Hotel Ruby (27 page)

Lourdes groans gently from the bed, trying to adjust
her position on the pillow. Tanya sets her glass down on the dresser and walks over, sitting on the edge and grabbing the washcloth and ointment.

“It helps with the pain,” she whispers when Lourdes tries to brush her hand away.

“I don't care about the pain,” Lourdes snaps. The two exchange a long glance, and then Tanya flops down in the chair next to me, putting her feet up on the bed. She shrugs one shoulder, telling Lourdes to do what she wants. Their tension isn't hostile, more like sisters fighting.

“This isn't just about the party, Audrey,” Lourdes says, slowly sounding more like herself. “You have to leave tonight, now. I promised your brother.”

“My brother? What does . . . what do you mean?” I ask, starting to feel frantic. “How much of this does Daniel know?”

“All of it. He came to see me earlier, before this.” She gestures to her body. “He was afraid you'd stay once you realized what was really going on.”

I'm taken aback, furious that Daniel knew about the Ruby and didn't tell me. Heartbroken that he tried to deal with it on his own. “Neither of us is staying,” I say. “I would never leave him here. That's why I came back, to take him with me. Him and my father.” Lourdes exhales, forlorn.

“What?” I ask. “They won't kick me out of the party this time. I have an invitation.”

“Shit,” Tanya mutters. My stomach sinks, slow dread creeping up my arms.

“What does it mean?” I ask nervously. “Why did I get an invitation? Why now?”

They're both quiet until Lourdes turns to face me. “Because you're dying, Audrey,” she says simply. “Your body is dying, and if you die here, you stay here forever. You'll be trapped in the Ruby with us. The invitation is symbolic. It's letting go.”

I'm horrorstruck. Even though I already knew my condition was perilous on the side of the road, did I really think I was going to die? Would I have come back if I did? Wait. That means . . .

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Oh my God. My brother, my father—they've gone to the party. They've used . . .” I jump up from the chair, sending it sideways to the floor. My heart shatters, and a tidal wave of grief crashes over my head and drowns me. “They can't leave,” I whisper. “That's what Daniel didn't want me to know. He knew I wouldn't abandon him.”

It's hard to breathe. I can't breathe. Trampling past the overturned chair, I rush out the door into the hallway. I double over, gagging on my tears. With my hand on the wall, heavy sobs wrack my body and I fall to my knees on the carpet.

My brother's dead and I can't save him. They're all gone, but I can still live. But how will I survive surviving this? How will Daniel cope when I'm gone? He's dead on the side of that road.

“I'm sorry you ended up here,” Tanya says. I lift my head
and find her squatting down next to me. Her dark eyes are full of compassion, sympathy. “But you haven't gone to the party,” she says. She motions to where I dropped the envelope when I first saw Lourdes's burned body. “You haven't used your invitation, Audrey. There's still time for you to go home.” She must understand what I'm feeling—she's not from the hotel either.

“I can just go back to the thirteenth floor and wake up?” I ask her. She nods. “But I'll be leaving my brother, my father, Elias, and all of my friends behind to suffer in the Ruby under Kenneth's charge. How could I live knowing that?”

Tanya drops to sit on the carpet and shakes her head. “I was like you,” she says thoughtfully. “When I first came to the Ruby, I was on the thirteenth floor for a time, both me and my sister.”

I sniffle back the rest of my tears and turn to her. “Your sister is here?”

“Not anymore.” She looks at the floor, tracing her finger over a pattern in the carpet. “Corey left, hated it here. Lourdes told us what was happening, and Corey—she came unhinged, broke things. Scared a bunch of the others, so much so a news van showed up a few weeks later to do a story. Lourdes got sent away for that—burned first, just like today. She was gone until you came. She's part of the hotel, and the Ruby expects her to welcome new guests. Even Kenneth can't control that.”

“What about you?” I ask, starting to regain my focus. “Why are you here, then, if you knew?”

“Because it was too late for me,” she says. “I'd already gone to the party, wanted to wear a beautiful dress. Be somebody. I thought, life's a bitch and then you don't die. You stay forever in a hotel with a bunch of other ghosts, passing time, going to parties, kissing in hallways.” She smirks at me. “But my sister left me here. And once Lourdes was sent away, I became part of the staff in her place. Just as well. The party really wasn't worth it.”

“Do you hate your sister?” I ask. “Do you hate her for leaving you?”

Tanya tilts her head, thinking it over. “At first. But I wanted her to go, to live her life. It wouldn't be fair to want otherwise.” Tanya surprises me when she reaches over to brush my hair behind my ear, a movement so motherly it nearly sends me crying again. “Daniel will understand if you leave,” she says. “He'll also understand if you don't.”

Tanya exhales, leaning her head against the wall. “Your brother's going to be just fine here,” she says. “It's Elias I feel sorry for. All the years I've watched him hate those parties. Always so sad and alone. The staffers say he's been involved with girls other than Catherine, especially the few who've passed through the thirteenth floor.” She shrugs. “But from what I've heard, he never wanted any of them to stay. Who knows—maybe he only picks the girls who
are going to leave. Or maybe”—she smiles—“he didn't care because they weren't you. All this time, Elias was waiting for you. He doesn't want you to go, Audrey. He told us so.”

“I can't stay,” I tell her. “He knows that.”

“Which is why he would never let you,” she says sympathetically. “I just wanted you to know you had a choice. The Ruby's giving you a choice.” She touches my shoulder and then stands up. She holds out her hand, and as I get up, I'm reminded that I'm still in a gown and heels. Still dressed for a party, the black invitation on the floor in front of me.

