Author's Note: Okay, I actually finished this back in August, but I figured
that the plot fit in better around Halloween. It is recommended that you
not read this chapter in the dark. It is also recommended those that have a
weak stomach please vacate the premises.
A boat sailed to an island not far away from the town of Starry Grove. Aboard were six teens, all fifteen.
" So, why exactly are we going to the quote, unquote, 'Haunted Island'?" Melissa asked.
" To get my English grade up, I have to write a report on the subject we're working on, namely the quote, unquote, 'scary stories.' You know, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stroker, Mary Shelly... And Mrs. Lyman suggested that spend a night in our own quote, unquote, 'Haunted Hotel.' And as I happen to be a believer in angry spirits, I'm not going alone," Ian explained.
" 'Angry spirits'?" Roder snickered.
" You want to start something, green-boy?" Ian growled.
" Boys," Sarah warned. " Ian, I thought you were giving him a real chance," she whispered.
" I can't help it. He acts like a jackass," Ian whispered back.
" Fine. Just remember why he does," Sarah warned.
" So, why are we using the Star Boat?" Sierra asked, rubbing Ben's back, trying to help relieve his sea sickness.
" Well, for one, there would be a few people noticing the streaks of light of our Ranger colors flying there, which means news crews. And two, Dad needed someone to test this baby for a trip longer than five minutes."
" That and he and Cat wanted to help him get his grades up," Sarah added.
" Say, after your father kills you for the bad grades you've got, can I have your stereo?" Sierra asked.
" What is it with you people and my stereo?" Ian asked. " Never mind, don't answer that."
" Uh, I have a question," Ben murmured.
" What?"
" Is there anyway I can back out of this?"
" Not unless you swim better than you hold your lunch," Sarah offered.
" Ugh."
" Ladies, gentleman, and Roder," Ian said with a snicker, " May I present Starry Grove Island, complete with the Shooting Stars hotel."
" Ooooh. Spooky looking," Roder said sarcastically.
" Back off, numbskull," Sierra sighed, having finally had enough of the constant sarcastic cracks Roder made.
" C'mon, guys. We've got a haunted house to survive," Ian joked. Grabbing his pack and sleeping bag, he led the teens to the 'haunted hotel.'
" Lead on, sahib," Roder muttered. Melissa whapped his arm.
" Okay. I think we ought to set up camp in the lobby. That way, if we have any trouble, we won't have to worry about where to meet up," Ian suggested.
" Really. How insightful of you, Sherlock," Roder rumbled.
" Roder," Melissa said, shooting a look at him. Roder seemed to back down.
" Okay, so, what exactly is our plan? Just look around for ghosts?" Sierra asked.
" Yeah, what kind of report is that?" Ben asked.
" Remember who we're talking about. Mrs. Lyman. She isn't known for her conventional assignments," Ian said.
" He's right," Sarah smiled. " At the beginning of the year, she had us read Shakespeare in Latin. None of us knew Latin, so we ended up all getting an A by default," she chuckled.
" Weird teacher," Sierra said.
" Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, why are there supposed to be ghosts here?" Melissa asked.
" You're into that stuff?" Roder asked.
" Of course. The Paranormal Club meets next week at school."
" The story goes that ninety years ago, Starry Grove Island Resort was blossoming. People from all over the world were coming by. At the time, it was one of the most exclusive resorts in the country. But then, one night, some nut with a knife came to the Shooting Stars Hotel. He killed several of the guests, stole some of their valuables, and then quietly fled back to the mainland. But he wasn't able to go very far before police had everyone brought back, and quarantined the island. Finally, he went nuts and killed himself, taking another ten quarantined people with him," Sarah said.
" The Hotel was closed for years after that. People were afraid that another nut would do in another group of people. Finally, about ten years ago, they planned to reopen the hotel. Of course, they had to update it to modern safeties and standards. And to get rid of some of the leftover blood stains. Five years ago, when they reopened the place, some of the dead guests were said to have been brought back after all that time. Of course, some people were okay with it. Up until a few people said that the ghost of the killer was said to have come back too. After all, he died here, trying to escape. So they closed the place back up. Some people hope it's for good this time," Ian said. Ben gulped.
" Oh, come on, Ben. You don't really believe this garbage, do you?" Roder asked.
" Yeah," Ben chuckled, " I do."
" Oh, brother. You people are all nuts," Roder muttered.
" I say that we set up our stuff, then go ghost hunting. Hey, Ian, wouldn't it be a scream if Mrs. Lyman thought we actually saw some ghosts?" Sarah asked.
" Yeah. Too bad we don't have the cameras to take any pictures," Ian smiled.
" Give me a break."
" Well, we've got 'camp' set up. And I stashed the food behind the front desk. So, now, let's split into groups," Ian said.
" Why?" Ben asked, paling a little.
" So we can cover more ground. There are definitely enough ghosts said to roam these halls for each of us to bump into," Sarah smiled.
" Sierra, wanna be my partner?" Ben asked, quickly turning to her.
" Sure," Sierra shrugged.
" Sarah, wanna go with me? I want to get away from Mr. Personality there," Melissa sighed.
" Uh, well..." Sarah sputtered.
" Fine, that leaves me with the numbskull in red," Roder sighed. Ian's eyes widened.
" So, we'll all meet back here in... an hour for dinner?" Sierra asked.
" Sounds good. C'mon," Ben said, taking Sierra's arm and walking over to the staircase to the second floor.
" Sarah, let's check out this floor. Ian, Roder, why don't you go check the basement?" Melissa offered. She grabbed Sarah and pulled her around a corner.
" You know Roder and Ian don't get along well!" Sarah exclaimed.
" Ever hear of a plan? I figure that Roder needs to learn that there are people who are willing to help him out and all that sort of thing, but he needs to learn that himself. And if there are angry spirits here, then those two are going to attract them with their arguing," Melissa whispered.
