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Then, holding the lock of Kelly’s newly removed hair, Esmeralda gave a wide gleaming smile.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘We’ll see you downstairs.’

‘Certainly,’ Kelly croaked, her throat dry, wondering if this was all an act or whether she really had just rolled up into the kind of village that was found in horror films.

Before she could say anything else, Esmeralda glided out of the room, gave Kelly a nod and a smile, then closed the door.

Kelly, now missing a lock of hair, stood bemused for a moment, before turning to check how the missing hair might have affected her appearance.

‘Oh!’

For a moment the mirror showed her a spectral image of the maid standing behind her, even though the door was closed. Kelly spun around, but the room was empty. Turning back to the mirror, the ghostly image had gone.

Her arms prickled with goose pimples. If everything was simply trickery, then she had to give it to Martin and his two twin maids because they were really pulling it off in such a way that she was half tempted to leave straight away.

Slightly spooked out by her logic—in fact, extremely spooked out by her logic—she went out into the hall and found the shared bathroom, where luckily she didn’t see any spectral girls in the mirror behind her.

The bathroom, in fact, seemed rather pleasant.

Although, when she turned on the tap, it gave a splutter as though it hadn’t been used in a while. Rather than a gushing torrent of blood, however, that would definitely have sent her screaming to her car, the water looked just like plain water.

She refreshed herself, then went back to her room to unpack a few items, and hang some clothes up in the cupboard.

She went downstairs into the main bar, where the two men were still sitting at the counter.

Just as she came in, she saw Miranda standing behind the bar, her arms folded, leaning over to pass a drink to the man with the handlebar moustache.

As she did so, Kelly clearly heard her say, ‘You reckon it’s three points for Man U tomorrow?’

To which the man replied, ‘Doubt it. Everton’s away form has been pretty good this season.’

Noticing Kelly, however, Miranda gave a sudden shake, as though to resume character. Her casual smile dropped, her face assuming a ghostly neutrality as the two men adjusted themselves on their chairs and turned to look towards the door.

‘Hello,’ Kelly said, smiling at the two men as she walked up to the bar. Miranda, back in character, glided over to meet her.

‘Can I get you something?’ she asked.

‘I’d love a half of Goblin’s Brew, if you don’t mind,’ Kelly said. ‘Can you put it on my tab?’

‘Certainly,’ the girl said, pouring the drink, which was a rather revolting shade of dark green, as though it had been pumped straight out of a swamp.

‘What on Earth’s in this?’ Kelly said.

‘That’s a nice one, that is,’ said the man with the handlebar moustache. ‘It’s golden ale infused with matcha, so it’ll give you a bit of a buzz but keep you awake at the same time.’

‘Matcha?’ Kelly asked. ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s green tea powder from Japan,’ the man said.

‘All right. That sounds nice.’

Kelly took a sip. It had a slight sweetness mixed with the bitterness of the ale and tasted rather nice.

The two men chuckled and lifted their drinks to offer her a toast. ‘Welcome to Briar Speckles,’ the one with the handlebar moustache said.

‘Thank you,’ Kelly said said, clinking glasses, starting to feel a little more comfortable after the frights in her room.

Miranda disappeared through a door behind the bar, and a moment later Martin Longtooth reappeared, still dressed in his vampire garb.