Abnormal Inn
A runaway guy finally runs out of money and is forced to get a job where the train brings him, But the road ends with no luck, and no chance at a job. He then hears about an Inn up the hill, which everyone is scared to go to, that just had an opening for a caretaker..
Chapter 1: End of the Long Line.
Well, I guess the best place to start my story is where it started. Right now I'm on a crappy train, it smells like peanuts and looks like rot. An old train, with nearly no riders, and I'm just on it to get further away. I ran away from home at age seventeen, and have been on the road ever since. I'm nineteen now. I woke up and looked out the window, overgrown trees and branches scraping against the window. The train slowed down a bit, and the tree line thinned out. I was looking out the window at a fairly small town, bright and bee buzzing, flora galore, and most of the buildings looked wooden from here. The conductor opened the door at the front of the train. He was probably here for me, seeing how I was the only one on the train anymore. He was a man of large build, wearing a blue conductor suit, and looked like he could snap someone in half. He had black hair, sunglasses, was taller than me by a foot or so, and had a beard that would impress even Chuck Norris himself.
He said to me, "Hey, kid, get off the damn train. Last stop, unless you have the money."
I got up and looked through my pockets. No money. I looked through my jacket. No money. I opened my backpack and looked through all of the pouches. In the front pouch I found a five dollar bill. I turned to the guy and held up the five. "I got five bucks." I said.
He looked at the money, the back up to me. He said, "Get the hell off of the train. Welcome to Nowhere, Kid."
"Nowhere?" I asked, "Is that seriously the name of this place?"
"Go ask a local." With that, he walked out of the car and slammed the door shut. I picked up my backpack and sluggishly slumped out of the train into the streets of the backwater town. While I walked past the exit of the train station, I noticed my previous observations to be mostly true. There were badly paved roads, which still looked nicer then the ones back in my hometown, mind you. The buildings were mostly wooden. Some even made out of just logs. I saw a sign over near the center of the town, and ran over to it. There was a map. I looked at it, and found where I was, muttering to myself, "The wood line.. Ending at Green Town? What a stupid name for a town." I looked up and noticed how all of the trees and bushes were everywhere, as if people decided to just build around them rather than cut them down. "Never mind, suits it fine." I looked back down to my hand, and noticed my five dollars. "I need a job" I thought aloud. I looked back at the board and saw a job list. Going down the list, I noticed that the list was essentially empty, because all of these jobs were already taken and crossed off. I guess in order to live, I would need to get a job, make some money, then ditch town, but with no jobs.. I looked over to a convenience store nearby, one of the only stone buildings around. I walked in and looked around for food. A man walked in behind me to talk to the store clerk, who was watching me.
"Hey Tom, How is it today? Any news?" The visitor said to the clerk.
Tom replied, "Nothing much, just relaxing and waiting for some people to buy some things." He motioned over to me. "Alma hasn't been around in a few days, I'm sure she needs to come and buy food sometime with all of those people in that hotel she's got."
"Yeah, hey, Alma find a caretaker for that place yet? She was looking for one earlier."
"Nah, who would go up there? Abnormal Inn is a disaster waiting to happen. I mean, building a hotel on a ridge? What she nuts? There's hardly indoor plumbing up there! Last I heard, she's got toilets, but they use a hot spring as a bath up there."
"Well, I saw Jones going up there yesterday, did he get the job?"
Tom shook his head. "Nope. He said he was scared shatless up there. Too high, and too creepy. Who would want a job at Abnormal Inn?"
I turned around and asked the clerk, "Wait, there's actually a job up the hill?"
He looked at me surprised, and responded, "Well yeah, but you'd be a fool to go there. The walk is a half a mile up stone stairs two houses down. You can't miss it, there's an arch above the walkway."
I dropped the chips back where I got them and walked out of the store down the street. The man ran to the door and yelled after me, "You're a fool newcomer! If you get there and take that job, who knows what's gonna happen to you!"
I looked back and said to him, "I'll be fine. I've been on my own for over two years, I think I can handle a nice warm hotel!" With that, I turned the corner and looked up the stairs which were before me. I saw a building way up at the top of the stairs, as well as a large metal pipe going up the left side of the brown, worn down stone that went up and into it. I stepped up the first step and could tell this was going to be a long walk.
He said to me, "Hey, kid, get off the damn train. Last stop, unless you have the money."
I got up and looked through my pockets. No money. I looked through my jacket. No money. I opened my backpack and looked through all of the pouches. In the front pouch I found a five dollar bill. I turned to the guy and held up the five. "I got five bucks." I said.
He looked at the money, the back up to me. He said, "Get the hell off of the train. Welcome to Nowhere, Kid."
"Nowhere?" I asked, "Is that seriously the name of this place?"
"Go ask a local." With that, he walked out of the car and slammed the door shut. I picked up my backpack and sluggishly slumped out of the train into the streets of the backwater town. While I walked past the exit of the train station, I noticed my previous observations to be mostly true. There were badly paved roads, which still looked nicer then the ones back in my hometown, mind you. The buildings were mostly wooden. Some even made out of just logs. I saw a sign over near the center of the town, and ran over to it. There was a map. I looked at it, and found where I was, muttering to myself, "The wood line.. Ending at Green Town? What a stupid name for a town." I looked up and noticed how all of the trees and bushes were everywhere, as if people decided to just build around them rather than cut them down. "Never mind, suits it fine." I looked back down to my hand, and noticed my five dollars. "I need a job" I thought aloud. I looked back at the board and saw a job list. Going down the list, I noticed that the list was essentially empty, because all of these jobs were already taken and crossed off. I guess in order to live, I would need to get a job, make some money, then ditch town, but with no jobs.. I looked over to a convenience store nearby, one of the only stone buildings around. I walked in and looked around for food. A man walked in behind me to talk to the store clerk, who was watching me.
"Hey Tom, How is it today? Any news?" The visitor said to the clerk.
Tom replied, "Nothing much, just relaxing and waiting for some people to buy some things." He motioned over to me. "Alma hasn't been around in a few days, I'm sure she needs to come and buy food sometime with all of those people in that hotel she's got."
"Yeah, hey, Alma find a caretaker for that place yet? She was looking for one earlier."
"Nah, who would go up there? Abnormal Inn is a disaster waiting to happen. I mean, building a hotel on a ridge? What she nuts? There's hardly indoor plumbing up there! Last I heard, she's got toilets, but they use a hot spring as a bath up there."
"Well, I saw Jones going up there yesterday, did he get the job?"
Tom shook his head. "Nope. He said he was scared shatless up there. Too high, and too creepy. Who would want a job at Abnormal Inn?"
I turned around and asked the clerk, "Wait, there's actually a job up the hill?"
He looked at me surprised, and responded, "Well yeah, but you'd be a fool to go there. The walk is a half a mile up stone stairs two houses down. You can't miss it, there's an arch above the walkway."
I dropped the chips back where I got them and walked out of the store down the street. The man ran to the door and yelled after me, "You're a fool newcomer! If you get there and take that job, who knows what's gonna happen to you!"
I looked back and said to him, "I'll be fine. I've been on my own for over two years, I think I can handle a nice warm hotel!" With that, I turned the corner and looked up the stairs which were before me. I saw a building way up at the top of the stairs, as well as a large metal pipe going up the left side of the brown, worn down stone that went up and into it. I stepped up the first step and could tell this was going to be a long walk.
Chapter 2: It Couldn't Get Any Worse.
It took a while, but after about fifteen minutes I finally reached the top of the hellish stairway. It really couldn't get any worse at this point. Even if I didn't get the job, It would be easier on the way down the stairs, for sure. I looked in front of me. I was now standing in front of a large one story building which looked like it was made of logs from the outside. Who builds a hotel on the side of a mountain?! I looked behind me again, down at the town. The little Green Town was smaller than my back pack from here. On second thought, My fist may have been bigger from here. I turned around and walked into the hotel.
Inside, the place looked a lot more modern. It had actual walls, electric sockets, lights, carpeting, all of the normal stuff. I was looking around the small lobby, and noticed how bare it was. There was a door across from the once I'd entered, and a wall to my right, even though I was on the front left corner of the building. There was no desk, just a table in the middle of the room to my left. The walls were decorated with all sorts of Native American looking items. I turned to my left, and looked past the nicely made table. There was an elderly Native American woman sitting cross legged. She was all bundled up, and even though it was March and it was all snowy up here, inside it wasn't cold at all. I sat across the table from her and took a deep breath.
"Ma'am?" I asked, "Is the job you had open still available?"
She opened her eyes and looked at me with a somewhat unsurprised look in her eye. She seemed serious in every way, and I thought she was going to scold me. Instead, she starting laughing at me, and gave me a big grin. "You, boy," She started, "Want the caretaker role for Abnormal Inn? What, be you mad boy?"
I replied, "Well, no, I just need a job for a while."
