After almost an hour of negotiation and discussion, the brothers finally came to an arrangement. Adrian was already the owner of ninety-five percent of his father's most profitable business. Adrian made the naval fleet grow beyond everyone's expectations; five of the six ships that made the fleet were bought by him and were in his name. The remaining ship that was still in his father's name was an old boat that was about to be scrapped in the next few years. No one wanted that.
"It checks out. Sorry, but you really have no claim over the naval enterprise; it is basically his work. However, there are a few buildings, mainly this nursing home, that are very profitable." one of the lawyers informed.
He wanted to fight the case, but he knew it was a lost battle.
"I have the right to twenty-five percent of this building and the others, and I am not renouncing my inheritance." Adrian confirmed what the others were thinking.
The other building's were not so important: a bakery on rent and an automated parking lot. The good stuff was the nursing home; it was a safe bet, easy to administer, and an easy-to-sell business.
"I have a proposition."
Adrian had planned for this long ago. He didn't like his brothers; they were leeches; they came with the firm intention of sucking whatever they could out of the old man's fortune; however, he was planning on giving them a life lesson. Meanwhile, by the side of the unaware alive people, the ghosts were paying close attention to what was being discussed. Mr. Santana was surprised and proud of what his son had accomplished. His dementia didn't allow him to follow up on his business growth; he never imagined that his small boat company would turn into such a monstrosity. The ships his son bought to expand the business were very expensive, and all of it was firmly in Adrian's hands.
"Oh, what is your proposal?" Clara was the first one to show interest.
"The current tenant of the building of the bakery made an offer to buy it. It's a good offer; in cash, we could sell it and split the money among us. On the other side, I know you all want a share of this nursing home, so I am willing to renounce my ownership in exchange for the parking lot and the five percent left of the fleet." Adrian exposed his proposal and showed them the amount they were about to make with his agreement.
The brothers wanted cash mostly, so the sale of the bakery was a no-brainer. They tried to renegotiate the rest of the agreement, but the truth was that in the long term, the twenty-five percent of the nursing home held a lot more value than the parking lot and that old boat about to be decommissioned. At the end, they made a deal. From that moment on, Adrian would have no relation to the nursing home, and the rest of the brothers were supposed to share thirty-three percent of the nursing home ownership each. A lot of documents were signed, and a considerable amount of money was transferred from Adrian's account to his brothers and sister. Everyone was quite happy with the result of the negotiations. Adrian left first. The brothers informed the personnel of the changes in management and ownership.
"Do you wish to see the building?" A nurse offered.
"No, thank you; we will be on our way." Answered Clara.
The brothers were not interested in the building at all. All of them were thinking about selling it to the best buyer and making a lot of cash out of it. Although there was no hurry, the sale of the bakery alleviated their most urgent need. The brothers left.
"Well, we are in trouble." lamented Martin.
At the beginning, Mr. Santana was happy to see that his eldest son managed to save his fortune from the leeches. However, seeing the worried faces of the rest of the ghosts reminded him of his situation. According to the other ghosts, he was at huge risk. He didn't believe it to be true until a few days later, when he had to take refuge in the pantry and saw the munchers roaming in the hallway. Then reality did its thing and hit him like a ton of bricks. If the nursing home was closed down, he and the other ghosts would be screwed. His conversation with Martin and the others put him up to date on what was happening—the bribes, the regulation infringements on the building, and the fact that Adrian was not only about to fuck up his brothers in a bad way—but also condemn every soul in that building.
Two weeks later, Elizabeth's ability to influence her host became useful again; the last two munchers incursions brought no casualties, which was great news. However, something had to go wrong. A month after the brothers visited, the town hall sent a group of specialists for a special technical building inspection. These were not the usual guys who were already on Adrian's pay list.
"Jesus Christ," complained one of the technicians, calling to his colleagues attention. "Is that asbestos?"
"Yup, it is."
"That is nothing," said another one. "The plumbing has lead pipes and some copper ones; the electrical system is all weird; I don't know how this place hasn't caught fire yet. The iron rod disposition of the walls is a mess; how can this place keep its integrity? It makes no sense at all."
"So, what does that mean?" Asked the nurse, playing the fool.
"This building should have been closed a long time ago; it breaks every regulation in the book. Sorry, we will have to close this place down as soon as possible."
Adrian's plan worked; his brothers would not only lose a lot of money, but if they tried to make a fuss about it, they might have to deal with legal repercussions. The previous inspectors were not only retired two years prior; they even moved to South America. Meanwhile, panic was spreading among the other residents of the building.
"This is it," said Elizabeth.
"Indeed. Now we just have to wait and find a safe place for ourselves." Affirmed Willy. "Can I count on you?"
"Yeah, we are a good team," she answered, leaving the room. Willy went back to sit with his head between his legs while leeching away from his host.
The ghosts had a little bit of hope that Adrian's brothers would find a way to delay or avoid the closure of the building. However, that didn't happen. Three days later, the nurses and nurse assistants were choosing how the patients in the nursing home would be redistributed to other institutions. The situation was hopeless; many of the ghosts lost any desire to survive. That same night, the munchers attacked, and some ghosts decided not to hide. The munchers came for them, and the other ghosts saw them eat their neighbors in the hallway. The atmosphere in the nursing home was grim for both the living and the dead. The workers lost a good job, the patients lost a very comfortable living place, and the ghost lost any chance for survival.
"I don't believe things will end just like this." Said Martin.
"What do you mean?" Asked Santana.
"I am pretty sure something is going to happen once all the living leave this place."
He was not the only one who had this feeling, although what others had was hope that the building would open up and they would be able to leave and escape the munchers.
"I can't do it without calling too much attention, but you two must keep an eye on Elizabeth and Willy."
"Yeah, something is off," John agreed. "Willy usually never moves his host, but lately Elizabeth visits him a lot. Every time she does, Willy closes the door. They are planning something."
Watching over Elizabeth was John's homework, and lately he noticed some changes in her routine. From now on, while John kept Elizabeth under surveillance, Santana would keep an eye on Willy. The old man could not shake off the feeling that he was forgetting something very important. But the information was not clear in his mind; he was pretty sure it was something he learned or heard after the onset of his dementia. He remembered that his son Adrian came to see him once, and they talked about many things, some personal, some related to his business, but the details avoided his memories. For the time being, he didn't have any choice but to watch Willy.
Meanwhile, by the gap between his legs, Willy's eyes were fixed on Santana like a hawk watching his prey.