Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Yup. You're right. There's definitely something wrong with her. Look who she was sitting and having a drink with," Alice commented.

She and Harper stood staring at Natalie who remained seated. Shell shocked from both of her surprising encounters. First with the entity and then with Letisha.

Harper dropped down into a squat by Natalie's chair. "Are you okay? You looked like you couldn't breathe upstairs."

"I couldn't."

"What happened?" Harper asked.

"There's something in that room. On that floor."

Harper frowned. "Like what?"

Natalie shook her head.

How was she supposed to explain that thing or how it had made her feel? Harper hadn't seen it. Hadn't felt it.

It was hard for Natalie to believe, but Letisha had been easier to talk to about this. She'd seen it too.

That brought up a very good point. Harper had been in the same room with that thing and hadn't sensed it at all. But Letisha had seen it immediately. She and Natalie shared some similar sort of ability, at least on some basic level, that Harper and Alice did not possess.

"Do you think it's something you're allergic to? Like maybe mold in the carpet?" Harper asked as she continued to try and reason out what had happened, but she never would.

And that's why Natalie said, "I don't know. Maybe."

"We called Liam," Alice announced, plopping into Letisha's recently vacated chair and reaching for the woman's abandoned drink. She gave it a sniff then with a shrug, took a sip.

Natalie dragged her gaze away from Alice and back to Harper. "You called Liam? Why?"

"I mean he is a doctor and your boyfriend. The way you looked, I thought you might have asthma or something. That maybe you forgot your inhaler at home."

"Inhaler?" Natalie was still having trouble comprehending what had happened. What Harper was saying.

It was as if the entity had sucked away some of her brain. Some of her soul.

She shook her head. "No. I don't have an inhaler."

There was no medicine to help what ailed her. This ability to sense the supernatural had no cure.

It was like the thing had used that ability to target her. Her and Letisha. They'd both seen and felt that thing and it had come after them both.

Given that knowledge, Natalie was going to have to shift her whole outlook. About putting herself out there—possibly in harm's way—for this show.

And she was going to have to reevaluate her opinion of Letisha.

"You know what? I think we all could use something to eat. We've been sleeping days and up most of the night. Today we got yanked out of a dead sleep to move here. We need some sustenance. We'll all feel better after," Harper suggested.

Alice plunked down the now empty bourbon glass on the table and stood. "I feel better already. But yeah, I could eat."

"Do you feel well enough to stand?" Harper asked, gaze still glued to what Natalie suspected was her colorless face.

"I think so," Natalie said.

She proved it by pushing herself out of the chair and effectively ignoring the ghost in the top hat and tuxedo hanging out by the hotel's bar as they entered the restaurant.

"Remember, we can order whatever we want and charge it to PNC," Harper informed them. "There was a paper in our room from the production crew."

"Wonder if they've got lobster," Alice said as she followed along behind.

Natalie did feel much better after a bowl of French Onion Soup. The hotel's food was excellent even though they were eating off the dinner menu for what amounted to their breakfast. But she suspected she felt better not just from having eaten, but also from putting enough distance between her and the thing that had attacked her.

There was no way she was going back upstairs to that room or that floor. In fact, the elevator was suspect in her mind at this point. She wasn't thrilled about even being inside this hotel.

They were going to have to get her moved to a different room on another floor. She'd deal with that later— after she'd finished the cup of cinnamon tea and the slice of cheesecake she'd devoured half of already.

If she didn't think about the show, or the entity, or Letisha—if she only concentrated on the warmth of the tea and the cool sweetness of the cheesecake on her tongue—Natalie was for this brief moment in time and space, content. Calm. At peace.

And if she didn't look at the corner of the room where an elder man dressed in a hospital gown shuffled from one wall to the other before turning and doing it again, she could pretend her life was normal. That this was just a nice lunch out with two friends.

Until she heard a familiar voice raised loud enough in the lobby the sound reached her in the restaurant.

"I don't give a flying fuck what the Paranormal Channel told you. If you don't give me Natalie Chase's room number right now I will kick in every door of every room in this hotel."

Her eyes widened. "Is that Liam?"

Harper gasped. "We forgot to call him back and tell him you're all right."

If Natalie had been thinking correctly, she would have realized herself that she needed to call Liam and tell him everything was okay—even if she wasn't completely sure it was okay.

And now he was here.

She jumped up from her chair.

