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Randy didn’t have many friends (well, he actually had none), but that wasn’t really his fault.
Nathan was busy all the time when he was alive, and now he was still getting used to being dead. Befriending that demon kid had never been a real option. And most of the ghosts were a bit.. difficult to say the least.
Perhaps it was because he was an outside ghost..? But that didn't make any sense. Randy didn't get to see his corpse; so if that were a problem, they wouldn't have let him into the hotel in the first place… And he wasn't like them at all. Those guys really gave him the creeps!
Maybe they thought Randy was too cool for them and felt intimidated…? Yeah, that made sense. But come on! He didn't bite! And surely there had to be some lost soul bound to that place who wasn’t so shy. Right? Right??
But if that person really existed, Randy had no idea where to find them.
And at the end of the day, he was the one left standing there, staring down empty hallways and missing someone he hadn't had the chance to meet yet.
So when the hotel's new owner arrived, he peered through the wall, curious. She looked to be a woman in her early thirties; tight ponytail, yellow jacket, furrowed brow. Cool. She even seemed capable of making the place somewhat profitable.
More people got out of the vehicle. More people? Amazing! Hopefully, one of those newcomers would like him; hopefully, he'd meet someone cool enough to be his new friend.
The other ghosts, also curious, scurried away, leaving Randy behind. His head still sticking out of the wall.
"Heh, amateurs" he thought.
Randy had over 50 years of experience socializing with other human beings, and he knew that among so many ghosts, none of them would notice him. No, the best thing to do was to be patient, observe from afar, and casually drop in at the right moment. Be casual. Let them get used to the chaos.
And although waiting was the last thing he wanted to do, he reminded himself of how long he had been waiting for this opportunity. What difference would a couple more hours make?
He didn't like it, but he stayed where he was.
From his hiding place between the walls, he could hear every noise, every conversation, every bang, so he entertained himself by trying to figure out what each sound was.
A wet thud? They'd met Jessica. The sound of metal cutting through the air? Ah, there was Stabby Paul. A list of hellish titles followed by a tantrum? Welp, he hadn't expected Abaddon to show up that soon.
Needless to say, each of those familiar sounds was followed by horrified screams. Randy had also been shocked by those horrors at the time, but now they were part of his routine and, in a way, comforting. He hoped those people wouldn't take long to get used to them either.
As the afternoon approached, Randy couldn't hold back any longer and emerged from his hiding place. Just in time to run into the same woman from before, accompanied by Nathan. Perfect, time to put his plan into action!
“Hel-” He barely had time to extend his hand in greeting before the nearest object (in this case, a candlestick) flew through his head, crashing against the wall before falling to the floor with a thud.
The other ghost shook his head. “Oh, come on, Kathy, he’s just some kid.”
She simply picked up the object from the floor and put it back with a sigh.
“I don't care, Nathan” she replied breathlessly. “I can’t deal with more ghost stuff right now”
Randy opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out right. A shiver of frustration ran through him; better to go away. He slipped back into his hiding place, letting Katherine and Nathan go on their way.
From the wall, he let out a sigh and ran a hand over his face, trying to compose himself.
“Oh well, doesn't matter,” he muttered, gritting his teeth into a crooked smile. “That woman seemed way too…boring anyways. And I need someone who knows how to go with the flow.”
Randy nodded to himself, satisfied with his own reasoning. She was the one missing out, not him.
“Next time it'll be different.”
With a small jump, and after making sure no one was nearby, Randy stepped out into the hallway. He strolled confidently over the carpets, ready to try again.
He had only gone a few steps before turning a corner when he saw the girl, notebook in hand, walking in his direction. She was accompanied by… Abaddon? Well, it wasn't that strange; that innocent, childlike appearance always fooled newcomers.
“Hey guys, I'm Randy!” He stammered, trying to get their attention. “Do you mind if I-”
Neither of them bothered to change course. They passed right through the ghost without even looking, leaving him with the word in his mouth and a cold feeling lodged in his chest.
“Hey! I'm talking to you!” he insisted, waving his hand in front of their eyes. “You can hear me, right?”
“Shh! Shut up, ghost!” The girl stuck a finger in front of his face, hissing at him before turning back to the demon. “Repeat that, I didn’t hear you properly.”