She gave me a glare. Suddenly serious again she said, "Well boy, working here there's a contract of sorts. I won't make you sign anything, but you have a duty to protect the tenants."
"Wait, I thought I was the Caretaker?"
"Yes, boy. Taking care of the people not the property. We already have someone who shops, people to cook and clean, and the regulation of rooms is the duty of the room owners themselves."
This made me think a bit, "Hey, what if they trash the room and move on?"
To this she had a fairly definite and sure sounding reply, "They won't leave."
"Oh..." I said, and thought for a moment. I had to stay here, for a long time, and couldn't leave? ... Well, either way, if I had enough money, I could just ditch town. It sounded like a pretty fair deal. After a few minutes of my internal argument, she interrupted me.
"You ran away from home."
I looked up surprised. I said to this, "Yes, I did. I hated it there. It was hell."
She smiled, and her joking mood snapped back into motion. "Well, we're all out of rooms, but I could let you have the closet for the time being. Drop off your bag, and then come right back here. The closet is right outside, and on the hallway to the right. First door, and it says 'More' on it."
"More?" I asked.
She just pointed at the door. I took it that she was 'Serious Native American lady' again, and walked out of the pretty room. The hallways, from what I saw first off, had a light about every other door. I was looking down the hallway in front of me, and I noticed the walls were a light green. The doors were mostly different colors, but I saw a majority of dark brown, all wooden. I turned to the right, and the door I was looking for was right next to the one I had come out of. I opened it, and threw my bag inside. It was a small, white room with a blue carpet that matched the one in the hallway. Empty wooden shelves lined the walls. It, strangely, had a small mattress on the floor. I noticed the top shelf was numbered, around the three walls other than the one holding the door, from one to twenty, each with a little platform. I flipped the switch on the wall, and the overhead light clicked off. I closed the door and looked down the hallway once more, and noticed a girl staring down at me. She was a little shorter than me, and had black hair. She had golden-brown eyes and had a little bit of a tan. She just tilted her head at me and went around the far corner. I decided to ignore this, and went back the the main room.
The lady inside, who I was assuming was the owner, was still sitting there. She motioned for me to sit again, and I did. When my ass was firmly planted on the floor, my legs crossed, and looked like I wasn't going anywhere, she started talking to me again. "So, you need a job, and came here, despite the warnings and hesitations of the townspeople who've known this place their whole lives?"
I quickly responded, "Yep, I need the money."
"Foolish boy, then. Fine, take the clipboard by the door and go and meet everyone. Start at Room One, which is to your left as soon as you leave this room." She got up and walked to the front door, which she closed the blinds on. "You're to be their caretaker."
"Hey, what exactly IS a caretaker?"
Just make sure nobody gets hurt, and come here if you need any help. There's a closet next to your room that is full of towels, first aid, and more. Now go, child."
"I'm actually nineteen."
"As is most of this hotel's tenants. Now go, boy."
"So, How many rooms ar-"
She interrupted me, Yelling, "Go!" and pointed at the door to the hallway. I quickly rose to my feet, grabbed the clipboard and pen, and ran out into the hallway of Abnormal Inn.
Inside, the place looked a lot more modern. It had actual walls, electric sockets, lights, carpeting, all of the normal stuff. I was looking around the small lobby, and noticed how bare it was. There was a door across from the once I'd entered, and a wall to my right, even though I was on the front left corner of the building. There was no desk, just a table in the middle of the room to my left. The walls were decorated with all sorts of Native American looking items. I turned to my left, and looked past the nicely made table. There was an elderly Native American woman sitting cross legged. She was all bundled up, and even though it was March and it was all snowy up here, inside it wasn't cold at all. I sat across the table from her and took a deep breath.
"Ma'am?" I asked, "Is the job you had open still available?"
She opened her eyes and looked at me with a somewhat unsurprised look in her eye. She seemed serious in every way, and I thought she was going to scold me. Instead, she starting laughing at me, and gave me a big grin. "You, boy," She started, "Want the caretaker role for Abnormal Inn? What, be you mad boy?"
I replied, "Well, no, I just need a job for a while."
She gave me a glare. Suddenly serious again she said, "Well boy, working here there's a contract of sorts. I won't make you sign anything, but you have a duty to protect the tenants."
"Wait, I thought I was the Caretaker?"
"Yes, boy. Taking care of the people not the property. We already have someone who shops, people to cook and clean, and the regulation of rooms is the duty of the room owners themselves."
This made me think a bit, "Hey, what if they trash the room and move on?"
To this she had a fairly definite and sure sounding reply, "They won't leave."
"Oh..." I said, and thought for a moment. I had to stay here, for a long time, and couldn't leave? ... Well, either way, if I had enough money, I could just ditch town. It sounded like a pretty fair deal. After a few minutes of my internal argument, she interrupted me.
"You ran away from home."
I looked up surprised. I said to this, "Yes, I did. I hated it there. It was hell."
She smiled, and her joking mood snapped back into motion. "Well, we're all out of rooms, but I could let you have the closet for the time being. Drop off your bag, and then come right back here. The closet is right outside, and on the hallway to the right. First door, and it says 'More' on it."
"More?" I asked.
She just pointed at the door. I took it that she was 'Serious Native American lady' again, and walked out of the pretty room. The hallways, from what I saw first off, had a light about every other door. I was looking down the hallway in front of me, and I noticed the walls were a light green. The doors were mostly different colors, but I saw a majority of dark brown, all wooden. I turned to the right, and the door I was looking for was right next to the one I had come out of. I opened it, and threw my bag inside. It was a small, white room with a blue carpet that matched the one in the hallway. Empty wooden shelves lined the walls. It, strangely, had a small mattress on the floor. I noticed the top shelf was numbered, around the three walls other than the one holding the door, from one to twenty, each with a little platform. I flipped the switch on the wall, and the overhead light clicked off. I closed the door and looked down the hallway once more, and noticed a girl staring down at me. She was a little shorter than me, and had black hair. She had golden-brown eyes and had a little bit of a tan. She just tilted her head at me and went around the far corner. I decided to ignore this, and went back the the main room.
The lady inside, who I was assuming was the owner, was still sitting there. She motioned for me to sit again, and I did. When my ass was firmly planted on the floor, my legs crossed, and looked like I wasn't going anywhere, she started talking to me again. "So, you need a job, and came here, despite the warnings and hesitations of the townspeople who've known this place their whole lives?"
I quickly responded, "Yep, I need the money."
"Foolish boy, then. Fine, take the clipboard by the door and go and meet everyone. Start at Room One, which is to your left as soon as you leave this room." She got up and walked to the front door, which she closed the blinds on. "You're to be their caretaker."
"Hey, what exactly IS a caretaker?"
Just make sure nobody gets hurt, and come here if you need any help. There's a closet next to your room that is full of towels, first aid, and more. Now go, child."
"I'm actually nineteen."
"As is most of this hotel's tenants. Now go, boy."
"So, How many rooms ar-"
She interrupted me, Yelling, "Go!" and pointed at the door to the hallway. I quickly rose to my feet, grabbed the clipboard and pen, and ran out into the hallway of Abnormal Inn.
Chapter 3: The First Of Many
I walked away from the office door, if I could even call it that, and I heard the blinds close on that one as well. I turned to the door of Room One. I heard running water stop just then, and a little bit of movement. I also could hear some singing in a girl's voice. The voice was gentle and beautiful, as if pulling me into a trance. After a second, I snapped out of it, and knocked on the door. I heard a little more movement through the door, and a beautiful girl opened the door with a towel wrapped tightly to her body. Steam came out of the room, warm and wet in a mist. Obviously this beautiful girl had just gotten out of a shower. She had reddish-brown hair, and deep brown eyes. Her skin was tanned, almost as if she spend a lot of time at the beach, and much of it trying to look her best. This was odd because there was no beach around here. Not that I had seen on the map, anyways. She seemed bored - very bored - as she opened to the door, but after a moment of looking at me, her face lit up immediately. She stepped closer, and was leaning against me right away.
A nice smell flooded my senses, a beautiful taste tickled my tongue, and her eyes were staring into mine as she said to me, "Hello boy. Who are you?" I was stunned for a couple of seconds.
After the initial shock wore off, I took a step back to recollect myself. I looked her in the eyes and said to her, "I'm the new caretaker for the hotel, I'm supposed to go and meet everyone."
She looked surprised at this. "Caretaker?" She asked, "A boy, In Abnormal Inn?"
"What do you mean? There's no boys here? At all?"
"No, none at all. AI has been converted to a girls dorm over the past two or so years." Her eyes seemed to shift back into the seductive look from before, and she leaned on me again, slowly but surely pushing me into the wall across the hall while she said to me, "Well, I don't get to see many boys around here, and I'm so surprised she actually hired a boy.."
For a second, I panicked on my choices in this matter, and decided on one. "So, I gotta know everyone's name.. and Um.."
