Mary was standing by the radio waiting for Dorian to talk to her. He had not contacted her for what seemed like forever. The only one she had contact with was his maid who refused to tell her her name. She had told her to lock Greg in the storage room, it did not seem very kind, but Greg was trying to destroy the hotel and everyone in it. That was what Dorian Black had told her through his maid. Greg was a threat, he wanted to destroy the hotel and her happiness along with it. She could not allow that.
She looked down at her wristwatch, it was almost time for breakfast. She knew her mother would be furious if she did not show up.
The time had gone fast, she had wandered through the hotel in the dead of night. It had been peaceful, but someone had been watching her; she remembered hearing a door shut. She almost hadn’t slept for two days but she did not feel sleepy or tired, she felt wonderful and upbeat. She felt like she could run a marathon, or sing an opera even though she had terrible endurance and a singing voice was far below average.
Mary left the room; she would come back as soon as possible. She entered the pitch-black hallway, she could not see with her eyes, but she knew where the old vase on the small table was, she knew which door led to a bedroom, which hallway that lead her to the kitchen or the library, she had not yet been there, but she knew how to get there. It was like the hotel was a part of her, it was as if it was limb attach to her body. She knew every nook and cranny in the hotel, there were no secret rooms or mysteries to unravel.
It did not feel as if she was walking, it felt like she was gliding across the floor. She stopped, she got chills going up her spine, and a thought burst into her mind; it was like a memory. She saw Edmund putting his shoes on and moving towards the door. He used to look so handsome, but his face was bruised and wounded.
She heard a door opening, and she heard footsteps walking around in the next hallway. It was Edmund, she knew it. She had seen him get ready, she did not want to bump into him, and she waited until the noise was long gone. She continued moving towards the dining room. She got another flash memory, she saw Ben and Barry talking to each other. She could not hear what they were saying, there was no sound only the image.
She pressed her ear against the door and tried to listen the conversation. They were talking about putting a stink bomb in Doctor Wrath’s bedroom. She thought that it was good, Doctor Wrath was obnoxious who deserved whatever that was coming his way. She also thought the same thing about the twins, she had little love for them. There were times she wished that she was adopted. There were times she would have believed it had it not been for the similarities in their looks.
She heard them leave and then she continued gliding towards the kitchen. She was in a good mood, but it would certainly be destroyed by the living pigs she was sharing the hotel with.
She walked dreamily down the stairs enjoying the last bit of peace for a while. During breakfast, she would obviously be criticised by the doctor, and the twins would throw food at her. Her mother would force her to eat even though she had not been hungry since the moment she stepped inside the hotel. Couldn’t her mum just know when to leave her alone, it wasn’t like food was a necessity? Couldn’t she just eat when she felt for it? She was closing in, she stopped to calm herself down a bit. Breakfast had probably not even started yet so no one would miss her for a few minutes. Most of them would probably not even notice that she was gone or maybe they would be glad that she wasn’t there.
She waited, there were just two doors to go through before she reached the dining room; she did not want to go in there. She wanted to procrastinate as long as possible.
It did not take long before she got another flash memory, this one was of her mother. She was saying something, and she looked upset, angry even. Mary knew her time was up and just as she was about to walk to meet the others, her mother came barging through the door flashing her flashlight right in Mary’s face.
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Bella shouted. Mary shrugged and asked what her mother meant. “I CAME UP TO YOUR ROOM, SEVEN O’CLOCK SHARP AND YOU WERE NOT IN YOUR BED! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” shouted her mother furiously.
Mary shrugged and said, “Couldn’t sleep so just went for a walk.”
“WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU? YOU HARDLY EAT, YOU BARELY TALK TO ANYONE AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME YOU CAN’T SLEEP!” Bella sighed and continued in a more relaxed tone, “I am worried about you, maybe later I can take you to a doctor and check that everything is all right.”
“I DON’T NEED A DOCTOR!” said Mary as she stomped her foot on the floor.
“DON’T YOU SHOUT AT ME YOUNG LADY, I’VE TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT!”
The door opened, Doctor Wrath cleared his throat and said, “Although I do enjoy eating breakfast without your quarrelling, Logan thought it was best to check up on you. So, if you could please have your shouting contest maybe upstairs, or any place I won’t hear you. You see, it is really ruining my appetite. So, either keep it down or go down to the town and scare the locals.” He shut the door and they could hear him walking away.
