The chaos was spreading through the room. Everybody felt a strange wind circling around. Giovanna ran to the wall.

<<Out the salt!>> she shouted.

<<You think we don’t know?>> said Nicola as he turned on his heel.

Nicola and Bartolomeo ran to the same wall. They were looking at the salt circle in the middle of the room. Sarah was trying to make sense of everything that was going on.

“Is it really coming?” she said. “What can he do to us?”

“Do not panic,” said Ursula. “They will not do anything if we do not anger them.”

“Easy for you to say,” said Sarah. “How could I know what angers them and what not?”

“Just treat them like people,” said Giovanna. “Nothing less and nothing more.”

<<Get ready! It’s coming!>> said Bartolomeo.

A strange white smoke rose from the circle of salt. It started reforming into a strange form. Strangely familiar. Strangely human. In fact it did start to resemble a human man.

Bartolomeo looked into the camera.

<<Now isn’t that cool?>> he said to his viewers.

<<A ghost of a killed builder who died building this never finished hotel,>> said Nicola. <<You wouldn’t see that in your everyday life.>>

The ghost screeched and the living were shaken.

<<Alright, time to go,>> said Nicola.

<<Yeah, let’s unsummon this dude and get out of here,>> said Bartolomeo.

Giovanna sighed.

<<You’re really gonna simply walk out of here and pretend this never happened?>> she said.

<<Uh… No. We have it captured, so it happened, right?>> said Nicola.

Giovanna didn’t react to that. She simply walked to the door and closed it. She then put a card against it and chanted a spell. Something clicked in the door. Bartolomeo jumped to the door and tried to force it open. But he could not move it even an inch.

<<What on earth did you do?>> said Bartolomeo.

<<Nothing,>> said Giovanna. <<I simply made sure you couldn’t leave this place.>>

<<Why?>> said Nicola. <<You’ve just doomed us all.>>

<<Quite the opposite,>> said Giovanna. <<I am simply trying to make the video back on the right track.>>

Giovanna slowly walked to the ghost. She moved slowly and made sure to show no aggression.

“It’s alright. I am here to listen to you,” she said to the ghost. “Don’t panic. I simply want to talk.”

The ghost stopped screeching and closed his mouth. He looked at Giovanna. In his expression there was a simple desire to be listened to.

“Why is that?” the ghost asked.

Nicola tried stepping back to the centre of the room, but Angelo stopped him with his hand.

“Let her talk to him,” he said, not being sure if Nicola even spoke English.

Giovanna smiled at the ghost. She wanted to seem as friendly as possible.

“I know that something is tying you down to this place,” she said to him. “Something that you can’t let go of so that you can’t go to the other side. I want to know what that is so I can help you with dealing with that.”

The ghost seemed moved by what Giovanna said.

“Is it true? You mean no bad?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Giovanna.

The builder hesitated a bit more, but he felt Giovanna’s intentions were sincere.

“Kate… I simply want to know if she’s safe,” he said.

“And who is Kate?” Giovanna asked.

The builder let out a tear from his ghostly eye.

“My daughter,” he said. “She was supposed to have a heart transplant. I should have been there when they performed the surgery. But then that ceiling fell on me and…”

The ghost paused and took a deep breath.

“I just need to know what happened to her,” he said.

“So how can we find her?” Giovanna asked.

The builder told her the address where his family lived and that she should ask for the Huxley family.

“Got it,” said Giovanna.

“And if you find her then tell her that daddy smiles at her from Heaven,” said the ghost.

“Will do.”

“Thank you. I will wait here. Just tell me if she’s fine.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear from you.”

“I hope so… I hope so.”

The ghost disappeared into smoke and the feeling of chaos left the room. Sarah was amazed by what she had witnessed. She never suspected that meeting a ghost could be such an odd experience. Terrifying at first, but quickly turning into calming. Even evoking empathy. Of course it was logical that all ghosts used to be people. But it was amazing how much humanity there was left in them. Much more than the tales she heard would make her believe.

Giovanna turned to Nicola and Bartolomeo.

<<I think our job here is done for now,>> she said.

Nicola dashed to her and yelled.

<<No, no, no. Explain what you did! You think we’re gonna leave without interacting with that ghostly fella?>>

<<Yeah, I’m not necessarily pleased too,>> said Bartolomeo.

“Boy, oh, boy,” said Angelo. “Another popcorn binge opportunity missed.”

Ursula looked at him with eyes wide open. She was surprised at what he said.

“I understand that you might get enjoyment from watching them arguing,” she said. “But would you even understand what they are saying?”

“I don’t need to,” said Angelo. “It’s the same kind of fun you get from watching these old silent slapstick cartoons.”

Ursula still did not understand, but she decided not to continue the topic.

Giovanna took a deep breath and smiled at the guests. She couldn’t be angry at them. She knew that changing someone’s perspective on something they have been doing for years does not come in an instant. Instead she knew she should be happy she had a chance of making such a change.

<< Don’t worry, you two,>> said Giovanna. <<You will have a chance to talk to him one more time.>>

<<Well… I am indeed interested,>> said Bartolomeo. <<What exactly do you plan to do?>>

<<Let me explain,>> said Giovanna. <<And listen well, because I hope you will understand.>>