The street of old Fulton Falls and the crumbling remnants of the town blurred around me, and I felt a rush of elation. I was doing it! I was teleporting us to the library, just like a pro.
The blurring froze in place, and reddish-gold light replaced it in tossed can of paint splashing. The space around us solidified, and my excitement plunged into horror.
The sun was setting behind perfectly lined up trees. We were back in the woods where my body had been dumped. Crime scene techs worked like ants around the place.
“Aw, heck no!” I wrung my hands, the motion yanking me free of Dan.
His arms went around me in an instant. “Calm down. It can take awhile to get the hang of this.”
I barely heard him. I wasn’t crying, but I was darn close. “Not here! I don’t want to be here!”
“It’s okay, baby girl. We’re going.”
With a slight tug, the woods blurred away.
Chapter Four
I struggled to not cry as we materialized in a sumptuous wonderland of grace and beauty.
Okay, so it was just a hotel lobby. But what a lobby! The tears froze in my eyes, and then beat a hasty retreat as I goggled at the splendor around me. A grand gleaming white marble staircase lifted to the second floor like the proverbial stairway to heaven. Burgundy and gold wallpaper covered the walls, the floors were patterned tile, and a chandelier three times my size hung overhead. Rich fabrics upholstered the chairs and chaise lounges, trimmed with intricately carved wood. Hand-woven oriental rugs scattered among the seating areas. A large painting of a hunting scene hung over the giant fireplace from which golden flames crackled.
It even smelled rich. Cigar and pipe smoke overlaid expensive perfumes and colognes. Intricate bouquets of exotic flowers decorated every surface, adding their heavy scents to the olfactory potpourri.
I heard the far-off sounds of a Dixieland band, playing elsewhere in the hotel. The musicians managed to sound both jubilant and suppressed at once. I imagined were I to enter the room where they played, I would still be able to hear conversation easily. Not bopping a little to the lighthearted beat was impossible.
All around me people of various eras glided past. Women in Victorian dress and high-plumed hats laughed with short-skirted flappers. Men in top hats and tails shook hands with Confederate officers in dress uniform. That sight bemused me; the King George Hotel had been built after the Civil War.
Dan watched me as I got my first look at the legendary hotel. “Beautiful, isn’t it? This is the best part of our little netherworld.”
“No wonder they never tried to rebuild it,” I whispered in awe. “It’s a palace. And look at the people from all different times. Wow, I want that dress.” I checked out a flapper clad in a gold dress. The fringe on it danced with her every move.
Dan chuckled. “Don’t look now, but you’re wearing it. It looks good on you.”
I looked down and squealed with delight. I wore the dress all right. It molded nicely to my body. The intricately stitched fabric was soft as butter against my skin. “Awesome! But I hate the shoes and it’s a terrible faux pas to wear the same thing as another woman. Maybe in blue with some beading?”
The dress suddenly shaded a deep indigo with matching beads in a swirl pattern across my chest. Matching stiletto heels replaced the clunky 1920’s shoes, showing my thighs and calves to advantage in the short skirt.
I was pleased to see Dan drink in my image like a man dying of thirst. “Very nice,” he said in a husky voice. “You should have been a designer. I especially like the shoes.”
I twirled for him, sending the fringe swishing through the air. “I’m a clothes horse. You should see my closet at home.”
A masculine voice called. “Mr. Saling, we still have a few rooms left for the night if you and your companion are interested?”
I stopped my little girl show-off to look at the clerk standing behind the tall mahogany desk at the far end of the room. His dark hair was greased back from a middle part, his long mustache waxed to points. He smiled at me and nodded his head.
Dan crooked an eyebrow at me as he ushered me towards the clerk with a hand in the small of my back. “What do you think, Brandilynn? We still have an hour or so before the vampires rise.”
“I want to see everything.” I bubbled with delight to know being dead wasn’t all misery.
Dan smiled and held out his hand to the clerk. “Your nicest left available then, Charles.”
Charles handed him a gold key. “Room 436. Champagne, perhaps a small meal?”
“We eat here?” I hadn’t felt hungry at all and was surprised to think food might be a need.