“We are going to go to the dining room and you are going to sit down and eat. You will NOT be allowed to leave before you finish eating everything AND I MEAN EVERYTHING on your plate!” said Bella firmly. Mary knew there was no arguing with her, she would lose the moment she opened her mouth.
The two of them walked into the large almost empty dining room, they sat down on the large table in the middle of the room with the rest. Bella grabbed Mary’s plate and started filling it with food. Two pieces of toasts, four strips of bacon and two eggs – how was she supposed to eat all that? An elephant could barely eat all that, she thought.
Mary could see Doctor Wrath rolling his eyes and struggling not to speak his mind.
“EAT!” her mother shouted.
“Doctor Woodard, I already suggested that you two could have your screaming matches somewhere else far away from me. If the…” – Doctor Wrath looked at Mary with a disgusted look before continuing – “girl does not want to eat then you should not force her, you only make the rest of us uncomfortable with your…” – he stopped to try and think of the right word – “infernal yelling; it is utter madness. Both of you are acting as if you belong in Bethlem insane asylum.”
Mary could sit there and listen to him insulting her, she could sit there and have everyone stare at her as if she was some sideshow attraction.
The doctor was not yet done speaking his mind. “I descend from royalty, I am the 437th heir to the British throne and now I am stuck in an abandoned hotel with two chipmunks in a screaming contest! IT’S MADNESS, I TELL YOU!” he shouted as if he was a king talking to a peasant, then he threw his napkin on the table and stormed off before Mary had even gotten close to the door.
Mary’s heart was racing; she did not want to stay but if she left, she could bump into the doctor and she definitely did not want that. She felt her hands get sweaty and she felt light-headed; she had to make a choice. Her mother stood up and started walking towards her, Bella did not look very pleased. “I told you, you could leave when you finish your plate.”
She had to make a choice – make a run for it or stay. Everyone was staring at her; her mother was walking towards her at a fast pace. The room started spinning around, and her legs could barely hold her up. Her head was throbbing, she had acid burning her chest and throat, she felt like she was about to puke.
She made a run for it, she burst through the door to the hallway and began running. She lost her balance and fell to the floor. Without thinking, she got clumsily back on her feet and went back to running.
Everyone in the dining room had made her feel horrible. They were toxic people and they wanted to demolish every bit of happiness inside her heart. Even her own mother wanted to drive her to the hospital; she wanted to drive her far away from Dorian, far away from a person who actually cared about her, a person who truly desired to be with her.
She ran upstairs, she ran through the darkness with the feeling of passing out at any given moment. If she was going to pass out, she wanted to do it on the bed next to the old radio. Marry hurried along, she held one hand on the wall for support, she leaned from wall to wall jumping between them to avoid bumping into vases and tables.
Her mind went black, her legs gave in, she closed her eyes and dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. The moment she hit the floor, her brain went back up and running. Her legs felt better but they shook heavily as she tried to stand up again. She could feel something running down her lips and chin, she tasted it and it tasted of iron, it was blood. Her own blood from her nose. She did not care, she still felt light-headed and it felt like the floor and walls were moving. She had to get to the bed by the radio and it felt like she only had a few seconds.
She entered the room; the sun was shining through the window, it hurt her eyes so much that she could not keep them open. She laid down on the bed and put the old dusty sheets over her head to cover her eyes from the heinous blinding sun.
“The sun hurts me as well, I wish I could shut the curtains to spare you the pain, my luv,” said a voice, a male voice. It was Dorian’s.
“It’s you,” she said.
“How have you been, my luv?” he asked.
“Better now that I am talking to you.”
“I am afraid I have some grave news. The other living ones in my hotel are plotting against you. I have heard their whispers, they do not like you and they wish to take you away from the hotel. They want to leave you, to abandon you. That is something I never want to do but I am not strong enough to stop them…I am growing stronger when I am in your presence,” said Dorian.
Mary smiled, she had started feeling much better the moment she heard his voice, it was like an elixir of life. It was like she could not live without him and if what he was saying was true that they wanted to take her away, she had to stop them. Her mother had already talked about taking her away to see a doctor, a doctor she would undoubtedly be left at, she would be left there to rot.
