He coughs on his drink and shakes his head. “Fuck no. We’re a bit behind on this one. I think just about every ghost hunter has been in this hotel at some point or another.”
“Do they ever find anything?”
He gives me a wry look. “What do you think? Of course not.”
“What makes you think we will?”
He smiles again and reaches over with his hand to pat me softly on the head. “Because I’ve got you, kiddo. You’re my little ghost bait.”
I think back to Red Fox, to a moment when Dex said I might be offered up as bait to the skinwalkers. The idea bothered me then and it bothers me now. I take a longer sip of the wine this time.
He’s watching my face closely, as usual, and he still keeps his hand there. I’m not sure if he’s trying to comfort me or what. I shoot him a deadly look from the side of my eyes.
“I’m joking you know,” he finally says, his voice less rough, less gravely. “I just mean, well, you know there’s something about you, something that attracts these things. You’re like a secret weapon.”
“Some weapon,” I scoff and look down into the glass, my vision becoming a blur of deep reds. “What’s the point of just attracting these…things? These people? If I could use this…power…whatever it is, for good…that would be a different story.”
He shrugs and takes his hand away, his attention back to his own drink. The back of my head feels vulnerable without his hand there. “You never know. There’s supposed to be a shitload of ghosts in this hotel, maybe you can help one of them.”
I raise my brows at him.
“A shitload?” I repeat. “Where do you get your information, Mr. Foray?”
“Wikipedia. That thing is never wrong,” he says without irony. He looks around him and takes in the scene. “We’re supposed to meet the night manager, Pam, in a couple of minutes. She said she’d find us. She’ll give us a tour of the place; hopefully give us the real story. I want that on film.”
“And what do you want me to do?” I ask. Once again, we’re going into a film shoot more or less blind. And by we, I mean I. Dex always knows what’s going on and I’m always in the dark. I did research The Benson before biking over here and all that, but I have no clue what to do or say. There is no storyboard, no script. We just wing it and I usually end up looking like an idiot.
“Just be yourself. Ask her questions. I’ll film both of you. We’ll wander around the hotel. Then we’ll probably be allowed to go off on our own and do some exploring. I’ll give you the infrared camera this time so we can see if we pick up any hot or cold spots.”
I shiver at that thought. Using the infrared meant we’d be wandering around in the dark. Whether I’m in a lighthouse on the coast or in the New Mexican desert, the darkness still gives me the creeps. Especially now that I know there are things out there that want to hurt me. That know I’m a sort of “bait.”
By the time Pam shows up, I have finished my glass of wine. It has only left me anxious, not relaxed.
Pam is on the overweight side, similar to the way I was in high school, but unlike me, she seems to bustle with confidence. Or bustle with something. Her wide, cheery face gives her the appearance of being younger than she probably is and she speaks a mile a minute.
“You must be Perry and Dex, I recognized you!” she exclaims, beaming at us and holding out her hand. We both give it a quick shake. She points to the name tag on her black suit. “As you can see, my name is Pam. Pam Gupta. I’m the night manager here at The Benson.”
“Thanks for having us,” Dex tells her sincerely, reaching under the table and bringing out a backpack and a camera bag.
“No, thank you,” she says putting extra emphasis on the words. “As soon as you told me who you were, I looked up your ghost show and immediately fell in love with you guys.”
Dex and I exchange a quick look.
“I mean,” she corrects herself and lets out an awkward clip of a laugh, “I was scared witless at the Darkhouse episode and the one in Red Fox but I was so drawn in by you two. You’re just so…so…”
“Handsome?” Dex asks, flashing her a smile and stroking his chin scruff.
She blushes and giggles. “Well, yeah I guess you are.”
I roll my eyes. Dex doesn’t need any more encouragement.
“But,” she continues, “you’re both just so…lucky!”
We look at each other again, even more confused.
“Lucky?” I ask.
“How about I explain as we walk? I don’t have much time to show you around before I start my shift.”
We get up, Dex giving the backpack of equipment to me, and we follow Pam through the lobby. For a larger woman she walks like a sprite, moving quickly between people and showering her big smile on all of them. The guests eye Dex and I curiously, intrigued by the camera he has placed up on his shoulder.
We stop before a grand staircase leading up to the second floor. I eye myself quickly in the mirror on the landing. My floral dress is sticking to my leggings in static cling, and my black hair is a mess from my motorbike helmet (and Dex’s hand). I don’t look camera worthy at all. I shrug helplessly at my reflection and look to Pam who is pointing up at the stairs.
