Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Natalie!" Gabe, Millie's hand held in his, called her name the moment the elevator doors opened on the ninth floor and Natalie stepped out.

She, Liam and Paulina—looking less than comfortable to be up close and personal with a ghost she could hear but couldn't see—turned toward the sound of his voice.

"You're here." Natalie rushed toward the group of the four Mudville ghosts down at the end of the hallway.

"We got your message. What's happening?" Ricky asked.

"And why are we back up here on this floor?" Harriet asked with a visible shudder.

"We think that evil dark thing has Letisha and the crew trapped upstairs. The stairwell door won't open. And none of the communications are working."

Ricky blew out a breath. "Whoa. That's nuts."

Harriet shook her head. "This thing is powerful if it can block the door as well as the technology."

That wasn't what Natalie wanted to hear, although she'd had the same thought herself.

"Natalie! Have no fear. Alas, we are here to help!" The sound of Bobby LaRue making a dramatic entrance had Natalie spinning.

She saw a group of the theater ghosts heading her direction.

"We heard what was happening on that producer woman's radio," Evie explained.

"So we stopped by the Catholic Church on the way here and grabbed a priest." Vinny thrust forward the confused looking ghost of an older man she didn't recognize. And he was indeed wearing a priest's collar and clutching a Bible to his chest.

"What's happening?" Liam asked, the familiar sound of frustration in his tone.

"Sorry. The Mudville ghosts are all here and the Stanley ghosts just arrived. And they've brought along… a ghost priest."

Paulina's eyes widened. Natalie couldn't blame her for the reaction. She'd never have imagined those words ever coming out of her own mouth. But right now, a ghost priest might be exactly what they needed.

As they made their way toward the emergency stairs at the end of the hall, Natalie caught the new arrivals up on what they'd missed. She filled the priest in on everything she knew about the entity, with Harriet's help.

Paulina provided logistics information about the PNC team's location. Then there was nothing left to do except face the shadow behind the steel door they all currently stood in front of.

Natalie drew in a breath, reached out her hand and turned the knob. Eyes wide, she spun to Paulina. "It turned."

Paulina shook her head. "It's not that door that's stuck shut. It's the door at the top of the stairs that leads to the tenth floor where Letisha went to investigate."

"But it makes sense that door might be locked. Those upper floors are not renovated. The hotel wouldn't want any guests wandering up there," Natalie pointed out.

"Perhaps, but it opened just fine when the team went upstairs."

"Oh." She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Not that simply getting the door open was their greatest challenge. Facing the entity was the biggest problem.

The darkness of that thing was palpable. It was already making her feel nauseated. If it felt this bad down here, on the floor below, she didn't want to imagine how bad the evil would feel one flight up. But she supposed she was going to find out.

"Okay. So let's go up and try the next door." Heart pounding, Natalie swung the door open wide and stepped through.

At her first step into the stairwell she immediately felt the emotions bombard her.

If hate and anger could be felt, viscerally, externally, this is what they'd feel like. It had her standing in front of the door marked 10th Floor , not moving. Not wanting to.

Liam moved up next to her and reached out to try the doorknob only to drop his hand again when it didn't turn. "She's right. It feels like it's locked."

"Emergency stairs and fire exit doors in public buildings can be locked from the one side, but not from the egress side. So even if it is locked to our side, it can't be from their side. So if the team up there were capable of reaching the door, they would be able to open it to get out," Ricky supplied. When the ghosts, plus Natalie, turned to look at him, he shrugged. "I was a volunteer fireman for thirty years."

"So that means that thing is keeping the team from opening the door and leaving. Not a lock." And that was not comforting. Natalie turned to Liam. "Can you kick it in?"

His dark brows rose. "No."

"Isn't that what you military men do? Kick in doors." They did it all the time on television.

"Yes, Natalie. That is sometimes what we do, but the hinges are on the wrong side. The door opens towards us. And it's a three-inch thick metal door. I could kick that all day and it's not going anywhere."

"Can you take it off the hinges? Blow it off or something?" she asked.

Those brows rose impossibly higher. "Sure, Natalie. Oh wait. Silly me forgot to bring my C4 and breaching charges with me to Utica to see my girlfriend."

She pressed her lips tight and narrowed her eyes at him. "No need to get snippy. We're kind of desperate here."

"I think you two are forgetting one thing," Gabe began, holding Millie's hand so Liam and Paulina would hear. "None of us need you to open that door."

Her chest clenched at the thought of the ghosts going in there on their own and fighting that thing, even though she was in no way excited to go in there with them.

"Exactly. Come on. Let's get that thing!" Ricky looked around the group of spirits. "Who's with me?"

"I'll go." Vinny, playing the role of hero, raised his hand.

"I'm coming too. I worked as a counselor for most of my adult life. I might be able to talk to it," Harriet offered.

"I'm coming, of course," Gabe said, then turned to Millie. "I think you should stay here with the women."

Evie rolled her eyes. "I see times haven't changed."

"For good reason. I think I should stay here with the women too. To protect them," Bobby LaRue suggested.

The priest, who Natalie hadn't been sure could talk because until now he had remained silent, took a step forward. "I'll go in first."

"You sure, Father?" Ricky asked.

The old man, who looked slight in stature but large in confidence, nodded. "I've spent a lifetime fighting evil."

"Are you certain you're all going to be all right? What if this thing attaches to you? Or just like eviscerates you?" Natalie asked.

A blood curdling scream cut through the air, muffled but audible in spite of the heavy metal door.

"Letisha," Paulina breathed.

"There's no more time. We have to go now." The priest turned and walked through the door.

Vinny, Rick, Harriet and Gabe followed, but only after Gabe delivered one last backward glance first at Millie, then at Natalie.

"Be careful!" Natalie called after him, but he was already through the door and out of sight.

She pressed her palms against the door and felt icy cold radiating from the metal. "Being on this side of the door while they're all in there is horrible."

"Not as horrible as being on the other side, I imagine," Bobby commented.

Liam pulled Natalie back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm glad you're on this side."

"But I want to help." She turned in his arms and gazed up at his face, handsome in spite of the concern etched there.

He ran his hand up and down her back. "You did help. You gathered the only people who might be able to deal with this situation."

She only hoped it was enough for the ghost battle that was happening right now on the other side of that closed door.