31 Days of Halloween Tales ~ The Sisters Van Helsing - Part 1

I got a little hung up on the characters so another tale of two sisters entitled:

The Sisters Van Helsing

Part 1

"Are you sure this is the right place, Dee?

Lori's distrusting tone set me on edge and we had only just arrived.

"Okay, so it's not the Ritz Carlton but it's cheap and it had some decent reviews on Yelp."

Alright, I might have been fibbing about that part a bit. There were a couple of not bad reviews but a whole lot more of DON'T STAY HERE reviews. Fortunately for me Lori isn't that keen on the internet and with four kids she hardly has the time to browse.

The fact was, I wanted to stay here because of the hotel's history. I mean, serial killers, suicides, and strange murders?? Who wouldn't jump at the chance?

"Someone just asked me if I was 'holding'.  Holding.  What do you think he meant?"

Yes, so it's a place frequented by junkies and drug dealers as well. I didn't think we looked like either one so I thought we would be okay. Yeah, I guess Iwas wrong about that.

"Who knows? Let's go get checked in. I can't wait to see the inside!"

Lori was still scrutinzing the addict sitting outside when I opened the door and we stepped inside the lobby.

"God Dee! This place is gorgeous!Are you sure this is the right place? Are you sure you got the price right?"

Even I had to admit that the lobby was stunning, a beautiful throwback to the elegance of the early 1900's when it was built. You could imagine Carol Lombard and Clark Gable strolling across the gleaming tiled floor on their way to check in after attending some Hollywood bash in the ballroom downstairs.

I was more than a little disappointed.

"Yep, this is it. The Cecil Hotel."

I heard Lori giggle slightly, irritating me even more and I snapped. "Let's just go get checked in, okay?"

My sister's tone  changed immediately. I should know better than to show my hand too early with her.

"Dee, What's going on? You selected this place and now you don't want to stay here?"

"No, of course I want to stay. It's beautiful isn't it?"

"But that isn't what you expected was it? What exactly were you expecting, Dee? Tell me why you picked this place right now."

I walked away without answering, leaving her behind as I went up to the front desk and checked us in before she could change her mind.

*****

"This place is pretty awful, Dee."

Lori was right. While it was pretty much as clean as any other hotel I have ever been in, it was absolutely prehistoric. When was the last time I saw a television with a tube in it? Fifteen, twenty years before? I couldn't remember but it had been a long time before today. It was shocking but not nearly  as shocking as the fact that it still worked.

The ancient television was mildly interesting but it was the cold that got my attention.  Lori called down to the lobby about the coldness of the room only to discover our phone didn't work either. She declined to return down in the elevator by herself and we suffered until we figured the thermostat out by ourselves.

All in all, it was a old room but I knew that wasn't what Dee was referring to when she commented about it being awful.

I noticed it first in the elevator, the bone chilling dampness of the place. I know Dee noticed it too, her teeth were chatteirng loud enough to wake the dead but since we weren't alone as we rode up to the fourteenth floor (actually the thirteenth but who is counting?) she had the common courtesy not to mention it in front of the other hotel guests.

As we stepped out onto our floor the doors closing silently behind us, my sister whispered,"Dee, who was that in the elevator?"

"How would I know? I don't know anyone else who is staying here."

"They looked familiar to me. I don't know why."

I knew why. Anyone who watched the news in the last fifty years knew why but I didn't want to say just yet. However, as usual, my silence was like an alarm going off in Lori's head and she wasn't letting it go.

"Dee? Who were they? Why are we here at this hotel?"

Damn it. I could have tried to lie a little bit longer but it seemed less than worth the effort..

"It's supposed to be haunted. Remember the Elisa Lam disappearance and the weird video?"

"Christ, Dee. This isn't that hotel, is it? Tell me it isn't. Tell me that wasn't her in that elevator!! Tell me!!"

"Okay, well, I can't tell you that. But we did already pay for two nights so we are staying."

Lori stopped walking and was silent for a moment.  Then she asked me what I hoped she wouldn't.

"Deidre,who was the guy with her? I recognize him too. I have a feeling I should know who he is."

Like I said, I knew the history of the hotel.

"I think it was Richard Rameriz."

"The Night Stalker?"

Well, I was hoping she wasn't aware of who he was but I probably should have known better.

We are Van Helsings after all.

To be Continued...

31 Days of Halloween Tales ~ Easy to Forget

A chilling tale entitled:

Easy to Forget

Saturday

I just wanted to get away. Just for one night to clear my head.

I had a fight with my husband Hank and I ran out on him. For the first time in eighteen years, I was afraid.

Not afraid of Hank of course, he is a sweetheart, but afraid for our marriage.

