DISCLAIMER: nobody owns the wrestlers here except for the WWF…I own all other characters….

RATING: pg-13…language and some situations…

This story assumes that 1>wrestler’s go by their wrestling names. We know they don’t but humor me. 2>Chris Jericho is not a married man. I know, it’s a fantasy, but hey, it’s my story…lol…

The Haunted Hotel

It was still raining when Haleigh signaled to turn off of the interstate. Since leaving her house that morning, a cold October rain had drizzled down her car. Lowering the volume on her CD player, she studied the lodging signs as she neared the top of the off-ramp. Only one hotel was listed, but it was late and Haleigh knew she couldn’t drive anymore. The lulling motion of the car was working to put her to sleep, and she still had a long way to go.

Making a right turn, she scanned the roadside for the hotel. After several miles, she spotted an old wooden sign next to a disused service road. Sighing, she made the turn and for the next half mile wondered if she should have just gone on down the road to find a Motel 6.

Clearing the last of the trees that overhung the road, a large house loomed in the distance. ‘Great,’ she thought. ‘I hope Norman can fit me in.’ The house did look like the one in the old "Psycho" flicks, but at this point Haleigh would have settled for a lean-too in the surrounding woods. There were lights on in several of the windows, and smoke puffing from a few of the chimneys on the roof. That clinched it for her. A good nights sleep with a roaring fire to take away the October chill sounded like heaven to her.

Parking in the large lot to the left of the house, Haleigh hesitated. She stared at the unlighted windows of the house and felt a chill go through her. Shaking it off, she reprimanded herself for being silly. While premonitions were not a new thing for her, she realized that the events of the last several days were catching up to her. And the spooky atmosphere of the hotel was just adding to her agitated state of mind.

Finally, Haleigh pulled the trunk release and opened the door. After retrieving her overnight bag from the trunk, she made her way to the main entrance of the hotel. The large front doors of the hotel were made of mahogany, and must have weighed, in Haleigh’s tired mind, a good 2 tons.

Stepping into the warmth of the lobby, Haleigh brushed the rain from the arms of her leather barn coat, and glanced around. While the outside of the house was in the beginning stages of disrepair, the inside was gorgeous. The black marble floor of the lobby was threaded with gold and silver streaks, and was covered here and there by thick off white rugs. Haleigh counted..1…2…3…4…chandeliers, all made of ornately created crystals.

As she walked across the lobby, she wondered at how the place, which was large when seen from outside, seemed cavernously huge once inside. And the lobby was immaculate, not a sign of other travelers that had walked through the rain to get inside. For a moment, she wondered if she was alone, but then thought of the other cars she had seen in the lot. Surely other guests were here.

As Haleigh walked to the desk on the far wall, she tried to make her footsteps fall quietly. Putting her bag on the floor, she looked for a bell to ring to get the attention of a desk clerk. Before she saw one though, a voice spoke up from behind her.

"Welcome to Fox Run," said the owner of the deep voice. Haleigh let out a yelp of surprise and spun around to see an older gentleman smiling benignly at her. "I didn’t mean to startle you, ma’am. Is there something I can do for you?"

Feeling foolish, with her face turning red, Haleigh replied, "It’s all right, I’ve been jumpy all day." Then, smiling broadly at him to show she had no hard feelings, she continued, "I need a room for the night, hopefully one with a fireplace. If that’s not possible I’ll settle for a big, warm bed and about a week’s worth of sleep."

He chuckled as he made his way around the desk, and flipped open a laptop computer that Haleigh hadn’t noticed before. Typing quickly, he confirmed that they did have a room, with a bed, fireplace, and hot tub, on the top floor.

Haleigh couldn’t let this room get away. Plunking her credit card on the counter, she signed the registration card that the man handed her.

"Well, Mrs…" he studied the card. "Matthews, I hope you enjoy your stay here with us. My name is Stephen. If you find you need anything at all don’t hesitate to ask for me."

Smiling at him again, she said, "Actually, it’s ‘Miss’, and please, just call me Haleigh. Do you have room service here? Or should I find a restaurant back toward the interstate to grab some food?" Now that she had a place to stay, her stomach was letting its presence be known.

For a moment Stephen frowned, then regained the small smile. "Actually, we serve a late dinner here for our guests. It begins at 9:00 in the dining room." He swept his hand toward the double doors on the other side of the room. "It’s only 7:30 now, so that would give you time to rest and freshen up before dinner."

Glancing at her watch, Haleigh saw he was right. She was so tired it felt more like straight up midnight to her. "I don’t know. Maybe I will, but I might just want to get it delivered to my room. I’m not sure I’m up to too much social interaction right now."

"Of course. But if you should change your mind, we have quite a few fascinating guests with us tonight." Agreeing with him, she picked up her room key and overnight bag and headed toward what Stephen had said was an elevator alcove. Haleigh rounded a corner, and sure enough, there sat an old-fashioned elevator cage. She stepped inside and pressed the button marked 3.

As the elevator slowly ascended, Haleigh leaned her head on the back wall and sighed. It was great to find such an out of the way place; it meant little chance of Brendan searching for her here. And she wasn’t worried about using her credit card; there was no way he could know the card was in her mother’s maiden name, not her own. As the elevator came to a halt on the 3^rd floor, Haleigh thought she could probably spend two nights in this hotel.

Exiting the elevator, she made her way down a long hallway, carpeted wall to wall in a soft gold and silver rose pattern on a black background. All of the hotel she had seen so far carried the gold and silver highlights. ‘Must be some very wealthy people that own this place,’ Haleigh thought to herself.

