A/N: This is just a bit of fun, but the legend behind it is real. In the Thainstone House Hotel, outside Aberdeen, there's a room haunted by a young woman who died in an accident. My mum worked there and was cleaning the room - the door shut and locked itself and the woman was sitting on the bed. So I do believe in these things, because I've had encounters like that before. And there have been bloody weird houses I've lived in. So expect this to get a bit creepy, but it'll be quite funny at the same time :)
Sarah x
Jac, Jonny, Hanssen and Serena walked into the hotel after a long day in Aberdeen, touring the hospital, the children's hospital to be toured in the morning, and Jonny had convinced Serena and Hanssen to go to the theme park on the last day. How he had managed that, Jac would never know. She knew Hanssen had opted for this hotel because the area was quieter, and Thainstone was only less than fifteen miles out of Aberdeen.
"Good evening," the pretty receptionist greeted them. Jac rolled her eyes when she saw Jonny eyeing her up to himself. "Names?"
"There should be one room booked under Hanssen and one under Campbell," Serena smiled, rifling through her bag for her ringing phone. No doubt it was her daughter, a theory confirmed when she excused herself.
"OK," the girl smiled. "Mr. Hanssen and Mr. Maconie?" she asked. "You two will be in room 336," she handed Hanssen his room key.
"Thank you," he replied.
"Ms. Campbell and Miss Naylor, you two will be in room 406," she added and gave Jac the key in Serena's absence. Jonny let out a bark of a laugh before shutting up; Jac spun around to see him looking torn between amusement and horror. She turned back to see the receptionist looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Thank you," Jac said pointedly. She went to get Serena, who was arguing over the phone about what her daughter was to do for dinner, and they proceeded to find their rooms.
"You do know about room 406, don't you?" Jonny asked her. He looked quite pale at the thought.
"What about it?" she humoured him. She knew he wouldn't shut up until someone asked what he was on about.
"It's haunted," he informed her. She saw the expression on his face and had to fight her laughter back. He looked quite comically frightened.
"Haunted, my arse," she snorted. Next to her, Serena hung up the phone, muttering under her breath about teenage girls and bad attitudes. Something told Jac that this girl of Serena's was quite a handful. But then she shouldn't have been surprised. It was Serena Campbell's daughter, after all.
"Who the hell booked the hotel?!" Jonny demanded.
"That would be me," Serena drawled, putting her phone back in her bag. "What's wrong with it?" she added, looking to see what was going on. Jonny said nothing, obviously trying to hold his tongue. "Go on, Nurse Maconie. Spit it out."
She must not have been listening the first time. Jac just grinned to herself; she wasn't gullible enough to fall for all this haunted crap. There was no such thing. The idea that spirits lingered on this Earth after death was nothing less than absurd.
"Jonny?" Serena asked again, sounding slightly more worried.
"So you didn't look this place up? Room 406?" he asked. Serena just shrugged indifferently. "This place is haunted."
"Don't be so stupid," she scolded him. His expression of horror didn't diminish. "What do you think, Mr. Hanssen?" she added.
"I think hauntings are just people's imaginations running wild," he said, the finality in his tone not to be argued with. Jonny remained unconvinced as Hanssen opened the door to their room. Not to mention he look uncomfortable at the prospect of sharing a room with Hanssen for three nights as well.
"Have fun," Jac smiled sweetly at Jonny, who made a face at her as he followed Hanssen in the door and slammed it behind him. She turned to see Serena looking very much amused by Jonny's discomfort; for all the woman was feared by most, Jac found her a woman she could get along with.
"He's going to have the night from hell in there," Serena smirked as they walked away towards their own room. "Can you imagine sharing a room with the Swede? I think I would have to hang myself with the curtains."
Jac burst out laughing at the image of the woman hanging with the curtains around her neck. Jac hadn't given Jonny's fears another thought; he could be so childishly gullible at times. She had to admit she missed having him with her, but she was too proud to admit she was wrong.
"If my phone rings through the night, it'll be Eleanor," Serena warned. "I might have to jump through the phone and strangle her. She's hopeless when she's left alone at home. Either she gets lonely or she throws a free-for-all and I end up picking up the pieces," she ranted. Jac just smiled to herself, wondering what it must be like to raise a daughter single-handedly as she knew Serena had been left to do.