“New moon,” he replied, in his usual deep, deadpan voice. “The ritual has to be done on a new moon.”
“Good, good.”
The little girl wrote the information at breakneck speed, turned the page, and finally payed attention to Randy for the first time since he’d arrived.
“You.”
“Me?”
Randy pointed to his chest and instinctively looked around, searching for someone else she might be addressing.
“Yes, you,” she repeated, her voice tinged with irritation. “You died around here, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Were you carrying anything valuable when it happened?”
Randy reached into his nonexistent pockets before shrugging.
“Nope, sorry.” The ghost shook his head. “Although you have the most valuable treasure of all right here.”
Randy pointed to himself with both hands and grinned. Esther rolled her eyes (didn't she get the joke?), but thankfully didn't try to leave. She even grabbed the demon's shirt to keep him from leaving either.
“Um… Okay, so could you tell me where you died?”
“Oh! Of course!” The boy pointed towards the place. “It was right by the property line, just next to the lake. I could take you there right now if you want.”
Abaddon maintained his usual expression at his offer, but Esther seemed excited. Randy felt his smile widening as he put his hands on his hips, trying to project that cool older-guy image that was undoubtedly beginning to form in their minds.
"Heh, I guess little kids are always easier to impress." He thought proudly. "I should have tried this from the start."
"Great!" Esther's voice quickly pulled him from his thoughts. "Could you take us to where your body is? We could really use the bones."
That last sentence threw him off a bit.
“My…bones? Uh…what for?”
Randy tried to pretend he’d been asked something normal. Esther just raised an eyebrow, as if her answer was obvious.
“Duh, for a ritual, what else would I want them for?”
“Exactly!” Abaddon exclaimed, throwing his arms up repeatedly. “Bones! Bones! Bones!”
“Aw…sorry guys, I think my body was taken from here shortly after I died.”
“Oh.”
Esther sounded disappointed. The little girl exchanged a glance with her companion as he slowly lowered his arms. She quickly shrugged.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter."
That response opened a small window of hope in Randy's mind; maybe it’d just been a slightly awkward moment. That didn't mean she didn't want to be his friend despite that.
"We'll just ask another ghost. I think there are a few in room 292 that seemed promising. A bunch of victims of the same killer clown. Wanna come?”
The ghost opened his mouth to reply, but Abaddon nodded first, and after exchanging a glance, the pair left without a word.
They didn't even say goodbye.
"Hehe, okay guys!" Randy let out a nervous chuckle as they walked away. "You can tell me all about it when you’re back"
They wouldn't.
He didn't stick around to wait for them to come back either. Suddenly, he just didn't feel like it.
The young ghost floated dejectedly down the hallway.
He was getting less and less excited about his idea, but he knew he'd regret giving up. And hey, the worst they could tell was no.
While trying to regain his pride, he led himself down the hall to the nearest bathroom, following the intermittent flicker of an old light. If he was going to try again, he was going to do it right.
There wasn't much he could do to improve his appearance, but at least he could make sure he looked as presentable as possible. A quick touch-up in front of the mirror and back to the grind.
The bathroom door was closed. Weird. Had one of the monsters closed it? No problem. No door could contain a ghost, after all.
And without thinking twice, Randy stepped through. Big mistake. An alarmed scream told him he wasn't the only one there.
"Aaah! What the-!?"
Okay. That was just bad luck. Not only was someone in the bathroom, but that someone was the only new resident he hadn't tried to impress yet. Luckily, it seemed he was just washing his hands, so maybe Randy still had time to salvage this last chance.
The other boy, lacking a real weapon to defend himself, shakily pointed a toothbrush at him. “A-and who are you!? Answer me!”
Randy raised his hands, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. He even waved them from side to side.
“I’m Randy! And you?”
The other boy lowered his “weapon” slightly, confused by the ghost’s friendliness. He had expected more resistance. A jumpscare. Something. In the end, he relaxed and put the toothbrush back in its place.
“Ben. And don’t you ghosts know what privacy is?” he asked, clearly annoyed.
“Of course we do, but I didn’t expect anyone to be in here.”
The living boy frowned. He didn’t seem convinced.
“Didn’t you see the light on?”
“I didn’t notice. I had my mind somewhere else.”
“…Right.” Ben glanced around nervously, still not entirely sure.
