Madison’s calm attitude made the situation seem slightly less dangerous.
Charlie placed the travel bag on the floor, crouched beside it, and carefully pulled the zipper open while keeping his face as far from the opening as possible.
After a quick look inside, he released the breath he had been holding.
There were no wires, explosives, blinking lights, or anything else resembling a bomb.
“What is that?”
Once Madison realized there was no immediate danger, her caution disappeared.
She reached inside before Charlie could stop her and pulled out the only object in the bag.
It was a golden arm severed at the elbow.
The sculpted fingers were clearly defined, and intricate patterns covered the polished surface.
Although the object had the shape of a human limb, its elegant craftsmanship made it look more like an expensive piece of ceremonial art than something taken from a body.
Madison turned it over with open fascination.
“This is actually interesting.”
Before Charlie could examine it properly, she slid her right hand into the hollow opening.
The fit was tight, and she had to struggle for several seconds before the golden limb finally covered her arm like an elaborate glove.
Madison raised it beneath the lobby lights and admired the way the polished surface reflected around them.
“Well?”
She stretched the artificial arm toward Charlie.
“How do I look?”
Charlie studied her mismatched hands.
One remained smooth and natural, while the other had transformed into something that belonged to a statue, an ancient queen, or a wealthy cult leader.
“Strangely beautiful.”
Madison smiled in satisfaction.
Gold had a way of making even unsettling objects appear valuable.
Charlie tapped the surface lightly with one finger and listened to the faint metallic sound.
“Do you think it’s solid gold, or just covered in gold paint?”
Charlie knew what gold looked like, but he had never owned enough of it to judge the difference by touch.
For one foolish moment, he considered biting the arm like people did in old movies.
He immediately dismissed the idea.
Biting a mysterious artificial limb in the middle of a hotel lobby would make him look ridiculous.
Madison knew how to recognize expensive clothes, jewelry brands, and counterfeit money, but even she could not confirm whether the arm was genuine gold.
“We can take it to a jeweler,” she said.
“Judging by how quickly that man abandoned it, I doubt it’s worth as much as it looks.”
She removed the arm and returned it to Charlie.
Her reasoning sounded logical, yet something continued bothering him.
Even if the object was merely painted metal, the workmanship alone should make it valuable.
Why would anyone abandon it without hesitation?
Charlie looked toward the hotel entrance where the stranger had disappeared.
“This could be stolen.
Maybe we should wait and see whether he comes back.”
“I’m not wasting the rest of the night waiting for some nervous man in a winter coat.”
Madison gestured toward the bag.
“You called after him, and he ran faster.
As far as I’m concerned, he gave it to us.”
Her ambitions quickly grew.
“If it’s real gold, we can have it melted down and split the money.
If it’s fake, I’ll keep it as a decoration.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow.
“You decided that quickly.”
“It might be worth a fortune.”
Madison’s reminder struck his weakest point.
Charlie had spent almost all his money on the Glock, ammunition, and other supplies.
He had even made Madison pay for their food, transportation, and hotel room that afternoon.
If the arm turned out to be valuable, selling it could fund future investigations and allow him to purchase better equipment.
After another moment of hesitation, Charlie placed the Golden Arm back inside the travel bag.
“We’ll have someone examine it tomorrow.”
Madison nodded with satisfaction.
They entered the elevator and continued upstairs.
The abandoned object had distracted them, but Charlie had not forgotten why he had booked a room at the Hotel Monteleone.
The ten-day deadline imposed by the Book of Containment was still approaching.
If the hotel provided no genuine supernatural activity, Charlie would have to search increasingly dangerous locations.
His next choices included abandoned properties, remote bayous, and the swamps surrounding New Orleans.
He would rather avoid being eaten by an alligator while searching for a ghost.
The Hotel Monteleone was among the best-known historic hotels in the French Quarter.
Over the years, guests had reported unexplained footsteps, opening doors, moving elevators, and objects shifting without anyone touching them.
One popular story involved a hallway where the temperature suddenly dropped as the ghostly image of a child appeared.
Other accounts described spectral figures wandering through rooms or vanishing near the elevator doors.
Most sightings supposedly occurred late in the evening.
After wasting an entire afternoon following exaggerated stories, Charlie no longer trusted everything he read online.
Still, they had already paid for the room, and abandoning the investigation without trying would be pointless.
When they reached their floor, the time was shortly after eight.