It's impossible to digest all I've learned. All that's happened. But I have to see Daniel and my father again—I have to say good-bye. When I imagine it, my heart breaks. How can I not try to save them? I have to at least try.

“Good luck, Audrey,” Tanya says, walking back to Lourdes's door. “I'm really rooting for you.”

I thank her and watch her go. I don't have a plan, but either way, nothing will ever be the same. So I pick up the black envelope and head toward the elevator.

The lobby is alive and full of people. Many are dressed in gowns and tuxedos, but there are a few in casual clothes.
The other ones,
I think. The people here for a show. For a haunting, even though Catherine says she can't touch them.

I stop suddenly, thinking back to something Tanya said.
Her sister threw a tantrum, scared the guests—the real ones. How? I mean, if anyone were going to be vicious, I'd put my money on Catherine. So how did Tanya's sister have any effect at all?

A guy stops near me, wearing a backward cap, basketball shorts, and a smug smile. He smells of too much Axe and leers at the female guests. Suddenly I have an idea, and my heart starts to race. Slowly I reach to touch his shoulder.

He yelps and spins around, looking in every direction. Looking through me. A chill comes over my body, and I step closer to him. “Can you see me?” I ask in a shaky voice.

The guy doesn't respond, not until I run the backs of my fingers over his cheek. He slaps himself in the face, like he's swatting a fly, but he's scared. He's terrified as he backs away, too embarrassed to ask for help, but too frightened to ignore me. He knows I'm here.

He knows I'm not.

The thrill of it fills me with courage, and I start toward the ballroom. I push the guy in the hat to the side, making contact with his body. He swats around himself manically before running off. The weight of his body on my palms fills me with possibility. I'm going to face Kenneth—even if he burns me to ashes, I'm not leaving without a fight. I won't leave my family under his oppressive watch.

There is a small group gathered at the entrance of the ballroom, and I walk purposefully toward the throng, ready to demand I speak with the concierge. But then I see the blond head of my brother, Elias at his arm, rushing out the doorway in my direction.

D
aniel's eyes blaze as he takes in my dress, the invitation in my hand. He uses other guests as leverage, pushing past them to get to me faster. Just as he clears the crowd, his eyes meet mine. Any brotherly rage he might have felt dissipates into grief; his shoulders hunch forward, the truth of his condition hanging between us.

Elias walks behind him, nervous as he nods to the other guests, making apologies for bursting through. He fidgets with his tie, and once he's past the crowd, he shakes his head at me and hurries forward. “We need to get out of the lobby,” he says curtly, taking my arm. I yank it away and watch my brother instead.

Daniel doesn't talk at first. His lips turn white as he tries to hold back his emotion, reminding me of my mother's funeral. I see now why it broke so many hearts, the pain and vulnerability he can't hide. He opens his mouth to talk, but then blinks quickly and rolls his eyes toward the ceiling as if he's doesn't want his voice to betray him.

It's funny how seeing another person hurt can break you down faster than your own emotions. Right now I have to fight hard to keep from throwing my arms around
my brother and crying for him. Begging him to wake up.

“I'm not even going to ask why you're in that dress,” Daniel says in a controlled tone, “because it doesn't matter. You're going to turn around and leave before the concierge shows up. We can argue about it on the way.”

“Yes, I second that,” Elias says quickly, motioning down the hall toward the elevators. Although I appreciate the sentiment, neither of them intends to have a heart-to-heart with me away from prying eyes. They plan to take me to the thirteenth floor with a pat on the head and a kiss on the cheek, and then they'll return to face the wrath of Kenneth like a couple of heroes. Like a couple of idiots.

“No,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I'm fully aware of how my tantrum looks, but if anything, I hope it drives the point home. He's my older brother, but he picked a really shitty time to act like it. “You should have told me what was going on,” I say. “I know about the Ruby, about the party and the invitation. We could have figured something out.”

Around us a few of the guests have taken notice of our argument. Elias moves another step, trying to usher me forward, but I brush his hand away.

“Don't you think I tried to change things?” Daniel snaps. “Don't you think I
begged
?” His face contorts in misery. “I went to Dad, Kenneth, even Catherine—nobody can change this, Aud. That's why I told you not to trust them. They belong to the Ruby.
I
”—he taps his chest—“belong to the Ruby.”

“No,” I say, and grab his arm. “Daniel, we can get Dad and go to my floor,” I whisper, feeling frantic. “It's a way out, a way back to the road.”

Daniel takes my wrist, squeezing tightly to secure my attention. “I can't even get to your floor anymore,” he says miserably. “There's no button for the thirteenth floor, Audrey. It doesn't exist. The entire floor doesn't exist. Even if you brought me there, I suspect I'd walk off the elevator and right back in the lobby door.” He looks at Elias, who nods, confirming his statement.

My hope drains away, filled instead with mourning. The staff told me it was too late, but I held on to the small chance they were wrong. I thought they had to be wrong. Daniel and I are special—we're survivors. I take a shaky breath; my arms fall listlessly to my sides.

“The only thing that mattered anymore,” Daniel goes on, his voice softened, “was to get you home. I asked Lourdes for help because I knew you'd get it inside your head that I needed you. But you've got to leave me here.”

“Mom wouldn't abandon you.”

Daniel falls back a step, looking betrayed that I brought her up. “No, she wouldn't,” he agrees. “But you're not her, Audrey. You don't have to fix this. You can't.”

He's right, of course. From the ballroom I hear the faint sounds of the song—the same damn song, calling me back. I let the invitation slip from my hands, watching as it flutters to the floor.

“You suck,” I say, and lift my eyes to my brother's. Elias turns to me, surprised, but Daniel starts to smile. Boyish and charismatic—that part of him will never change.