Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

HAUNTING THE DEAD
RICK CHILLOT
Terrence as everyone else. Terrance watches him approach,
then furrows his brows slightly and, just as the
policeman passes him, shouts, “Your fly’s open,
motherfucker.” The policeman stops so suddenly that
his pizza falls out of his hand; he spins around, but sees
no one near him, certainly no one near enough to have
shouted in his ear. Terrence, standing four inches to his
right, laughs and goes back to his work. He pulls an oldstyle
army radio out of his knapsack and opens the
circuit. A burst of static comes from the receiver. He
lifts the handset to his mouth. “Orpheus is down,
Orpheus is down. Any Orpheus operatives in the area,
you’re in danger. Orpheus is down.”
Blue Palace Hotel, Third Floor, East Hallway
September 20, 10:14 a.m.
Ed can see now that the corridor isn’t really endless;
that had been an illusion caused by the dim lighting
and dull walls. He feels a little calmer now. The hallway
evokes a feeling of familiarity; there’s something about
the color of the walls, the feel of the carpet—even the
smell of the place—that makes Ed relax.
“Orpheus… down.” The voice comes from behind
him, above him. “Orpheus… down,” it says again, a
man’s voice, loud, almost demanding. Ed turns around,
looking for the source. He stares at a spot on the wall a
few inches below the ceiling. Then he sees it, high on
the wall next to a light fixture: a speaker, so covered
with thick gray paint that it’s hard to separate from the
visual monotony of the wall.
Ed waits, but the voice doesn’t come again. He
reaches for the speaker. The wall feels strangely warm.
Ed presses his palm to it, and the wall seems to give
imperceptibly, as if it’s pliable. It seems to be moving,
ever so slightly, slowly, pulsing out and then in again.
It feels moist, though he can’t see any moisture on the
wall or his hand.
“Yes, the climate control in this hotel leaves something
to be desired.”
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