Dance The Night Away: Undead Emily

This is a different kind of story. There are ghosts and adventures, but it's not really my story. It's my son's. And that's why it's also got kids, and dancing, and when he tells it in the future, hopefully, a caring father who is proud of him.

The Lancaster hotel was just off Route 30, a pleasant little place with an Amish feel to it. I dropped my bag on the floor by the bed. Paul was on the phone with his friend, who was staying in the same hotel.

"I'm going to go find Emma," he announced.

There are like fifteen girls in his class named Emma. I'd pretty much considered them interchangeable, and begun referring to them that way. ("Paul's on the phone with an Emma.") I said,"Think I'll check for ghosts. Don't stray far."

"I won't," he assured me, and went off.

I was wearing my "paranormal investigator" sweatshirt and a green bandanna---Green is the color of Paul's dance studio. I dug in my pack and got out my travel pouch, a smaller version of the ghost-hunting bandolier. I slung it over my shoulder and walked out into the hallway.

When I'm staying somewhere, I always try to familiarize myself with the place. I also try to talk to locals if I can, and see what they can tell me. It doesn't always pay off---The week before, in Scranton, nobody knew nothing---But sometimes you find a prize.

OUr room was near the end of a long hallway that turned the corner into another long hallway, and led down to he lobby. I walked down, checking around with my EMF detector. When I got to the lobby, I poured myself a cup of free hotel coffee and looked around.

They'd tried to make it look as quaint and homey as they possibly could, playing up the Amish theme. It was Amish in the same way Star Trek conventions are in space, but it was a nice place. Two guys were on the desk, and I walked over.

One of the employees was white, and one was Asian. I leaned on the counter and said,"Okay, weird question. You guys know of any interesting haunted places around here? Ghost stories, old legends?"
Was a time I'd felt stupid saying things like that, but that was long in my past. I'd gotten used to it by now.

The white guy shook his head. "I don't really know any....Maybe down in Strasburg."

"Well, I haven't seen anything myself, but they say this place was built on top of a graveyard," said the Asian guy. "It was from the 1800s, I think."

"Really? Now, that's interesting," I said. Sometimes you hit pay dirt. "I'm going to look into that."

I topped off my coffee and wandered over to the little nook with the hotel computer in it. Usually you can trust a hungry wendigo more than you can trust a hotel computer, but I could get away with a little research. I searched up some old maps of Lancaster and found a good one from 1854. I looked it over---It can be tricky to work out where the current roads would have led on some of these old maps, but this one was easy enough. I found it---On the site of the hotel now, there was a small graveyard listed there back then.

My part in the dance competition had just gotten a lot more interesting.

I was sitting in the room reading a book when Paul walked back in from hanging around with the Emma. I said,"Been waiting up for you, kiddo. We should get some sleep now. Big day tomorrow."

I changed into my new Bigfoot pajamas and climbed into bed. Paul never had seen much difference between regular clothes and pajamas, and he just laid down in his sweatsuit, looking at his phone, on the other bed. He said,"Dad? Can we get me a soda tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Hey, kid, I found out something neat tonight. You want to hear it?"

"Sure."

"This hotel was built on top of an old graveyard."
"Oh. Cool. Did you check that out?"

"Yeah, it's on an old map. It's accurate."

"Cool."
"Get some sleep, little man. See you tomorrow."
"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Most of the time, when we stay in hotels, I'm the first one up. There are very few things that will wake up Paul and Michelle if they don't want to get up. I got a shower and got dressed, debated a moment, then pulled my travel bandolier back on, and walked down to the loby for breakfast.

The hotel had what is called a "continental breakfast." The word "continental" in this context means "probably not enough, but better than nothing." I got a bagel and some coffee, and sat down at one of the small tables.

I turned on my EMF detector and set it on the table while I ate my bagel. I saw it rise---Not a quick flicker, but a weird rise to red, hold for a moment, and then back again. I picked it up and moved it around a bit, held it up against the wall, looking for some reason for the activity.

Nothing came up. I couldn't replicate it. Then I looked over---There was a small refrigerator on the counter, in the corner, holding some milk and fruit. Nobody was near it. For no reason, I saw the door open a few inches, and then swing closed again.

I had some more coffee. Things were looking up.

"You got everything, buddy?" I asked as we walked into the big hotel.

"I have it under control, Dad," said Paul, and jetted off to the dressing room.