She leaned off of me, another surprised look. "Oh, Okay. Umm, I'm Lana. I reside in Room One." She pointed behind her. I looked over her shoulder to a room of a calm blue color. There was a bed on the left of the room, and a desk on the right. From the close right corner of the room, just down a little hall which acted as the entryway, there was steam flowing towards the center. I was guessing the close right wall held either a shower or a bathroom. I noticed a symbol on her door, a small little pixie like shape, with a kissy face. She took a step backwards into her doorway, and I looked down to the clipboard. Under to the square with a one written, I wrote "Lana" down. She said to me, leaning over, "I'm eighteen, you should write everyone's ages, It could really help. Not everyone here is over eighteen."
I looked up at her. I said, "Uhh, okay. I'll make a mental note of that." I wrote in a little parentheses in front of her name, "18"
She was still staring longingly at me, and after a few minutes it started to creep me out. She didn't say a word, just leaned on the door frame and stared at me lovingly. She was still holding her towel up with two fingers. I pointed down the hallway and said, "Well, I need to meet everyone else."
She seemed a little sad, and possibly hurt that I was leaving her presence. She said, "Oh, okay..."
"Well, have a good day, Lana." I said to her with a wave.
"Hopefully the first of many" I heard her whisper as she closed her door. I felt a shudder, and noticed immediately that I for some reason missed the beauty of her voice. I walked over to the next door down the hallway, one with a clock under a little "2", and took a deep breath.
A nice smell flooded my senses, a beautiful taste tickled my tongue, and her eyes were staring into mine as she said to me, "Hello boy. Who are you?" I was stunned for a couple of seconds.
After the initial shock wore off, I took a step back to recollect myself. I looked her in the eyes and said to her, "I'm the new caretaker for the hotel, I'm supposed to go and meet everyone."
She looked surprised at this. "Caretaker?" She asked, "A boy, In Abnormal Inn?"
"What do you mean? There's no boys here? At all?"
"No, none at all. AI has been converted to a girls dorm over the past two or so years." Her eyes seemed to shift back into the seductive look from before, and she leaned on me again, slowly but surely pushing me into the wall across the hall while she said to me, "Well, I don't get to see many boys around here, and I'm so surprised she actually hired a boy.."
For a second, I panicked on my choices in this matter, and decided on one. "So, I gotta know everyone's name.. and Um.."
She leaned off of me, another surprised look. "Oh, Okay. Umm, I'm Lana. I reside in Room One." She pointed behind her. I looked over her shoulder to a room of a calm blue color. There was a bed on the left of the room, and a desk on the right. From the close right corner of the room, just down a little hall which acted as the entryway, there was steam flowing towards the center. I was guessing the close right wall held either a shower or a bathroom. I noticed a symbol on her door, a small little pixie like shape, with a kissy face. She took a step backwards into her doorway, and I looked down to the clipboard. Under to the square with a one written, I wrote "Lana" down. She said to me, leaning over, "I'm eighteen, you should write everyone's ages, It could really help. Not everyone here is over eighteen."
I looked up at her. I said, "Uhh, okay. I'll make a mental note of that." I wrote in a little parentheses in front of her name, "18"
She was still staring longingly at me, and after a few minutes it started to creep me out. She didn't say a word, just leaned on the door frame and stared at me lovingly. She was still holding her towel up with two fingers. I pointed down the hallway and said, "Well, I need to meet everyone else."
She seemed a little sad, and possibly hurt that I was leaving her presence. She said, "Oh, okay..."
"Well, have a good day, Lana." I said to her with a wave.
"Hopefully the first of many" I heard her whisper as she closed her door. I felt a shudder, and noticed immediately that I for some reason missed the beauty of her voice. I walked over to the next door down the hallway, one with a clock under a little "2", and took a deep breath.
Chapter 4: There's No Time Like The Present
I stood before the door and gathered my breath. If this girl was anything like Lana, I'd have a really hard time here. I looked at the door here, a lighter brown then Room One, and I noticed that there was little words and numbers carved into it. All of there were times, or phrases about times, et cetera. On this door, there was another symbol hanging beneath the number. It was a clock with a crazy face... The longer I looked at it, to more I seemed to notice the details of it. The minute hand was crooked, and the left eye was larger than the right. There was no mouth, and the two seemed to be bolded. For a few more minutes I looked at it, then raise my hand to knock. I heard someone from the other side in a sweet voice say, "Come in."
I opened the door a little, and said inside, "Uhh, Hi. I'm the new caretaker, I have to meet everyone in the Inn before I can go back to the main office... thing"
I heard her reply, "Oh. Okay, come in for a few minutes. You've got the time, right?"
"Okay, I guess I do." I opened the door the rest of the way and walked through the small entryway. Inside, I was amazed at how nice the room was. There was a sofa to my right, next to the desk. They both were of black and white checkered design, and put together marvelously. On the desk there was very few things. I was a jar for pens and pencils, a computer monitor, mouse, and keyboard, and some strange stand for a cool looking watch. This room had shelves past that, and a bathroom behind me and to the right. I looked around amazed. The carpet matched the couch, and the walls matched carpet. She did a great job with the room. I looked over to the bed, which had a similar design, where I saw her. She had a beautiful smile, complimented by her brown eyes, which seemed to match her curly light brown hair. She wore jeans with holes ripped in the knees, and a shirt that read, "Where does the time go?"
She was staring at me with her legs crossed, arm leaned on her knee, and her head resting on her hand. She raised up her other hand and waved. I waved back and said, "Amazing room you have here, I love it."
She pointed above the couch at something and said, "That's my favorite part, right there." I looked over to where she was pointing, and noticed something I hadn't seen before. There was a line of clocks in all fashions there. The first one was a black and white clock, set at the current time. The next one looked fairly old, and it was made of wood, ticking away at 6:45. The third in this line was glowing, and set to 1:33. The fourth was majorly metal, and very nice looking, set to 10:15. There was also a sundial next to that, which made me laugh a little bit, and at the very end was a clock with the glass smashed on it, the cracks danced across the glass like lightning on a stormy night. It had stopped ticking, at exactly 7:23, and seventeen seconds.
I looked back to her, where she was waving to me to sit down. I did so, then asked her, "Hey, What's with all the clocks?"
She looked at me with a grin and said, "I love clocks, they're so amazing. A device that let's us know when we are, could you imagine life without them?"
I thought about life without clocks for a few minutes, then crafted an amazing response to her question. "No."
She laughed and looked down at my feet. She commented, "You know you can leave your shoes somewhere right? You don't need to bring them with you. I assume you're in the empty room, so you should be fine with a place to put them."
I though about it for a second. "Yeah, I guess." I said to her. About this time, I noticed that I didn't figure out what I came to know. I asked, "Right, I was wondering what your name and age were. Can I know?"
She quickly replied, "Emma Dreer, Eighteen."
I wrote this down under the "2" space, and added "Likes time" under it. After this I thought about it for a second. I also wrote "friendly".
She leaned over and looked at the clipboard, and giggled at me. "Taking notes?" She asked me.
I nodded, then got up off of the bed. "Well, I need to go and see the rest of the people in the hotel now. Will you excuse me?"
She laughed again and waved, saying, "You are excused."
I walked out of her room closing the door behind me. I decided to drop off my shoes before I continued, so I went to my room. Just as I was opening the door, something caught my eye. I pushed the door closed a bit, and looked on the front of it. There was a sign on my door reading "Caretaker's Room"
I opened the door a little, and said inside, "Uhh, Hi. I'm the new caretaker, I have to meet everyone in the Inn before I can go back to the main office... thing"
I heard her reply, "Oh. Okay, come in for a few minutes. You've got the time, right?"
"Okay, I guess I do." I opened the door the rest of the way and walked through the small entryway. Inside, I was amazed at how nice the room was. There was a sofa to my right, next to the desk. They both were of black and white checkered design, and put together marvelously. On the desk there was very few things. I was a jar for pens and pencils, a computer monitor, mouse, and keyboard, and some strange stand for a cool looking watch. This room had shelves past that, and a bathroom behind me and to the right. I looked around amazed. The carpet matched the couch, and the walls matched carpet. She did a great job with the room. I looked over to the bed, which had a similar design, where I saw her. She had a beautiful smile, complimented by her brown eyes, which seemed to match her curly light brown hair. She wore jeans with holes ripped in the knees, and a shirt that read, "Where does the time go?"
She was staring at me with her legs crossed, arm leaned on her knee, and her head resting on her hand. She raised up her other hand and waved. I waved back and said, "Amazing room you have here, I love it."
