The Broadmoor Hotel

Chapter 1

“We need to talk, Tom.”


Tom looked up from the pile of construction invoices he’d been studying to see his brother-in-law standing in the doorway to his small office, a look of concern on his bearded face. “What now?” he asked.


“You know what this is about,” Rob said. “The same thing it’s always about.”

Tom ignored the implication. “What happened?” he asked.


“Pipe burst up on the second floor. The entire carpet is completely soaked. If we don’t find a way to dry it out, we’re gonna lose the whole damn thing!” Rob hesitated for a moment, then added, “You know, she…”


“Don’t, man,” Tom said. “Just don’t. This place is old, and so are the pipes. You can’t possibly think this is Penny’s fault.”


“I’m not saying she’s doing it on purpose, Tom, but you can’t deny a lot of bad shit has happened since she got here. That stained glass window she shattered when her hammer went flying. Or those paint cans that got knocked down the stairs. She’s bad luck, man, and she’s got to go!”


Tom rolled his eyes. “Not this again, Rob. She’s my daughter! She’s not going anywhere!”


“I’ve already sunk a fortune into this project for you, Tom, and every time I turn around there’s another disaster! I can’t keep doing this, man!”

“Wait, are you telling me that you’re going to pull out over this?”

Rob sighed. “I’m just saying that the Broadmoor has enough problems without Penny adding to them.”


Tom opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but didn’t know what to say. Rob had a point. They had both known renovating a century-old hotel would be tough, especially since it had been abandoned for decades. And it really felt like things had gotten harder since Penny’s arrival a few weeks prior. For whatever reason, trouble seemed to follow her like a shadow.


“She’s my daughter, Rob,” he finally said. “And she wants to be a part of this. I can’t just push her out the door. Besides, she’d have nowhere else to go.”


“She could come stay with us,” Rob offered. “That place we rented is just down the road, and we’ve got plenty of room. Lisa and the girls would love having her around, at least until we can figure this out.”

Tom didn’t answer right away. Sending his daughter away felt like admitting defeat, but still the thought lingered. Maybe a break would be good for her. Of course, Ellen wouldn’t like it, and David would grumble about having to do more of the work. But if it kept Rob from pulling out of the project…


“I’ll think about it,” he promised. “Nothing…”


Words died as he spotted a girl with red hair, green eyes, and a look of utter hurt on her face.


“Penny, wait!”


But she was already gone.



* * * * *



Tears stung Penny’s eyes as she fumbled her way through the hotel’s corridors, not quite sure where she was going. She only knew she needed to get away from her uncle’s cold certainty, her father’s doubts, and the weight of being the family scapegoat. Reaching the stairs, she began to climb, bypassing her brother David, sanding baseboards on the second floor, and her mother’s soft humming on the fourth. Before long, she found herself on the hotel’s top floor, a darkened space where the air was thick with dust.


Penny allowed herself to slow, to calm her pounding heart and quiet her ragged breathing. She could feel herself attuning to the strange atmosphere of the top floor, where everything just felt…different—quieter, heavier, as though the walls were holding their breath. The prickling unease that permeated the Broadmoor was stronger up here, and as she looked into the shadows ahead, Penny couldn’t shake the feeling that someone—or something—was staring back.


Doing her best to ignore that feeling, Penny carefully picked her way along the darkened hall, trying to find somewhere she could be alone. She tried several doors along the way, but each one proved to be locked. By the time she reached the end of the hall, there was only one option, a narrow wooden door that someone had covered with wallpaper, as though to hide it in plain view.


Curiosity overriding her unease, Penny grabbed the knob and wrenched the door open. Beyond it was a narrow set of stairs, leading up into what looked to be the attic. She made her way up into the darkness, the wooden steps creaking softly beneath her weight, then emerged into what looked like a small suite.


“Oh, wow,” she breathed, turning around to take it all in. The room had an understated elegance, with a small bed against one wall, a mirrored vanity against another, and a small armchair along the third. A thick layer of dust coated everything, hanging heavy in the air, yet despite that, Penny could still smell aged wood and something…were those flowers?


Hesitating a moment, Penny took a step deeper into the room, then another step. But when she tried to take a third, her foot caught on something that sent her sprawling onto the floor with a loud and painful crash.


She lay there for a few moments in the aftermath, trying to pull in a breath of air. When she finally had caught her breath again, she gingerly rolled onto her backside to see what had sent her to the ground: a protruding floorboard, sticking up just enough to catch her foot. But something about it seemed…unusual.


Penny moved closer for a better look and realized that the board only sat loosely in its space. With a little effort, she was able to pry it open and reveal a small void under the floor. There wasn’t much inside. Just a small leather book with a small chain dangling out of it. Penny brough them both out into the dim light of the room to examine.


Both had been hidden under the floor for quite some time. The chain was silver, slightly tarnished from age, with a small blue pendant, while the cover of the book was slightly cracked and the pages slightly yellowed. Turning on the light of her phone to get a better look, Penny opened the book to the first page.


It’s a journal! she realized, glancing at the very first entry dated nearly a century ago. She began to read.


We have arrived here at the elegant Broadmoor Hotel, though I am not entirely pleased to be here. There are no other girls my own age here, save the few that may be passing through with their own families. Still, I am pleased to see Father’s passion for this project. He has not been the same since Mother died, and I hope this will be a new chance for us both at a happier life.


Penny continued to read, increasingly engrossed in the girl’s story. She found herself absolutely captivated as the journal detailed the hotel’s swift but sudden decline. The hotel’s air continued to grow darker as the girl’s entries grew shorter. Penny could almost feel the other girl’s frenetic emotions, right up until the final entry.


I do not know where Father is. He was distraught after the Chicago couple left last week and shut himself in the basement. We have not had a guest arrive since then. I do not know what I will do or where I will go if I cannot find him soon. I sometimes hear him in the halls, but he is not there when I look. No one is there when I look. I am alone.


As Penny stared down at those last three words, she felt a shiver run up her spine. After everything this girl had gone through, for it to end like that…


“I wonder what happened to her?” Penny mumbled to herself. “And where this came from,” she added, holding up the necklace. It seemed so small and delicate in her fingers, and strangely warm, especially for having sat undisturbed beneath the floorboards all this time.


Something seemed to happen as she held it, her eyes locked on the blue stone pendant. It caught the light oddly, almost glowing even in the dim attic room. Then the thought came to her mind, unbidden and unavoidable.


Put it on.


Quickly undoing the clasp, Penny put the necklace around her throat. As the blue stone settled against her skin, still warm, the air inside the room began to stir. The scent of flowers grew more pronounced. Penny froze, unsure of where it was coming from.


“Maybe I should…”


The air started blowing harder, like a wind from outside, then began to swirl in a spot at the very center of the room. Penny tensed as she saw what she thought was a human shape within the spinning dust. She tried to convince herself it was just her imagination, that she was tired and needed to sleep. But the shape grew more and more solid, the features resolving into the spectral image of a slim girl with curling hair.


She smiled at Penny.


“I was wondering how long it would take,” she said, her voice soft and feminine. “Thank goodness you finally put it on.”