Halloween In The Baker Hotel by Reggie Ridgway Page 8
Halloween In The Baker Hotel
by Reggie Ridgway
Copyright 2011 by Reggie Ridgway
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imaginations or are used fictitiously.
Baker Hotel
Mineral Wells, Texas
Halloween Night, 1972
The moon was full. Perfect for what they were about to do. P-dog, Hoss, and Cricket put their hands together like they had many times before, one on top of the other. They pumped the pile of hands three times and then they seemed to explode with fingers into the air. Just like they had done on imaginary fields of battle and later on fields for football, basketball and soccer. Best friends forever since elementary school. Their homes were located near to each other. Their parents were even friends who worked on the nearby army base. They manufactured helicopters used in the war in Vietnam.
"Okay. Flashlights?"
"Check", their youthful voices cried out, like just like soldiers preparing for battle.
"Can I go in with you?", a chirpy voice interjected."
"No.", the trio of teen-aged voices chorused as one.
"I will tell mom.", Wendy said with a challenging tone.
"Huddle. Not you.", Cricket said and pushed Wendy away. She stood off to the side and chewed on a fingernail pensively.
"Okay. But you need to do what we say without questioning, or you go home.", P-dog said with an authoritative air of an older brother.
Wendy nodded and looked at the austere skyscraper which had dominated their little town since before her parents were born. Made of cement, the four hundred room, fourteen story hotel was abandoned now. The central bell tower seemed to toll a silent warning. "Stay away. Stay away." It was purported to be haunted, hence the need to explore on Halloween night by this intrepid group.
They had been inside before. P-dog's mom worked for years as a nurse in the Baker Hotel spa until it closed. The hotel owner had actually lived there in the posh Baker Suite. He died of a massive heart attack. They found him on the suite floor, face down, hands curled into fists. It was if the hotel took his soul for his prematurely closing it. His mistress had committed suicide a few months earlier. Once a woman had jumped from the balcony on the top floor. Some say she was trying to dive into the swimming pool. It was never confirmed as a suicide or even a drunken mistake. The famous criminal duo known as Bonnie and Clyde holed up here with their gang of bank robbers. Clearly they knew that ghosts must be here.
"How do we get in?"
"It's mom's twenty year high school reunion tonight.", Hoss said. The first floor ball-room is open for the first time in years. We could sneak in through a side door on the second floor. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey."
"What if someone catches us?"
"Not a problem."
"We just need to get to the elevator."
"What about the elevator operator?"
"Don't have one any more, since the hotel closed. If it wasn't for the power being turned on for the reunion, we would have to use the stairs. The place has it's own electric generators. It even has air conditioning.", P-dog said.
"Good. It is still 90 degrees outside and the humidity makes it feel like 190.", Hoss commented.
They nonchalantly walked along the side-walk, in front of the Baker. They could hear the cover band for Creedence blasting out familiar lyrics. Shadows of people moving to the music silhouetted against the billowy curtains lining the grand ballroom. It was as if the place was full of ghosts from a long ago party. Movie stars and politicians had spent time here. The mineral water was thought to provide miracle cures. After antibiotics became available, physicians had stopped sending people here for the treatments. This apparently was the main reason for the hotel falling into failure.
"There is the bridge over the parking area.", Cricket said and pointed.
They walked up to the chain-linked fence and looked around furtively before climbing over to the second floor. P-dog helped his sister over with a boost. She smiled at him after he jumped down.
"Thanks.", Wendy murmured.
P-dog nodded and said, "Where is the key?"
Hoss proffered a skeleton key from his Jean pocket.
The key was hard to turn in the rusty lock but finally they had the door open. The music was louder now and they could see people dancing below. They plastered themselves to the wall and shimmied sideways towards the elevator. The elevator was like a see through cage and the door was an accordion style. It ratcheted open with a grating sound. The floor dipped a little with their combined weight. The music muffled all sound. They pushed the rooftop button. The elevator lurched on it's ancient cables. After an eternity, they were stepping out into the bell-tower room. There was no bell, only a chandelier. It was off, but the small town below was lit by the moon. They could see their houses and pointed excitedly towards the high school.
Chapter 2
"Is this the Baker Suite?"
"That's what the floor plan said. 7th floor. Grandpa Baker died here, probably on this very spot, of a massive heart attack.
The two men shone their flash-lights at the folded paper.
"So glad you scheduled the reunion for tonight. It is a perfect distraction."
"Yes and the masks help keep our identities secret should we be seen. Everyone is wearing them. Masquerade theme. No one would know their former high school class president and current principle is robbing the Baker Hotel with the grandson of Earl Baker."
"Well, I wouldn't say we were robbing it. The money hidden here is my inheritance. I am just retrieving it."
"Okay. The security guy you paid off said we need to look for a hidden passageway . A secret trap-door covers it."
Just then they heard the elevator engage. They rushed out into the hall and watched the open cage pass with four kids inside. Their own flashlights were extinguished and they felt certain they hadn't been seen.
"What the hell.."
"What are those kids doing up here? You said no one comes up here.
"That's what the security guard said. I paid him a couple of c-notes for that info."
"What do we do?"
"They are going to screw this up if they come back down here."
"They didn't see us. Let's get what we came for and leave before we are discovered."
Chapter 3
"Let's go exploring.", Wendy said.
"Shut up."
"She has a point. We can't just stay up here. I really want to see a ghost. They come out on halloween."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean if I were a ghost or demon, I would wait all year for Halloween to come out in the open. Everyone is in masks. They can walk about along-side humans undetected."
