"I'm only telling you this because you won't be able to tell anyone else," Sally hissed, her hot breath hitting my face. She had pushed me up against the door of my hotel room as I had tried to leave, and now her cold fingertips were tracing my jawline.
"What are you talking about, Sally?" I asked. My heart had begun to beat faster, and I wasn't sure if this was part of her games. Her fingers tightened on my jaw and pulled me forward so that our faces were close, close enough for our noses to touch and close enough for me to smell the cigarette smoke in her breath.
"Pay close attention to me and don't think for a second that this is a joke. If you try to leave this hotel, you will die."
My heart pounded harder in my chest and she forced her knee between my legs. "Nobody wants to kill me, Sally. You're being ridic-"
The hand that had gripped my jaw slipped down to my throat and pressed so that I couldn't breathe. My hands shot up to grab her wrists and pull them away but she was stronger than me and she pressed harder. I choked.
"You're not listening to me, baby," she said. She tilted her head and her nose brushed against mine as she stared at me in the eyes and I struggled against her icy grip on my throat. "If you leave this hotel," Sally said, breathing into me as she talked, "I'll kill you. I'll pull you upstairs by your hair and kill you right here in this bed."
She released her grip on my neck and backed up, allowing me to fall forward and gasp for breath. "Do you understand?" she asked.
I looked up at her, rubbing my neck where my skin had bruised. "You can't be serious," I said, and she smirked.
"Do you want me to prove it?" she asked. She stepped closer to me, again. Her eyes never left mine. "Do you want me to prove to you how far I'm willing to go to keep you here with me forever?"
"No," I said, standing up straight and glaring. "Am I allowed to leave the hotel room, your majesty?" I asked, sarcastically. She shrugged.
"Do what you want. Just don't try to leave the building. I'll know if you do."
I scoffed and turned to leave.
"Hey!" Sally said, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around, again. "I wasn't finished. I told you that the hotel was haunted."
"That's bullshit, Sally. I don't believe in ghosts."
She smirked, and stepped forward, slowly and gently pressing me back up against the door. Her hands gently touched my waist and her knee returned to its place between my legs as she worked to remove any possible space between us. She tilted her head and her warm, bright red lips pressed against the side of my neck in a single kiss.
"You're lookin' at one," she whispered, and she chuckled. "You've been fucking one for weeks, now, baby."
I sucked in a shaky breath. I was confused and annoyed, but I couldn't help but tremble every time Sally touched me.
I backed my head up and rested it against the door so I could look at her in the eyes.
"I don't believe you," I whispered back, "You feel warm. You feel alive. If you're a ghost, then prove it."
She grinned, almost maniacally. "Get back in bed, and I'll show you."
She moved so that I could crawl back into the bed beside us, and I obeyed. There was nothing else to do but listen to what she had to say, and then maybe call the police once I could get away. I wasn't sure what I'd do.
She opened the drawer to the nightstand and pulled out a small square blade. My heart began to pound with real fear as her eyes flashed with insanity and she straddled my lap from where I was sitting on the bed. She slowly dragged the blade across the skin under her arm and blood immediately surfaced, and my heart that had been pounding skipped painfully in my chest.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," she said, "Just wait." She put her hands in my hair and pressed our heads together, my mouth opening obediently as it had been used to. I felt blood drip from her arm onto mine and I jumped back, but she simply leaned further towards me to keep our lips from separating.
"See?" She asked me, pulling away and showing me her arm. She wiped the blood away with my shirt to show her arm without a scratch.
My breath caught on my throat and I traced my fingers along the trail of the blade that I had seen. "What about these scars?" I asked.
There were little white dots where needles had been pressed too many times and there were lines on Sally's wrist. "Those happened before I died," Sally said, "So they don't go away."
I furrowed my brows and stared at her arm, unsure of what to think. She laughed. "You see? You can do anything you want to me and it'll just be reversed. I can do anything I want to you and you'll stay here with me forever."
She put her fingers under my chin and lifted my face so that I met her eyes.
"You see?" she asked again, asking me if I understood.
I nodded hesitantly.
"And you have nothing to worry about," Sally said, still straddling my lap and tracing my face with her icy fingertips. "You can quit your job and live here for free. I'll get you food and keep you safe. All you have to do is stay here, with me."