Finding the door to her room, she used the key and entered. The room almost took her breath away. It was huge, covering almost more space than her apartment back home. It had a king-sized bed and a sitting area near the two large windows in the eastern wall. And the fireplace was so huge, Haleigh thought a monster-sized man could have stood up in it.

Throwing her bag onto the bed, she reached up and pulled the clip out of her hair. Shaking her head to loosen the long auburn waves, she made her way into the bathroom. The huge hot tub was in the middle of the room, recessed into the floor. After checking the directions left on the dressing table, she found the switch to fill the tub and heat the water.

While the tub filled, Haleigh wandered around the room, looking into the desk and bedside table drawers. Stationary, pens, and postcards of the surrounding mountains were placed in the desk. As she was looking at the pictures on the cards, she also noticed another door, in the corner near the main entrance. Puzzled, she went over and threw back the lock.

Another door was on the other side. Haleigh reached out and tried the knob. To her surprise, it turned easily. Inching the door open, she poked her head in, ready to make apologies to anyone who might be in the next room.

It turned out to be a wasted effort, as the next room was empty. It was almost identical to hers, except it was a corner room, and had windows to the east and south. The color scheme seemed slightly more masculine, too. Instead of the muted and overall champagne color of her own room, this was done in a rich, deep blue. Closing the door, she made her way back to the bathroom.

Checking the temperature and deciding it was just right, Haleigh shed her clothes and slipped into the steaming water. ‘I think I might stay here forever,’ she thought to herself, as she soaked in the warmth. As her muscles relaxed, and the stress of driving for nearly 12 hours left her, Haleigh thought of having dinner sent to her room. But the man at the counter, whose name her tired mind couldn’t remember, said they would be serving all the guests dinner in the dining room.

Although bone-tired, Haleigh was curious as to the rest of the hotel, and the guests staying there. When she pulled in, there had been a few cars in the lot, yet the hotel was as quiet as a church. No one walking around looking for an ice machine, nobody coming or going. Maybe they were all as tired as she was, and soaking up the relaxation in their rooms before dinner.

With a start, she jumped up. In her musings over the hotel, she had fallen asleep for a few minutes. Grabbing her watch, she noticed it was almost 8:30. Getting out of the tub, she realized her curiosity was going to win out. She toweled off and went into the main room to get her clothes from the bag on the bed.

Sighing, she looked at the choices. A pair of faded jeans, a deep purple sweater, her men’s 3x T-shirt she used for a nightgown. ‘Oh well,’ she thought, slipping the clothes on. ‘Not like I’m going to meet anyone important at dinner in this place.’ After lacing up her shoes, she pocketed the room key and headed out the door. Haleigh decided to take the stairs down to the lobby. As she descended, she realized she felt more awake that she had earlier. Maybe that little nap had been more refreshing than she thought.

Reaching the bottom, she glanced around the lobby. It was empty again, with no sign of other visitors. Even the clerk, Stephan, whose name she suddenly remembered, was MIA again.

Sighing, Haleigh approached the door that Stephan had said was the dining room. She listened for several seconds, but couldn’t hear any voices. She quietly opened the door and stepped inside. The dining room was as huge as the rest of this house, holding a table that could easily seat 30 people. An entire wall was windowed; showing a dreary view of rain splattered hillside. Haleigh thought the view would have been beautiful if not for the weather.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and for the second time that afternoon, Haleigh jumped. Tuning, she faced a man dressed in black, including a cowboy hat. She thought he looked vaguely familiar.

"Sorry about that. You looked like you were lost in thought. Looks like we’re a little early for supper." Said the man, smiling. Haleigh noticed his smile was crooked; one side of his face seemed slightly paralyzed. The sense that she knew him grew.

"It’s OK," she said, returning the smile. "Just my day to get scared, I guess. That’s the second time in as many hours that I’ve been startled."

The man held out his hand. "Well, I promise not to make a habit of it. I’m Jim…"

"Ross," Haleigh finished for him, finally placing where she knew him from. "I knew you looked familiar!"

"I guess that would make you a fan?" he questioned, still smiling.

"Kind of," she replied. "I watch wrestling sometimes. But I’m not a real fanatic about it." She finished apologetically.

Laughing, he gripped her hand in his. "Not everyone is a #1 fan. But I think I can forgive you that."

He led her to a chair at the huge table. After sitting down, with JR taking the seat next to her, she thought to ask him something else.

"How did you end up in this out of the way place? Shouldn’t you be traveling to some arena or something?"

"We were. But we had a bus problem. Damn thing blew a gasket on us. So we hiked up this ramp, and found this place to dry out. Supposedly our ride is getting fixed, but we’re stuck here until they get it done, or the office can send a replacement." He explained to her.

"I thought you all drove your own cars or flew," said Haleigh.

"Some of us thought it would be more fun this time to take a company bus. It’s a long drive and with the holidays coming up, nobody wanted to spend big money on airline tickets. The bus ride was a freebie, so we jumped at it. If we had known about these problems, I’m sure no one would have wanted the free ride." He laughed, and shook his head. "I think the idea of having somebody besides ourselves driving was a strong attractant here. After so many months traveling, you get sick of being the driver."

Haleigh could agree with that. She had only been on the road for a day, but she was sick of the monotony of driving.

"The guys I’m with are a bit rowdy," said JR. "But they’re great people. So you don’t have to worry about us throwing each other through tables." Haleigh laughed, and JR again gave her the crooked smile again.

"Who did you travel with? I’m afraid I don’t really know the wrestler’s names. I never watched a lot." JR noticed, again, the note of apology in her voice. He wondered why this lovely lady felt she had to keep being sorry for things.