“My dearest Mary, I do not wish to see you get hurt but I wish to make you prepared. I will ask you to search the house. You will find them scattered about and then you will truly see what they think of you. Now I must bid you farewell, but we will talk again once you have discovered the truth,” said Dorian and then the room became silent.
Mary took off the sheets that covered her face; the sun burnt her eyes as if someone had tossed burning coal at them. Her mind and body felt refreshed as if she had gotten the best news of her life but then a thought hit her. She knew that the rest did not like her but what if they were plotting against her, What if they were planning to drive her into a forest and leave her for dead.
Mary crept about in the shadows, something told her where to go first. She crept bent over and crouched down. She tried to make as little noise as possible, she did not want to let people know where she was and where she was heading.
She put her head against a door and heard voices, it was Ben and Barry.
“Did you see moaning Mary acting up?”
“Nah, you have to be more specific, Ben. I mean moaning Mary is acting up every day. I mean remember how much she screamed when the popular girls threw water balloons filled with pigs’ blood. She squealed, ‘OINK, OINK!’” They both laughed.
“How much did the pigs’ blood set us back?” one asked.
“All I know is, it was worth every penny.”
Mary wanted to scream; they were the reason the girls threw blood at her during her presentation about animals throughout the time.
“Barry, we need a plan. Moaning Mary is just no fun. I mean we have lived with her for ages when Dad left; he left because she was too ugly to look at.”
“I say we knock her out and place in front of a church. They can make her a nun, it’s not like any boy could ever love her anyway.” They both laughed again.
Mary wanted to punch both of them and scream in their faces. She knew they did not like her; yes, they had a rivalry going on her entire life, but she thought that they always had tolerated her. However, it did not seem like it anymore.
“Dad was an awesome guy and she drove him away; he knew there was something wrong with her and I know it too.”
“I know what you’re saying. I mean moaning Mary is my sister, I don’t want to bash her brains in with a hammer, just gently push her down the stairs or accidentally put rat poison in her food or drink.” Both of them laughed a maniacal laugh.
Mary gently opened the door, she had to see them and their vile faces. She peeked inside; Ben was sitting on a bed pointing his flashlight at the wall. Barry was painting something on the wall with red paint. He painted a word, so far it stood: MOANING MARY THE SCREAMING B – he had not finished painting yet, but he had painted a frowning face with curly hair and an arrow sticking out of the forehead.
“A going-away present to the next residents,” said Barry and Ben laughed so much that he dropped the flashlight just as Barry was painting the final letters.
“Don’t be an oaf, keep the light up.”
“Sorry I just did a Mary,” said Ben still laughing.
“A what?” Barry asked.
“A mistake, a Mary, get it?” And both of them laughed once more.
Mary wasn’t sure whether she should leave or listen more. She thought that if she were to stay longer, she would burst through the door ready to attack both of them. She would like to attack them, they had never treated her nicely. She was always the butt of their jokes and she did not like it one bit.
The twins continued to talk about her, cracking jokes and laughing at her expense. She had to move on, listening to them made her blood boil and her skin crawl. She wanted to cry, scream and break something all at the same time.
She took a few deep breaths as she closed the door and began moving towards Edmund’s door. It looked like Edmund and Greg were not on the best of the terms but there was something inside her telling her that she would find them in Edmund’s room. She had no reason to doubt her instinct, it had been right about the twins; her mind and gut could navigate through the hotel as if she had lived there all her life. Her instincts were one of her few friends in the hotel, she felt like she could only trust Dorian Black and her instincts. Maybe she could trust the maid, but the maid just said what Dorian had told her to say.
She crept up to Edmund’s room and heard voices talking. She could hear Greg talking. “Look, Edmund. I know you don’t think this place is haunted, but you have to believe me, it is. I believe Mary knows it as well. I tried to snuff the magic holding the ghosts here, but Mary stopped me, and she tried to kill me. Edmund, we have to kill her; she is a danger,” said Greg.
“I know there is something strange going on here, Greg, I have seen things just like you. I don’t know if this place is haunted but if it is, then we cannot kill moaning Mary in the hotel or on the mountain. We have to trick her; we have to take her some other place and drive a knife through her heart,” said Edmund gravely.
“I already told Bella about it, she did not believe me and said there is no such thing as ghosts. However, she agreed that Mary is becoming a problem and needs to be dealt with. Dealt with fast and quietly.”
