Midnight at the Spectral Motel

HIS NAME IN THE STONE

The old yellow sheet music was sitting on the desk. It looked really sensitive. It was called Ford’s Lament. The answer to the mystery was in the name of the music, in the notes that were written down and in the way the letter "A" was written over and over again. Alistair Ford was not trying to get revenge or anything. He just wanted people to remember him. Ford’s Lament was his way of saying that he wanted to be remembered.

Maya whispered that his name came back, to her and the truth of it was really sinking in. Daggett was the man who built his fortune from nothing. The town was actually named after him for a while it was called Daggetts Pass.

Silas gave an grim nod. He said "It was like that before the silver ran out and they changed the name to Sierra View. This man Daggett owned the newspapers and the bank. So he was, in charge of what people knew. Alistair Ford was completely left out of the story. They said he was a lucky prospector who got lost in the wilderness. Nobody really remembers him he is a small part of history.

So we do not need to find a murder weapon. We need to find a chisel. Mayas mind, the researchers mind, was starting to think following a new idea. We need to carve his name into the world the name of the person who was murdered. We need to make things right to correct what people know about him. Maya thought that they had to carve his name into the world to remember him properly. To correct the record, about this person we have to do this.

But how is that supposed to work, Silas. He pointed to the old music. A lament is a song that people sing when they are sad, about something. It is not something you use to make an announcement.

Maya picked up the page. The music written on it was really simple. It was an sad tune that sounded a little depressing.. Then she saw some tiny marks on the side of the page that she had not seen before. These marks were not music notes or anything, like that. They were little lines and dots. It looked like someone had made a count of something. It was done very roughly.

This is not just music notes she said, feeling really excited even though she was scared. It is a map or something to measure things. These lines on the paper. What if they do not mean music? What if the lines on the music sheet mean inches on the music sheet. The lines on the music sheet could be inches, on the music sheet.

Silas moved in close to her his presence right next to her. "The foundation stone " Silas said softly. "Do you think he marked the spot where his name is supposed to be, on the foundation stone?"

Before they could think about it some more a new noise came into the lobby. This noise did not come from the mail slot or one of the rooms it came from outside. The noise was, like cars driving on a gravel road it was a grinding crunch sound.

They ran to the window. A big box truck with no signs on it was going backwards to the front of the motel. It was beeping in a way. Leo was standing next to the truck telling the driver what to do. He had a bandage on his ear but he was moving around like he was really excited. Leo had put on clothes. Now he was wearing dark clothes that looked like they were, for working. The motel and the box truck and Leo were all really catching their attention. The box truck was still beeping.

Maya said in a quiet and angry voice what is he doing?

Silas said that the situation is getting worse. His voice was very tense when he said this.

The trucks rear door went up. Inside the truck the big machine was sitting there. It was surrounded by foam to keep it safe. The machine was really big and rectangular. It had a metal front with lots of dials, on it and a digital screen. The machine looked like something you would see in a hospital. It also looked a little like an old radio. The machine had a lot of buttons and screens on it like a piece of medical equipment.

Leo saw them in the window. Leo did not smile. Leo lifted his hand. Made a slow cut across his own throat. This meant that the games were really over, for the games. The games were finished.

The man and the driver started to move the machine onto a special cart that can move by itself. They had to push and pull the machine to get it onto the cart. The new machine was really heavy so it was not easy to get it onto the motorized dolly. The man and the driver had to work to get the new machine in the right place.

Silas said that thing is a dampening field generator. He knew what it was. It scared him. It is not for mapping things out. It is for making things quiet. The person who has it will try to send out a field of energy. This will make it so nobody at the motel can hear anything. The guests will be really quiet. The doors will not open. This motel is a place for people but that thing will make it into a place where nobody can get out. The dampening field generator will make this happen. Silas is really worried, about the dampening field generator and what it can do to the motel.

We have to stop this person we really do it is very important that we stop him I mean this person, now.

