Vacancy

Chapter 3 - Gossiping Old Ladies

Four months and two weeks it had taken to completely renovate the asylum. Now stood a shiny, new hotel. A splash of Victorian charm mixed with modern design had made for a fabulous character hotel. Daniel had paid a pretty penny for ads in newspapers and online travel sites. Opening day was one week away and they were almost booked up for the entire first week.

Daniel was typing furiously at his desk in the back office. He was personally responding to all the inquiring emails. Samara was at the front desk setting up the computers and training the new hires. She had gotten a job at another hotel while theirs was being built to better learn the business. She may have only two months of hotel experience under her belt, but she felt ready. She was the assistant manager, her father the general manager-slash-owner. He made sure all his business cards said that.

No other disappearances had happened since Robert. The renovations had gone ahead with minimal hiccups. The only one coming to Samara's mind was the discovery of the frightening oven in the basement used to cremate bodies. They had to bring in a specialist to disable and remove it completely. The guy they had hired was a real character. He did the job for free as long as he was allowed to keep it. Creepy, Samara thought. What would he need one for in this day and age?

Her dad jumped at the offer and the renovations were only set back a few days while they removed it. The crew complained about their tools disappearing, but that was about all Samara had heard. The new staff she hired was eager to hear all the juicy gossip, but Samara quickly shut them down.

The last thing the hotel needed was a sinister reputation. It was bad enough that people knew it was an asylum beforehand. Although the macabre market would draw in a certain crowd, they still needed mass appeal for the hotel to continually book rooms. It certainly drew in the morose crowd during the auction.

Once the building had been gutted and cleaned out, they had been left with a pile of aging medical equipment from an era long gone. No hospitals would take them so one of Daniel's trusted business buddies suggested they auction off the antique pieces. Much to Samara's dismay, it worked. They had sold almost all of the intact furniture and equipment to the diverse crowd, with one older gentleman making over half the purchases. Samara hoped he was opening a museum or something because otherwise she couldn't see a reason for owning so many creepy artifacts, like those crazy people who bought serial killer personal belongings online.

"I heard this place was used as Mark's torture chamber for his victims," Sherry, the older gossip Samara had hired for the day shift, whispered to the other girl.

They both turned, having sensed the glare Samara was sending their way.

"Ladies, when we open I better not hear you talking like that in front of guests," Samara scolded.

Sherry jutted out her chin, "Don't you think it will be good for business if this place got a reputation as being haunted?"

"No, no I do not," Samara said bluntly.

"But think of all the looky-loos and ghost chaser that will want to stay here," Krista, the other hired day shift, pointed out.

"Think of all the normal people that will be scared into staying that the Holiday Inn down the street," Samara countered.

Both women looked at Samara and returned to their computer software training, muttering about an unfriendly boss. Samara ignored the comment, but it still stung a little. She didn't want to be known as the hard-ass, but the business needs came first. After all, if they couldn't drum up business, Sherry and Krista wouldn't have a job for very long.

They managed to finish their training on time, no thanks to the gossiping. Samara sent them home so she could prepare for the evening staff hires' training.

"Dad," Samara poked her head into her dad's office. "I'm just going to head to the storage room to get some supplies for tonight."

Daniel barely acknowledged her except for a wave, all his attention focused on the phone call he was taking. Samara let out a deep breath as she got out from behind the front desk and started down the main corridor. There were only a few rooms on the main floor as Daniel had decided to create a lavish breakfast area and multiple boardrooms for people to book. The nicest touch had to be the massive ballroom he had constructed. It would rent out for a fair stack of money, but the vaulted ceilings and grand chandelier really took your breath away. The acoustics would be amazing.

They hadn't set up the music yet so the speakers remained dead above Samara's head as she walked to the storage room. All you could hear was the echoing of her heels clicking against the floor. Samara loved the color scheme, after all, she had helped to pick it out. She ran her fingers along the elegant paint as she walked, enjoying the possessive feel that this place, at least in part, was hers too.

She had given up a promising job offer with a widespread marketing firm to help her father run this place. Daniel had said she would be given twenty-five percent controlling interest and be given more as Daniel got older.

Samara stopped in her tracks as her hand ran over a bump in the wall about the size of a curled up cat. No! Please don't let the drywall be morphing! Samara screamed inwardly. She looked back at the gold and red painted wall, everything even in sight. She got up close, scrutinizing every sinew with smooth palms. Nothing. Just flat wall.

"Odd," Samara said aloud.

With a shrug she continued on. Every few steps out of the corner of her eye, she could swear it looked like something was crawling just below the surface. Like the paint was bubbling, but every time she gave into the instinct to look back, nothing was amiss. The sound of glass breaking drew her attention ahead. One of the decorative vases on the elegant side table had toppled to the ground, shattering.

Samara licked her lips. No one else was in the building right now except for her and her father. All of the housekeeping training had happened earlier in the day. Hesitantly, she walked over to the fallen piece, her feet feeling heavier with each step. She lifted her arms and hands hoping to catch a breeze or draft that could have explained why the vase was knocked over. As she bent down to pick up the shards, Samara could have sworn she heard a low growl.

She immediately stood up, wobbling on her feet a bit from the quick motion. Her heart started to pound faster and her body heated up as adrenaline poured into her system. Samara looked around, her head twisting from side to side as she scanned for the source of the noise.

You're hearing things, Samara thought. This is a no pet hotel, not to mention there are no guests in house right now. Reasoning with herself seemed to help calm her nerves. She tried to convince herself that she was just getting caught up in what those two staff members had said. The mind can be a powerful thing, after all, schizophrenic's saw and heard things that weren't really there. Not that thinking about schizophrenia made her feel any better.