“We can take the doctor’s car, he will be glad to get rid of Mary, can’t say my father likes her much, in fact, he probably wants to hold the knife.” Edmund chuckled.
“Well it’s not like anyone could miss her, except maybe the bridge she lives under,” said Edmund and she could hear Greg laughing.
They were plotting against her; they were planning to murder her. She felt like they talked about her as if she wasn’t a person, a human, with feelings of love, dreams and hopes. They talked about her as if she was an ogre under a bridge, or a monster hiding under a child’s bed. She had to be one step ahead of them because if she wasn’t, she could end up bleeding in a forest taking her last breath laying on two small rocks.
Greg sighed and said, “We have to deal with the ghosts after we deal with Mary. Ghosts don’t belong in our world; we have to burn the hotel down and burn everything to the ground.”
“We will burn it to the ground after we have gotten the most valuable things out,” said Edmund.
Mary almost lost her balance and fell to the ground; they were going to burn down the hotel.
She wanted to get details about their plan and to know to the full extent what they were planning but something told her to move on. She had to see their faces first, she wanted to know whether talking about her made them sad or happy.
She gently opened the door and peeked inside. Edmund was sitting down having ice on his bruised face. Greg, on the other hand, was pacing around the room carrying a knife in his hand. “I nicked the knife from the kitchen, it’s sharp, sharp enough to do the job and do it quickly.”
She could not believe it, they fully intended to put the knife through her heart; it was not just a wild fantasy, it was something they wanted to be the reality.
The two of them became quiet, they did not speak for several minutes as if they knew that someone was listening in. Greg whispered, “Mary is close, I can hear her loud breathing.”
Mary carefully closed the door. How could they know she was listening? She did not breathe that loudly. She waited a little while in case they spoke again, but it did not seem like they would.
She started sneaking around; where would my mother and the other parents be, she wondered. Her mind started spinning around, she searched the hotel with her mind trying to figure out where they were hiding. A flash of the library popped up in her mind. She could see the doctor climbing a ladder to search for books while her mother and Logan were sipping on a cup of tea. The library was where she had to go next to see what her mother really thought of her. Mary’s expectations were not high at all.
Mary hurried down the stairs, jumping over every other step. She hurried through the dark corners and hallways of the hotel. The library was far away from where she had ventured before, but she knew exactly what doors to open to get there. She carefully avoided knocking over tables, ripping paintings and stumbling over carpets. She was closing in; she could not hear them talk but she felt their presence was close.
She saw the door to the library, she gently opened it and peeked inside. The doctor was on the ladder searching through books not looking very impressed, her mother was sitting down reading one of the books and Logan was standing in the frail flimsy metal staircase.
Bella sighed and said, “Logan, your son came with some interesting news about ghosts and Mary.”
Logan laughed. “I am sorry, Bella, but Mary could not be a ghost, she would be more of a zombie; they smell bad and look like they are decaying. They eat human meat and walk around in the dark.”
“Mr Tanner, I am afraid to tell you zombies are not real, there are only disturbed individuals. Mary is the kind of girl you could find sitting in the mud eating worms or biting heads off bats while she laughs and smears the blood across her face,” said the doctor.
“I don’t like you talking about Mary that way, but I am afraid you are right. She has no friends; she is just a sad little creature.”
“You know what they do about sad creatures like Mary…?” Logan asked, then he laughed and said, “They dissect them. Maybe that is what you should do, find out what makes her tick.”
Bella chuckled. “I would be too terrified that the blood would be a mouldy green colour.”
Logan laughed, and the doctor began speaking his mind, “Mary is an abomination. The fact that you can even call her your daughter frightens me. If she was my family member I would send her to a home or science lab. Have her studied who knows what they could find? Maybe she has a form of disease, it could be infectious. I would advise you to get her out of the hotel as fast as possible.”
“I will try and lure her out during dinner, and drive her out in the middle of nowhere. She will probably try and chase the car but her legs can’t keep up,” said Bella.
Logan came down the stairs. “Brilliant, I can’t stand her ugly mug. I think the twins had an idea to leave her at the door of the church and let her become a nun. That certainly would do us all a favour.”