"Let’s see," he began, thinking. "The most popular one on board would probably be Triple H. And Chyna, of course. Chris Jericho is with us. Jerry Lawler and Stacy Carter. She’s also know as the Kat. Matt and Jeff Hardy. Edge and Christian. We have to referee those four; they tend to get into arguments over everything. Al Snow and Mick Foley were bugging the driver on the way here." He paused, frowning. "I think that’s it."

Smiling, she said, "I think out of all of them, Triple H, Jerry Lawler, and Mick Foley are the only ones I know." Again, she sounded like she was sorry for not knowing more about wrestling. JR found himself wondering where she came from, and how she had gotten here.

He was about to ask her that, when the dining room door opened, and a rowdy group made their entrance. Sighing, JR knew quiet time was over when he saw Edge, Christian, Matt, and Jeff walking in together. As usual, they were arguing over something…most likely the topic was something as minor as the weather.

When they noticed the beautiful woman sitting with him, all their arguments stopped, and they blatantly stared, open-mouthed, at her. JR knew that all through dinner, the four single men would be vying for her attention. He was resigned to more arguments about which man thought she was prettier.

"Hey guys," JR said. "I’d like you to meet a lovely young non-wrestling fan…" He trailed off, realizing he didn’t have her name.

"Haleigh," she finished for him, smiling at the newcomers. As they pushed each other, trying to get to her first, she laughed.

The first one to reach her, and shake her hand was a young good- looking man, with long dark hair. "Pleased to meet you. I’m Matt." As the next man stepped up to her, and took her hand, Matt said, "And this waste of space is my brother, Jeff." Laughing at them, she shook the hand of Jeff, who was as nice looking as his brother, except he had long blonde hair.

As the next two shook her hand and introduced themselves as Edge and Christian, another set of wrestling brothers, the door opened again to an even larger group of people. Among them were two women, who Haleigh assumed were Chyna and the Kat. Of the others, she knew only Triple H and Jerry Lawler. She recognized Mick Foley after realizing he had cut his hair off since she had last seen him on television.

Looking over the rest of the group as she was introduced, Haleigh thought that although they weren’t blood relatives (except for Matt and Jeff, Edge and Christian) they acted like one large family. As they all found seats at the massive table, she wondered about being a part of this close knit group. Although Al Snow and Mick Foley were in the midst of verbally killing each other, and the two sets of brothers she had met earlier were still arguing, she still sensed a strong bond between all of them.

"Not used to being around so many rowdy people, huh?" a voice said from Haleigh’s right. Glancing at the man next to her, she recalled he was Chris Jericho. He was handsome, with long blond hair held back in a ponytail, and sparkling blue eyes.

"I was an only child," she replied. As he laughed, Haleigh decided she liked his laid back attitude. He seemed so comfortable, sitting in a fancy dining room, dressed in a pair of faded black jeans and a T-shirt…while she had agonized over having only a sweater and jeans to put on. The room still made her uncomfortable, it was so formal.

It didn’t bother Chris, though, as he studied Haleigh’s profile. When he had walked in, barely hearing Al’s comment to Mick about not getting to that night’s house show in time, seeing the young woman had almost stopped him in his tracks. Her long hair was an unusual shade of dark auburn, and she had beautiful gray eyes. It was the eyes that held him, because underneath her obvious enjoyment at meeting all of these rowdy people, he saw wariness there, just barely concealed.

Shaking off these thoughts, remembering the guys teasing him about being too sensitive, he said, "I can see how you’d be overwhelmed, then. I still am, and I’ve been traveling with these people for over a year." Her eyes practically danced as she laughed, and Chris smiled in response. It had been a while since he was so taken by anyone. He wasn’t one to brag in his private life, but after having countless girls of all ages, sizes, shapes, and degrees of mental ability throwing themselves at him, he considered himself almost immune to fan reaction.

He told himself that he was reacting to Haleigh because she wasn’t a fan. She didn’t already have preconceived notions of how the wrestlers acted, or lived. So he could be himself and drop the Y2J persona.

Still smiling, Haleigh was about to say something to him when a swinging door at the far end of the room opened. Stephan came in trundling a silver serving table with him. Behind him came two other people, obviously kitchen workers in their white clothes. They also had carts loaded down with all different kinds of food.

It was nearly 2 hours later that everyone had eaten their fill. Rumbling about being rolled up the stairs, Jerry let the Kat convince him to go to bed, as he was practically falling asleep in his after dinner coffee.

As all the others prepared to go upstairs, they each said good night to Haleigh before heading out the door. Sipping the last of her coffee, and thanking JR for including her in the group, she rose to make her own exit.

Chris touched her arm as she stood. "I don’t know about you," he began, sounding like he wanted to kick himself. "But I’ve been dying to explore this place a little. I wouldn’t mind the company if you felt up to a little walk?" The last came as a question, and deciding she still wasn’t tired enough to go to bed, Haleigh agreed.

Chris took her arm as they left the dining room. "Where should we start?" he asked.

"How about the basement," Haleigh said in an exaggerated stage whisper. This caused both of them to giggle wildly.

Going back to the stairs, they descended into the basement of the hotel and fond themselves in a long corridor.

"This is the first hotel I’ve ever been in where even the basement is decorated." Chris sounded amused by the thought. There were six doors here, each painted a soft cream color, and unmarked. The carpet was a darker shade of cream, and the lighting was soft. They tried to open several of the doors, but all of them were locked.