" Ohhhhh," Sarah said.
" Great. So, what's in the basement?" Roder asked as he and Ian approached the basement steps.
" Well, in the back is the furnace, and somewhere down there is the service elevator, and there are probably a few tools left by the workers," Ian said. As they stepped off the floor, a cold shiver ran down his spine.
" Did you just get a cold shiver?" Ian asked.
" It's just your imagination. You may believe in ghosts, but I don't," Roder said. He was ignoring the shiver, actually.
" Never say that. Do you know how cliché it would be if a ghost heard you and took offense?" Ian chuckled at his lame joke.
" Look. You, Sarah, Ben, Sierra, even Melissa can believe in ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and undead all you want. But me, I prefer to keep both feet in reality. And reality is, life sucks. You want to get around that? You can't. And-" Something clattering and rolling interrupted him.
" You heard that, right?" Ian asked.
" Yeah."
" You want to check it out, or run?"
" Run would be good, considering that I thought I just saw something move. Something that shines," Roder said, thinking that the ghost stuff the others had been spouting no longer seemed just talk. The two slowly backed towards the steps, then, after three steps back, ran.
" How many ghosts do you think are here?" Ben asked.
" Oh, at least ten," Sierra said. The two stepped out onto the second floor.
" T-ten?" Ben asked, paling.
" Yeah. But frankly, I only think one is malevolent," Sierra smiled, and knocked on a door. When Ben looked at her curiously, she smiled. " To let any spirit know that we plan on entering." She opened the door. " You seem pretty scared here. Why's that?"
" When I was five, some of my friends and I snuck into this old house that used to be just down the street from where Sarah and I live. No one had lived in it for years. The city was planning on demolishing it in a few weeks, and we had to have a game of hide and seek in there."
" Five years old?" Sierra asked.
" We were adventurous and bold. At least, we thought we were. Looking back, we were simply young and dumb. But anyway, as the ringleader, I tried to be tough, and I made my way to the top of the house. The others were found by the guy we had to seek for us. But me, I didn't hear the 'all clear' call. The others left me there. I spent several hours in that house, in the dark, before someone came in to find me. I spent hours hearing that house creek and clatter, settle, and any other old house sound you can think of. Ever since, I've had this problem with old houses," Ben explained.
" Wow. And you were five? Talk about your early experiences with... Never mind. But Ben, Ian, Sarah, Melissa, and I won't leave you here," Sierra said, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder.
" What about Roder?"
" He might. But he's an idiot," Sierra smiled. They turned, walked into the bathroom, and their smiles vanished.
" Does that say what I think it does?" Ben asked. Sierra nodded. Written in the dust on the mirror were the words 'Get out.'
Melissa and Sarah were in the kitchen.
" How likely do you think it is that we'll meet any ghosts?" Sarah asked.
" Considering the place's history, pretty good." Melissa shivered.
" What?"
" This place feels like death. I mean, I wouldn't need to know the history of the hotel to tell that someone died here," Melissa said.
" Uh, well, I hope you are in shape," Sarah said, looking at a point off to the side.
" Why?" Sarah pointed. A knife was hanging in midair. The girls screamed and ran.
In the lobby, the six teens ran in almost simultaneously.
" Okay, what did you guys see?" Ian asked.
" Knife in midair! Knife in midair!" Melissa and Sarah cried.
" Writing on the mirror," Ben said, almost sheepishly.
" Okay. This is no time to panic. I get the feeling that we aren't welcome here. Let's scram," Sierra said. Sarah ran to the door and pulled. She paled.
" Sarah?" Ian asked, his voice high.
" It's locked," Sarah squeaked.
" Is it time to panic now?" Ben asked.
" Yes," Ian said.
" No. I think that it's simply our over active imaginations," Roder said.
" Then explain why you ran just as fast as me up those basement steps!" Ian cried.
" Hey, I had an adrenaline rush. What can I say?"
" Roder, explain that knife!" Melissa cried.
" 'Lis, you have been listening to too many of these ghost stories. It's got you and Sarah's imaginations out of hand. You probably thought you saw a knife floating in midair," Roder said.
" Fine. Go look for yourself, and I hope you get stabbed by it," Sarah said.
" Whoa. Easy, Sarah," Ian said, grabbing her. " And you said I needed to lay off of Roder?" he whispered in her ear.
" Like you said, it's hard. And he doesn't make it easier," Sarah sighed.
" Look, we should stick together. That's how we're stronger," Melissa said.
" Stronger against what?!" Roder cried.
" The ghosts!" the others cried back. A cold wind blew through.
" Please tell me that was the A.C. starting up," Ben said.
" Love to. Can't," Ian said.
" Why?"
" It was winter when this place got shut down. The A.C. was never used," Sarah said.
" Look, we've got to stay together. There's no way out of here other than- That's it! We can teleport or morph out of here!" Melissa cried.
" Right. Thanks for the reminder. C'mon," Ian said.
" Star Power!" they cried as one, pressing the morph buttons. The morph started, then shorted out.
" Wh-wh-what happened?" Ben asked.
" All the paranormal activity might have shorted out the morphers. We're trapped here," Ian said.
" Great. Now you're explaining what is likely some-"
" Roder! This isn't a game! We have been threatened by ghosts, and now our morphers are not working. This is real. Ghosts are real. The knife Sarah and I saw was real. Now shut up and add something that will help!" Melissa exploded.
" Wait a minute. Sarah, you and Melissa were where when you saw the knife?" Ian asked.
" The kitchen," Sarah said.
" Well, one of the victims was..."
" One of the cooks? You think we walked in on him fixing a meal for the dead?" Sarah asked.
" Actually, I think he was reenacting the last few hours of his life. I've heard that ghosts do that. Like this ghost in the New England states-"
" Cut to the chase. We're staying together, right?" Ben asked.
" Don't say cut!" Melissa and Sarah cried.
