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“Who is she?” she demands.
“What?”
“The girl I just saw in my bedroom, hanging from the ceiling, with two men either side of her. And don’t tell me I was having a nightmare,” she adds, her tone borderline angry. “Because we both know that’s bullshit.”
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “I don’t know who she is. She could be one of numerous… entities that reveal themselves to us when the days are short and we’re cut off.”
I don’t want to call them ghosts because I’m still not convinced they are ghosts in the traditional sense. I still believe it’s the hotel and its memories that haunt us. I got a feel from this place the first moment I stepped through its door. Windridge Hall isn’t just a collection of bricks and windows and tiles. It’s a sentient being that sees and hears everything that happens within its walls.
It made me want to protect it. To transform it into the beauty it once was. To be loved and cherished, just like any person.
“What happened here, Blake?” she asks. “Why are there ghosts haunting this place?”
“I don’t have the answer to that.”
She peels herself out of my arms and sits to one side of my legs, facing me. “Bullshit. I don’t believe you. Who is the woman? Why does she keep showing herself to me? She’s the one who stopped me from leaving.”
“I don’t know who she is,” I tell her honestly.
“You know the history of Windridge Hall. You must know.”
“This building has been standing for a hundred years. How many different souls do you think have passed through its walls? I told you, some buildings have memories.”
“No, I don’t believe that. It’s the girl. Maybe there’s even more than one. Something happened to her here, something terrible. She’s trying to get me to help her.”
“Aspen, whoever she is, she’s been dead for a long time. How could you possibly help her? We just need to get through winter.”
She throws up her hands. “We get through winter, and then what? We can’t enjoy spring or summer or fall because we know winter will always come around again. We need to fix this, Blake! We need to make right whatever has been made wrong.”
I blow out a breath and drag my hand over my face. “How the fuck do you suggest we do that, Pen? Because really, I’m open to suggestions.”
“We need to listen to her. Listen to them. Find out who they are and what they want.”
“No, that’s playing a dangerous game. We need to keep them out, not let them in. If we let them in, they’ll get stronger. Have you lost time yet? Had thoughts or memories that don’t feel like they belong to you? That’s how they work, Pen. They want life. They want the living, and that’s what we are. That’s why we need to cling to each other because if we isolate ourselves, it only makes them stronger.”
She’s not perturbed. “The boxes of stuff down in the basement. The one with all the old portraits and framed family trees. Maybe they’d be able to give us a clue as to who they are, the girl in particular. I think something happened to her. Something bad.”
“Bad things happened to people all the time. Life was rough in the mountains, especially back in those days. People suffered.”
“The poor, yes, but look at this place. Look at how it’s been built, the grandeur of it. And the clothes she’s wearing, and her hair… I think she was someone important. Maybe important to this place, which is why it hasn’t let go of her.”
“You’re wasting your time.”
“Well, it’s not as though there’s a whole lot else to do, is there? And actually, I’m not looking for your permission, Blake. I can go and look through all that stuff without you. I just thought you might want to help fix things around here.”
I grit my teeth. I’m worried that poking around will only make things worse.
I haven’t told her that I’ve been having visions of fucking her, only for her to turn into something else. I haven’t wanted to freak her out any more than she already is.
I pull her back into my arms. “We can’t do anything tonight.” I speak with my chin pressed to the top of her head. “Let’s get some sleep and we can look at it tomorrow.”
“Can I stay here? I don’t want to go back to my room.” She shudders. “I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to sleep alone in there again.”
“Of course you can stay.”
39
ASPEN