“There’s been many sightings of one of ghostly guests walking up and down this very staircase,” she says, sounding like a chipper tour guide talking about museum pieces and not dead people.
I look at Dex beside me and see the camera is going, picking up everything Pam is saying. Sensing I’m staring at him, he reaches out and pushes me toward Pam, into the frame. I know he wants me to start acting like the host I am.
I smooth down my hair and clear my throat, stepping into the shot. “Have you seen any ghosts, Pam?”
She shakes her head quickly and looks wistful. “No, I haven’t. Come on, let’s go to the next floor.”
Not exactly the answer I was hoping for.
She scurries up the stairs and we follow, my short legs straining to keep up with her quick busybody motion.
We walk toward the elevators and as we are waiting she says, “I think you two are lucky because I’ve always wanted to see a ghost. I believe in them. So badly. But I’ve never seen one. Weird, right, considering that I run The Benson. At night.”
The elevator dings and the doors open. There’s a couple inside who eye the camera with trepidation, but we step inside with them anyway. Pam makes small talk with them as she pushes the button for the 8th floor and doesn’t mention ghosts again until the couple get out at the 5th floor.
She tilts her head at us. “I don’t like to discuss the ghosts around the guests though. People can be pretty strange about things like that.”
“I don’t blame them,” I find myself saying.
“I guess you’d know,” Pam says as the elevator stops at the floor, and she leads us out into the hallway, past a rotary phone resting on top of an antique table.
She notices me eyeing it and gives it a quick wave with her hand. Her bracelets jingle with the motion.
“We try to keep all the original furnishings from the hotel. Adds to the class and elegance of the place, don’t you think?”
I nod, not really needing to be sold on the hotel as a whole.
Pam takes us to the right, and we walk past the rooms down to the very end of the hall. Dex keeps filming, even though he takes his head away from the camera.
“So, if we show The Benson in a good way,” Dex says to Pam, “any chance we can score a free hotel room for the night? I’m staying at a roach motel outside of the city, and I’m getting itchy just thinking about it.”
Pam turns around briefly and smiles at him but then spins around and keeps walking without missing a beat.
“We’ll see. Would you two be sharing the room?”
Dex automatically grins and looks down at me as we walk. I shake my head, not amused.
“No, Perry snores and kicks in her sleep,” he says.
I smack him on the shoulder and the camera shakes.
“I do not!” I protest.
“Oh, and drools,” he adds quickly.
“So you two are a couple?” Pam asks, not looking at us this time but slowing down as she nears the end of the hall.
“Only in certain situations,” I mutter under my breath.
“No, we are not. Perry is far too good for me and I am forced to make do with my Wine Babe girlfriend.”
Finally Pam stops walking and looks at him. “Wine Babe? You’re with someone from that show?”
“You’ve seen it?” Dex asks, his eyes wide and hopeful.
“Yes,” she says slowly, and for once her chipper look is gone. Her cheeks sag a bit. “My ex boyfriend used to drool all over that skinny, exotic one.”
“Yeah, that’s his girlfriend. Jennifer Rodriguez,” I inform her. She eyes me and sees that I’m none too thrilled about it either. Nothing like a hot woman to make two chubby girls feel like they’re having a bonding moment.
“Well, I’m just glad some women watch it,” Dex says, turning his attention the camera, perhaps feeling the animosity and low self-esteem just reeking from our pores.
Pam laughs and the cheery fa?ade returns. “Don’t be silly. I don’t watch that dreadful show. They pair shiraz with Kraft Dinner. Only an idiot would watch that. Like my ex-boyfriend.”
Dex opens his mouth to say something, but I know he completely agrees. That’s the reason he quit doing camera work on Wine Babes and started up Experiment in Terror with me instead.
“Anyway,” she continues, “here we are.”
I look at the door we’ve stopped in front of: Room 818.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“This was Parker’s room,” she says ominously.
“Who is Parker?” Dex asks. I’m surprised that he doesn’t know something for once.
“Parker…” Pam starts and then trails off. She takes her keys out from her pocket; the noise of them rattling fills the hallway. It suddenly seems very empty and hollow and a weird, familiar feeling washes over me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.
The lock turns, and the door slowly creaks open. Only blackness and dust come billowing out of the room.
“After you,” Pam says.
Dex shrugs and then nudges me in front of the camera, indicating that I am to go first. Of course. I always have to be the first to walk into everything when I’m on camera. And sometimes when I’m not on camera. It depends on how sadistic Dex is feeling.