"Don't worry," Jac smiled. "I'll help you."
Serena laughed and unlocked the door, unceremoniously dumping her holdall at the foot of the bed. It was a kingsize bed, and Jac didn't really care about sharing a bed with Serena. There was about five feet between them anyway.
"Tell me," Serena sighed, throwing herself on the bed. "Did you understand a single word that doctor said?"
"Nope," Jac replied cheerfully, looking in her bag for her pyjamas. It was only eight o'clock but Jac was suddenly very tired. "He called me a "bonnie quine," didn't he?" she added, smirking at the memory of the old, grey-haired doctor saying it to her.
"Yep. That's a complement, apparently," she laughed. "Good thing Maconie knew what he was saying."
"Maconie's from Drumchapel, not Aberdeen," Jac corrected her with the knowledge.
"Same sort of thing, isn't it?"
"Nah. All the cities have different accents. Jonny constantly mocks people from Inverness," Jac explained. "Says they've got a "rubber bumper,"" she explained. She turned to see Serena looking confused. "Next time you're in Inverness, get someone to say the words "rubber bumper." You'll die laughing," she advised.
"I'll bear it in mind," Serena laughed. "You know, I'm very glad we've already had dinner. I just want to sleep now."
Jac sat down and took her make up off while Serena groaned and stood up to get changed. "Showing your age there, Serena," Jac smirked.
"Excuse me!" she retorted, feigning offence. "I'm not even ten years older than you!"
"I know."
"And I have more life experience than you," she added.
"I wouldn't bet on it," Jac replied, allowing the acidic bitterness to taint the words, but making sure she kept her voice soft and level. Serena said nothing more until they were side by side in bed, staring upwards through the darkness, though Jac felt her resisting the temptation to ask he meaning behind the words.
"You don't think Maconie's right, do you?" Serena asked. Jac just smiled for a moment. Had he actually got Serena Campbell wondering if she was sleeping in a room with a ghost?
"Biggest load of crap I've ever heard," Jac assured her.
"You do hear of that kind of thing though," Serena reasoned. "And this building looks really old."
"Oh my God," Jac groaned. "There is no such thing as ghosts!" she asserted firmly. Of all people Jac would have thought would believe such idiocy, Serena wasn't one of them. At this rate, Hanssen was going to be cowering under a blanket soon enough. Again, Jac was fighting the urge to laugh at the idea of Hanssen hiding under a blanket.
"No, you're right," she agreed, finally pulling herself together. "You're right. I'm just being stupid." There was silence once more for a few minutes, until Serena broke it. "What did the gynaecologist say?"
"What?"
"The gynaecologist," she repeated. "You don't honestly think I fell for the "thirty-seven-year-old woman with abdo pains" disguise? I didn't fall in the last rain shower, you know!"
Jac sighed. She had been wondering if she had actually pulled the wool over Serena's eyes but now she knew she hadn't, she was rather glad. It meant someone else knew, and therefore someone else knew she wasn't just being a nasty cow.
"Endometriosis."
It was one word that explained everything. "Ah," Serena sighed. "Does Jonny know?"
"Why would I tell him?" Jac demanded. Serena gave a humourless laugh.
"He's your boyfriend," she told her, as if it was blindingly obvious.
"Not anymore." The memory replayed itself in her mind. The argument, and her hand slapping his face with all her strength. The aftermath and Jonny's subtle way of asking if that was them finished. How she was stupid enough to let him go.
"Oh, for Christ's sake," the older woman moaned. "If you're telling me you dumped him rather than tell him the truth, you will be the one haunting this room when I'm done with you," she threatened. Jac laughed despite the bitterness of the conversation. "He loves you, Jac. You can see it a mile off."
"Yeah, well, he may have actually given up on me this time," Jac mumbled. She hated to admit it, but it seemed Jonny don't have the energy to deal with her madness anymore.
"He's never given up on you before now?" Jac could just see Serena's raised eyebrow and sceptical smirk.
"Not really."
"Then I don't think he's really given up on you," she replied. With that final assertion, Serena said to her, "Goodnight, Jac."
"'Night, Serena."
Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x