She pointed above the couch at something and said, "That's my favorite part, right there." I looked over to where she was pointing, and noticed something I hadn't seen before. There was a line of clocks in all fashions there. The first one was a black and white clock, set at the current time. The next one looked fairly old, and it was made of wood, ticking away at 6:45. The third in this line was glowing, and set to 1:33. The fourth was majorly metal, and very nice looking, set to 10:15. There was also a sundial next to that, which made me laugh a little bit, and at the very end was a clock with the glass smashed on it, the cracks danced across the glass like lightning on a stormy night. It had stopped ticking, at exactly 7:23, and seventeen seconds.
I looked back to her, where she was waving to me to sit down. I did so, then asked her, "Hey, What's with all the clocks?"
She looked at me with a grin and said, "I love clocks, they're so amazing. A device that let's us know when we are, could you imagine life without them?"
I thought about life without clocks for a few minutes, then crafted an amazing response to her question. "No."
She laughed and looked down at my feet. She commented, "You know you can leave your shoes somewhere right? You don't need to bring them with you. I assume you're in the empty room, so you should be fine with a place to put them."
I though about it for a second. "Yeah, I guess." I said to her. About this time, I noticed that I didn't figure out what I came to know. I asked, "Right, I was wondering what your name and age were. Can I know?"
She quickly replied, "Emma Dreer, Eighteen."
I wrote this down under the "2" space, and added "Likes time" under it. After this I thought about it for a second. I also wrote "friendly".
She leaned over and looked at the clipboard, and giggled at me. "Taking notes?" She asked me.
I nodded, then got up off of the bed. "Well, I need to go and see the rest of the people in the hotel now. Will you excuse me?"
She laughed again and waved, saying, "You are excused."
I walked out of her room closing the door behind me. I decided to drop off my shoes before I continued, so I went to my room. Just as I was opening the door, something caught my eye. I pushed the door closed a bit, and looked on the front of it. There was a sign on my door reading "Caretaker's Room"
Chapter 5: Pepper
I was staring at the sign on the door amazed, and confused. Had that been there before? I thought there was a different sign there earlier.. Oh well. I guess I had read it wrong. I pushed the door open and walked in, closing the door behind me. Inside, I was shocked as well. Earlier, I could have sworn this was a closet, but now it looked like all of the other rooms I saw so far. A small walkway, leading into a bedroom. I stepped in about a foot or two and looked over to the left. I saw a bed. A black layout with a heart in the shape of a hand grenade on it. A Green Day bed? I looked around the room confused, Because all of my stuff seemed to be gone. I looked over to the right and saw a desk in it's normal spot, and a dresser next to it, with my bag on top of it. I walked over and opened it, just to find it empty as well. I opened the dresser right after that, and looked into all of the shelves. All of my things were there. I looked into what normally would have been the corner to my right if I were standing in the doorway, and noticed a small bathroom with a sink and toilet, not too big but certainly a bathroom, and it had a sliding wood door. I tried to figure out what had happened, looking around the room more. The shelves I had seen before with all of the numbers had moved too, into a small space at the end of the bed, going all the was over the bed and into the far left corner of the room. Between the desk and bed was a small nightstand, and an even smaller square window that I could see the town from. Still amazed and confused, I slipped my shoes next to the nightstand and left the room. Outside, I went over to the door to Room Three. The door was slightly singed and burned in places, but smelled more of candles than smoke. I noticed a little candle shaped icon under the number on the door with a little face on the flame. I put the final thoughts of my own room out of my head and knocked on the door.
When the door opened, a fairly annoyed looking girl answered the door with a scowl on her face. She had amber eyes which burned like cinders staring into mine, and long orange hair which also had a strange fusion of other colors that made her hair seem to be a blaze when it swayed. Her somewhat pale skin made the color of her eyes and hair more intense as if I would light on fire just by being here looking at her. She had a punk shirt on with the same little fire sign that was on her door, and jeans with some holes and burns on them. She spoke with a voice as annoyed as her expression saying, "Whadda you want?"
I held up the clipboard for a second and said, "Well, I'm the new caretaker and I need to learn everyone's name and age."
She let out a sign and replied, "Pepper Woods. Nineteen. Is that all, CT?"
I wrote this down, and replied with a question, "CT?"
"Short for Caretaker, buddy." I noticed some sort of accent in her voice, but I couldn't tell what it was yet...
"Oh.. Well, I guess if that's what you want, I can keep going on now."
"Good." She replied, "I need to get back to the candles." With that she moved a bit and pointed into the room behind her.
Her room had a basic coat of orange paint on it, singed every now and then by a light gray. Her carpet was white as can be, not an easy thing to accomplish. From the doorway I could see the orange and white color scheme continued onto her bed and desk, the shelves and dresser, and just about everything else I could see. There were candles in her room, and a LOT of them. I could see a amazing setup of candles on a strange metal holder. All of the candles were also white and orange. The girl, Pepper, turned back to me and waved bye, then closed the door before I could even respond. What a short visit.. Oh well. I wrote down next to her name, "Likes candles, Easily annoyed" and moved down the hallway more. I got to Room Four, which had a cold wind coming out of the slightly cracked open door, and shivered.
When the door opened, a fairly annoyed looking girl answered the door with a scowl on her face. She had amber eyes which burned like cinders staring into mine, and long orange hair which also had a strange fusion of other colors that made her hair seem to be a blaze when it swayed. Her somewhat pale skin made the color of her eyes and hair more intense as if I would light on fire just by being here looking at her. She had a punk shirt on with the same little fire sign that was on her door, and jeans with some holes and burns on them. She spoke with a voice as annoyed as her expression saying, "Whadda you want?"
I held up the clipboard for a second and said, "Well, I'm the new caretaker and I need to learn everyone's name and age."
She let out a sign and replied, "Pepper Woods. Nineteen. Is that all, CT?"
I wrote this down, and replied with a question, "CT?"
"Short for Caretaker, buddy." I noticed some sort of accent in her voice, but I couldn't tell what it was yet...
"Oh.. Well, I guess if that's what you want, I can keep going on now."
"Good." She replied, "I need to get back to the candles." With that she moved a bit and pointed into the room behind her.
Her room had a basic coat of orange paint on it, singed every now and then by a light gray. Her carpet was white as can be, not an easy thing to accomplish. From the doorway I could see the orange and white color scheme continued onto her bed and desk, the shelves and dresser, and just about everything else I could see. There were candles in her room, and a LOT of them. I could see a amazing setup of candles on a strange metal holder. All of the candles were also white and orange. The girl, Pepper, turned back to me and waved bye, then closed the door before I could even respond. What a short visit.. Oh well. I wrote down next to her name, "Likes candles, Easily annoyed" and moved down the hallway more. I got to Room Four, which had a cold wind coming out of the slightly cracked open door, and shivered.
Chapter 6: The Color... Grey?
I was standing there for about a minute, looking at the door, and the little emblem on it, before I heard something sounding like a refrigerator door closing and a girl stepped out of the room with some food. She was the shortest girl I'd seen so far, about four inches shorter than I was. Her hair was a white-blue color, and her eyes matched it with an icy blue. Her clothes were of a similar color scheme, light blue and white. She seemed surprised to see me and my sidekick the clipboard outside her room. She asked in a somewhat calming tone, "Uh, Hi, who are you?"
I replied, "Hello, I'm the caretaker of the hotel as of about.. an hour ago. I have to learn everyone's name and age."
"Ahhh." Her face turned calm, and gentle. "I get it, okay. But I have to drop this off at the dining room." She reached back and closed her door. "Wanna come with?"
I smiled politely and said, "Sure. I'd be happy to." I paused for a second and said, "Dining room?"
She nodded and walked down the hallway past the rooms I had checked earlier and around the corner with the food, waving for me to follow her. I hurried around the corner after her and past my room. We walked past the smaller closet next to it. She stopped at the next door on the right and opened it. I follower her in and we were in a room with a long table and a television on the wall at the close end. The table was about twenty or twenty two chairs long. They were all numbered as well. The carpet in this room was the same as the carpet in the hallways, and in my room. I followed this girl down to the other end of the room and out though another door leading to a kitchen area. There was someone else in this room, and my new friend greeted her.
"Hello Alma. I brought the food." She placed it down on the counter and the other girl, a Native American girl taller than me, looked over. This other girl had gray hair, looked a little older than me, and her full, deep, rich brown eyes. There was an apron tied around her and she was obviously starting to cook. She pulled the bag of food over to where she was.
She said to the other girl, "Thank you Millie Grey. I'm assuming this other person is either your boyfriend, or the new caretaker."
My new friend, who I'm guessing was named Millie Grey, said, "He's the new caretaker." Without a change in expression.
Alma laughed, and looked over to me. "He's not gonna be here too long. Jaime was out in three days, I bet this boy won't last even two. Maria was out after that long, and I'm gonna bet this guy will run away even sooner." She looked towards me as her expression shifted to total seriousness. "Can you take this hotel and all it's responsibilities?"