" Back in our groups. We can cover more ground, and maybe find out why we've been... blessed with the spirits," Ian said.
" I really wish we could morph," Ben said.
" Same here. At least then I'd feel slightly protected instead of feeling as if some ghost is going to throw something at me," Sierra said.
" Uh... I guess the place was going to rot, huh?" Ben said, looking at the floor. Bits of the hotel had begun to collapse. Here and there were some pieces of wood that had fallen.
" I hope this time it does rot. When some place of many painful deaths is inhabited or worked on, it awakens the spirits of the dead. Usually the victims and/or the murderer, but sometimes someone very much attached to the place like the builder or the first owner," Sierra said.
" I didn't need the ghost lesson," Ben sighed.
" It soothes me reminding myself that I am the trespasser, not the ghost. That makes you arrogant," Sierra sighed.
" Yeah, but trespassers have their own sign: 'Trespasser's will be shot'," Ben said.
" Why are we going back down here?" Roder asked.
" Because I wanna know what that flash you saw down here was," Ian said.
" It probably was the light rebounding off pipes," Roder said.
" It's been five years since anyone looked at these pipes. Do you really think they'd keep their shine?"
" Maybe some vain worker had a mirror set up down here," Roder suggested, though his voice seemed a couple of pitches higher. That made Ian smile. Finally Roder was beginning to react as if there truly was a danger, which was what the other teens had believed the whole time.
" Okay, from the dust prints, you saw the flash right about... here," Ian said, and swung his light in the direction Roder had been looking at earlier. All that was there was empty space.
" All right Mr. Vain Worker. Explain that," Ian said. Then he realized that there was nothing there, and he began looking on the ground and around for any sign of what Roder had seen. Finally, he looked around Roder. Behind him, what appeared to be an outline of a hand held a shard of glass and was aiming it at Roder's back.
" Roder!" Ian cried. Ian jumped and tackled Roder, kicking the shard in the air, causing the outline to vanish and the shard to drop.
" What the hell do you-" The shard hit the ground then. Roder saw where it was in relation to his former position. " You... you saved my life."
" Or at least part of your back and an explanation to the police and medics if we ever get out of here. Speaking of which, let's get out of the basement. It's getting too dangerous down here."
" Agreed," Roder said.
" Sierra, what if the murderer's ghost isn't the only one of the ghosts that is trying to get rid of us?" Ben asked.
" I'm trying not to think about that possibility. If any other spirit is interested in hurting us, it'll be very hard for any of us to get out of here unscathed," Sierra sighed.
" Okay, that's it. From now on, I'm getting a night light," Ben said, as he turned his flashlight to the wall. He screamed.
" Ben, what-" Sierra saw what Ben had been looking at. " Ohmigod." Written on the wall were the words 'No one leaves here alive'. They were written in blood. The blood was still dripping. Sierra and Ben screamed and ran down the stairs.
" Ben!" Sarah cried, as the two emerged from the upstairs.
" You know how you and Melissa were freaked after seeing that knife? We've got a topper for that," Ben said.
" Written on a wall upstairs... It said... 'No one leaves here alive.' It was written in fresh blood," Sierra said.
" Okay, that's it. If... When we get home, I am going straight up to my room, locking the door, and I won't come out for three months," Sarah said.
" Melissa!"
" Sarah!" Ian and Roder emerged from the basement steps.
" Why are you staying holed up in your room for three months?" Ian asked. Sarah explained what Sierra and Ben had seen.
" Okay. I know I was saying that ghosts don't exist. I take it all back," Roder said.
" Okay. From now on, I'm going with my horror movie instincts. We stick together. We don't turn any corners without shining our flashlights around them first. We stay away from holes, open windows on higher floors, and sharp objects. If we see a staircase that is in a spiral and hugs the wall, we find another staircase," Ian said.
" Shouldn't we stay here?" Ben asked.
" Are you kidding? Something could be hiding behind the desk waiting for our adrenaline surges to die down-"
" Bad choice of words!" Sarah cried.
" -or for one of us to get hungry. Something could grab a sharp object and come through the kitchen or come up or down the steps and attack us. We've got to find a large, open area that doesn't have as many shadows," Ian said.
" Oh, yeah, that'll be easy to find," Melissa said.
" Yeah. There are way too many shadows around here as it is," Ben said.
" Our priority is to stay alive. Now, let's stick together and head upstairs," Sarah said.
" UPSTAIRS?" Ben and Sierra exploded together.
" In case you've forgotten, there was a bloody message up there telling us we weren't going to get out of here alive!" Ben cried.
" We have to try something, don't we?" Roder asked. As none of them had been expecting Roder to add something constructive, they shut up, and began walking upstairs.
" Anyone got the time?" Ian said after what seemed like hours of silence.
" Uh..." Sarah said, looking at her morpher, which, as it wasn't going to help the teens by letting them morph out, would at least tell the time. " It's... 2:37?" she asked.
" That means it's getting closer to dawn," Ian sighed.
" Is that a good thing?" Roder asked.
" Yeah, it is. If we can survive until dawn, that should allow us to get out of this Hell Hotel. Most ghosts don't do too much during the daylight hours," Ian said.
" Hey, does anyone hear that?" Sierra asked.
" Does it sound like knees knocking, teeth chattering? Then it probably me," Ben said.
" No... It-it sounds like water running," Sierra said.
" Yeah, I hear it too," Melissa said.
" Now that you mention it..." Ian said.
" Great. First we've got a ghost that wants to kill us with sharp objects, now it wants to drown us?" Roder asked.
" I doubt drowning is its intention. Maybe it's trying to scare us," Ian said.
" Uh, been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt and the movie rights," Sarah said.
" Good point," Ian said.
" How about we turn around and find some other ghost?" Ben asked.
" Uh, I'm with Ben. I mean, it might be some ghost reliving its last hours, but it might be the ghost that has been out to kill us," Roder said.