“I would be glad if you two could help me, I can ask the kids to help as well. Together we will succeed. We can enjoy the rest of our work without the insufferable ogre lurking about,” said Bella with a glowing face.
Mary felt a lump growing in her stomach, tears were running down her face, her mouth was wide open, and she gasped for air in-between sobs. She had always known what her mother thought of her, but she was not prepared to hear it.
She got back up on her feet, she had to see Dorian because it seemed like he was her only friend in the hotel, her only friend in the whole world. A friend who maybe wanted to be more than just friends.
She hurried along and then Mary got another memory popping up in her mind. She could see Logan and her mother coming out of the library, she could hear what her mother was saying. “I think Mary is upstairs, we have to hurry. We have to find a rope first and maybe a knife or two.”
Mary’s heart started pounding in her chest, they were coming for her. She had the upper hand; she knew every inch of the hotel and they did not. She could always be one step ahead; she didn’t even need light to see. She could hide in the shadows carefully manoeuvring out of their light and sight.
She hit something hard, she fell to the ground and heard something shatter. A door opened and a light shone into the hallway. The light blinded Mary’s eyes but she could hear a voice, her mother’s voice. “Mary, I told you to use a flashlight. You could have just broken something irreplaceable. Anyway, I want you to come with me, we could go for a drive along the countryside.”
Her mother had caught her, but she was not going down without a fight. Mary jumped up and started running, she could hear her mother shouting for her and telling her to stop. She was not going to, not until she was in the room with the radio telling Dorian what had happened.
She ran up the stairs, only slowing down when she heard someone talking. Finally, she was in her room, she started talking to the empty room hoping Dorian could hear her. She told him that they want to kill her, that they don’t like her at all. As she was talking, tears ran down her face as if her eyes were the start of a waterfall.
There was barely any sun outside so she could see fine and was luckily not blind. Mary sat down on the bed and waited for Dorian to talk to her and tell her that he had a plan to keep her in the hotel.
After several minutes, she heard his calm voice say, “I am sorry, my luv. I am sorry you had to witness their horrible words. I want you to be mine, I want us to be free together and explore the world. I am hosting a ball after I get some rest and I want you to be my dancing partner. Will you do me that honour?”
Mary felt a hundred times better, she laughed and smiled and a warmness going through her whole body. “Yes, a million times yes,” she said.
“Do you own a dress?” he asked her, to which she replied no. “Not to worry my luv. In my ballroom, there is a chest with a dress for you. I will contact you when everything is ready. I must bid you farewell, and I love you, I truly do,” he said and then the room became quiet.
Mary stormed off, she had to go to the ballroom and find the dress. She knew where the ballroom was, it was at the far end of the hotel, all the way in the back.
She ran down the stairs, then she got a memory. This time of her mother searching the hotel, she was searching for her and she was certain of it. Her mother was searching downstairs staying close to the library. Luckily, the ballroom was a different route. She got another flash memory, this time of Logan and the doctor who were in the game room. “I really think we should search for Mary, Bella said she needed to find her. So, you know they can go for a drive,” said Logan.
“Mary is Bella’s daughter, not mine and I will certainly not waste my time trying to search for her,” said the doctor as he made himself more comfortable by pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
Mary hoped that they would not search for her as well, but she thought it would not matter as long as she kept getting images of them.
She made her way to the ballroom, it was huge. It had a large chandelier and long red velvet curtains. A large stage with a bunch of instruments on it. She hoped they would play those instruments when the ball was taking place. She dreamt of herself away. She dreamt that she was going to be slow dancing with Dorian. She had never seen him before, but she imagined that he had long black hair and blue eyes; she dreamt that he was tall and muscular with nice cheekbones and a cute nose. She dreamt that he was holding around her with his firm but soft hands, she dreamt that at the end of the night, he leaned in and kissed with a great and steaming passion.
She had to focus; she had to find the dress, and she had a feeling that it was on the stage so that was where she went. Instead of walking up the stairs to the stage, she decided to jump up; she had always wanted to try it to see how hard it was. It turned out that she could easily do it but it was still fun.
She walked around careful to not knock over any instrument. She stroked a trombone, it was covered in dust, and she glided her hand over a large drum.
There she saw an old chest, she opened it and inside was a beautiful plum coloured dress. She picked it up and underneath it was a shiny silver tiara. They would go great together she thought and picked up the tiara as well.