I nodded at her, and started writing down the name "Millie Grey" under Room Four on the clip board. Alma said over to me, her joking tone returning, "Taking notes kid? Alma Ibnorn, Twenty one, Room Nineteen." I shrugged and wrote that down too. She then looked back at Millie. "Hey, Millie Grey, thank you for the food, I can take it from here. Please escort your new friend out, I'm scared he'd get lost on his own." I decided to add under Alma, "Makes fun of me a lot." Millie grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen, past the table, through the hallway, and back to her room, where she also dragged me into.
I argued the whole time, "Hey, I can walk myself you know. You listening? Helloooo? Millie? Millie Grey? You alive in there?" When she finally got me back to the room I noticed one thing immediately. I was freezing my ass off. Her room had white-blue walls, and her window was open, ice forming on her desk. She had a large metal door on the right wall of her room, which read "freezer" and I noticed something moving around on the white carpet. I looked at it closer as she sat over near her bed. There was... a penguin in her room?! I looked over to her bed, which had an icy design on it, and asked, "Hey, Why's there a penguin in your room?"
She responded, in the same tone I'd heard her talk in the whole time so far, "She's my pet, Frosty."
I stood there bewildered, staring at this whole weird room. She had ice in her room, a freezer in her wall, a penguin in her room, and never seemed to change emotion. Could she get any more frozen then she already was? I asked her, finally, "So, I need information of everyone. Can I get to know some stuff about you?"
She replied, "Sure. I'm Millie Grey White. Weird name huh? Sounds like two colors. I'm Nineteen years old, and came here when I was about Sixteen. I got that penguin as a present, and if you hurt it I'll lock you in the freezer. Speaking of which, the freezer's in here, and I'm the one who can access it for the food for the house. You may have noticed I'm usually calm... that's just how I am. Any questions?"
I was writing down some things about her, "Millie Grey White, 19, Calm, has a penguin named Frosty" I responded to her question, "No, I'm good. Thank you. I'll leave you and... Frosty alone now." I waved goodbye and left the room. It was so much warmer in the hallway! I got my blood flowing again and walked around the corner and up to the black door of Room Five.
I replied, "Hello, I'm the caretaker of the hotel as of about.. an hour ago. I have to learn everyone's name and age."
"Ahhh." Her face turned calm, and gentle. "I get it, okay. But I have to drop this off at the dining room." She reached back and closed her door. "Wanna come with?"
I smiled politely and said, "Sure. I'd be happy to." I paused for a second and said, "Dining room?"
She nodded and walked down the hallway past the rooms I had checked earlier and around the corner with the food, waving for me to follow her. I hurried around the corner after her and past my room. We walked past the smaller closet next to it. She stopped at the next door on the right and opened it. I follower her in and we were in a room with a long table and a television on the wall at the close end. The table was about twenty or twenty two chairs long. They were all numbered as well. The carpet in this room was the same as the carpet in the hallways, and in my room. I followed this girl down to the other end of the room and out though another door leading to a kitchen area. There was someone else in this room, and my new friend greeted her.
"Hello Alma. I brought the food." She placed it down on the counter and the other girl, a Native American girl taller than me, looked over. This other girl had gray hair, looked a little older than me, and her full, deep, rich brown eyes. There was an apron tied around her and she was obviously starting to cook. She pulled the bag of food over to where she was.
She said to the other girl, "Thank you Millie Grey. I'm assuming this other person is either your boyfriend, or the new caretaker."
My new friend, who I'm guessing was named Millie Grey, said, "He's the new caretaker." Without a change in expression.
Alma laughed, and looked over to me. "He's not gonna be here too long. Jaime was out in three days, I bet this boy won't last even two. Maria was out after that long, and I'm gonna bet this guy will run away even sooner." She looked towards me as her expression shifted to total seriousness. "Can you take this hotel and all it's responsibilities?"
I nodded at her, and started writing down the name "Millie Grey" under Room Four on the clip board. Alma said over to me, her joking tone returning, "Taking notes kid? Alma Ibnorn, Twenty one, Room Nineteen." I shrugged and wrote that down too. She then looked back at Millie. "Hey, Millie Grey, thank you for the food, I can take it from here. Please escort your new friend out, I'm scared he'd get lost on his own." I decided to add under Alma, "Makes fun of me a lot." Millie grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen, past the table, through the hallway, and back to her room, where she also dragged me into.
I argued the whole time, "Hey, I can walk myself you know. You listening? Helloooo? Millie? Millie Grey? You alive in there?" When she finally got me back to the room I noticed one thing immediately. I was freezing my ass off. Her room had white-blue walls, and her window was open, ice forming on her desk. She had a large metal door on the right wall of her room, which read "freezer" and I noticed something moving around on the white carpet. I looked at it closer as she sat over near her bed. There was... a penguin in her room?! I looked over to her bed, which had an icy design on it, and asked, "Hey, Why's there a penguin in your room?"
She responded, in the same tone I'd heard her talk in the whole time so far, "She's my pet, Frosty."
I stood there bewildered, staring at this whole weird room. She had ice in her room, a freezer in her wall, a penguin in her room, and never seemed to change emotion. Could she get any more frozen then she already was? I asked her, finally, "So, I need information of everyone. Can I get to know some stuff about you?"
She replied, "Sure. I'm Millie Grey White. Weird name huh? Sounds like two colors. I'm Nineteen years old, and came here when I was about Sixteen. I got that penguin as a present, and if you hurt it I'll lock you in the freezer. Speaking of which, the freezer's in here, and I'm the one who can access it for the food for the house. You may have noticed I'm usually calm... that's just how I am. Any questions?"
I was writing down some things about her, "Millie Grey White, 19, Calm, has a penguin named Frosty" I responded to her question, "No, I'm good. Thank you. I'll leave you and... Frosty alone now." I waved goodbye and left the room. It was so much warmer in the hallway! I got my blood flowing again and walked around the corner and up to the black door of Room Five.
Chapter 7: The Shadow of Abnormal Inn
Upon getting to the door, I was fairly surprised. Unlike most of the doors so far, this door had no words written on it, just the number, the black door itself, and a jack-o-lantern like face etched into the door with yellow coloring, the crooked smile directed right towards me, as if i was saying, "Go ahead, knock... I dare you" ... Maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me. I knocked on the door and after about thirty seconds it creaked open just enough for me to see half of a face. There was no light on in her room, I could see from how dark everything was inside past her. I could see she had a black wall, and a black carpet though. She had very pale skin, and black hair. Her eyes were the most colorful thing about what I saw, and they were a solid brown color. Although, the longer I looked at them, the more they seemed to turn into a bloody red.... She had one of her hands hold the door open this few inches, and each had black nail polish on it. Her hand had some sort of fingerless glove on it, but with some fancy half see-through design. She was staring at me with the one eye I could see, and from what I could see of her hand and face, she seemed fairly boney. I heard her whisper to me, "Yes, new guy?"
I was wondering so many things in my head, it took me a second to reply. The biggest one of those thoughts was why is she whispering, but instead I said, "Hello, I'm the ne-" She cut me off.
"Caretaker. Lilith, Twenty years old. Is that all? The light hurts my eyes.." She whispered.
I wrote "(20) Lilith" down on my clipboard, and looked back up to her. I said, "Sure. I can go if you want."
"Unless you want to come in here, but there's no lights." She said this also in a whisper.
I thought about it for a second and shrugged. "Sure" I said, "I'll go in for a bit." She opened the door wider, hiding behind it the whole way. I walked into the room and sat on the floor, and the doorway closed. I watched the light quickly leave the room through the closing doorway, thinking about how amazing it looked in a way. I heard footsteps lightly go across the carpet, then a movement on the bed.
I heard a whisper from her bed, "So, why'd you come to AI, Caretaker man?"
"I needed a job." I replied. I also tried to write down on the clipboard, "Always whispers" though the darkness. I did pretty well I guess.
"Ahh.. but why in Green Town? Such a nowhere location..."
"Well, why would someone build a hotel in the middle of nowhere anyway?"
"Obviously to keep the tenants away from the world. In case you haven't noticed yet, the girls in the first four rooms are, in order, seductive to the extreme, time obsessive, incredibly annoyable, and subzero. Also, to top it off, I'm a girl who boarded up my window, removed my light bulbs, and essentially got rid of anything but black-lights and a cool lava lamp." All whispered, of course.
"Ahh... Lava lamp?"
"Yes. Want to see?" She asked, in her usual whisper.
I nodded at first, but then remembered I was totally in the dark and said, "Yes, That'd be cool. I love lava lamps. The seventy's were so cool. They had their own show!"
I heard a little bit of a laugh, something I actually greatly enjoyed hearing from her since it wasn't a whisper, and then light entered the room. It was somewhat weird though, it was a dim purple light, and the gel inside the lava lamp was like liquid lumps of a gemstone, see-through and a shiny purple color. This also threw a dim light on the room, and Lilith herself. She was wearing a black dress that had no sleeves, and went down to about halfway down her upper legs. She had her fingerless gloves on both hands, and they went all the way up her arm leaving only about an inch of two between her dress and the gloves. She had socks too, and they went up to her shins. All of her clothing was black. Her hair and nails were black. Obviously she was gothic, so I added that to my notes as well. I heard her ask in her whisper voice, "Writing down how dark I am?"