" Yeah, 'cause I just remembered. One of the victims? She was taking a bath when the murderer killed her," Sarah said.
" Okay, we can leave," Ian said. Whirling around, Ben bumped into a wall. The impact caused some sounds to come from the ceiling. Finally, a door opened in the ceiling, letting several bones and a skull to fall to the floor, along with more dust and a knife.
" All in favor of running and screaming our brains out, say aye," Ian squeaked.
" Aye." With a scream, they fled. Finally, they emerged in the dining room.
" I thought they removed all of the remains of the dead," Melissa said.
" In case you didn't notice, that dead was hidden. Look, I think we can forget sleep, and now, our first priority should be protecting ourselves. We don't know how much of this night has been a reenactment and how much has been reaction to us," Ian said, trying to be the voice of reason, even with his voice one or two pitches higher.
" Why have we been exploring this place, anyway?" Sarah asked.
" Morbid curiosity," Sierra said.
" For the past two hours, it was looking for protection away from the first floor," Ian said.
" Yeah, and your reasons were because there were too many shadowy corners. Look around! It's late night, there is a storm supposed to be in tonight, meaning that the sky is covered in clouds, giving us no natural light, and all of our light is from these dinky flashlights," Ben said. The instant he stopped, the lights in the dining room turned on.
" Ben, good timing," Sarah chuckled weakly.
" Something turned on the electricity here. We've got a little bit more protection than earlier. C'mon. Let's go to the lobby, get our stuff, and come back here," Ian suggested.
" Right. That way, we can just leave at dawn," Sarah said.
The teens emerged in the lobby to find a ghastly sight.
" Oh my God. What happened in here?" Melissa asked. The night bags they'd brought were slashed, their stuff lying on the floor. The curtains on the windows were ripped. There was rips in furniture.
" I'd say the ghosts weren't happy with us," Ian said.
" Maybe..." Sarah started.
" What?"
" Well, it was already getting dark when we got here, so we couldn't see very well. But look at these rips," Sarah said, motioning to the curtains. " These rips seem older than just a while ago. And look at the couch. We never sat on it. We used the floor. Look around. Do you see any of the stuffing from when the knife was pulled out?"
" She's right. I'd say these are the results of the murderer's frustration of having to simply kill and kill and kill the same people... over... again..." Roder trailed off.
" Oh boy. That means he probably wants us even more than we thought," Ben said.
" Maybe we should try a simple solution to get out of here," Melissa offered.
" What?" Ben said. Melissa walked to a window.
" Opening it'll do no good. It's locked from the outside. That's why Ian and I never suggested it when we found out the door was locked," Sarah said.
" So we don't open it in the regular fashion," Melissa said. She gave a forceful kick to the window. A small crack appeared.
" Yeah. Great. Now all we need to do is kick it fifty more times and we can have a hole big enough for us to put our hands through," Roder said.
" Help me out here, you guys," Melissa said. She kicked the window a few more times before Ian walked up and started kicking it too. When they got tired, Sarah and Roder took it up. Finally, the window shattered.
" Let's go before anything else around here decides to attack us," Ben said.
" Right," Sierra nodded. The kids quickly jumped out the hole that had been made. They began to run to the Star Boat. As they were fleeing, a piece of fallen ceiling came hurling out of the window, seeming to say 'And stay out!'
" Whew." Ian sighed with relief as he started the Star Boat up.
" We're out of there. No more dead people for them," Ben sighed.
" Yeah. Now, let's get this baby back to the StarBase before we head home and sleep with the lights on," Sarah said.
" I'll say. But one thing that's coming out of this," Ian smiled.
" What?" Melissa asked.
" I'm sure to get an 'A' on this report!"
Back on the island, the hotel door slowly creaked open...
" I don't believe it! A 'C'?" Ian cried, throwing his report down on the table.
" A 'C' is better what you've been pulling in class recently," Thomas pointed out.
" But Dad, she's saying that I put too much imagination in it. That it wasn't realistic enough to merit an 'A' or even a 'B'! Every single word in there is true!" Ian cried.
" You mean you really did save Roder from getting stabbed?" Cat asked.
" Yes!"
" You actually saw the words 'No one leaves here alive' in fresh blood?" Thomas asked.
" Yes! Granted, it was Ben and Sierra who found it, but..."
" You actually saved Sarah from getting strangled by the curtains?" Cat asked.
" Yes! Oh, wait. Okay, I made that one up," Ian sighed.
" Be glad for the 'C', though. You may have gotten your grade up to a 'D' in Mrs. Lyman's class. And if you can do that, you can do it in the others," Thomas smiled. Ian walked to the hall. The doorbell rang. " I'll get it!" Ian called to his parents. Sarah was at the door.
" Hey. I had been thinking about the bones and skull we found back at the hotel, and I wanted to find out who he or she was. Get Roder. I think he might want to learn about this too," Sarah said.
" Why?"
" Because, if he's a budding supernatural like us, then he should be learning, now shouldn't he?" Sarah smiled. Ian rolled his eyes. " Okay, that and he's starting to get that we're his friends, and it wouldn't be right to exclude him." The two headed up to Ian and Roder's room, as Thomas and Cat were still attempting to buy Roder enough stuff to warrant a room of his own.
" Okay, that rules out the skeleton being one of the victims back in the 1910s. According to the book, all of the victims from that era were buried in the cemetery and accounted for. Let's see about the people who were responsible for updating the place," Sarah said. Ian sat in a rolling chair while Roder sat at the desk.
" Make sense. Most skeletons from that era have decayed to where they're just dust by now," Ian said. Sarah turned the book to the list of workers.
" It says that one worker was missing when they finished updating the building. A Roger Bennet II. He'd been working on the third floor. That's the floor we were on when Ben bumped into the wall, causing the skeleton to fall to the ground," Sarah said. " There's even a picture of him." She pointed to the picture.
