The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street by Cory Putman Oakes

Author:Cory Putman Oakes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2020-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

EVIE

From the moment she’d heard Bree utter the words news crew, all Evie could think about was how quickly those cameras could have busted the secret of her job at the Ivan wide open. She hadn’t liked running out on Willow like that, not when they had so much to do. But she couldn’t afford to take the chance of showing up on the evening news.

Back at the Hauntery, Evie did not have time to relax. She had six lengthy back-to-back hauntings with Louise, then, just as the sun was starting to go down, she found herself summoned to a mandatory emergency staff meeting. When she arrived at one of the Hauntery’s state-of-the-art media rooms, she gulped as she spotted the Mercer Evening News logo splashed across the large projection screen.

Evie’s nerves were humming as she, her parents (who had recently returned from their Phamazon job), and Louise gathered in a large clump with the rest of the Hauntery staff. Mr. Fox prowled around in front of the crowd. The colors of the projector image bounced off of his bald head as he walked. Once all of the Hauntery employees quieted down, he signaled to someone in the back of the room. The news logo faded, and Willow appeared on the screen, standing nervously beside a very blond reporter.

“And finally,” the reporter said, “the story of a local landmark, the Hotel Ivan, which is fighting for its very existence now that the newest branch of the Hauntery has opened just a stone’s throw away on Mercer Street. Here with us this evening is Willow Ivan, the daughter of the Hotel Ivan’s owners. Willow, can you tell us what makes your hotel so special?”

“Um, yes,” said Willow, who looked a bit startled as the reporter thrust a large microphone in front of her mouth. “My family has run the Hotel Ivan for the past four hundred years. We have twelve beautiful guest rooms, a restaurant with two Michelin stars and a celebrity chef, a rustic stable . . .”

As Willow continued to talk, lovely images of the Hotel Ivan floated across the screen—beautiful, whimsical snapshots (probably taken by Bree) that showed a warm, inviting, cozy haunted hotel.

Evie’s mother sighed wistfully. “Such a charming place,” she whispered to Evie too quietly for Mr. Fox to hear.

“It is,” Evie agreed.

“Such a shame they’ll be out of business soon,” her mother finished, looking genuinely distressed for a moment before shrugging and turning her attention back to the screen.

“We’re a family hotel,” Willow went on, her voice getting slightly less shaky. “Most of our ghosts have been with us for several decades at least. As we say at the Ivan, Haunt Local!”

“Yet unlike the Hauntery, which boasts the slogan ‘Hauntery ghosts never Fade,’ you are not able to make the same guarantee to your ghost employees, are you?” the newscaster said with a look of concern on her face that looked utterly fake to Evie. “We were all sad to hear about the recent Fading of your Terrifying Phantasm.

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