“There was also this story about the doctors being paid to do unauthorized experiments on the patients. Whoever had hired them thought it would be okay, and it would allow them to see how one might react to this or that. Some found out about it after one of the doctors committed suicide after the hospital shut down. He left a note explaining that he could no longer live with the horrible things he had done.”
Melissa leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “I even heard there were children.”
Linda eyed Melissa. The girl sure was a talker. But Linda couldn’t help but wonder why the girl was suddenly interested in spilling all to them.
“Why didn’t you tell us any of this before?” Jeff demanded.
“Tell me,” Melissa started, “Would you have bought the property?”
Linda squeezed Jeff’s hand, and he shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I imagine I would have.”
“But you’re not sure. See, that is why I don’t mention it to potential customers. The truth scares them away, and this place,” she said and gestured around the lounge, “is too beautiful to let go to waste. That is why I got into the real-estate business. I wanted to see beautiful structures, such as this one, be restored versus new box houses that are built in a few months’ time. Sure, it’s convenient but it lacks beauty.”
Linda understood what Melissa was saying, she did. The problem was, Melissa didn’t see or hear the things that haunted this beautiful establishment. If she did, she might have a different opinion of the place.
She briefly thought of contacting a lawyer and suing Melissa and her agency for not disclosing those things before they bought the property. Surely, that had to be illegal?
But what good will that do now? We’ve bought the property; we’re stuck with it. Who the hell else would be willing to buy this?
Melissa stood up, not looking at either of them. “Well, goodbye. Take care.” She left before Linda or Jeff had a chance to speak.
“Don’t,” Jeff turned away. “I know what you’re thinking. Melissa did something that is probably illegal. I’m not too happy about it, either. But we’ve bought the place. It’s ours. We don’t believe in ghosts, so let’s just move along. There are plenty of haunted inns around the world. I doubt anyone will experience anything while they’re here. I sure haven’t. And you haven’t either, right?”
Jeff looked at Linda, not really expecting an answer. She wanted to tell him all the horrific things she had witnessed. And she tried to. But she couldn’t.
“Right.”
“See. All right, let’s heat up some pizza. And we’ll go out to search for Sebastian.”
Chapter Seven
April 26th
Linda’s shoulders shook as she cried into the blanket clutched in her hands. She could still smell Sebastian’s scent on the blanket. It was his favorite. Light blue and fluffy against her skin. Jeff stirred beside Linda and she did her best to quench her sobs so she didn’t wake him. But she was heartbroken. Another sob tore through her chest and scratched her throat as she remembered how excited Sebastian had been when they had arrived there.
Strong arms encircled Linda’s waist and held tight. When Linda continued to cry, Jeff scooted up in the bed and pulled Linda with him until she was resting on his chest. He leaned his head back against the headboard and sighed.
“Linda Bear, I am so sorry.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back for comfort. “I’ll keep looking today, I promise. Melissa is supposed to be bringing us the key to the gates. I’ll look there today.”
“How could he be in there?” Linda asked through the tears. “And why wouldn’t he come when we called?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps, he injured his leg or something when crawling through the gate and he can’t walk.”
Linda sobbed harder. “He could still bark. He would want me to know he was okay.” Linda’s shoulders shook her whole body as she took in what she was trying to admit out loud. “What if he’s dead?”
“Hey!” Jeff exclaimed and tightened his arms around Linda. “Don’t say that. I haven’t given up yet and neither should you. We will find him, alive. You hear me?”
Linda nodded. She prayed he was right and that they would find Sebastian today. She couldn’t stand the thought of him being alone another night.
“If we haven’t found him by the end of the day, can we go to the pound?” she asked. Linda hoped and prayed Sebastian wasn’t dead, but if he wasn’t, she also didn’t want him thinking she had abandoned him. She hadn’t, but if he was somewhere strange and locked up in a kennel, she was sure he would feel that way. The thought tore through her heart.
“Of course we can. But it’s not going to come to that. We will find him,” Jeff reassured her, again.
***
With the key in one hand and Linda’s hand in the other, Jeff escorted her out into the garden. The fresh air was soothing to Linda’s raw throat and lungs. The fever had finally broken last night, but her skin was still warm. She hoped she was done with whatever was causing the fever. She needed her strength to find Sebastian and help Jeff finish the inn.
Earlier, after Jeff had made them some breakfast and talked to Linda about where they were going to look for Sebastian today, Linda made a silent promise to Sebastian. She wasn’t going to give up on him. Whether he was dead or alive, she would find him. He was her baby, and she would not give up until she knew what had happened to him. Sebastian had been there through the worst time of her life, and he had stayed. She was not about to abandon him in return.
A cold breeze blew, and Linda turned to peer over her shoulder. Up on the third floor, a figure stood in the doorway of the west wing and was peering down into the garden. Linda stopped and turned her whole body around to get a better view. Standing there with her hands neatly folded in front of her was a woman. It was the same woman she had seen crying in the room the other day. But just like the other day, the woman vanished in the blink of an eye.
“You okay?” Jeff asked.
“Not really,” Linda answered. She was tired, so very tired.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
Although Linda wasn’t only speaking of Sebastian, she smiled at Jeff anyway. Again, she debated on whether to confide in him or not. She had more confidence now that he would believe her since he found out what happened at the hospital. Torture and an uncanny death toll had to count for something.
But what if he thinks I’m making it up because of what we heard about this place? Linda thought.
She shrugged. At this point, Linda didn’t care anymore. She needed to confide in him.
“Jeff, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Jeff paused, and Linda thought he was stopping to listen to her, but when he turned his head in the other direction she wasn’t sure.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
Before Linda could answer that she didn’t hear anything, Jeff took off running. Linda followed him as he went past the garden and through the bush hedge. When she came out on the other side of the foliage, she found Jeff pressed up against the gate. She also heard what he had been speaking about.