" Oh my God," Roder said.
" What?" Ian asked.
" That man... He was my father," Roder said.
A boat sailed to an island not far away from the town of Starry Grove. Aboard were six teens, all fifteen.
" So, why exactly are we going to the quote, unquote, 'Haunted Island'?" Melissa asked.
" To get my English grade up, I have to write a report on the subject we're working on, namely the quote, unquote, 'scary stories.' You know, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stroker, Mary Shelly... And Mrs. Lyman suggested that spend a night in our own quote, unquote, 'Haunted Hotel.' And as I happen to be a believer in angry spirits, I'm not going alone," Ian explained.
" 'Angry spirits'?" Roder snickered.
" You want to start something, green-boy?" Ian growled.
" Boys," Sarah warned. " Ian, I thought you were giving him a real chance," she whispered.
" I can't help it. He acts like a jackass," Ian whispered back.
" Fine. Just remember why he does," Sarah warned.
" So, why are we using the Star Boat?" Sierra asked, rubbing Ben's back, trying to help relieve his sea sickness.
" Well, for one, there would be a few people noticing the streaks of light of our Ranger colors flying there, which means news crews. And two, Dad needed someone to test this baby for a trip longer than five minutes."
" That and he and Cat wanted to help him get his grades up," Sarah added.
" Say, after your father kills you for the bad grades you've got, can I have your stereo?" Sierra asked.
" What is it with you people and my stereo?" Ian asked. " Never mind, don't answer that."
" Uh, I have a question," Ben murmured.
" What?"
" Is there anyway I can back out of this?"
" Not unless you swim better than you hold your lunch," Sarah offered.
" Ugh."
" Ladies, gentleman, and Roder," Ian said with a snicker, " May I present Starry Grove Island, complete with the Shooting Stars hotel."
" Ooooh. Spooky looking," Roder said sarcastically.
" Back off, numbskull," Sierra sighed, having finally had enough of the constant sarcastic cracks Roder made.
" C'mon, guys. We've got a haunted house to survive," Ian joked. Grabbing his pack and sleeping bag, he led the teens to the 'haunted hotel.'
" Lead on, sahib," Roder muttered. Melissa whapped his arm.
" Okay. I think we ought to set up camp in the lobby. That way, if we have any trouble, we won't have to worry about where to meet up," Ian suggested.
" Really. How insightful of you, Sherlock," Roder rumbled.
" Roder," Melissa said, shooting a look at him. Roder seemed to back down.
" Okay, so, what exactly is our plan? Just look around for ghosts?" Sierra asked.
" Yeah, what kind of report is that?" Ben asked.
" Remember who we're talking about. Mrs. Lyman. She isn't known for her conventional assignments," Ian said.
" He's right," Sarah smiled. " At the beginning of the year, she had us read Shakespeare in Latin. None of us knew Latin, so we ended up all getting an A by default," she chuckled.
" Weird teacher," Sierra said.
" Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, why are there supposed to be ghosts here?" Melissa asked.
" You're into that stuff?" Roder asked.
" Of course. The Paranormal Club meets next week at school."
" The story goes that ninety years ago, Starry Grove Island Resort was blossoming. People from all over the world were coming by. At the time, it was one of the most exclusive resorts in the country. But then, one night, some nut with a knife came to the Shooting Stars Hotel. He killed several of the guests, stole some of their valuables, and then quietly fled back to the mainland. But he wasn't able to go very far before police had everyone brought back, and quarantined the island. Finally, he went nuts and killed himself, taking another ten quarantined people with him," Sarah said.
" The Hotel was closed for years after that. People were afraid that another nut would do in another group of people. Finally, about ten years ago, they planned to reopen the hotel. Of course, they had to update it to modern safeties and standards. And to get rid of some of the leftover blood stains. Five years ago, when they reopened the place, some of the dead guests were said to have been brought back after all that time. Of course, some people were okay with it. Up until a few people said that the ghost of the killer was said to have come back too. After all, he died here, trying to escape. So they closed the place back up. Some people hope it's for good this time," Ian said. Ben gulped.
" Oh, come on, Ben. You don't really believe this garbage, do you?" Roder asked.
" Yeah," Ben chuckled, " I do."
" Oh, brother. You people are all nuts," Roder muttered.
" I say that we set up our stuff, then go ghost hunting. Hey, Ian, wouldn't it be a scream if Mrs. Lyman thought we actually saw some ghosts?" Sarah asked.
" Yeah. Too bad we don't have the cameras to take any pictures," Ian smiled.
" Give me a break."
" Well, we've got 'camp' set up. And I stashed the food behind the front desk. So, now, let's split into groups," Ian said.
" Why?" Ben asked, paling a little.
" So we can cover more ground. There are definitely enough ghosts said to roam these halls for each of us to bump into," Sarah smiled.
" Sierra, wanna be my partner?" Ben asked, quickly turning to her.
" Sure," Sierra shrugged.
" Sarah, wanna go with me? I want to get away from Mr. Personality there," Melissa sighed.
" Uh, well..." Sarah sputtered.
" Fine, that leaves me with the numbskull in red," Roder sighed. Ian's eyes widened.
" So, we'll all meet back here in... an hour for dinner?" Sierra asked.
" Sounds good. C'mon," Ben said, taking Sierra's arm and walking over to the staircase to the second floor.
" Sarah, let's check out this floor. Ian, Roder, why don't you go check the basement?" Melissa offered. She grabbed Sarah and pulled her around a corner.
" You know Roder and Ian don't get along well!" Sarah exclaimed.
" Ever hear of a plan? I figure that Roder needs to learn that there are people who are willing to help him out and all that sort of thing, but he needs to learn that himself. And if there are angry spirits here, then those two are going to attract them with their arguing," Melissa whispered.
" Ohhhhh," Sarah said.
" Great. So, what's in the basement?" Roder asked as he and Ian approached the basement steps.