I looked up at her. "I'm starting to think you're in my head."
"No." I saw her smile, close her eyes, and shake her head. "I'm just a good guesser."
I looked around her room. Her walls were pretty much bare except for the normal shelf above the desk. The desk and dresser along the right wall behind me were black, and I'm assuming the items inside and on them were all also black. I did see some interesting facts though. Skulls. Lilith had a human skull on her desk, and designs for skulls on her dresser, and her bed. I looked back at her, she was staring at me laying down. her head tilted down a bit, as if wondering what I was thinking.
"Soo.." She whispered, "Got a girlfriend?"
I was incredibly surprised by this, to tell the truth. The first girl to ask about my relationship status was the goth girl. Not Lana, the one who seemed most interested. "No, sadly. I think she'd notice I was gone by now."
"Are you a virgin?"
"Where are you getting these questions?" I was more and more surprised by her interest in me with every question she asked.
"I'm just curious. You might thank me later, a lot of the tenants past here are people you don't want to be with. I'm pretty sure Kya in Room Nine is capable of murder." She said in her normal whisper. I'm assuming that you get the point she always whispers? Good.
I tried to remember that Room Nine was gonna be a toughie, and continued to bounce away her questions. She asked all about bands I liked, my favorite colors, where I'd been since I left home. None of it was interesting enough to make a good conversation with, but she seemed to really enjoy the company. After an hour of questions, she quietly led me to the door and whispered in my ear, an even lighter voice, "Thanks for the company." I'm not exactly sure what happened in the next few seconds, I just know that somehow I got out of the room, in from of Room Six, and I had a strange feeling on my cheek.
I was wondering so many things in my head, it took me a second to reply. The biggest one of those thoughts was why is she whispering, but instead I said, "Hello, I'm the ne-" She cut me off.
"Caretaker. Lilith, Twenty years old. Is that all? The light hurts my eyes.." She whispered.
I wrote "(20) Lilith" down on my clipboard, and looked back up to her. I said, "Sure. I can go if you want."
"Unless you want to come in here, but there's no lights." She said this also in a whisper.
I thought about it for a second and shrugged. "Sure" I said, "I'll go in for a bit." She opened the door wider, hiding behind it the whole way. I walked into the room and sat on the floor, and the doorway closed. I watched the light quickly leave the room through the closing doorway, thinking about how amazing it looked in a way. I heard footsteps lightly go across the carpet, then a movement on the bed.
I heard a whisper from her bed, "So, why'd you come to AI, Caretaker man?"
"I needed a job." I replied. I also tried to write down on the clipboard, "Always whispers" though the darkness. I did pretty well I guess.
"Ahh.. but why in Green Town? Such a nowhere location..."
"Well, why would someone build a hotel in the middle of nowhere anyway?"
"Obviously to keep the tenants away from the world. In case you haven't noticed yet, the girls in the first four rooms are, in order, seductive to the extreme, time obsessive, incredibly annoyable, and subzero. Also, to top it off, I'm a girl who boarded up my window, removed my light bulbs, and essentially got rid of anything but black-lights and a cool lava lamp." All whispered, of course.
"Ahh... Lava lamp?"
"Yes. Want to see?" She asked, in her usual whisper.
I nodded at first, but then remembered I was totally in the dark and said, "Yes, That'd be cool. I love lava lamps. The seventy's were so cool. They had their own show!"
I heard a little bit of a laugh, something I actually greatly enjoyed hearing from her since it wasn't a whisper, and then light entered the room. It was somewhat weird though, it was a dim purple light, and the gel inside the lava lamp was like liquid lumps of a gemstone, see-through and a shiny purple color. This also threw a dim light on the room, and Lilith herself. She was wearing a black dress that had no sleeves, and went down to about halfway down her upper legs. She had her fingerless gloves on both hands, and they went all the way up her arm leaving only about an inch of two between her dress and the gloves. She had socks too, and they went up to her shins. All of her clothing was black. Her hair and nails were black. Obviously she was gothic, so I added that to my notes as well. I heard her ask in her whisper voice, "Writing down how dark I am?"
I looked up at her. "I'm starting to think you're in my head."
"No." I saw her smile, close her eyes, and shake her head. "I'm just a good guesser."
I looked around her room. Her walls were pretty much bare except for the normal shelf above the desk. The desk and dresser along the right wall behind me were black, and I'm assuming the items inside and on them were all also black. I did see some interesting facts though. Skulls. Lilith had a human skull on her desk, and designs for skulls on her dresser, and her bed. I looked back at her, she was staring at me laying down. her head tilted down a bit, as if wondering what I was thinking.
"Soo.." She whispered, "Got a girlfriend?"
I was incredibly surprised by this, to tell the truth. The first girl to ask about my relationship status was the goth girl. Not Lana, the one who seemed most interested. "No, sadly. I think she'd notice I was gone by now."
"Are you a virgin?"
"Where are you getting these questions?" I was more and more surprised by her interest in me with every question she asked.
"I'm just curious. You might thank me later, a lot of the tenants past here are people you don't want to be with. I'm pretty sure Kya in Room Nine is capable of murder." She said in her normal whisper. I'm assuming that you get the point she always whispers? Good.
I tried to remember that Room Nine was gonna be a toughie, and continued to bounce away her questions. She asked all about bands I liked, my favorite colors, where I'd been since I left home. None of it was interesting enough to make a good conversation with, but she seemed to really enjoy the company. After an hour of questions, she quietly led me to the door and whispered in my ear, an even lighter voice, "Thanks for the company." I'm not exactly sure what happened in the next few seconds, I just know that somehow I got out of the room, in from of Room Six, and I had a strange feeling on my cheek.
Chapter 8: Innocence
I looked at the door in front of me, Room Six, and noticed all of the little things carved into it. Flowers, hearts, and more were perfectly etched into the outside of the door. There was a smiley face under the room number. I knocked on the door, and a fairly little girl opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind her. She had somewhat pale skin, was shorter than Millie Grey, had red eyes, and had medium length blond hair. Another thing about her was she was wearing a pink dress, pink socks, pink everything. She said to me, "Yes?" In a light innocent voice.
I held the clipboard up and said, "Well, I need to know everyone's name and age. New caretaker for the hotel."
"Ohh.. I'm Day. I'm nineteen."
I wrote that down. I glanced up at her and she seemed pretty ready to bolt back into the room as soon as possible. I said to her, "Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly and said, "I'm just trying to avoid someone right now."
I heard a door slam somewhere in the hotel, and within a few seconds another girl was walking down the hallway at us. She look pretty pissed off too. She had blue-green eyes which seemed to be liquid and flowing inside. She had purple hair, a normal skin tone, and a neat purple dress, going down to her knees. She yelled towards us, "Dayanara Blade, if you ever touch any of my things again I'm gonna kill you!"
Day looked at her, back at me, then said, "Uh, Bye!" and darted quickly into her room, which was immediately locked behind her. The other girl moved to her door, totally ignoring me, and knocked loudly on it. She was yelling, "You have about three seconds to come out of the room and GIVE IT BACK!"
I heard Day respond, in an incredibly innocent tone, "I didn't do it Sara, It wasn't me!"
"Bull! Everything that happens here is always caused by you, you little devil! Don't lie to me!"
"I didn't do it!"
"That's it." I heard the other girl, Sara, mutter. She stood between me and the door handle, then the door opened. She knew how to lock-pick? Inside Day's room, I could immediately see it was much less innocent. Her floor and carpet were gray, and she had puppets hanging from the ceiling with nails hanging out of them. Her carpet had a large evil face on it. There were stuffed animals nailed to the walls, there was strange vials filled with red liquid on her desk. Her room was.. Horrifying. Sara stormed in and there was a ruckus over at the bed, lots of yelling, then Sara walked out with a bag and slammed the door behind her. She looked at me and said, "Don't trust her. Ever." She then walked back to her room around the corner. I edited my information under Day's number, "(19) Dayanara Blade, innocent seeming, but really mischievous." I looked back at Day's door and noticed inside the smiley face's mouth there was an evil face. I shuddered, and moved down to Room Seven, which seemed to have marks all over it..
I held the clipboard up and said, "Well, I need to know everyone's name and age. New caretaker for the hotel."
"Ohh.. I'm Day. I'm nineteen."
I wrote that down. I glanced up at her and she seemed pretty ready to bolt back into the room as soon as possible. I said to her, "Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly and said, "I'm just trying to avoid someone right now."
