Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
But as the tour went on, R’orn found he was interested despite himself and his certainty that everything was fake. There certainly had been a lot of tragedies here over the years! If he was a superstitious male who believed in the supernatural, he almost might have wondered if the old domicile really was cursed in some way.
“And this is the bedroom where Minerva Pennyfeather of the Boston Pennyfeathers was found with her head and her hands cut off,” the Innkeeper said as they entered yet another bedchamber. “Her husband caught her with her lover, you know. He shot the lover, but he brought an axe just for her.”
“How awful!” Samantha’s lovely dark blue eyes—which were lined with black make up that made them look even bigger—widened dramatically.
“Yes. We’ve had guests who leave this room in the middle of the night. They often report they feel something cold—like an icy blade—pressing against their neck and they say they can’t breathe.” The Innkeeper nodded with grim satisfaction.
“Hang on—do you feel that?” Samantha put her arms around herself and shivered. “Let me use the temperature gun. R’orn?”
She held out a hand and R’orn dug in the bag and handed her the equipment she asked for—he knew what it was from watching so many of her videos. He didn’t feel cold himself at all, but then, Kindred usually ran hotter on the temperature scale than humans.
Samantha used the temperature gun to check for “cold spots” and supposedly found a few.
“But I don’t see any spirits in here,” she added, looking around the room carefully—as though a ghost might pop out of a pillow if she stared at it hard enough, R’orn thought. “In fact, I haven’t seen any since we got here.”
“Just you wait until it gets dark—that’s when they get really active!” The Innkeeper widened her eyes.
“I’m sure I’ll be up all night then.” Samantha smiled politely.
They continued the tour and it seemed to R’orn that something awful had happened in nearly every room in the domicile—even the freshers and the food prep area, where a young man had been stabbed to death by the cook for daring to send back his morning porridge because it was too lumpy.
Finally, though, things seemed to be winding down.
“Now, I’ve saved the best for last,” the Innkeeper informed them, as she led them back up the stairs to the second floor. “The most haunted room in the whole Inn is where you’ll be staying tonight!” And she threw open the door of the room at the very end of the long hall with a flourish.
“Oh—I can’t wait to hear all about it!” Samantha’s eyes lit up as she used the camera on her phone to pan across the room.
It was larger than the other sleeping areas, R’orn saw—maybe he could sleep on the floor and leave the bed for Samantha. It wasn’t going to be a very comfortable sleeping arrangement though—the wooden floors looked hard and cold and there was only a single thin rug, between the fireplace and the large, four-poster bed.
There was a simple wooden washstand with a washbasin and a pitcher in one corner and a high-backed chair in another. Over the fireplace was a tarnished silver mirror that looked older than the Inn itself.
“This is what we call The Lover’s Suite,” the Innkeeper told Samantha proudly. “It was here that Caroline Abernathy and Beauregard Hartford spent their honeymoon…and here that they were both murdered in cold blood before they ever had a chance to consummate their love!”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” Samantha said in a voice that indicated the exact opposite. “Please—tell us more!”
“Well, they came from rival families, you know—the Abernathys and the Hartfords always just hated each other. I think it started over a land dispute because the two families were neighbors,” the Innkeeper began. “They mostly kept strictly apart but then Caroline and Beau saw each other across the room at a ball being held in another county that both of them happened to be invited to. And wouldn’t you know it—it was love at first sight!”
“Love at first sight?” R’orn asked, frowning. It was the first time he had interrupted and Samantha shot him a frown. But he couldn’t help it—the story was interesting and he found himself wanting to understand the details.
“Yes—love at first sight,” the Innkeeper said.
“Forgive my assistant—he’s a Kindred and he doesn’t always, er, get human sayings,” Samantha said. She turned to R’orn. “Love at first sight is what some people say happens when you meet the person you’re meant to be with for life. It’s like this instant attraction—a kind of spark that jumps between the two of you. It draws you together and makes you want to be with the other person forever. Does that make sense?”
“Er…yes. I guess so.” R’orn nodded. He couldn’t help thinking of the way his Beast had roused itself and said, “MINE” the very first time he’d ever met Samantha. But surely that didn’t have anything to do with this human phenomenon they were talking about—did it?