" Well, in the back is the furnace, and somewhere down there is the service elevator, and there are probably a few tools left by the workers," Ian said. As they stepped off the floor, a cold shiver ran down his spine.
" Did you just get a cold shiver?" Ian asked.
" It's just your imagination. You may believe in ghosts, but I don't," Roder said. He was ignoring the shiver, actually.
" Never say that. Do you know how cliché it would be if a ghost heard you and took offense?" Ian chuckled at his lame joke.
" Look. You, Sarah, Ben, Sierra, even Melissa can believe in ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and undead all you want. But me, I prefer to keep both feet in reality. And reality is, life sucks. You want to get around that? You can't. And-" Something clattering and rolling interrupted him.
" You heard that, right?" Ian asked.
" Yeah."
" You want to check it out, or run?"
" Run would be good, considering that I thought I just saw something move. Something that shines," Roder said, thinking that the ghost stuff the others had been spouting no longer seemed just talk. The two slowly backed towards the steps, then, after three steps back, ran.
" How many ghosts do you think are here?" Ben asked.
" Oh, at least ten," Sierra said. The two stepped out onto the second floor.
" T-ten?" Ben asked, paling.
" Yeah. But frankly, I only think one is malevolent," Sierra smiled, and knocked on a door. When Ben looked at her curiously, she smiled. " To let any spirit know that we plan on entering." She opened the door. " You seem pretty scared here. Why's that?"
" When I was five, some of my friends and I snuck into this old house that used to be just down the street from where Sarah and I live. No one had lived in it for years. The city was planning on demolishing it in a few weeks, and we had to have a game of hide and seek in there."
" Five years old?" Sierra asked.
" We were adventurous and bold. At least, we thought we were. Looking back, we were simply young and dumb. But anyway, as the ringleader, I tried to be tough, and I made my way to the top of the house. The others were found by the guy we had to seek for us. But me, I didn't hear the 'all clear' call. The others left me there. I spent several hours in that house, in the dark, before someone came in to find me. I spent hours hearing that house creek and clatter, settle, and any other old house sound you can think of. Ever since, I've had this problem with old houses," Ben explained.
" Wow. And you were five? Talk about your early experiences with... Never mind. But Ben, Ian, Sarah, Melissa, and I won't leave you here," Sierra said, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder.
" What about Roder?"
" He might. But he's an idiot," Sierra smiled. They turned, walked into the bathroom, and their smiles vanished.
" Does that say what I think it does?" Ben asked. Sierra nodded. Written in the dust on the mirror were the words 'Get out.'
Melissa and Sarah were in the kitchen.
" How likely do you think it is that we'll meet any ghosts?" Sarah asked.
" Considering the place's history, pretty good." Melissa shivered.
" What?"
" This place feels like death. I mean, I wouldn't need to know the history of the hotel to tell that someone died here," Melissa said.
" Uh, well, I hope you are in shape," Sarah said, looking at a point off to the side.
" Why?" Sarah pointed. A knife was hanging in midair. The girls screamed and ran.
In the lobby, the six teens ran in almost simultaneously.
" Okay, what did you guys see?" Ian asked.
" Knife in midair! Knife in midair!" Melissa and Sarah cried.
" Writing on the mirror," Ben said, almost sheepishly.
" Okay. This is no time to panic. I get the feeling that we aren't welcome here. Let's scram," Sierra said. Sarah ran to the door and pulled. She paled.
" Sarah?" Ian asked, his voice high.
" It's locked," Sarah squeaked.
" Is it time to panic now?" Ben asked.
" Yes," Ian said.
" No. I think that it's simply our over active imaginations," Roder said.
" Then explain why you ran just as fast as me up those basement steps!" Ian cried.
" Hey, I had an adrenaline rush. What can I say?"
" Roder, explain that knife!" Melissa cried.
" 'Lis, you have been listening to too many of these ghost stories. It's got you and Sarah's imaginations out of hand. You probably thought you saw a knife floating in midair," Roder said.
" Fine. Go look for yourself, and I hope you get stabbed by it," Sarah said.
" Whoa. Easy, Sarah," Ian said, grabbing her. " And you said I needed to lay off of Roder?" he whispered in her ear.
" Like you said, it's hard. And he doesn't make it easier," Sarah sighed.
" Look, we should stick together. That's how we're stronger," Melissa said.
" Stronger against what?!" Roder cried.
" The ghosts!" the others cried back. A cold wind blew through.
" Please tell me that was the A.C. starting up," Ben said.
" Love to. Can't," Ian said.
" Why?"
" It was winter when this place got shut down. The A.C. was never used," Sarah said.
" Look, we've got to stay together. There's no way out of here other than- That's it! We can teleport or morph out of here!" Melissa cried.
" Right. Thanks for the reminder. C'mon," Ian said.
" Star Power!" they cried as one, pressing the morph buttons. The morph started, then shorted out.
" Wh-wh-what happened?" Ben asked.
" All the paranormal activity might have shorted out the morphers. We're trapped here," Ian said.
" Great. Now you're explaining what is likely some-"
" Roder! This isn't a game! We have been threatened by ghosts, and now our morphers are not working. This is real. Ghosts are real. The knife Sarah and I saw was real. Now shut up and add something that will help!" Melissa exploded.
" Wait a minute. Sarah, you and Melissa were where when you saw the knife?" Ian asked.
" The kitchen," Sarah said.
" Well, one of the victims was..."
" One of the cooks? You think we walked in on him fixing a meal for the dead?" Sarah asked.
" Actually, I think he was reenacting the last few hours of his life. I've heard that ghosts do that. Like this ghost in the New England states-"
" Cut to the chase. We're staying together, right?" Ben asked.
" Don't say cut!" Melissa and Sarah cried.
" Back in our groups. We can cover more ground, and maybe find out why we've been... blessed with the spirits," Ian said.
