Control

Control

Chapter 26: Competition

Alex's P.O.V

"Why are you in such a hurry? This place is friggin' mint." Deckey asked I'd taken him to what could only be described as a very run down fair, here in Barry. No proper rollercoasters nothing like that, just bumper cars and little fair games, a carousel and arcades, but Deckey was enthralled with it, he was happier than I'd seen him in a while.

"I told ya. I'm meeting someone." I replied Hal…mysterious and handsome Hal was taking me out on a date, hopefully it would be better than the last time where he ran straight out of the museum just as he was going to kiss me. For all his quirks he was quite the gentlemen though…except for running out on me.

"Ah. So that's why you're dressed like a girl. You know Ryan says this fella must be a right munter." He replied, I looked down at my outfit a green dress with a leather jacket tights and boots…I guess I did look a lot better than I usually did, maybe a bit too dressy to be walking round the fair with my brother, but there was no harm in that.

"Well actually, he's dead handsome, has all his own teeth, and speaks really nicely, whereas Ryan's last girlfriend looks like Chris Moyles." I responded Ryan did bring home some rather interesting girls from time to time, not saying that I too brought my share of oddballs back, but Hal was completely different from anyone I had ever met; it was like he'd stepped out of a different time. My own Victorian Gentleman

"But hang on, if you're going out tonight who's going to make us dinner and do the washing up?" he asked I sighed, all I wanted was one night to myself without all these damn responsibilities.

"I just want one night to myself, all right? It's my holiday too. Right let's go, Deckey." I replied a slight frown found his face, he wasn't happy to leave this place.

"Oh just one go, please?" he pleaded I shook my head trying to avoid giving into him and his adorable puppy eyes he'd always give when he wanted something. All my brothers could pull of the puppy dog eyes and more times than I'd like to admit I'd given in to whatever they wanted or wanted to do. Heck even dad could do them which made most of my time end up being spent with my brothers.

"We'll come back tomorrow. Okay? We've got loads of time." I conceded damn one more day of my holiday spent here in quite the run down fair…just what I wanted to do, but if it made Deckey happy to be here then sure enough I would have a good time as well.

"Promise?" he asked a grin finding his face as he gave me the puppy dog eyes that no one could refuse.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Little did I know that I wouldn't be returning to the fair and I would break the last promise I ever made Deckey.

Present Day

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't eat, I can't sleep." I asked frustrated after trying to eat several sweets from the jars in the pantry, there was really nothing to do as a ghost, I don't know how Annie coped with it although I never really found out how long she had been dead for, after all once I became a ghost everything went to hell with the Old Ones trying to get baby Eve and then Annie sacrificing herself and the baby and passing over to the other side.

"What did you do before?" Tom asked as he came into the kitchen where Hal was currently washing the dishes.

"Um, looked after my brothers, went out on the piss with me mates, got off with inappropriate people-no offense." I answered giving an apologetic look at Hal who shrugged his shoulders and continued on with the dishes. If I hadn't met Hal in that café I wouldn't be dead now, well it wasn't totally his fault, that damn bastard Cutler was at fault, but you know if Hal wasn't a vampire and hadn't pissed him off maybe I wouldn't be dead right now and would be back home with my brothers and dad. "Oo! Diagnosis Murder is on."

Sophie's P.O.V

"Now I know we've all been down in the dumps lately what with things getting a bit... suicide-y. But one of the guests has given me the perfect idea to perk us up. As of today, I'm going to be watching you all like a hawk, and whoever impresses me most..." the manager Patsy I believe her name was called explained as all the staff gathered in the dining room, she trailed off and as I followed her eyes she was staring or more like ogling Hal.

"You do realize you've stopped speaking." Hal stated clearly not bothered by Patsy's staring…good otherwise the next day there may be more news of suicides this time the manager herself having believed the other suicides were her fault fell to her death.

"Will be named employee of the month!" she announced and with that she ushered us off to work, most of the staff were unmotivated by her little speech and just went on with their day as normal. I walked round to the front desk where Hal would be working to get keys off of him for the rooms I was to clean.

"You'll be alright?" he asked holding onto the keys and looking me straight in the eyes, I'm not entirely sure what he thought would happen, there were not a lot of people to make me lose control and kill someone…the manager possibly but she wasn't going to get in my way.

"I'll be fine, no losing control, and nothing I promise. Now what about you?" I replied with a smile on my face, he let go of the keys and gave me a kiss on the forehead before he rearranged some of the pens on his desk and flattened his tie.

"I'll be fine." He replied as he fixed his hair somewhat, even though he couldn't see what he looked like, what with not being able to see our reflections in mirrors. I helped him out with returning a stray strand back to its rightful place. At this point Tom walked in with a rather large grin on his face.

"I'm going to be employee of the month!" he announced nodding his head and looking between Hal and I, Hal simply rolled his eyes and sighed slightly as he went about arranging his desk.

"Good for you Tom." I stated however he seemed more focus on Hal, who was none the wiser as he arranged several pens in height order.

"Yes good for you Tom and all that." He added, the smile slightly disappeared from Tom's face obviously this had not been the reaction he had been anticipating.

"Aren't you going to try?" he asked a hint of anger in his tone…this was going to cause another argument between the two of them wasn't it? All at the hands of the overly flirty manager who would someday wind up dead or worse at this rate. Hal shook his head and scoffed.

