Free Echoes of the Dead by Aaron Polson Page A

fine,” she said. “Just tired, I guess. Long drive.”
    “I hear you. Ben said to hustle and get to dinner in a half hour. He wants us to eat ‘family style’ at the big table downstairs, at least for dinner.”
    “A half hour?”
    “I’m heading down now—going to freshen up a bit in the bathroom on the first floor. Are you coming?”
    Kelsey ran her hand over the bed. “I’m a little sleepy. I might lie down for a few.”
    “Suit yourself. Sweet dreams.”
     
    ~
     
    Kelsey woke with a start and blinked several times before she realized a figure stood in the bedroom doorway. Her neck pricked with tiny hot pinpoints. She scrambled from the bed.
    “No rush,” Ben said.
    “You told Sarah to hustle. I don’t want to miss dinner.” Kelsey pushed her hair from her face. “How long was I asleep?”
    “Long enough.”
    She glanced at the travel clock next to her bed. She must have fallen asleep immediately because Sarah had only left a handful of minutes before. Wormsley fit Ben well. He made her squirm like one with his Hollywood grin. He stepped into the room. Kelsey didn’t move.
    “I just wanted to talk a little before the cameras go live. Before everyone is here and it’s too crowded to have a… Private moment.”
    Ben stepped closer. Kelsey’s skin burned. She wanted to run, to push him away and dash for the door. Ben had always been a bit smarmy, but never so forward.
    “So?”
    “I should be saying this, but you have always been my favorite, Kels. My favorite from the old college group. I know you and Sarah both had a thing for John. You always have. He’s the big, strapping stud. The athlete. Now a war hero.”
    Ben was close enough she could reach out and touch him. She hid her hands behind her back.
    “Johnny and Sarah have a lot of history,” Kelsey said. “I—”
    “I know, Kels.”
    Ben’s hand touched her arm. Her skin froze.
    “Ben…”
    The hand slid up her arm and leapt to her cheek. She pulled away.
    “Sorry,” he said, his tone shifting. He stepped back. “I’ll be downstairs with the others. Dinner is served and I thought we’d all eat together. The cameras will be on for the first time, so stay beautiful.”
    Kelsey didn’t move until he’d left the room.
     
    ~
     
    The dining room was almost as Kelsey remembered. The big, wooden table was there, but a few chairs had been added, each matching those already in place. Everything in the house felt right and proper, remaining where it had five years ago but much sharper than Kelsey’s memories. Two men with shoulder mounted cameras stood in adjacent corners with a third, an older man, adjusting a microphone on a boom between them. Ben, seated at the table’s head, stood as she entered. She didn’t meet his eyes.
    “Kelsey… I was just talking with Sarah… How are the roommates hitting it off?”
    “Fine,” Kelsey said. “You’ve found a matching set. If I remember, there were four before.”
    Sarah gestured to the chairs. “So where’s the rest of our little club.”
    “Erin and Daniel should be here any moment. John hasn’t arrived, but I expected no less from him. He knows how to make an entrance, doesn’t he? Good for him and good for the camera.”
    Kelsey crossed her arms. Seeing the cameras had amplified the tension she’d already felt long before entering the house. They made it real, this crazy thing Ben and circumstances outside her control had convinced her to do. Those cameras would catch everything, each moment. They would find a way to peel back her façade and find the frightened little girl lost in a cave. 
    “Take your pick, Kelsey.” Ben gestured to the table. “We don’t have assigned seating.”
    Sarah was already sitting at the end closest the cameras. Kelsey stopped at the chair farthest from Ben. She kept her gaze on the table, away from the cameras.
    “So what’s to eat in this place?  Are we going to be serving ourselves, or do you have craft services whipping something up