Page 45 of A Haunting at Keystone Manor

Jake turns his attention to me. “I’m going to head back out front. I have a shipment of roses that are supposed to be delivered today, and I need to get the beds ready for them.”

I nod. “Okay, have fun babe. I’m going to make my rounds through the vacant rooms, make sure everything is up to standard. I have to keep Frankie on her toes.” I head to a supply closet in what is now Brandon’s office and grab a ladder. With a sigh of relief I head to room five to get started. Once inside, I set the ladder under the ceiling fan and kick out the legs. I’ve been wanting to do this for so long. Let’s see if you’ve been slacking, Frankie. I climb the ladder and squint my eyes against the light, reminding myself again not to look directly at the bulb. I run my finger along the top of one of the fan blades, and gasp when I see the dust collected on my finger. Busted!

I run back to the lobby to instruct Brandon to fire Frankie immediately, but I’m distracted by the look on his face. “I just talked to Granny Brooks, Seth never even made it to her house. What if he got hurt, Alex?” He runs a hand through his shaggy hair. I need to reassure him, even though I’m just as worried.

“We'll find him, I promise.” I run outside to find Jake, but he’s not in his garden. Maybe he decided to work out back. I'm headed in that direction when an old pick-up truck pulls up, bed full of rose bushes. I walk over to the delivery driver.

“You Jake?” he asks.

“Um, no, he’s busy at the moment. I’m the manager of the hotel.”

“Ah, okay, I have the plants you guys ordered.”

“Thanks, you can set them over there next to the flower beds.” I point to the one Jake was working on, and he starts unloading. I walk the property for a few minutes, but don’t find Jake. I check in his room. Not there. I check my room. Empty. Where are you, Jake?

***

Jake

I hear a car pull up behind me. Thinking it’s the delivery guy, I turn around and come face to face with a nightmare in a golf cart.

I put my hands in front of me like a shield. “No, no, no. You’re supposed to be dead!” I close my eyes. “You’re not here.” The monster approaches me and caresses my face gently.

“I’m very real. Well, as real as a ghost can be,” Andrei purrs. I yank my face out of his reach.

“Don’t you dare touch me. How are you here right now?” My stomach turns as I wait for his response.

“I woke up one day in the dirt. As you can imagine, I was very confused about my new limitations. I wandered around aimlessly for a while, until a very trusting little thing happened by, all too eager to explain a few things after I told him I was friends with you. He taught me everything I needed to know. I had him eating out of the palm of my hand,” he says with a sly smile.

“Seth,” I whisper. Andrei snaps his fingers.

“Ah, yes, Seth. What a sweet boy. Well, he was at first.”

“What did you do to him? Is he dead?”

“No, no, nothing like that. I’ve been having too much fun playing with him. He had to learn the hard way what happens when you disobey me. After he realized what I was truly after, he wasn’t too willing to talk to me, until I started snapping his fingers. He started singing pretty quickly after I broke his wrist with a hammer and threatened to rip those piercings out of his skin. Good thing too. It would have been a shame to ruin such a pretty face.”

I want to vomit. “Please, let him go. I’ll do whatever you want but please don’t hurt him anymore. He doesn’t deserve that.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I’ve grown quite fond of Seth. Maybe you can convince me that I’d rather have you. You have some groveling to do. I’ve been watching you, and I’m not happy that you’ve let someone else touch what belongs to me.” He leans in close, chest bumping mine, and it takes everything in me not to move away.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” I say. He stares at me for a moment before speaking and puts his hand back on my cheek. I still don’t move away.

“The problem is, sweetheart, that I’ve heard that before. I just don’t trust you anymore. You’ll have to work hard to earn that trust back, baby.” He pulls his hand back and before I can react brings a closed fist down on the side of my head. I swear I can hear him laugh as everything goes black.

Chapter twenty-eight

The Warehouse

Jake

A slap to the face brings me back to consciousness. I try to move my hands but find they’re tied to the arms of the chair I’m sitting on. Andrei is standing over me, a scowl on his face. I turn my gaze away, not wanting to look at him. I let my eyes drift around, trying to get my bearings, and realize we’re in the warehouse at the edge of the property. Far from Alex, from safety.

I shiver as I look around and take in all the tools hanging on the walls. They’re rusted and look like they haven’t been used in decades, but they could still do some damage. Besides the chair I’m sitting in and a table along the wall, there isn’t much else in here. How can a place so empty feel so threatening?

I look down and shudder when I realize my shirt is missing. He put his hands on me again. The thought makes me want to vomit. I’m just thankful he didn’t remove my pants too. I don’t want to consider what he could have done to me while I was unconscious.

“Glad to see you’re awake, sweetheart,” he says with a sleazy smile. I stare at him numbly for a minute, trying to make sense of what is happening.