" I really wish we could morph," Ben said.
" Same here. At least then I'd feel slightly protected instead of feeling as if some ghost is going to throw something at me," Sierra said.
" Uh... I guess the place was going to rot, huh?" Ben said, looking at the floor. Bits of the hotel had begun to collapse. Here and there were some pieces of wood that had fallen.
" I hope this time it does rot. When some place of many painful deaths is inhabited or worked on, it awakens the spirits of the dead. Usually the victims and/or the murderer, but sometimes someone very much attached to the place like the builder or the first owner," Sierra said.
" I didn't need the ghost lesson," Ben sighed.
" It soothes me reminding myself that I am the trespasser, not the ghost. That makes you arrogant," Sierra sighed.
" Yeah, but trespassers have their own sign: 'Trespasser's will be shot'," Ben said.
" Why are we going back down here?" Roder asked.
" Because I wanna know what that flash you saw down here was," Ian said.
" It probably was the light rebounding off pipes," Roder said.
" It's been five years since anyone looked at these pipes. Do you really think they'd keep their shine?"
" Maybe some vain worker had a mirror set up down here," Roder suggested, though his voice seemed a couple of pitches higher. That made Ian smile. Finally Roder was beginning to react as if there truly was a danger, which was what the other teens had believed the whole time.
" Okay, from the dust prints, you saw the flash right about... here," Ian said, and swung his light in the direction Roder had been looking at earlier. All that was there was empty space.
" All right Mr. Vain Worker. Explain that," Ian said. Then he realized that there was nothing there, and he began looking on the ground and around for any sign of what Roder had seen. Finally, he looked around Roder. Behind him, what appeared to be an outline of a hand held a shard of glass and was aiming it at Roder's back.
" Roder!" Ian cried. Ian jumped and tackled Roder, kicking the shard in the air, causing the outline to vanish and the shard to drop.
" What the hell do you-" The shard hit the ground then. Roder saw where it was in relation to his former position. " You... you saved my life."
" Or at least part of your back and an explanation to the police and medics if we ever get out of here. Speaking of which, let's get out of the basement. It's getting too dangerous down here."
" Agreed," Roder said.
" Sierra, what if the murderer's ghost isn't the only one of the ghosts that is trying to get rid of us?" Ben asked.
" I'm trying not to think about that possibility. If any other spirit is interested in hurting us, it'll be very hard for any of us to get out of here unscathed," Sierra sighed.
" Okay, that's it. From now on, I'm getting a night light," Ben said, as he turned his flashlight to the wall. He screamed.
" Ben, what-" Sierra saw what Ben had been looking at. " Ohmigod." Written on the wall were the words 'No one leaves here alive'. They were written in blood. The blood was still dripping. Sierra and Ben screamed and ran down the stairs.
" Ben!" Sarah cried, as the two emerged from the upstairs.
" You know how you and Melissa were freaked after seeing that knife? We've got a topper for that," Ben said.
" Written on a wall upstairs... It said... 'No one leaves here alive.' It was written in fresh blood," Sierra said.
" Okay, that's it. If... When we get home, I am going straight up to my room, locking the door, and I won't come out for three months," Sarah said.
" Melissa!"
" Sarah!" Ian and Roder emerged from the basement steps.
" Why are you staying holed up in your room for three months?" Ian asked. Sarah explained what Sierra and Ben had seen.
" Okay. I know I was saying that ghosts don't exist. I take it all back," Roder said.
" Okay. From now on, I'm going with my horror movie instincts. We stick together. We don't turn any corners without shining our flashlights around them first. We stay away from holes, open windows on higher floors, and sharp objects. If we see a staircase that is in a spiral and hugs the wall, we find another staircase," Ian said.
" Shouldn't we stay here?" Ben asked.
" Are you kidding? Something could be hiding behind the desk waiting for our adrenaline surges to die down-"
" Bad choice of words!" Sarah cried.
" -or for one of us to get hungry. Something could grab a sharp object and come through the kitchen or come up or down the steps and attack us. We've got to find a large, open area that doesn't have as many shadows," Ian said.
" Oh, yeah, that'll be easy to find," Melissa said.
" Yeah. There are way too many shadows around here as it is," Ben said.
" Our priority is to stay alive. Now, let's stick together and head upstairs," Sarah said.
" UPSTAIRS?" Ben and Sierra exploded together.
" In case you've forgotten, there was a bloody message up there telling us we weren't going to get out of here alive!" Ben cried.
" We have to try something, don't we?" Roder asked. As none of them had been expecting Roder to add something constructive, they shut up, and began walking upstairs.
" Anyone got the time?" Ian said after what seemed like hours of silence.
" Uh..." Sarah said, looking at her morpher, which, as it wasn't going to help the teens by letting them morph out, would at least tell the time. " It's... 2:37?" she asked.
" That means it's getting closer to dawn," Ian sighed.
" Is that a good thing?" Roder asked.
" Yeah, it is. If we can survive until dawn, that should allow us to get out of this Hell Hotel. Most ghosts don't do too much during the daylight hours," Ian said.
" Hey, does anyone hear that?" Sierra asked.
" Does it sound like knees knocking, teeth chattering? Then it probably me," Ben said.
" No... It-it sounds like water running," Sierra said.
" Yeah, I hear it too," Melissa said.
" Now that you mention it..." Ian said.
" Great. First we've got a ghost that wants to kill us with sharp objects, now it wants to drown us?" Roder asked.
" I doubt drowning is its intention. Maybe it's trying to scare us," Ian said.
" Uh, been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt and the movie rights," Sarah said.
" Good point," Ian said.
" How about we turn around and find some other ghost?" Ben asked.
" Uh, I'm with Ben. I mean, it might be some ghost reliving its last hours, but it might be the ghost that has been out to kill us," Roder said.
" Yeah, 'cause I just remembered. One of the victims? She was taking a bath when the murderer killed her," Sarah said.