Studio policy is to have the dancers at the venue two hours before the dance. That way they can get into costume, do their makeup, and everything else. And it gave me time to walk around and look for ghosts or whatever.

I roamed the hotel a bit---Same hotel the competition had been in last year, when I'd looked into the Augusta Bitner grave. I found Tall Addie and her mom, Carrie, in the lobby.

"Hi, guys," I said. "How's it going?"

"Addie's having a rough day," said Carrie. "We accidentally hurt her ear getting her hair right."
"I'm still mad at you for that," said Addie.

"You're gonna do great, kiddo," I said. "Can I give you a hug?"

She smiled and hugged me. I said,"This will cheer you up. I found out last night that the hotel we're staying in is built on top of a graveyard. I'm checking it for ghosts."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yep. And the theater we're in next month, the Stanley in Utica, is said to be highly haunted. So I'm putting you guys to work. I need you to keep an eye open for ghosts, and I'll have my equipment with me the whole time."
She smiled and held up one thumb. I said,"Knew I could count on you."

"First things first....Start the scene in reverse...."

I stood in the back of the auditorium, watching the kids. Paul was up there dancing with Juliet, Tall Addie, Short Addie, Georgie, Lilly, Eloise, and all the others I can never remember. And they were a team. I loved that.

"If I could take us back....If I could just do that...."

I have my team. My son has his. The way I work with Ashlin, Chloe, Jay, and Lex, that's the way he works with these girls. I'd seen them together, and I loved watching how supportive they all were to each other. The way they all came together....I never got tired of seeing it.

I was in the hotel bar with some of the other dance dads when Michelle found me. She said,"Paul just won a scholarship."

"What?"

"And he wants to know if you can get his costume."
I left the beer and went backstage, where Paul was with his teachers and some of the kids, holding up a  certificate and grinning. I hugged him, and whispered,"I'm so proud of you, little man."

"He won it for showmanship on the stage," said Rachel, the owner of the dance studio. "We're all so proud of him."

"Me, too," I said. "I love you, buddy."

"Do you want a picture together?" Rachel asked.

"Yes."
I stood with my son, and we got a photo, holding his award.

I found Amanda, little Juliet's mom, in the lobby. She said,"Congratulations for Paul! We're all so happy for him!"

"I can't say enough how proud I am of him," I said. 

"This morning was a rough morning," she said. "Addie hurt her ear getting her hair together, Juliet forgot her shoes....Everyone was stressed....But now, everyone is happy and things are going well. Paul fixed everything."

"I'm going to the pool with Emma," announced Paul, gathering his towel and heading for the door.

"Allright, kiddo," I said. "Have fun. Think I might go check the hotel for ghosts again."

I put on my bandolier---The real one this time---And walked down the hotel, checking around with the EMF detector. I got a couple of flashes. There was a young woman working the desk when I reached the lobby.

"So," I said,"Working night shift?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It pays for college."

"What're you studying?"

"Graphic design."

"I work with a couple of graphic designers," I said. "My day job is in a small print shop."

"And your night job?..."

"Paranormal investigator."

She smiled. "And do you have one of those meter things?"

I held up the EMF detector. "Funny you should ask. My name is Lou."

"Emily."
"You ever encounter anything in here, Emily?"

"Occasionally weird things happen. Usually late at night. Things occasionally appear on the security cameras."

"I've found out the hotel was built on top of a graveyard."

"I'd heard that."

"I was able to verify it with some old maps. It's true."

"That's pretty cool.....Hey, look! There!"

I leaned over the counter. "What?"

"Do you see that, on the camera? There's a sort of misty shape by the pool. See it?"

I looked at the screen, and I could make out a moving, swirling sort of smoky shape in the room that I couldn't immediately identify. I said,"I see it. I'll be back."

Ans I turned and bolted down the hall.

The pool room was all the way on the other side of the hotel. I ran down the hall, turning the corner into the next hallway, and continued racing. Nobody was out in the hall, which made it easier. I slammed my way through the doors and into the pool room, waving around the EMF detector.

I didn't see the shape now---But the EMF detector went off. All the way to red for a moment, and then dropped back down to green.

As I stood and watched the detector, Paul looked up from the pool, where he was splashing around with the Emma. "Oh, hi, Dad," he said.

"Hi, buiddy," I said. "You having fun?"

"Mhmm. You find any ghosts?"

"I may have."

"You want to hang out and watch us swim?"

I sat down in a pool chair. "Yeah, kiddo. Yeah, I want to spend some time with you."