"Good point, and if I were a ghost, I would pick the Baker Hotel to hang out in. No one comes in here since they closed it. Perfect for a ghost or goblin for that matter.", Hoss said.
"What are we waiting for?", Cricket said with false bravado.
"I'm scared.", Wendy said.
"We are all scared. That's the point.", P-dog offered. Just stick with me and we can go trick or treating later. Okay?"
"Okay.", Wendy replied and shivered.
The group entered the elevator and pushed for the 14th floor. The same floor a woman leaped to her death from the surrounding balcony.
The elevatory rattled like a giant toothy mouth as they reentered for the short ride. They exited on the 14th floor and turned on their flashlights aiming them at the myriad of dark corners. Wendy stifled a scream when a rat regarded her with red eyes before scampering away, seemingly unafraid. The air suddenly grew cold and they all jumped when something crossed their path.
"That must be the woman's ghost who jumped from here into the pool. They say she haunts this floor.", P-dog said.
"Or it was a raccoon.", Hoss said. They all laughed nervously.
They proceeded to check out each room but found nothing of interest. Once Cricket cried out, claiming a icy hand had touched him on the shoulder. They repeated this on each floor until they reached the Baker Suite. Thats when they heard a clanking and a dragging sound.
Chapter 4
"They are coming."
"Who?."
"Those kids from earlier. What do we do. They are going room to room. I can see their flash-lights under the door."
"Lets hide behind the door and jump em if they come inside. We could tie them up and gag them."
"Right. Then we can tell someone there is some kids on the 7th floor in an anonymous phone call to the police. They will come up and set them free. Long after we are gone with the loot.
They dragged their tools over to the door and extinguished their lantern.
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"What was that?", Wendy asked.
"Probably the wind.", Cricket said. "Some of the windows are open and the curtains might be moving."
"I think I saw a light.", Hoss said pointing towards a closed door.
"Lets go back.", Wendy said nervously.
"No. We came to look for ghosts. It is Halloween night. You can stay by the elevator while we investigate.", P-dog said.
Wendy nodded and made her way back to the elevator.
The door to the Baker Suite squeaked on its hinges as they entered. No ghosts. Then suddenly they were being tackled to the floor and their hands were quickly tied behind their backs with zip ties. They cried out in surprise but their voices were soon muffled with cloth gags. The cloth tasted of oil and dust. 'Curtain sashes.' Cricket thought.
Wendy heard the ruckus and cried out in surprise. She got into the elevator and pressed lobby when she saw two men exit the room wearing ex-president masks and running toward her shouting "stop". The elevator plunged into the dark.
The three boys were now sitting back to back in a triangle, knees bent to their chins, unable to move as they were tied up with a length of curtain sash.
They watched as the men reentered and began the process of searching the walls and floors for a secret hiding place. They ignored the boy's protests and muffled cries for help as they worked in silence.
"Found it.", one of the men exclaimed.
"P-dog thought it sounded like the voice of his high school principle but wasn't sure as the voice was distorted by the mask.
The men rolled up the rug and lifted the trap door. The light disappeared as they descended into a void.
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Wendy came out into the dance hall and searched for her mom. She quickly found her and told her about the men chasing her on the floor containing the Baker Suite. Her mom regarded her with surprise and fear mixed with frustration.
"Why did you and your brother sneak into the hotel?" She shook her head not waiting for the obvious answer and said, "Show me."
Wendy took her to the elevator and held her mothers hand tightly as they ascended.
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The two men bent over into the crawl space between the 6th and 7th floors, searching for a fake wall. They came upon a dumb waiter. They shown the light into it and almost shouted with glee. There were two briefcases full of cash. The legend was confirmed. Old Mr. Baker did carry most of his cash with him, probably because he distrusted banks after the depression and the 1920 crash. They removed the suitcases and then found a spiral stairway. They silently made their escape with the loot and disappeared into the night.
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Wendy took her mom to the closed room in the Bakers Suite. They quickly untied the boys who were surprised and elated. "There were two of them.", P-dog said after his gag was removed.
"You are grounded young man."
"But mom...."
"They went down the stairs under the trap door.", Hoss said.
Wendy's mom regarded him with a stern look. "Wait until I tell your parents..."
"Lets go after them.", Cricket said.
The boys ran to the trap door and before P-dogs mom could object, they were flying down the steps. They heard someone going down the spiral staircase and saw a light.
"They are getting away."
They were all standing on the landing when it suddenly began to creak. The floor gave away with a whoosh and they found themselves falling in a cloud of dust. They screamed in unison and the three boys fell into another crawl space. The place was riddled with a warren of hidden passage-ways. The wood had become rotten from old leaking pipes which had provided the mineral water to the rooms. There were dumb waiters in each room to dispose of wet towels. The famous patrons didn't relish the idea of the help coming and going into the private rooms, so the hidden passage way was the builders solution.
They picked themselves up and dusted off their clothes looking up at a concerned mother and Wendy. They shown their flashlights down and they quickly recovered their own. Then Cricket screamed. He had stepped on something crunchy and discovered it was the ribcage of a human skeleton. Evidently a homeless person had gotten lost and subsequently died.
Later the police were swarming the Baker Suit. They dusted for prints and were not surprised the crooks wore gloves. The boys huddled under blankets as the paramedics checked them out.
The crooks were never caught. The three musketeers as they were want to call themselves later achieved a moment of fame as the story made the papers. This was a halloween they would never forget. Kids still try and sneak into the Baker Hotel but it has a security service now who claim to regularly hear voices and strange sounds at night.