" Okay, we can leave," Ian said. Whirling around, Ben bumped into a wall. The impact caused some sounds to come from the ceiling. Finally, a door opened in the ceiling, letting several bones and a skull to fall to the floor, along with more dust and a knife.
" All in favor of running and screaming our brains out, say aye," Ian squeaked.
" Aye." With a scream, they fled. Finally, they emerged in the dining room.
" I thought they removed all of the remains of the dead," Melissa said.
" In case you didn't notice, that dead was hidden. Look, I think we can forget sleep, and now, our first priority should be protecting ourselves. We don't know how much of this night has been a reenactment and how much has been reaction to us," Ian said, trying to be the voice of reason, even with his voice one or two pitches higher.
" Why have we been exploring this place, anyway?" Sarah asked.
" Morbid curiosity," Sierra said.
" For the past two hours, it was looking for protection away from the first floor," Ian said.
" Yeah, and your reasons were because there were too many shadowy corners. Look around! It's late night, there is a storm supposed to be in tonight, meaning that the sky is covered in clouds, giving us no natural light, and all of our light is from these dinky flashlights," Ben said. The instant he stopped, the lights in the dining room turned on.
" Ben, good timing," Sarah chuckled weakly.
" Something turned on the electricity here. We've got a little bit more protection than earlier. C'mon. Let's go to the lobby, get our stuff, and come back here," Ian suggested.
" Right. That way, we can just leave at dawn," Sarah said.
The teens emerged in the lobby to find a ghastly sight.
" Oh my God. What happened in here?" Melissa asked. The night bags they'd brought were slashed, their stuff lying on the floor. The curtains on the windows were ripped. There was rips in furniture.
" I'd say the ghosts weren't happy with us," Ian said.
" Maybe..." Sarah started.
" What?"
" Well, it was already getting dark when we got here, so we couldn't see very well. But look at these rips," Sarah said, motioning to the curtains. " These rips seem older than just a while ago. And look at the couch. We never sat on it. We used the floor. Look around. Do you see any of the stuffing from when the knife was pulled out?"
" She's right. I'd say these are the results of the murderer's frustration of having to simply kill and kill and kill the same people... over... again..." Roder trailed off.
" Oh boy. That means he probably wants us even more than we thought," Ben said.
" Maybe we should try a simple solution to get out of here," Melissa offered.
" What?" Ben said. Melissa walked to a window.
" Opening it'll do no good. It's locked from the outside. That's why Ian and I never suggested it when we found out the door was locked," Sarah said.
" So we don't open it in the regular fashion," Melissa said. She gave a forceful kick to the window. A small crack appeared.
" Yeah. Great. Now all we need to do is kick it fifty more times and we can have a hole big enough for us to put our hands through," Roder said.
" Help me out here, you guys," Melissa said. She kicked the window a few more times before Ian walked up and started kicking it too. When they got tired, Sarah and Roder took it up. Finally, the window shattered.
" Let's go before anything else around here decides to attack us," Ben said.
" Right," Sierra nodded. The kids quickly jumped out the hole that had been made. They began to run to the Star Boat. As they were fleeing, a piece of fallen ceiling came hurling out of the window, seeming to say 'And stay out!'
" Whew." Ian sighed with relief as he started the Star Boat up.
" We're out of there. No more dead people for them," Ben sighed.
" Yeah. Now, let's get this baby back to the StarBase before we head home and sleep with the lights on," Sarah said.
" I'll say. But one thing that's coming out of this," Ian smiled.
" What?" Melissa asked.
" I'm sure to get an 'A' on this report!"
Back on the island, the hotel door slowly creaked open...
" I don't believe it! A 'C'?" Ian cried, throwing his report down on the table.
" A 'C' is better what you've been pulling in class recently," Thomas pointed out.
" But Dad, she's saying that I put too much imagination in it. That it wasn't realistic enough to merit an 'A' or even a 'B'! Every single word in there is true!" Ian cried.
" You mean you really did save Roder from getting stabbed?" Cat asked.
" Yes!"
" You actually saw the words 'No one leaves here alive' in fresh blood?" Thomas asked.
" Yes! Granted, it was Ben and Sierra who found it, but..."
" You actually saved Sarah from getting strangled by the curtains?" Cat asked.
" Yes! Oh, wait. Okay, I made that one up," Ian sighed.
" Be glad for the 'C', though. You may have gotten your grade up to a 'D' in Mrs. Lyman's class. And if you can do that, you can do it in the others," Thomas smiled. Ian walked to the hall. The doorbell rang. " I'll get it!" Ian called to his parents. Sarah was at the door.
" Hey. I had been thinking about the bones and skull we found back at the hotel, and I wanted to find out who he or she was. Get Roder. I think he might want to learn about this too," Sarah said.
" Why?"
" Because, if he's a budding supernatural like us, then he should be learning, now shouldn't he?" Sarah smiled. Ian rolled his eyes. " Okay, that and he's starting to get that we're his friends, and it wouldn't be right to exclude him." The two headed up to Ian and Roder's room, as Thomas and Cat were still attempting to buy Roder enough stuff to warrant a room of his own.
" Okay, that rules out the skeleton being one of the victims back in the 1910s. According to the book, all of the victims from that era were buried in the cemetery and accounted for. Let's see about the people who were responsible for updating the place," Sarah said. Ian sat in a rolling chair while Roder sat at the desk.
" Make sense. Most skeletons from that era have decayed to where they're just dust by now," Ian said. Sarah turned the book to the list of workers.
" It says that one worker was missing when they finished updating the building. A Roger Bennet II. He'd been working on the third floor. That's the floor we were on when Ben bumped into the wall, causing the skeleton to fall to the ground," Sarah said. " There's even a picture of him." She pointed to the picture.
" Oh my God," Roder said.
" What?" Ian asked.
" That man... He was my father," Roder said.