October Ghosts. Jenny Plumb

backpack. "What about her?"

      "You spend one night a week with her. Are you a couple?"

      Jessie shook his head. "No. We're… complicated. She's living with a guy named Isaac, and sometimes I go spend the night at their house. They're a couple, but they're in an open relationship, and I'm like a… well, a friend with benefits, I guess you'd call it?"

      Seth tried to hide his shock, but it wasn't easy. Jessie must have seen it because he blushed and looked down at his lap. "I know it probably seems creepy to most normal people, because they're in their thirties and I'm nineteen. But my mom is kind of horrible, and I never met my dad, so Angie and Isaac kind of… help me feel like someone cares if I do well in school and stuff."

      "It's not creepy," Seth said immediately, realizing he meant it after the fact. "It's unusual. Not creepy. My parents suck, so I get it. If Angie and Isaac give you the things your mom can't, then I'm not going to judge you for that."

      "Really?" Jessie asked, making eye contact again.

      "Yeah."

      "Thanks."

      Even though Seth didn't think it was creepy, he didn't exactly want details either, but he felt compelled to point out the obvious. "I'm not sure how ethical it is for you to pursue Paula when you're in a relationship with other people. Plus, you know she's dating Braden."

      Jessie shrugged. "I wouldn't make a move on her while she's dating him. But if I spend some quality time with her, maybe she'll decide she's with the wrong guy. And if she did want to date me, I'd stop seeing Angie." He frowned and added, "Well, we'd probably still be friends, but I'd stop sleeping with her."

      Seth nodded. "Still, not entirely ethical in my book, but Braden is an asshole. So sure, I'll go with your plan when you mention it."

      "You will?"

      "I will." With a decisive nod, Seth got up and finished his packing.

      Seth, Jessie, Olivia, and Paula all rode the MAX light rail train downtown and walked around the city for an hour to see the sights and grab a quick dinner from a food cart. Braden texted Paula once he'd checked into the Benson Hotel, and the four of them met him in the lobby.

      "It's beautiful," Olivia commented, taking in the chandeliers and polished staircase.

      "This place is huge," Jessie said, awestruck.

      Olivia pursed her lips when Braden groped Paula's ass right there in the lobby as they kissed hello. It wasn't that she was a prude, but she thought that level of affection should be done in private. She also saw Jessie frown and moved closer so she could link her arm around his at the elbow.

      "Do we take the elevator or the stairs?" Seth asked.

      "Elevator for now," Paula answered, leading the way.

      They had the elevator to themselves, and they took it up to the seventh floor. Braden unlocked their room and went in, followed by the others.

      Paula put her bag on the bed closest to the window. "We're not really here to sleep, but if we get too tired to stay awake, Olivia and I will take this one." Then she pointed to the one closest to the door. "Seth and Jessie can have that one."

      "What about Braden?" Olivia asked, setting her bag next to Paula's.

      "He'll be staying awake to film, but if he does doze off, he'll be in the chair." Paula pointed to a cushy office chair pushed under the room's small desk.

      Braden nodded and opened his large black suitcase. It held an expensive-looking camcorder, a collapsible tripod, and rolls of cords and wires.

      While Braden started setting up equipment, Paula got out her notebook and said, "I'm going to give you guys a little history to set the mood."

      Seth and Jessie both sat on the edge of their bed, while Olivia went to stand by the window and look out at the city, more interested in the view the hotel had to offer than the supposed past ghost sightings.

      Paula's voice took on a slightly lower pitch as she read. "A man named Simon Benson had this hotel built back in 1912, and he ran it for several years before selling it. Many people report seeing his ghost. It's most often seen on the seventh, ninth, and twelfth floors or the main stairway. He's a thin man in a tailored business suit of the time. And he's usually seen at the end of a hall, turning a corner. On the stairway, people often say they feel a tap on the back of their shoulder, but when they turn, no one is there. Simon was well known to speak on the evils of alcohol, and down in the bar, people often complain that drinks are pushed out of their hands or tipped over on the table when they hadn't touched them.

      "On the ninth floor specifically, people often report seeing a little boy. The general consensus is that it's one of Simon's sons who wanted to stay with his father. No one has ever felt a malevolence from the child ghost, just playfulness. He likes to move small belongings around the rooms on the ninth floor, like cell phones, wallets, and jewelry, but nothing ever goes missing."

      "That's it?" Jessie asked. "No gruesome deaths or vengeful spirits?"

      "I'm afraid not," Paula said. "That will be next Saturday's adventure. We're starting with the tamest of the bunch first."

      Jessie nodded. "That's fair. So what's the plan?"

      "We're on the seventh floor, so once Braden has the camcorder ready, we'll all walk the length of the hall together. Then we'll use the stairs to go to the ninth and walk all around that floor. Then up to the twelfth. If we haven't seen or heard anything supernatural by then, we'll go back to the lobby and check out the original staircase. Then we may split up to see if that gets us any results."

      Braden held up a small camcorder. "This is an extra. If we end up splitting up."

      "Sounds great," Jessie said. "I'm ready."

      "But first," Paula said, "a libation."

      Olivia frowned. She wasn't certain, but she thought that meant alcohol, and she didn't approve. She was pretty sure they were all underage, with the possible exception of Seth, and if Paula was serious about her project, she should want everyone to be sober.

      "Libation?" Jessie asked.

      "Did you bring it?" Paula asked Braden. He nodded and pulled a plastic bottle of vodka out of a side pocket on his suitcase.

      "We'll toast the ghosts of the hotel and then all take a shot," Paula said.

      "I don't drink," Olivia said.

      "Neither do I," Seth added.

      Olivia smiled with approval at his quick response.

      Seth continued. "Besides, a libation in the literal sense is an offering that you pour out. So if you wanted to pour booze down the sink in honor of the ghosts, then sure, that's a libation."

      Paula scowled. "I guess we could pour one shot down the sink."

      "That would be a waste of perfectly good vodka," Braden argued. "There's no reason not to toast them and then drink it."

      Paula smiled. "Come on, guys, just one shot?"

      "I'll take one," Jessie said.

      Olivia pursed her lips and walked directly over to her friend and fellow sub. There was no way she was letting Jessie make that kind of mistake without trying to stop him. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "You do, and I'll tell Angie." She stood back up, crossed her arms, and glared at him.

      Jessie shook his head and glared back at her for a few seconds. When she didn't back down, he broke eye contact and sighed. "Never mind," he said. "I'll stick with soda."

      Nodding once, Olivia went back to stand by the window and noticed Seth giving her a smile of approval.

      "What a bunch of pussies," Braden muttered as he turned over two of the glasses on the counter to pour shots.

      Seth's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he said, "Yeah,