The Jacobs Hotel (Haunted)

5: Lies

Mersey Jacobs was exhausted. She had spent the day scrubbing, wiping and polishing but she still managed to find more dust around the hotel. She grabbed a broom from the closet and decided to make one last attempt at the lobby area. She swept the floors as best as her aching arms would let her when something by the entrance door made her freeze still. There was a soft brown lump on top of the welcome mat. As Mersey walked gradually towards it, she grimaced at the sight. A dead rat lay there, staring up at her with open wide, black eyes. It was a fat thing, bloated from some sort of illness she assumed and blood was matted into its fur. The first thing Mersey did was phone the Pest Control. She had the hotel surveyed when they had first moved in and the company had confirmed no critters, bugs or rodents infested the house. Well, they were about to get an earful from her. After a somewhat one-sided phone call – she had not let the man get a word in edgeways before she demanded they sent someone down this week to sort it out – she looked at her watch. Michelle would be home soon, she thought, I can’t leave this thing here. It was her daughter’s first day at college and she was adamant to not let anything ruin the day. With a vigorous sweep of her broom she batted the dead thing outside and went back into the hotel. A few minutes later she emerged once again, wearing a pair of rubber gloves and carrying a spade. It was a horrific thing but Mersey had always loved animals and she couldn’t just leave it out here to rot. She dug a hole as deep as she could, feeling the tiredness take over her as drops of sweat began to appear on her forehead. When she was sure the hole was deep enough, she picked up the dead rat and dropped it into the hole. As she was patting down the soil, she heard the tread of footsteps.

“What are you doing?” Michelle said as she came up the road and saw her mother knelt into the soil with a spade.

“Oh” said Mersey “I was just…doing some weeding. We’re not going to attract any customers with these awful dandelions everywhere are we?”

Michelle put out her hand to help her mother up and noticed how drained she looked.

“Do you want to go take a nap?”

Mersey shook her head forcefully “Nonsense. I want to hear all about your first day. Let’s go inside and stick on a brew.”

As they walked back inside the hotel together, Mersey noticed the purple satchel Michelle was carrying. “What’s that?”

Michelle sighed “it’s a girl from my class. Let’s make a tea and I’ll explain everything.”

*

When Michelle had finished telling Mersey everything that Kestrel had said to her she was surprised to see her mum’s face was pale with fright.

"Don’t tell me you believe any of that crap?”

Mersey took a sip of her tea and lied to her daughter for the second time that day “no, of course not. I’m just upset your day didn’t go so well, that’s all.”

“Well it wasn’t that bad. The lesson was fine and the teacher was nice. Kestrel even seems like a sweet girl…just a little on the weird side.”

At that moment the doorbell rang leaving Mersey alone with her thoughts. Adam was here and Mersey was grateful that Michelle had some company whilst she decided to go and take a nap; she really was exhausted. As she passed the painting in the lobby, she couldn’t help but look at it. Evil spirits, her daughter had told her. Don’t be silly, she told herself, there’s no such thing. The faces in the painting stared back at her, the beautiful woman, her face so delicate and kind and the husband’s hand placed affectionately on her shoulder. The little baby was so small and innocent…Evil spirits she laughed out loud then, her voice echoing off the walls. I’m losing my mind, she thought. She looked at the painting once more when a harsh scream ran through her body like an electric shock. The world moved beneath her and she found herself falling to the floor. The last thing she saw was the face of the woman in the painting, until everything went black.