"I feel foolish saying it," Haleigh mused quietly. "But this place is starting to creep me out." She felt as though they were being watched. But she saw no security cameras, and there was no one there but the two of them.

"I get the same feeling," Chris agreed, taking her hand. They turned back to the stairs and went up.

Back in the lobby, Haleigh’s sense of unease lifted. "I think I’m more tired than I thought," she told Chris. "Maybe I should go sack out for a while."

He agreed with her, and got into the elevator with her. They rode to the third floor in companionable silence. After stepping off, Chris studied her for a long minute.

"Thanks for keeping me company," he stated simply. Then, with and impish grin, he told her, "I’d better go make sure Edge and Christian are in their own rooms. We don’t want to have to pay for damages if they start fighting with Matt and Jeff."

Laughing, she told Chris good night and made her way to her own room. Letting herself in, she replayed the whole evening in her mind. Chris was a great guy, very friendly and easy to be with. Haleigh felt relaxed and at ease for the first time in weeks.

She rummaged in her bag for the large shirt she wore to bed, and her toiletries. After braiding her thick hair, and brushing her teeth, she was slipping the shirt over her head when she heard a noise behind her.

Yanking the shirt down as she spun around, she was momentarily stunned to see Chris standing at the door that led to the adjoining room. His face was bright red, and he looked like he wanted to drop through the floor.

"Sorry," he mumbled, not looking at her. "I was just curious about where this door went."

"It’s OK," Haleigh said, trying to cover her own embarrassment. "I did the same thing earlier. It’s my fault for not locking the door when I closed it."

Looking relieved that Haleigh wasn’t going to kill him, he glanced around the room and whistled. "I thought my room was nice," he said. "We must rate, I think we got the presidential suite and the honeymoon suite." Laughing at him, she looked around her room again, loving the way it made her feel safe.

Finally, he said good night again, and still looking embarrassed, pulled the door closed. Haleigh made sure the lock was engaged, and then sat on the edge of her bed. Shaking her head, she made herself think that he hadn’t seen her with no clothes on, and had almost convinced herself of it.

Sighing, she went to the fireplace, which was fueled by gas, and pushed the starter. In a few minutes, a warm fire was glowing. Haleigh cuddled under the blanket on the bed, and finally drifted into sleep.

For Chris, sleep was slower in coming. After showering and getting ready for bed, he lay there on the blue comforter with his hands laced behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. He thought of Haleigh, and felt a flush climb his face. Without thinking of where the door would lead, he had pushed it open, and seen her with that ridiculously large shirt over her head. He groaned, thinking about it.

Chris mentally chastised himself. He was a grown man, not a horny teenager. But he couldn’t get the image of Haleigh out of his mind. All through dinner, and afterward when they walked through the basement, he had thought about how beautiful she was. But he didn’t plan on acting on his impulses. The wrestlers would be here, at most, for 2 nights while their bus was repaired. It wasn’t nearly enough time to get a meaningful relationship going, which for the last several years was the only kind of romance he would even think of pursuing.

Finally, he pushed down the blankets, and climbed into bed. Chris had to force himself to close his eyes. As he felt himself starting to drift off, he heard a strange noise. He frowned slightly and realized he was having trouble opening his eyes. Just a few minutes ago, he had trouble closing them.

‘Relax,’ he told himself, listening to the stealthy sound of a door clicking open. With all of his concentration focused on his eyelids, they finally parted enough for him to look over at the door. Nothing was there. He was about to sigh with relief when he noticed a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye.

The door connecting his room to Haleigh’s stood open. Haleigh stood a few feet away from the foot of the bed. Without saying a word, she started walking toward the side of the bed where Chris was lying. He noticed that instead of the T-shirt that came down to her knees when she had it on, she was now wearing a see-through white nightgown. In amazement, he stared at her. She might as well have been naked.

Chris was still frozen in shock as Haleigh climbed into bed with him.

Haleigh woke to the sounds of someone whimpering in fear, or pain. With a start, she realized the sounds were coming from her.

Throwing back the blankets, she slowly sat up, and groped for her watch on the bedside table. She had been asleep for several hours. But she was wide-awake now, after suffering through another nightmare involving Brendan. Haleigh got up to turn up the gas on the fireplace. A chill permeated the air of her room, and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

After the fire was roaring once more, with nothing more to do, Haleigh thought about once again exploring the hotel. But her feelings in the basement kept her from acting on the urge. She decided to call the front desk and see if she could borrow some magazines, or even a book, from them. As she picked up the phone, she noticed the door that connected her room to Chris’s was ajar.

She frowned as she dropped the phone back onto its cradle. Haleigh remembered locking the door before she had crawled into bed. She stood up and slowly approached the open door. She grabbed the knob and swung it the rest of the way open.

The door on the other side was open a crack. Haleigh stopped and held her breath, listening. She couldn’t here anything from the other room. As she reached out a hand to shut the door, she thought she heard a soft moan. Frozen, listening, she waited for the sound to repeat itself. All in Chris’s room remained quiet.

She finally pulled the door quietly shut, and then closed her own door. After locking it for the second time that night, she pulled the desk chair to the door and wedged it under the knob. Confused as to what had happened, she returned to the phone.

Haleigh dialed the lobby, and breathed a sigh of relief when Stephan picked up the extension.

"Yes, Miss Matthews? Is there something I can do for you?" Came his soft voice.

"I’m having a little trouble sleeping. I was wondering if you had anything worth reading around here?" The last came out sounding like a question.

"No problems with your room? Is it too cold upstairs?" Stephan sounded concerned, but Haleigh thought she also detected an undertone of fear in his voice. She paused to wonder why he would be afraid of her room, before answering.