We are not allowed to touch him or his stuff. The rules are very clear about that. Silass hands were fists at his sides.. The motel has to follow the rules too. Now the motel might see him as a danger, not just a bad guest. There is a limit, to how nice the motel has to be.

They stood there. Watched as Leo wheeled the heavy generator toward the lobby doors. Leo was bringing the war to the threshold of their home. The war that Leo was bringing was going to be right, at their doorstep.

Maya said this fast turning away from the window. The stone is what matters. If Alistairs name is what unlocks everything we do not have a lot of time to look through county records. We need to write his name on the foundation stone now. This stone is at the place where Alistair is buried. The truth, about the stone is what is important.

Silas said that they would need a tool to mark that stone. The stone is not, like any stone. It took in the mans blood. It took in his silence too. Only something that is just as powerful as the stone can change it. Silas said this about the stone that it is very special and that is why they need a tool to mark the stone.

Mayas eyes looked around the lobby and then stopped at the brass message slot. She got an idea. It was an idea.. She thought that maybe a guest could help them. A guest could give them something they need. Guests have given them things before. The composer gave them something. The composer gave them a warning.

Silas looked at her. "You would really go to them. Ask for help?"

She said that they are part of this and they are threatened too. She ran to the message slot. She did not have any paper. She looked in her pocket. Found the demo tape from Jimmy, Crimson Fury. The demo tape from Jimmy, Crimson Fury was something that told the truth. She held the demo tape from Jimmy, Crimson Fury against the brass slot. She said please. She did not know who she was talking to. She said that the people need to write a name on a stone. The people need something to write with, like a chisel or a special pen that can write on rock.

Something scary was about to happen but then nothing did. The dollys wheels were bumping over the threshold of the lobby outside. Leo was inside the lobby, at that moment.

Then from the slot something long and thin something that felt cool slid into her hand, which was waiting for it. She was holding the thing now this thing that had come from the slot. The thing was slender. It felt cool, in her hand.

This thing was not a tool, for carving. It was a fountain pen. The fountain pens body was made of a kind of wood that was really dark and hard. The part that you write with on the fountain pen was a sharp piece of obsidian that looked really shiny. The fountain pen felt like it was meant for something.

Attached to it was a strand of grey hair and a note written in the composers very own handwriting: a conductors baton is what you use to tell people when to make music. This thing is different. It is for telling people when to be quiet. It is, for making the quiet last. You should use it wisely. The quiet times are coming. The silence is coming.

Maya held the pen tight. The pen was making a quiet sound. This sound was so quiet that it felt like something was pushing against her. Maya felt this feeling, from the pen.

Leo had the generator, inside the door. He was putting a thick cable into the wall. Leos fingers were moving fast over the controls of the generator.

"Go now!" Silas said, standing between Leo and the hallway that leads to the basement. He was not going to let Leo get past him. Silas wanted to give Maya time to do something. "Maya you have to write Alistair Fords name down. We need to give Alistair Ford his voice back."

Maya did not look back. She ran to the door behind the desk. The obsidian pen was held tightly in her hand like a weapon. When Maya opened the door and went down into the stairwell she heard Leos voice. It was cold. He was furious. Then she heard Silass voice. His tone was flat, like when a judge hits his gavel. Maya kept running down the stairwell the obsidian pen still held tightly in her hand. She was trying to get from Leo and Silas. The obsidian pen was her defense.

Then she heard the switch flip. She was standing there. She heard the sound of the switch being flipped. The switch was turned on. She heard it very clearly.

A bad feeling started to spread through the whole building. It was like the air in the stairwell got heavy and quiet. The motel was always of there, in the background but now it was like it was disappearing, like a light that is getting weaker. The motels presence was fading away like something was making it go away. The bad feeling was coming from the motel. It was getting stronger.

The silence was coming. She had a minutes, maybe even less than that. The silence was getting closer and closer. She knew she had to do something, about the silence before it was too late.

She ran down into the heart of the stone, to where the first story waited, unheard for 150 years.