"I saw her again! The scarred woman!"
The night auditor sighed. He had heard this all before. Ghosts in the hotel. Regrettably, sometimes people did die in hotel rooms, typically either from substance abuse or just everyday medical concerns. This hotel was fortunate enough to rarely see the former, but was nevertheless no exception. So yes, there probably were a few ghosts around. But he was getting a little tired of hearing about this particular ghost. "Of course you did. And what was she up to this time?"
"She just stood there, staring at me like some sort of zombie."
"A ghost zombie? Don't let her bite you."
"You still don't believe us, do you."
He really didn't want to be dragged into yet another debate on the existence or non-existence of the paranormal. "I'll keep a lookout tonight."
"You'll know her immediately when you see her. She's all grey and translucent, her clothes are torn, and her face and body are covered in scars. She doesn't show up on the cameras so you'll have to be outside to see her."
"She never comes inside?"
"Never. She's only been seen outside."
"So stay inside and leave her be."
"But what if the guests see her?"
"None have reported seeing her yet, have they?"
"None so far. But they'll surely be terrified if they do! Those scars of hers are hideous!"
"Well that was rather rude. You shouldn't call attention to peoples' blemishes like that."
"She's dead! A ghost! I'm sure she doesn't care about what I say!"
"Or perhaps she does, and that's why she's haunting you."
"That's... look, the point is, we need to figure out some way to make her leave! If guests start leaving reviews saying this place is haunted, the hotel could lose all its business, and where would we be?"
The last part of the question really didn't concern the night auditor. Reliable people who actually wanted this shift were few and far between, so finding work at a different hotel would be relatively trivial for him, should the need arise. But it would be impolite to point that out. "I suspect we'd lose some business, only to gain a new manner of clientele. Some people like haunted buildings."
"Well I didn't take this job to be a tour guide. Just spend some time outside tonight so you can see her for yourself. Last time I saw her was an hour ago around the south end, so maybe she's still hanging around there. I'm off for the weekend. See you next week?"
"Aye, have a good weekend."
And so, finally alone, the night auditor turned the lights low, and went about his tasks.
It was two in the morning. An acquaintance of the night auditor had come into the lobby to visit him, as she did every night he worked. At first he was annoyed by her constantly bothering him at this hour; if he wanted to interact with other people, he'd work the day shift. But she proved over time to be a good-natured person with a sense of humour that aligned with his own, so he eventually decided she wasn't such a bother after all, and upgraded her status from "acquaintance" to "friend".
At current this friend was animatedly telling him of the prank (as she referred to it) she pulled earlier in the evening. "His face was priceless! And he threw up his hands like he thought I was going to bite him!"
"You do give a bit of a feral impression, going around dressed like that."
"Listen, I can't help that my clothes are all torn! These are the clothes I died in! I'm stuck with them! Just be glad I didn't die naked!"
He gave her a quick look over—as surreptitiously as possible, of course—and decided that wouldn't be so displeasing really. The accident certainly did a number on her body, but the scars weren't that bad. From his perspective, she was still reasonably attractive, all things considered.
"You're thinking something naughty, aren't you."
"You brought it up."
She giggled playfully, and floated closer to him. "How come my scars don't bother you anyway?"
"I was nine when Mortal Kombat hit the arcades. Your little bruises are quite tame in comparison."
"Bruises!" she laughed. Her laughter always had a slightly eerie inflection to it, yet even so, her cheerfulness rang clearly through. He found it to be quite a pleasant sound actually, once he had gotten used to it.
But they were straying a bit from the topic he wished to discuss with her. "Anyway, could you go easy on the evening staff for a bit? I have vacation time coming up, and it's hard enough finding people who will cover this shift as it is."
"You're going away? You can't do that! Who am I going to chat with when you're gone? Everyone else just runs away or pretends I don't exist. The weekend guy doesn't even have the decency to turn down the lights so I can come inside!"
He was aware that she couldn't go much further than the hotel. The accident occurred on the very highway that ran alongside it, and so she was bound to the nearby area. He was working the night it happened, and had just stepped outside to stretch his legs. Thus he had witnessed the entire thing, and was the first person on the scene to offer assistance.
As a result, he was also one of the last people to see her alive.
Best not to dwell on it. "You're not exactly helping the situation by 'pranking' them. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine for one week."
"Why not take your vacation here?"
He gave her his most incredulous look. "You're asking me to take a 'vacation' at work?"
"You probably weren't going anywhere anyway! You were just going to sit at home playing video games! You can do that here!"
"I was intending to head up north..." But it was pointless to argue and he knew it. She was going to sulk about the matter whatever he said. He certainly couldn't blame her for feeling lonely; other than himself, there were few people who could even see her to begin with. And all of them were people she had been pulling her "pranks" on, so naturally they were afraid of her.
He suggested he might try to explain about her to others, that they might understand she was harmless. But she was oddly resistant to this suggestion. She refused to give her reasons.
And so this left them at a bit of an impasse: an asocial introvert seeking to temporarily get away from "life" for a bit of relaxation, vs. an extrovert whose life was taken away from her, and who, by the whims of some paranormal law, was prevented from making friends with anyone more qualified for the part, seeking for the former to remain nearby.
"And what if I cross over during the week you're gone?" she asked.
"How would that be any different from crossing over after I've gone home for the day?"
His logical response only served to bring her irritation to a climax. "Fine! Take your stupid vacation!" she spat as she stormed out.
The night auditor thought living people were exhausting enough to deal with as is, but at least the living had the option of interacting with other living. How was he to deal with someone unliving who had no one else but him to rely on?
That, he decided, was Monday's problem. She'll have calmed down by then—hopefully—and they could discuss the matter rationally. He just hoped she didn't take out her frustration on the weekend staff while he was off.
As he went home for the day, he considered how curious it was that she brought up the possibility of crossing over to the other side. This wasn't their first heated discussion, and she didn't normally make an argument so... final.