"No, no problems at all. I just …well I had a bad dream, and need something to relax me back to sleep," Haleigh told him.

After making sure that she was indeed all right, Stephan agreed to bring up some books that another guest had left behind.

Fifteen minutes later, after telling Stephan thanks for the books, and no thanks to a glass of warm milk, Haleigh was once again snuggled in her bed. She opened up one of the books, and was rereading the first paragraph for the 5^th time. As good as the story looked, her mind and her gaze was constantly pulled back to the door.

After about an hour, Haleigh resolutely forced herself to concentrate only on her book. At this rate, she would be stuck here for a few days. If she didn’t get any sleep, she wouldn’t be fit to drive. She told herself to just turn off the lights and go to sleep. And finally she took that advice. After checking the chair guarding the door, and dimming the lights, she laid in bed and stared at the crackling flames of the fireplace.

As her eyes started to get heavy, she heard a stealthy sound. Staying perfectly still, using only her now wide-open eyes, she looked to the windows. But then chided herself for it. She was on the third floor; there couldn’t be someone climbing in her window.

Glancing around the room, her eyes froze on the desk chair. Instead of being lodged under the doorknob, it was once again pushed up to the desk. She stared in shock at the chair. Maybe she had dreamed moving it and finding the door open. But no, there on the table by the bed were the books given to her by Stephan.

Gulping back rising fear and panic, she let her eyes travel to the now reopened door. She gasped when she saw Chris standing there, with no clothes on. She tried to speak, and only managed to let out a small squeak of fear. Chris slowly walked toward her. Finally she managed to say his name out loud, but he appeared not to hear her. Reaching for the blanket, he climbed into bed beside her.

Chris’s eyes snapped open, and he started flailing his arms, trying to free himself…and realized the thing holding him down was the blanket on the bed. Sitting up, he looked around his room.

For a dream, what had recently happened seemed so real. He kept running it through his mind. But the door between his room and Haleigh’s was shut tight, and locked. There was no way she could have opened it and come into his bed. And from his earlier impressions of her, she didn’t seem like the kind of girl to jump into a strange man’s bed. As he stood up, he winced in pain.

Going into the bathroom, he flipped on the light switch, and turned his back to the mirror. Slowly turning, he craned his neck and saw several long scratches running down his back. Frowning, he vaguely remembered a piece of his dream; he held Haleigh underneath him, and she raked his back with long fingernails.

But that was impossible. She wasn’t in his room. And from the looks of things she hadn’t been there at any time while he slept. Another fragment of his dream returned to him, then. He was hungrily kissing her, and ripping the see through nightie from her. It was torn to shreds, and flung to the floor.

Chris hesitated before leaving the bathroom and going to the side of the bed where he had thrown the nightgown. He got down on his hands and knees and peered under the bed. With a shaking hand, he reached under and snagged a small piece of cloth. Holding it up to his disbelieving eyes, he stared at a jaggedly torn shred of material. It was white mesh, and totally see through.

All of his musing halted, when he thought he heard a muffled scream from next door. Thinking nothing of his nakedness, Chris ran to the door that joined his room to Haleigh’s. Throwing it open, he grasped the knob on her side. It wouldn’t budge.

"Haleigh!" Chris yelled through the door. There was no answer. Vaguely he could hear what sounded like terrified sobbing, and thought, ‘To hell with it.’ Throwing his weight into it, he rammed his shoulder into the door. Over and over, he bashed his shoulder with all of his strength. Finally, the doorjamb cracked. With a last yell of effort, he managed to get the door far enough open to move the chair that was wedged in front of it.

Violently shoving the chair aside, he threw open the door, and stormed inside, calling Haleigh’s name. She still didn’t answer him. Pushing his panic for her down, he scanned her room. The bed was empty, the blankets and comforter were tangled together in a ball, and the items he had seen earlier on top of the bedside table lay scattered on the floor.

He saw no sign of Haleigh. Carefully making his way around a broken water glass on the floor, he stopped when he thought he heard a soft whimper. As he rounder the foot of the bed, he saw the top of Haleigh’s disheveled auburn head. She was huddled in the corner between the bed and the wall, curled into as tight a ball as she could manage.

Chris could feel the panic and fear falling, and a sharp biting anger was waking up. He could see that her nightshirt had been ripped from her; pieces of it lay on the bed and the floor. Chris also saw the beginnings of bruises on her arms and legs.

"Haleigh," Chris softly whispered her name. She gave another whimper and tried to go farther into the corner.

He reached out a hand to touch her, and she jerked back as if burned. She began mumbling, and he leaned closer to hear what she was saying.

"No," she kept repeating, over and over, her voice a low monotone. "Please, don’t. No."

Shaken, he reached out and gently touched her hair. She froze, and he could sense her finally snapping out of the daze she was in.

"Haleigh, please. Let me help you. What happened? Please Haleigh, I won’t hurt you." Chris quietly asserted, and continued murmuring soft words to show he wasn’t going to hurt her.

As she calmed down, Haleigh became aware that Chris was still in the room with her. Fighting back a rising panic, she realized his behavior had performed a 180. She was being lulled by his soft voice. Strangely, the man who had just attacked her was soothing her and making her feel safe. Finally looking up at him, she saw the concern on his face and burst into frightened tears.

Whatever had just happened to her, she knew that Chris, this Chris, would not harm her. Her mind tried to rationalize what had happened. She had been thinking of Chris before sleeping, and had been attacked. Her tired mind just put Chris’s face on her attacker’s body. It sounded good, but she knew, deep down, that it was wrong.

