Tears stream down Nathaniel's eyes as he puts the letter from Joel back into the paper folder, sighing as his mind screams at him to grab the red file.
Not wanting to face that part of the past yet, or his mistakes, he looks at the newspaper cutting on his bed.
"I thought I told you to go forth, not back," Beatrice chastises, propping her small self onto the bed.
She begins to twist the many rings on her fingers.
Ignoring her remark, Nathaniel nods at her hands, "Why do you do that?".
"Pardon?" she asks, raising her brows as she looks at him.
"With the rings," he says, pointing at her twitchy fingers.
She looks down at her hands, "Oh," she says taking notice, "I don't know".
"One of the many things we don't know about you," he adds, tiredly, turning his attention back to the papers scattered all over the bed.
"What is all of this?" she asks, trying not to let his comment get to her.
"Just... articles, notes, pictures I gathered from when..." he pauses, "from when I first moved here".
Beatrice nods, "Is that..." she squints, looking at the articles, "they're not the parents," she remarks.
"What?".
Beatrice points at one of the news clippings, "There, all of these are of that couple, but this one is older and has a different couple on it".
Nathaniel leans over, looking at the article.
He ignores the title, knowing all too well of its content and at the picture of a big family. Of a young boy, skinny, short hair in a smart blue shirt and jeans. A tall woman, a mass of black curly hair, dark expresso skin, much like the man beside her, his hair much shorter, military.
Another, yet shorter man stands beside him, smiling widely, his pearly teeth on display, his hair similar to that of the man beside him, but his skin a more mocha tinge to it.
Nathaniel's eyes wander to the two small figures below, one toddler, her eyes big and bright, another girl behind her, couldn't be more than five or six smiling ever so slightly. Her hair a litter flatter than that of her mothers.
"That's still the same family," he says, tapping the picture where the toddler is, "that's the kids' mother when she was a babe".
"Ah," says Beatrice, "so, what's this article?" she asks curiously, tilting her head. Nathaniel takes hold of it, "it's nothing, just about the family buying this estate.
He looks up, giving her a sad look, "Beat, why are you up here?".
"Don't call me that!" she scorns.
"Just answer the question," he says, leaning back to where he was before.
Beatrice shrugs, "To motivate you, I waited around for hours down there and came to check in on you".
"Well..." he sighs, "I need a drink if I'm going to go through all of this again".
"Moving forward, not back," she reminds him, again.
"Speaking of moving forward, you should do that,".
"Well, one thing at a time, can't help me before you can help yourself," she says dismissively, jumping up from the bed.
Beatrice practically skips towards the bedroom door, "You know... I've never felt more alive being dead".
Nathaniel raises his brows at her, "Really?".
YOU ARE READING
The Hart Hotel
Mystery / ThrillerAfter discovering the deaths at the Hart Hotel, Nathaniel faces his demons once again. Going back to where it all began to put an end to the reign of terror that has seeped its way into its walls. With the spirit of an elderly woman to accompany him...