"Are you going to finish that?" Alice asked, pointing her fork at Natalie's dessert plate even though she was still working on her filet mignon.

"You can have it," Natalie said as she rushed toward the restaurant's exit.

"Natalie! Are you here?" That was Gabe's voice, yelling for her.

"Gabe?" Gabe was here too?

She cleared the doorway and sped into the lobby. She arrived in time to hear the front desk clerk telling Liam there was no answer in her room.

Then she saw Gabe standing in the middle of the room, hands cupped around his mouth. He was about to shout for her again while Millie stood nearby, but not touching him. If Millie did touch him, everyone in the immediate area was going to hear Gabe's disembodied voice shouting Natalie's name.

"I'm here!" she called out before Liam did something stupid like punch out the clerk and Gabe and Millie exposed themselves to all the livings in the lobby.

"Oh, thank God you're all right." Gabe rushed forward. Millie close behind.

Natalie didn't have time to properly greet Gabe or Millie as Liam turned and his gaze met hers.

He strode toward her, his long legs eating up the distance. When he reached her, his thick arms enveloped her, making her feel even better than the food had.

In Liam's embrace she felt safe. Protected. Even though she was still in this haunted hotel of horrors.

"Are you okay?" he asked against her hair.

"I am now," she managed while her face was still pressed against his chest. She pulled back to ask, "How are you here?"

"Harper called to say there was something wrong with you. Gabe and Millie and Ricky and Harriet were all with me when she called."

Natalie frowned. "Why were they all there?"

"We were streaming the first episode. But listen. Harriet used to be in the psychology field. When Harper told me which hotel you were in, Harriet completely freaked out. She said to get here immediately and get you out of this place."

She shook her head. "Why?"

Liam kept his hands on her, gripping her arms as he answered, "This building operated as a facility for the disabled for decades until it was shut down for neglect and mistreatment of the patients. Harriet feared it would be teeming with the ghosts of those who'd died here. And here you are in the middle of it."

Gabe nodded, grabbing Millie's hand so Liam was able to hear when Gabe said, "She was right, Nat. This place is a freaking hellscape of unhappy spirits. They're everywhere. You gotta get out of here."

Well that hadn't been in Sam's Welcome to Hotel Utica speech, but it sure did explain a lot. Such as Bobby and Evie's cryptic comments about the hotel. And the wandering spirit in the hospital gown in the dining room.

But it didn't quite explain that entity or the power it had over her.

Hand still grasping Millie's, Gabe continued, "Ricky and Harriet are doing a sweep of the hotel now, but I suggest we leave ASAP."

"Ricky and Harriet are here too?" Liam asked in the direction of Gabe's voice.

"Yes. Of course. Natalie needed us and they wanted to help," Gabe answered.

Liam frowned. "So I was basically driving what amounts to a clown car full of ghosts and didn't know it?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "You'll get over it, big guy."

"Liam," Harper's voice from behind Natalie put an end to the cross ghost-slash-living conversation. She rushed forward. "I'm so sorry I worried you."

"It's okay. I'm glad you called."

"Thanks for leaving me there alone to handle the bill," Alice said, doggy bag in one hand, her short legs motoring her over to where the group stood.

"It's all free, Alice," Harper pointed out.

"I know. And I left him a nice big tip on PNC's tab."

"Natalie Chase!" The sound of the PA's voice summoning her once again sent a tingle of dread down her spine.

She glanced up at Liam. "That's the production assistant. Sam must want to talk to me about something. I don't know what."

Liam let out a humph. "I might know. Is that microphone you're wearing live?"

Liam tipped his chin toward the mic that she had indeed forgotten was clipped to the neckline of her shirt.

Natalie swallowed hard. "Yes. They all are live."

Harper's, Alice's and even Letisha's.

Every single thing that had happened, that had been said, since they'd gotten dressed and boarded the van and arrived at the hotel had all been recorded.

She raised her gaze to meet Liam's. "I think it's time I tell them."

"You think?" Liam snorted.

"About damn time," Gabe said, still holding Millie's hand.

The sound of his voice had Harper's eyes flying wide. "Nat?—"

"Yeah, Harper. I know." Natalie nodded. "That's the voice you heard. Can you guys follow me? All of you. I need to tell you all something."

The PA stepped closer, tablet in hand, headset on. "Natalie?—"

"I know. Sam wants me. I'm coming." Natalie glanced around the group of both the living and the dead. "We all are."

The producer was about to get more than she bargained for.