Sobbing, she let herself be pulled up onto the edge of the bed, and held tightly in Chris’s arms. Still murmuring, he lightly stroked her hair, and kissed her head. When her sobbing had tapered off, Chris went into the bathroom and got a wet washcloth. Gently, he used it to wipe her tearstained face.

"What happened Haleigh?" Chris asked. "I woke up and thought I heard you screaming. I had to break down the door to get in."

Spinning around, Haleigh stared in shock at the chair that was lying on its side near the door. Before being attacked, it was at the desk.

"I…" Haleigh began, choking back another round of sobbing. "I woke up and the door between our rooms was open. I put the chair there to keep it shut. As I was drifting back to sleep, when I heard a noise. I looked and the chair was at the desk. And…and…" she stopped to take a deep breath.

"And what, Haleigh?" Chris urged her on gently.

"You were standing in the doorway. Naked. You yanked the covers off of me, and got in the bed," she had to pause again, embarrassed to go on. "At first, I was too shocked to do anything. I thought I was acting like a slut…I was starting to enjoy what was happening. Then you…he…started to hit me. Started tearing my shirt off. And I was fighting, and you…he…was laughing, and hitting my legs, trying to make me yell. You...he…tried to …to…I just got cold all of a sudden, like you were made of ice, and were trying to freeze me. For a second I couldn’t breathe. That’s when I started screaming."

Fresh tears slipped from her eyes. "I started hitting back, yelling, screaming. I managed to knock us both out of the bed. Then I heard you call my name…only it came from your room. I looked over and you…he…was gone."

As he listened in disbelief, and growing horror, Chris gently rocked her on the bed. He decided to come clean with her about his own experience.

As he relayed the details that he remembered of her in his dream, Haleigh once again began to stiffen up in his arms.

"I wasn’t in your room, Chris. I swear I wasn’t. And I couldn’t have cut up your back with my nails," Haleigh held up her hands for him to see. The knuckles were bruising, and her left wrist was starting to swell. But Chris saw that her fingernails were clipped very short; there was no way she could have ripped open his back. "And I don’t own a nightgown. This T-shirt is…was…all I had to sleep in."

Suddenly realizing that she was sitting naked on her bed with a similarly naked man she barely knew, she grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around herself. Chris did the same with her comforter. Looking embarrassed about busting into her room in the buff, he apologized for breaking into her room without dressing first.

Haleigh managed a small smile, but it soon melted off her face. Although she liked Chris, she was wary in his presence. And sensing this, he grabbed her hands.

"I believe that you weren’t in my room, Haleigh. But I had to break down the door to get in here. The chair was still there. So it couldn’t have been me. And if you fought the way you said you did, I’d have a lot more than scratches down my back." He held open his arms to show her his unmarked skin.

Seeing that she believed him, he sighed in relief, and wrapped his arms around her. "We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you Haleigh. I’m not going to let anything else hurt you."

Half an our later, they were seated in the lobby, telling Stephan of their ordeal. His expressions ranged from shock, to concern, to outright anger.

"I was afraid of this," he finally said after taking several minutes to digest what he had heard. "I know, it’s silly, but this place is haunted. We have had numerous problems with those two rooms."

Outraged, Haleigh said, "And yet you still put us up there?"

A pained look crossed his face. "Nothing of this magnitude has happened up there. Mostly it’s doors that won’t stay shut, or strange voices. Several times, guests think they see people they know, but then they disappear. No one has ever been physically harmed." Stephan thought to himself for a moment. "These things only happen when there are occupants in both rooms though. I take special pains to be sure they are never occupied at the same time."

"Well, since I checked in after Chris, that would mean you fucked up your strategy." Haleigh ignored the shocked look on the men’s faces when she made that statement.

"No," Chris said, thoughtfully. "My room was at the other end of the hall, but the fireplace wasn’t working. When I called down, the lady that answered the phone said I could change rooms. I came down and got the key from her."

Looking even more perplexed, Stephan said, "We don’t have any female staff members here. There are only four of us working here, and each of is a part owner."

As Chris chewed that fact in his mind, Haleigh asked, "What’s in the basement?" The question seemed to floor Stephan. "We went down earlier to look around, and I got the strangest feelings."

Clearing his throat, Stephan looked even more pained before answering. "All the rooms in the basement are locked. The people that owned this place before us died downstairs. Apparently, the woman was having an affair, and her beat her for it. Beat her so badly, in fact, that she ultimately ended up dying from complications in one of the rooms downstairs. They had turned it into a kind of hospital room. Two nights later, the woman’s lover broke in and dragged her husband downstairs. In the same room she died, the grieving lover beat the husband to death. Then the man killed himself."

"So…I was visited by the woman? And her husband attacked Haleigh? But why did she come to me looking like Haleigh? And the husband like me?" Chris was still puzzling over it.

"I think I know," Haleigh said, quietly. "She went as me because you felt something for me. She wanted you to take the place of her dead lover. Her husband came to me as you, because I found myself thinking of you. I’m sure he wished his wife wanted him as much as she wanted her lover. So he became the man I was thinking of. And tried to turn me against you."

After a significant pause, Stephan nodded. "I’ve also heard that the lady’s husband often forced himself on her. She had to look outside her marriage for love."

"So what do we do now?" Chris asked. "Switch rooms? Sprinkle holy water? We can’t call the police. How would they arrest a ghost?"

