trailed off, pink blooming in his bone-white cheeks. “Enough of that. Behind the front desk is a little hidden room where we keep cleaning supplies and where you can lock your purse and coat away.”
“Sort of like a staff room?” Mercedes asked.
“Yes, I suppose so. We’ll feed you breakfast and lunch.”
“Hetty made me lunch.” Mercedes held up the brown paper bag. “She insisted.”
Sven smiled. “Of course she would. Come, I’ll take you to the kitchen and you can stash your lunch in our fridge.”
Mercedes nodded, her pulse thrumming between her ears as they headed to the kitchen, which she knew was Magnus’ domain.
Please don’t be in there. Please don’t be in there.
Sven pushed open the metal kitchen door. The bright, modern, and clean kitchen was empty. Not a sign of a hunky ghoulish Viking anywhere, and she let out a sigh of relief.
“The fridge is over there,” Sven said, pointing it out.
“Thanks.” Mercedes tucked the paper bag lunch into the fridge and quickly shut the door. She took a moment to admire the Victorian kitchen, which was all brickwork and gleaming wood floors. The pots and pans hanging on the walls were copper, but there were also polished stainless steel. Everything was meticulous and had its place. “This is a beautiful kitchen.”
“Well, Magnus loves to cook, and we had to have everything up to code. His days of skewering an animal over a fire pit are in the past.” Sven winked at his little joke, which sounded like it had a bit more truth to it than she wanted to think about. “I’ll show you the bedrooms. The rooms are going to need a refresh and cleaning. So, I think the first task is to strip the linens from the five guest bedrooms and take them downstairs to the laundry room. We have industrial machines we salvaged when The Clothes Spin laundromat got all new ones. Magnus is quite handy at fixing equipment, especially with a little help from our buddy Phineas.”
Mercedes smiled at the mention of Phineas.
A young swamp man who had eyes only for Pearl. Mercedes knew for a fact that Pearl was smitten with him too, but neither of them were bold enough to do anything about it. She wished she could help both of them overcome their shyness, but that would be hard to do with Pearl so far away.
Sven tookher on a tour of the guest bedrooms. Out of the corner of her eye, she would catch glimpses of various ghosts who were lingering in the house, but they mostly just kept to themselvesand allowed her to work. She did get the feeling that the green-eyed spirit was watching her from a safe distance.
Which was fine by her, because the energy coming off it wasn’t particularly welcoming. It was a bit possessive, and unlike any traditional ghost she’d encountered before.