“Dude, I’m telling the truth!” Randy defended himself. “Now, there are ghosts who will definitely go into the bathroom when someone’s using it. Especially if someone’s using it.”
“WHAT!?”
Ben put his hands to his mouth, trying to muffle his scream, and stared at him in horror.
“Yep. Sorry.”
“Please” He begged “Tell me there’s something I can do.”
Randy scratched his chin, trying to buy time while he thought of some advice.
“You should start peeing in the dark,” was the best he could come up with. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they hadn’t been very helpful.
Ben turned his back on Randy and left the bathroom, muttering something to himself that the ghost couldn’t quite understand.
“…great. Awesome. Wonderful.”
The boy put his hands to his head and let out an exasperated groan.
“So, let me get this right. Besides watching Mom and Dad tear each other apart in the divorce.
Besides having to move.
Besides my new home seeming determined to kill me…
I can't even go to the bathroom in peace?”
Ben leaned his back against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. Randy sat down by his side.
“Well, put like that, any situation sounds bad… It could be worse.”
“How?”
“You could be dead.”
Ben glanced at him sideways. His mouth crooked with an awkward smile. There was no way he could argue with him about that, and trying to do so felt almost offensive. The boy ran a hand through his hair, looking for an answer that didn't make him look like an ass.
“And hey,” Randy continued, stealing his chance to find it “this place isn’t so bad once you get used to it.”
“I guess you’re right” Ben replied. “At least I’m glad it was you who peeked into the bathroom. I think you’re the least weird ghost I’ve seen so far.”
“Wow, thanks.” Randy giggled. “You’re not bad yourself, actually. I think you’re pretty cool.”
Ben remained silent for a second, Randy held his breath, afraid he’d gotten carried away.
“Do you really think so?”
That wasn’t what he’d expected; usually, he was the one asking that question, not the other way around. Randy barely contained his excitement and tried to pretend he didn’t care.
“Uh… Yeah, why wouldn’t I? You’re definitely nicer than the other living people here”
Ben smiled, resting his head on his arms and looking down at his feet.
“Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I don’t know. With everything going on with the hotel, the move and Uncle Nathan, Mom’s got too much in her mind, and Esther…” The boy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’m just… there. Like I'm on the way sometimes. But that’s normal, right?”
“Yep, totally normal.” Randy pushed his damp hair back and jerked his thumb at himself “Guys like us feel like that all the time. It’s the price we pay for being so awesome.”
Ben didn’t reply. There was no need to. The silence around them wasn’t awkward. It wasn’t superfluous. Randy glanced at Ben discreetly every now and then, almost expecting he’d change his mind. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
“What thing?”
“You know.” Ben clarified, pointing to his neck. “That.”
Randy put his hand to his own, permanently crooked neck and let out a soft laugh.
“Oh, that. I guess it did. A little. I don’t know, it was really fast and I barely remember what happened.”
Ben remained silent, with a worried look in his eyes. But this silence wasn’t one Randy enjoyed, pity never felt good.
“Besides, it was forty years ago. I’ve been here longer than I’ve been there if you get what I'm saying” He gestured in the air, trying to make himself clearer. “And it wasn’t like it was the worst way to die, if you know what I mean.”
Ben tilted his head, confused. Randy raised his eyebrows repeatedly, but his new friend still didn’t seem to understand his innuendo.
“Heh, you know. I was at a party, there was this girl, and… one thing led to the other.”
He winked at the other boy. Ben just stared at his broken neck and swallowed uncomfortably. Judging by his expression, the mental image wasn't pleasant.
"Well, I'm sorry anyways."
"Huh? But I already told you it doesn't matter."
"So? I'm still sorry."
A couple of empty seconds passed before Ben finally stood up. He stretched a little before turning back to his friend.
"Anyway... I think I'd better go downstairs and keep helping with the boxes before I get yelled at," he commented. "See you later?”
Randy didn't bother to get up again. He just nodded.
"Sure. And thanks."
Ben shrugged.
"It's nothing."
Without another word, he walked briskly down the hall. Randy watched him go without a word. He waited until his new friend disappeared around a corner before settling back against the wall, this time resting his head on his arms. He let out a satisfied sigh.
For some reason, he wasn't worried that Ben had to leave. Something told him it wouldn't be long before they saw each other again.