"The main thing is to stay together. Each of you doesn’t let the other out of your sight. Now that you’ve been targeted, the spirits will continue to try and use you for their purposes." Stephan was adamant about them staying together. "Not only for safety, but to be sure you’re not fooled by them again. I’d suggest leaving the hotel, but this rain…our drive and half of the state road is covered with water. I don’t think you’d get too far outside before getting stuck."

Sighing, Chris had to agree with him. They were stuck here, at least until morning, when they could actually see where they were going. "So what do we do? Go back to our rooms and try to get some sleep?"

"No," said Haleigh, hastily. "I mean, I still think the answer to our problem is in the basement."

Stephan shook his head. "Those doors have remained locked for as long as I’ve been here. I’d have to find the keys. Perhaps I can get you two another room, on the second floor, where you can rest until morning. Then we can find the keys and look into the basement rooms."

Agreeing to this, they collected a key from Stephan and trudged back upstairs.

"I don’t know about you, Chris, but it’s going to be a long time until I can fall asleep." Haleigh stated, as Chris opened the room. It was smaller than the two upstairs, but cozy. Haleigh startled Chris by laughing.

"I just realized I spent half an hour talking to Stephan wearing a blanket. I didn’t think to grab any clothes." Chris was wearing a pair of jeans that he had grabbed on the way out of his room before going downstairs.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door. Jumping back, then giving a nervous laugh of his own, Chris opened the door for Stephan. He was carrying a small bag.

"I thought you might like something to sleep in," he told them, handing the bag to Chris. Inside was a pair of men’s pajamas, and a pink nightshirt. Thanking him as he left, Haleigh and Chris took turns using the bathroom to get dressed.

Feeling better once she was at least mostly covered, Haleigh sat on the edge of the bed with Chris in silence.

He finally broke it. "Nothing this strange has ever happened to me. How about you?" She smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"No, not quite like this," she said softly, lost in thought.

"I know it’s none of my business, but you seem like there’s something wrong besides this. I noticed it at dinner. I understand if you don’t want to tell me anything."

Haleigh looked into his eyes and sighed. "I should tell you. Or tell someone." Stretching out on the bed, she made herself comfortable before beginning.

"For the last 4 months, I’ve been going out with a loser named Brendan. He was…abusive. He was constantly telling me if I broke up with him, he’d kill me. And if you knew him like I do, you’d realize it was the truth. I think he might have hurt…or worse…another girl before me. He called me yesterday morning to tell me he was tired of waiting. He was going to have sex with me whether I wanted it or not. So when he showed up at my house last night, I fed him shots of Jack Daniels. He eventually passed out, and I grabbed some clothes and my money, and took off. I spent the night at my sister’s house," Haleigh paused to pull in a deep breath.

"This morning," she continued, as Chris listened in silence, "He showed up at 6 am, banging on the door. When my sister finally opened up, he hit her." She was struggling to get the words out. "The bastard knocked my sister down and started slamming around the house. I managed to get out the back door and into my car. I started driving. I figured if I could get to my uncle’s place in California, I could hide out. In a while, Brendan would find somebody else to torture. But I got tired after 12 hours on the road, and ended up here." Letting out a tense laugh, and shuddering at the same time, she grimaced. "And I ended up in the same situation all over again."

Lying down beside her, taking her hand, Chris felt anger flair up against the man that would hurt Haleigh. He knew if he ever saw this Brendan, he would kill him for causing Haleigh pain.

"Haleigh," he started to speak. "I just want you to know that…well…I’d never hurt you. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I just want to protect you."

Smiling and turning to face him, Haleigh said, "I know that. I can sense it in you. I feel so safe around you. That’s why I was so freaked out when…you know. I kept thinking how could I have been so wrong about you. But I know I wasn’t wrong."

Looking into her eyes, Chris leaned down and softly kissed her lips. She sighed and returned the kiss, putting her hand on his arm.

Pulling away from her, not wanting to go to far after what they had been through, Chris gently stroked her cheek.

"I think now I could sleep," he said to her. Haleigh yawned in agreement. They snuggled up together under the blankets and soon were both dead to the world.

Haleigh woke up the next morning trying to fight off the arms that held her. Hearing her name whispered over and over, she slowly realized where she was. Not being assaulted by Brendan, but being soothed by Chris.

Relaxing, she hugged tightly to him, relieved he was so patient. Still mostly asleep himself, Chris gently stroked her hair and murmured, so softly she couldn’t hear them. But she was soothed anyway.

When they were both awake enough to get out of bed, they took turns in the shower. Then they climbed to the third floor to get dressed. Haleigh put on the same sweater and jeans she had on the night before, as Chris hurriedly pulled on jeans and another T-shirt.

They practically raced downstairs, and slid to a stop when they got to the lobby. Stephan was talking to one of the cooks from the night before. Noticing Haleigh and Chris standing there, he held up a finger, then quickly finished speaking to the other man. With a grim smile, Stephan came toward them.

"I got the keys. Are we sure about this?" After they had both nodded, Stephen took the keyring out of his pocket and led the way to the basement.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Chris asked.

"I’m not sure," said Haleigh. "I just have this feeling, we’re supposed to be down here."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and paused. Stephan flipped on the hallway light.

"You didn’t mention you were psychic," Chris said to Haleigh, with a smile.

Returning the smile, she said, "Not psychic. I just know when to follow my instincts."

"I don’t think this is helping anything," Stephan said, sounding exasperated with them. "And I don’t understand what being in the basement will solve. Nobody uses these rooms anymore; they’re all empty."

"Humor us," Chris said, sobering. "If Haleigh thinks it’s important, then I agree with her."