I heard a door slam somewhere in the hotel, and within a few seconds another girl was walking down the hallway at us. She look pretty pissed off too. She had blue-green eyes which seemed to be liquid and flowing inside. She had purple hair, a normal skin tone, and a neat purple dress, going down to her knees. She yelled towards us, "Dayanara Blade, if you ever touch any of my things again I'm gonna kill you!"
Day looked at her, back at me, then said, "Uh, Bye!" and darted quickly into her room, which was immediately locked behind her. The other girl moved to her door, totally ignoring me, and knocked loudly on it. She was yelling, "You have about three seconds to come out of the room and GIVE IT BACK!"
I heard Day respond, in an incredibly innocent tone, "I didn't do it Sara, It wasn't me!"
"Bull! Everything that happens here is always caused by you, you little devil! Don't lie to me!"
"I didn't do it!"
"That's it." I heard the other girl, Sara, mutter. She stood between me and the door handle, then the door opened. She knew how to lock-pick? Inside Day's room, I could immediately see it was much less innocent. Her floor and carpet were gray, and she had puppets hanging from the ceiling with nails hanging out of them. Her carpet had a large evil face on it. There were stuffed animals nailed to the walls, there was strange vials filled with red liquid on her desk. Her room was.. Horrifying. Sara stormed in and there was a ruckus over at the bed, lots of yelling, then Sara walked out with a bag and slammed the door behind her. She looked at me and said, "Don't trust her. Ever." She then walked back to her room around the corner. I edited my information under Day's number, "(19) Dayanara Blade, innocent seeming, but really mischievous." I looked back at Day's door and noticed inside the smiley face's mouth there was an evil face. I shuddered, and moved down to Room Seven, which seemed to have marks all over it..
Chapter 9: Nothing to Fear
Looking closely at the door to Room Seven, the little marks sort of seemed like someone or something had clawed at the door. Often. I also noticed under the room number there seemed to by a symbol of a black widow. Inside the "X" shape on it's back there was a 7. Pretty sweet symbol. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing happened. I knocked again. Nothing. I could hear something inside though. I was wondering if I should just wait until later to come back, but I saw Millie Grey come out of her room. I walked over to her, "Hey, can you tell me what's up with Room Seven?"
She looked over to it and then looked back to me. "Just walk in." she said. "Tina will never go to the door. Be careful though, she's scared very easily."
"Okay.. Hey, what are you doing?" I asked.
She held up a bag, and Frosty poked her head out of it. "We''re taking a bath. It's in the middle part here, that big block where nothing is. Abnormal Inn is build around a hot spring. We're gonna use it."
"Oh... OH. Wait, if everyone uses it, who cleans it?"
"Either Alma or you. Depends." Then she just walked away...
I went back to Room Seven and opened the door a crack. I said in, "Hey, can I talk to you?"
I heard little sounds, but no words. Someone walked up behind me and pushed the door open. Millie Grey again. "I said just go in." She pointed into the corner of the dark room. "She's usually on the corner of her bed." With that, she walked away again.
I wandered into Tina's room, and looked over to the corner. There was someone there, just like Millie said. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked over. Tina was curled up and sitting in a ball. She held her legs tightly to her chest and was saying something to herself very lightly, over and over. Her eyes were ice blue, and widened in fear looking at me. Was I that bad looking? Her hair was long and black, fairly unkempt, going down to her waist. Her skin looked fragile and pale, scarred in a few places. She wore a black sweatshirt, with little light blue bows on the cuffs. Her black pants matched exactly, down to the bows at the bottom. Her socks, sadly, were just normal white socks. I looked around her room and noticed something. The usual right side of the room, dresser, desk, wasn't there. Just a wall. Her nightstand had a small light on it, and a tank with a spider in it. If she was so scared, why'd she have a spider? Her dresser was, instead, at the end of her bed. The bathroom for her room was in it's usual place, but the door was pointed into the walkway since the right side of the room was.. not there. I looked back to Tina. She was still the same. I talked to her in a tone that I thought might calm her down a bit. I said, "Hello? I'm gonna be the caretaker here from now on. I was wondering if you could tell me your name and age?" ...
I waited for several minutes for her to respond, but she was still whispering to herself. I moved a bit closer, to which she tried to go into the corner more. I could hear what she was whispering to herself now though. I listened as her light, beautiful , and scared voice repeated, "Nothing to fear but fear itself, nothing to fear but fear itself, nothing to fear but fear itself."
I reached my hand out and placed it near her, although I didn't know what I was doing at all. I said to her, "You know, I'm not here to scare or hurt you. I'm just here to ask your name and age, then I'll leave you alone for now."
I heard her break her chain of whispering and go silent. She looked down at my hand curiously. I saw her move her hand slowly. It seemed like forever until her hand was really even close to mine, and even longer for her to actually meet contact. When she touched my hand with hers, She just wrapped one of her fingers around my index finger. After about three seconds or so she pulled her arm right back to it's previous location, and she started to speak. She stuttered the whole time. I heard her say in her gentle and cute little voice, "T... T-Tina. I-I'm s-s-seventeen."
I felt so bad for her, and wrote down her name and age. I looked back up at her, and asked, "Tina, why are you so scared?"
She shook her head and said in her little voice, "Y-you wouldn't underst-stand..."
I looked down for a second, and then back up to her. I put my hand on her knee gently and said to her, "Well, if you need anything, you can come and see me. I'll leave you alone now." She flinched when I touched her a bit, and after I got up to leave I heard her move behind me. I got to the door and closed it, then looked back to my friend the clipboard. I wrote down under Tina, "Paranoid" and went to Room Eight.
She looked over to it and then looked back to me. "Just walk in." she said. "Tina will never go to the door. Be careful though, she's scared very easily."
"Okay.. Hey, what are you doing?" I asked.
She held up a bag, and Frosty poked her head out of it. "We''re taking a bath. It's in the middle part here, that big block where nothing is. Abnormal Inn is build around a hot spring. We're gonna use it."
"Oh... OH. Wait, if everyone uses it, who cleans it?"
"Either Alma or you. Depends." Then she just walked away...
I went back to Room Seven and opened the door a crack. I said in, "Hey, can I talk to you?"
I heard little sounds, but no words. Someone walked up behind me and pushed the door open. Millie Grey again. "I said just go in." She pointed into the corner of the dark room. "She's usually on the corner of her bed." With that, she walked away again.
I wandered into Tina's room, and looked over to the corner. There was someone there, just like Millie said. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked over. Tina was curled up and sitting in a ball. She held her legs tightly to her chest and was saying something to herself very lightly, over and over. Her eyes were ice blue, and widened in fear looking at me. Was I that bad looking? Her hair was long and black, fairly unkempt, going down to her waist. Her skin looked fragile and pale, scarred in a few places. She wore a black sweatshirt, with little light blue bows on the cuffs. Her black pants matched exactly, down to the bows at the bottom. Her socks, sadly, were just normal white socks. I looked around her room and noticed something. The usual right side of the room, dresser, desk, wasn't there. Just a wall. Her nightstand had a small light on it, and a tank with a spider in it. If she was so scared, why'd she have a spider? Her dresser was, instead, at the end of her bed. The bathroom for her room was in it's usual place, but the door was pointed into the walkway since the right side of the room was.. not there. I looked back to Tina. She was still the same. I talked to her in a tone that I thought might calm her down a bit. I said, "Hello? I'm gonna be the caretaker here from now on. I was wondering if you could tell me your name and age?" ...
I waited for several minutes for her to respond, but she was still whispering to herself. I moved a bit closer, to which she tried to go into the corner more. I could hear what she was whispering to herself now though. I listened as her light, beautiful , and scared voice repeated, "Nothing to fear but fear itself, nothing to fear but fear itself, nothing to fear but fear itself."
I reached my hand out and placed it near her, although I didn't know what I was doing at all. I said to her, "You know, I'm not here to scare or hurt you. I'm just here to ask your name and age, then I'll leave you alone for now."
I heard her break her chain of whispering and go silent. She looked down at my hand curiously. I saw her move her hand slowly. It seemed like forever until her hand was really even close to mine, and even longer for her to actually meet contact. When she touched my hand with hers, She just wrapped one of her fingers around my index finger. After about three seconds or so she pulled her arm right back to it's previous location, and she started to speak. She stuttered the whole time. I heard her say in her gentle and cute little voice, "T... T-Tina. I-I'm s-s-seventeen."
I felt so bad for her, and wrote down her name and age. I looked back up at her, and asked, "Tina, why are you so scared?"
She shook her head and said in her little voice, "Y-you wouldn't underst-stand..."
I looked down for a second, and then back up to her. I put my hand on her knee gently and said to her, "Well, if you need anything, you can come and see me. I'll leave you alone now." She flinched when I touched her a bit, and after I got up to leave I heard her move behind me. I got to the door and closed it, then looked back to my friend the clipboard. I wrote down under Tina, "Paranoid" and went to Room Eight.