"Now why would I compete in this silly little farce?" he asked smirking, I groaned shaking my head, and yes this was not going to end well.

"You know when I transform; I should drag you around on a piece of string in the woods." Tom replied…both Hal and I looked at him, he had basically called Hal a chicken but it was such a strange analogy. "I'm saying you're a chicken."

"Thank you. I got the analogy."

"Great…will the pair of you stop fighting and get on with your bloody jobs."

Hal's P.O.V

The hotel obviously was not the most popular in the whole of Barry, hardly anyone ventured through the front doors. Although with the reputation this place was building itself with all the suicides along with the horrible décor and questionable management, I wouldn't blame anyone for choosing anywhere else. Just as I was arranging some of the things on show on the counter, Alex appeared.

"I think the house is haunted." She explained as she perched herself on top of the counter, well that was a given, she was a ghost she lived in the house hence the house was haunted.

"Alex, there's no easy way to say this." I began jokingly only for her to stop me scoffing at, and more than likely rolling her eyes.

"No, not me, idiot. There's another one, you have to come home." She stated we waited for a bit to get Sophie and Tom before heading back, Tom was not so happy with leaving early after all he was dead set on getting this stupid employee of the month. And sure enough there was a little boy in Victorian clothing sat on the staircase.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked as we went into another room so as not to disturb the boy, god knows what he could do, he'd been a ghost a lot longer and probably knew every trick in the book.

"I don't know." Alex answered clearly frustrated at the entire situation.

"What's he doing here?" Tom asked she shook her head; maybe she had come straight to the hotel after seeing him without asking whether he had a hold on the house or what he wanted or who he was.

"I don't know!"

"Well what does he want?" I asked she threw her hands up shaking her head vigorously well she definitely was frustrated at the whole thing, but maybe the boy could help her out with all her ghost questions more than Sophie, Tom or I could.

"I don't know! But maybe if you keep asking me I'll magically find out." She answered walking towards the door before turning around to face us.

"Maybe you should talk to him, without out us there…sometimes ghost don't like to meet…well other supernatural beings…" Sophie suggested Alex paused thinking about whether or not to go and talk to the boy before she hurriedly left the room. The three of us crept up to the door pressing our ears to the door…eavesdropping although not very proper sometimes needed to be done.

"Hello Alex!"

"How do you know my name?"

"Because I've been watching you."

"All right good.'Cos I thought it'd be something creepy."

"And hiding outside are Hal, Sophie and Tom. The vampires and the werewolf." The boys voice sounded louder obviously wanting us to go through…well with him knowing we were here meant we had to go in. I held the door open for Sophie and then Tom before entering into the hallway myself. "Hello!"

"And you are?" Alex asked the boy stood up straight before answering her.

"Oliver Fitzwilliam Pryor, at your service." He answered bowing slightly before returning to his sitting position on the stairs.

"And what are you doing here?" Alex questioned the boy laughed slightly picking up a small plastic model of a soldier and showing us all.

"Playing soldiers, you great ninny." He answered before intensely focusing on the pretend battle he had made up on the stairs.

"She meant what you are doing in the house. We haven't seen you here before." Sophie added the boy stopped for a minute before he carried on with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hiding." He mumbled, we all looked at each other, what could he be hiding from? No one could see him other than us and any other supernatural being.

"Hiding? From what?" I asked he slightly curled in towards the stairs as if to get away from us.

"From the monster of course. The Men with Sticks and Rope." He answered in a whisper, he was afraid of them? Of course people were afraid of them, but why would he show up now?

"Men with what and what?" Tom questioned looking at us to see if we knew what he was explaining. The Men with Sticks and Rope only existed on the other side of the doors, in the afterlife, they made sure those who crossed, crossed over forever and dragged souls to hell.

"Sticks and rope, McNair. Guardians of the afterlife. Ghastly things." Oliver explained as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world.

"But they can't cross over to this plane. They only exist on the other side of the doors." I stated I had never seen them cross to this plane…if they did then it meant the worst for the world, it meant the planes were too close together and all hell would break lose.

"I thought it best to keep a low profile nonetheless."

Alex's P.O.V

"How can he have been living here so long and we never knew?" I asked the four of us had gathered in a room away from Oliver, who was more than likely causing some form of trouble in the house.

"Well I've heard some ghosts don't like to make their presence known until a certain time." Sophie answered, but to wait for centuries did not seem plausible, had this boy even lived here?

"More to the point, what are we going to do with him? It's not like we can hand him over to social services." Hal added it seemed like one more ghost was going to join the crew, and it also seemed like I was going to be lumbered with him since the others all now had jobs, that and I was the only other ghost.

"No, it's down to us." Tom announced to no surprise, Tom had told me that he was raised by the man who had turned him, who had killed his parents once when he had turned and wanted to make things right, and had raised him to be a man with certain values.

"Oh, piss right off." I replied the last thing I wanted was to look after kids in the afterlife; my actual life had been all that all I wanted was to relax since I was dead.

"What? You're dead good with kids. You're always talking about your brothers." Tom asked baffled, sure I was good with my brothers, they were related to me, I loved them, but this boy was nothing like them, nothing like Deckey who would cheekily put in the odd swear to a sentence to see if dad caught on.

"Yeah, but... Little Lord Fauntleroy there is not one of my brothers."