Looking resigned to it, Stephan led the way to the end of the hallway. Haleigh studied the six doors, and picked the one on her right.

"That one. We have to open it!" Her voice was a soft whisper. Stephan put the key in the lock and turned it. As he reached out to open the door, his hand started noticeably shaking.

"I can’t do it," he said looking apologetic. He stepped out of the way.

"I got it," Haleigh said, moving past the two men to grasp the doorknob. After a slight hesitation, she flung open the door.

Immediately, they were buffeted by a tornado of air. It spun around the hallway, toward the far end, before disappearing.

As the trio stood in silence, waiting, the smell of roses filled the air. Haleigh felt invisible hands push her toward Chris; he wrapped his arms around her.

Staring into the room, Haleigh saw three phantom shapes. One of them, a tall man, was slowly dissipating. From the gestures and movements of the ghost, Haleigh could tell it didn’t want to leave. It faded away to a small flash of light.

The remaining two ghosts looked at each other, then at Chris and Haleigh. The female formed mouthed the words ‘thank you’ in their direction, then embraced her long lost lover. The two ghosts swirled away in a mist, and the scent of roses faded from the air.

Haleigh took one last look around at the quiet hillside. After 2 more nights at the hotel, most of it spent with Chris, she was sorry to be leaving it behind. As she climbed the hill to the hotel, she let the deceptively warm October sun warm her face. Later, the temperature would drop sharply, but right then it was a warm 68 degrees.

As she reached the top of the hill, she saw a truck in the parking lot. Haleigh’s heart stopped beating, then began pounding. It was Brendan’s truck, no doubt about it. It was a hideous green-yellow color that only he would love.

She skirted the far side of the hotel, and slipped in a side door. She had almost made it to the stairs, when she heard a familiar grating voice behind her.

"Well, well, well, my little runaway. Bet you didn’t think you’d see me so soon," Haleigh turned to look at Brendan, as he grinned what she thought of as his shark smile.

"Go away, Brendan. I don’t want to know how you found me, but just go away," Haleigh tried to make her voice sound firm, but she was scared out of her mind.

"Not this time, Hon," Brendan said, grabbing her arm. "Someone gave me a call and told me you were her. Said I’d find what I deserved. I guess we can go upstairs so I can collect."

"Excuse me, my good man," came a voice from behind Brendan. Haleigh could just make out the top of Christian’s head. "Yanking that woman around would so totally reek of heinosity."

"Yeah," said Edge, right behind Christian. "It also reeks of felonosity. Not to mention suctitude." Grinning broadly, he slapped Christian’s hand in a high five.

"Go away, this doesn’t concern you," Brendan dismissed them and turned back to Haleigh.

At a signal from Edge, all of the wrestlers traveling with Chris had surrounded Haleigh and Brendan. Chris himself stepped forward. He pulled Haleigh away from Brendan.

"Oh, I think it does my woman hitting friend. It just so happens I have a woman with me who thinks you out to see what it’s like to get beat down."

At this, Chyna stepped forward, adjusting a black leather glove on her hand. Smiling sweetly at Brendan, she turned as if to walk off, then spun around and smashed her fisted hand into his jaw. Brendan staggered backward, but didn’t fall. Instead, he smiled as he wiped some blood from his mouth.

He took a step toward Chyna, raising his hand to strike her, but Triple H grabbed the hand in the air. He jerked Brendan’s arm behind his back, and hissed, "Now, you weren’t going to hit my lady were you pal?"

Shoving Brendan violently toward Matt and Jeff, who both managed to look confused and angry at the same time, Triple H told them, "I don’t wipe my ass with a boy that would smack around a woman. Beat the crap out of him for me."

As Jeff and Matt took turns beating on Brendan, Stephan appeared to tell them the police and an ambulance were on the way to the hotel. Haleigh stood in confusion as Brendan was beaten and bloodied.

"Not bad," said Triple H to Chris. "That was a good idea, giving the old jerk-off the tip on Haleigh."

Looking at Chris in shock, Haleigh almost shouted, "You told him I was here?"

"Don’t get mad at him," said Mick Foley, stepping in. "One thing about being part of the family; we protect our own." With that he jumped from the second step and elbow-dropped Brendan, who was lying prone on the floor.

Still at a loss, she stared open-mouthed at Chris.

"I was going to ask you at a better time," Chris said, taking her hands. "We all would love to have you join us. We can get you a job, and keep the asshole on legs away from you."

"But…" Haleigh was at a loss. Were these people trying to adopt her?

"Let me rephrase that for Y2J," said Triple H. "He caveman, want you for woman. Or he drag you off by hair of head." Grinning wickedly, he sauntered off toward the rest of the gang, who had tired of beating up on Brendan.

Brendan himself lay on the floor, and looked like he was run over by several large trains.

"You know, after this, I don’t think I’ll need anybody to protect me from him," Haleigh said, lifting her chin at Brendan. At the slightly fallen look on Chris’s face, she laughed. "But I still don’t get it. Why did you tell him where I was?"

"How else was I going to get a chance to knock some sense into him? At least he knows you’re not alone anymore. We all love having you around, Haleigh. Especially me." Chris couldn’t believe how clumsy he sounded. Usually he was good at this kind of thing.

"So how ‘bout it Haleigh?" Shouted Edge. Everyone on the other side of the lobby snickered.

With a hug and a loud ringing kiss for Chris, Haleigh shouted back, "You guys had better save me a seat on that bus!" Edge, Christian, Matt, and Jeff hooted, and high-fived each other wildly. Leaning in close to Chris, she whispered softly in his ear, "I love you, too."