I knew the rumors of the Cecil Hotel, living just down the street how could I not, but it was cheap and close and I had been drinking so driving wasn't an option.

I walked the eight blocks, or was it ten? I can't remember now. Things are different here, time is different here.

I didn't hesitate, I walked right into the lobby and checked in without thinking. They asked me for something, I don't remember what now, maybe payment or maybe something else.

Someone keeps knocking at my door but I am afraid to open it. I don't know what they could want, they have already taken everything.

It's Saturday now and I wish I could leave.

Monday??


I wanted to write all this down so someone would know what happened. Maybe it would help someone else, it cannot help me.

What day is it now? How long have I been here?

It doesn't matter. There was a song about a hotel. Maybe you know it. I think it was about this place.

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

I have a husband but I can't remember his name now.  Can you please tell him to come get me?



Unknown??


I wish I could go home but I don't remember where that is.

Why am I here?

Someone is calling me.

I can hear them clearly.

I just need to open the window and step outside.

Tell him I love him.

Friday Freebie....

A sneak peek of a work in progress...This is the first draft...just filling the sandbox...

Declan O'Bran

May 4, 1912

I find myself once more at a beginning. The beginning of this writing...the beginning of a new... life? Or what may pass at this moment for life.

My name is Declan O'Bryan and although I am writing this, I am no longer of the living.

The events and memories are foggy and disorganized to me now. I was a traveler, just passing through Salem on my way home to Boston, stopping at the tavern for a drink to take the chill off my bones and find lodgings for the night. I remember this much at least..this much and the woman.

I arrived in Boston only two days ago. Is that possible? Is it possible that only two days have passed since I first walked the narrow streets of the North End? I can say it has been two days but in reality I no longer have any sense of time or urgency that I am aware of the hour. Except for the day's dawning. Of that, I remain keenly aware. I can sense the approaching sunlight beneath my skin, a hot, slithering bile that crawls its way just below the surface, lightly shimmering the blood within my veins. The weather in early Spring is still chilly enough to require a cloak but the chills that devour me have nothing to do with the temperature this morning.

To say she was beautiful would not do her justice. A long dark mane surrounded her heart shape face, a sharp widow's peak pierced her forehead like an arrow. Ebony eyes melded into her copper complexion, shades of mocha and black swirled together in an exotic blend.

I seemed unable to resist her although I am not one to indulge in pleasures of the flesh casually, yet when she took my hand into hers, I followed her to her room above the tavern without question or second thought.

I felt nearly as if I had simply fallen asleep and was wrapped inside the dizziness and desire of a sensuous dream. I could not move and yet I was able to follow her; I could not speak but yet I groaned outwardly. The overwhelming scent of a million spices filled her room and danced on her skin like sweet honey, making my head reel as it became more difficult for me to breathe with each passing second I was in her presence.

She closed and locked the door behind us and began to undress slowly, whispering to me in a language I could not understand but could only grasp the meaning as she smiled. In a moment she stood naked before me, proud, exquisite, long supple legs, full breasts, taunt ripe belly, her dark hair draped around her narrow waist in a sea of thick black waves.

I had never seen such a exquisite woman, nor never have I tasted such exotic flesh. and when she pulled me to her, I drowned within the agony of her embrace.

I awoke in a strange barn sometime later and she was gone. I was dressed again but could not recall how I had gotten there nor could I remember what had transpired. My body ached with fever and my throat burned with thirst. My stomach clenched as waves of agonizing spasms washed over me, leaving me curled tightly on the dirt floor. I trembled in the chill of the barn yet I could not find the energy to get up to venture to someplace warmer.

I knew I was dying even when I knew nothing else and seemed unable to help my situation.

Ashley Donaghue

July 1, 2013

How do I start this? How do I begin? Dear Diary? To Whom it May Concern?

And what shall I call you? Diary? Journal? My Inner Sanctum? My Subconscious?

I will write because I was told it would help, not because I particularly want to. I do want to feel better however, anything is better than where I am at at the moment.

And where am I exactly? Three months after a very public emotional break down and what the professionals perceived as a suicide attempt. Perceived is the key word here..

I could fail I suppose, return to that dark place that exists inside everyone of us yet no one ever wants to talk about. You know all about that place, don't you? When someone you love and count on is taken from you on an icy road on a cold April morning when all he wanted to do was surprise you with your favorite coffee from Starbucks when you woke up, that dark place is the only place left to go.

I'm strong, stronger than most but this one time I didn't want to be. I wanted silence and to disappear for awhile. I took too many sleeping pills and had too much wine that night but I didn't want to die. They got that part wrong but nobody seemed to care. No one but me.