Charlie carried the travel bag down the hallway while checking the room numbers.
Madison followed beside him, occasionally glancing at the Golden Arm as though she were already deciding where to display it.
They entered their room and closed the door behind them.
Charlie placed the bag on a table before surveying the interior.
The room contained a large bed, two chairs, a dresser, several framed paintings, and an elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Nothing appeared unusual.
He was considering where to begin when the door slammed shut behind him.
Charlie spun around.
Madison immediately threw herself into his arms.
Her slender arms wrapped around his neck, and her body pressed close enough to make her intentions impossible to misunderstand.
The playful interest she had shown throughout the day had become open desire.
Charlie stared at her.
“Madison, I think you misunderstood why we came here.”
“Misunderstood?”
She looked at him with amused disbelief.
“You invited me out, let me pay for everything, held my hand through a cemetery, took me to dinner, and checked into a hotel room with me.”
Her face moved closer.
“What exactly did you expect me to think?”
“I came here for something serious.”
Madison’s smile deepened.
“This seems serious to me.”
Charlie opened his mouth but failed to produce a useful response.
Madison’s attack was far more direct than anything he had prepared himself to handle.
She leaned closer, leaving him with almost no room to retreat.
Before the situation could progress, a chair moved across the carpet with a harsh scraping sound.
Charlie froze.
He placed both hands on Madison’s shoulders and held her back.
“Wait.”
Madison frowned in frustration.
“What now?”
“There’s something in this room.”
Charlie pointed toward the chair.
“It moved by itself.”
He immediately pulled the wooden cross from beneath his shirt and placed his other hand over the concealed Glock.
Fear and excitement mixed inside him as he searched every corner of the room.
After an entire day of failure, he might finally have discovered a real target.
Madison glanced at the chair. This story is hosted at g.com.
“You probably imagined it.”
A framed painting fell from the wall before she could finish.
It struck the floor with a loud crash, making Madison flinch.
Another painting dropped beside it.
Then a third.
One after another, the remaining frames tore free from their hooks as though invisible hands were knocking them down.
Glass shattered across the carpet while the room filled with sharp crashes.
Madison retreated to Charlie’s side.
“Okay.
I understand what you meant.”
Her voice carried the first trace of genuine panic.
Madison had spoken confidently about capturing ghosts and flirting with vampires, but confronting an unseen presence was different.
Telekinesis gave her tremendous power against physical threats, yet she had no experience fighting something without a visible body.
“Don’t worry,” Charlie said.
“I came prepared.”
He sounded more confident than he felt.
The wooden cross trembled slightly between his fingers.
Charlie kept his other hand near the Glock even though he doubted bullets would affect a spirit.
The disturbances intensified.
The chair began sliding again, producing a long scraping sound across the floor.
Drinking glasses rose from the table and flew through the air before smashing against the wall.
Above them, the chandelier swung violently from side to side.
Its moving light sent distorted shadows racing across the room.
Charlie’s palms became slick with sweat.
“Is it about to show itself?”
He searched the doorway, mirrors, and dark spaces beneath the furniture.
The Book of Containment remained strangely silent, but Charlie was too focused on the activity around him to notice the significance immediately.
The unseen force continued moving objects without revealing its source.
Charlie waited.
Nothing appeared.
The dramatic buildup had already reached the point where any respectable ghost should have manifested, screamed, or attacked.
Instead, the room remained empty while the furniture continued performing around them.
Confusion gradually replaced Charlie’s fear.
He glanced toward Madison.
She stood close beside him with a tense expression, but there was something else hidden behind her nervous performance.
Her eyes carried a faint trace of excitement, as though she were waiting to see how he would react.
Charlie looked back at the moving chair.
Then at the fallen paintings.
Finally, he watched the chandelier swinging above them.
Telekinesis.
The realization struck him all at once.
That explained why the Book of Containment had not detected a new supernatural target.
There was no ghost inside the hotel room.
“Madison.”
Charlie slowly turned toward her.
She widened her eyes with exaggerated innocence.
“What?”
“I almost forgot you were an actress.”
His frightened expression disappeared as he glared at her.
“Excellent performance.
I never realized your acting had improved this much.”
The chair stopped moving.
The remaining glasses dropped gently onto the table while the chandelier slowed above them.
Within seconds, the entire room returned to perfect calm.
Madison’s prank was over.