Chapter 10: Blood Born
Well, Tina sure was.. different. Anyways, with Room Seven down, I could go onto the next room on the list. I got to Room Eight, and was immediately surprised. The door was a black wood, and the were words scratched into it all over the place. Between the knocker and the number the name "Marie" was etched into the wood. I stood there reading a few of the words for a moment, "Hate, Die die die, End it, Kill me" .... Who the hell lived in this room? I was going to grab the knocker and knock, but I stop and looked at it. There was blood on the brass knocker hanging the same height as my head. I decided to just knock on the wood instead. I raised my hand up again, and knocked on the door. I heard a few words from in the room, in a rasped voice.. I think she said "come in" but I was entirely sure. I reached for the handle, but stopped there again, blood on the handle there too. I just knocked again. After standing there for a few minutes, I said to her, "Hey, I'm the new.. Uhh, Caretaker... or something. I need to meet everyone and I was wondering if-" I heard something break inside. Quickly I said, "Hey, is everything all right?" I heard what sounded like sobbing inside. I pulled my sleeve over my hand and opened the door.
Inside the room, it was just as depressing as the door was. The window was boarded up and the light was smashed on the floor, with the bulb still intact and flickering. All four of the walls were painted black, and scratched into, words of pain, hate, and heartbreak. One of the walls was carved into with about a 3 foot long "HATE" and was a deep red all around the word, and it ran down the wall to a stain on the floor. The desk on my right was painted black and scratched into too, as well at the chair. About the table, I noticed quickly, were knives. A lot of knives, all in a case. Just about every single one of these knives had blood on the blade. All of them the same, about half way, and only on the blade side. I turned a bit, and noticed her shelves were filled with stuffed animals, but all of them seemed... Off. From the light I had, I noticed some had missing limbs, most missing an eye or ear, a few even had knives sticking into them.
I was suddenly very afraid of this room. I noticed the sobbing was still occurring behind me, and turned to the bed. The bed was all black as well, and there was a girl curled up in a ball there, clutching hard on to a piece of glass, probably from the lamp. She had black hair to about her neck, and pretty amber eyes filled with tears. She was wearing an all black clothing set up, a shirt and skirt that went to her knees.
She was holding the glass so hard, her hand was covered in her own blood, and I noticed a series of scars up both of her arms, and her left arm soaked in blood from a VERY recent cut. I immediately grabbed her arm, dropping the clipboard onto the ground and it bouncing a few feet away, and I pulled her arm away, opened her hand, and took the glass away. I ran out of the room and to the closet down the hallway, and started to look through it. "Med kit Med kit.... There." I grabbed the first aid kit and hopped back the her room, where she still sat with her arm out next to her crying as I had left her only about twenty five seconds before. I pulled out the things I needed for her cut, and treated her wound. She put her arms across her chest right after this, and I sat her up and talked to her. "What's wrong?" I said to her.
She slowly calmed down and stopped crying after a while, and sort of cuddled into my chest. This was probably the most action I've gotten in one day, at any point in my life, and I had a feeling working here was going to end up getting very stressful with all twenty rooms pulling at me like this so far.. About a minute or so of me thinking and she interrupted my thoughts, saying, "I just.. do that. You didn't need to patch me all up." She cuddled closer into me.
"Well, you were hurt, and I'm supposed to make sure nobody's hurt."
"It would have healed." She squeezed her chest tighter.
"Well, I have a job you know, and I can't lose it. Plus, you had lost a lot of blood there."
"I like losing blood. It's my way of coping." She said this as she looked down, and whispered something I couldn't hear.
"Coping with what?" I asked.
"I just.. have some sanity issues. I have very severe depression, and it weighs down on me." She leaned into me more, and if she moved any closer I'd probably either fall off, or she'd be sitting on me. "I've had severe depression my whole life. This isn't new to me. I can do without your help."
"Oh.. Well... You're Marie, right?" She nodded at me, and I continued, "Well, I'm gonna be here for a while now, so if you ever want to talk to me, I'm at the room... Er, the utility closet down the hall." I pointed out the door with my thumb.
"She put you in the closet?" She raised an eyebrow at me
"Well, the big closet, not the little one." I rose my arms up, to show it was bigger.
"Ohhh..." She giggled a bit, to my surprise, and leaned away, having a little smile. She lifted up her arms, and was holding a teddy bear in her hands. I hadn't seen it before, she might have been holding it to her chest. She said, "This is Crimson, he's my favorite teddy bear. He's always who I usually talk to, because nobody else likes me." I looked at the bear, and noticed a few things about it. One of it's ears was ripped off entirely, and the hole was patched up with bit of a plaid shirt. The bear's right arm was colored a darker red, hinting that she had bled on this bear before. His left leg was burned, and some parts of it were falling apart in ashes burned to a crisp. One of the bears eyes, the left one to be exact, was hanging off by a thread. I noticed also, he had a large black stitch across the center of his chest, where the heart would be.
I tilted my head a bit, and asked her, "What happened to him?"
She hugged him to her chest again, and answered, "Well, at the High School I go to, I'm the only one who walks around with a stuffed animal, and they burned his leg... Also, they played that monkey thing and threw him over my head a bunch, then gave him to a dog, which ripped a hole in him. I fixed him with some fabric I had. Also, there was a girl in my class that stabbed him, and I had to stitch him up.. I put a little heart in him, so he'd feel better." She stopped for a moment or two, then added, suddenly, "Oh, and I bled all over him once... I was holding him so I'd stop crying."
I looked at her face, which was once again troubled, and then got up off of the bed. I picked up the lamp, and put all the pieces in the trash. I looked at her and asked, "What about the overhead light, Marie?"
She looked up to me and said, "I don't like it. I bought that lamp instead."
I absorbed the information, and placed the rest of the lamp on the night stand. It stayed, and I waved to her. "I have to go and meet everyone else right now, but I'll see you around." She nodded to me, and stayed curled up in her little ball holding her teddy bear. I picked up the clipboard and looked at her information as I walked out. "(18)Marie Bloodbourne. Severe depression, to be watched over closely." I decided to add my own notes under her also. "Likes to cuddle, Has a teddy bear named Crimson." I finished her notes, and walked up to Room Nine. I looked at the door. "DO NOT DISTURB!"
Inside the room, it was just as depressing as the door was. The window was boarded up and the light was smashed on the floor, with the bulb still intact and flickering. All four of the walls were painted black, and scratched into, words of pain, hate, and heartbreak. One of the walls was carved into with about a 3 foot long "HATE" and was a deep red all around the word, and it ran down the wall to a stain on the floor. The desk on my right was painted black and scratched into too, as well at the chair. About the table, I noticed quickly, were knives. A lot of knives, all in a case. Just about every single one of these knives had blood on the blade. All of them the same, about half way, and only on the blade side. I turned a bit, and noticed her shelves were filled with stuffed animals, but all of them seemed... Off. From the light I had, I noticed some had missing limbs, most missing an eye or ear, a few even had knives sticking into them.
I was suddenly very afraid of this room. I noticed the sobbing was still occurring behind me, and turned to the bed. The bed was all black as well, and there was a girl curled up in a ball there, clutching hard on to a piece of glass, probably from the lamp. She had black hair to about her neck, and pretty amber eyes filled with tears. She was wearing an all black clothing set up, a shirt and skirt that went to her knees.
She was holding the glass so hard, her hand was covered in her own blood, and I noticed a series of scars up both of her arms, and her left arm soaked in blood from a VERY recent cut. I immediately grabbed her arm, dropping the clipboard onto the ground and it bouncing a few feet away, and I pulled her arm away, opened her hand, and took the glass away. I ran out of the room and to the closet down the hallway, and started to look through it. "Med kit Med kit.... There." I grabbed the first aid kit and hopped back the her room, where she still sat with her arm out next to her crying as I had left her only about twenty five seconds before. I pulled out the things I needed for her cut, and treated her wound. She put her arms across her chest right after this, and I sat her up and talked to her. "What's wrong?" I said to her.
She slowly calmed down and stopped crying after a while, and sort of cuddled into my chest. This was probably the most action I've gotten in one day, at any point in my life, and I had a feeling working here was going to end up getting very stressful with all twenty rooms pulling at me like this so far.. About a minute or so of me thinking and she interrupted my thoughts, saying, "I just.. do that. You didn't need to patch me all up." She cuddled closer into me.
"Well, you were hurt, and I'm supposed to make sure nobody's hurt."
"It would have healed." She squeezed her chest tighter.
"Well, I have a job you know, and I can't lose it. Plus, you had lost a lot of blood there."
"I like losing blood. It's my way of coping." She said this as she looked down, and whispered something I couldn't hear.
"Coping with what?" I asked.
"I just.. have some sanity issues. I have very severe depression, and it weighs down on me." She leaned into me more, and if she moved any closer I'd probably either fall off, or she'd be sitting on me. "I've had severe depression my whole life. This isn't new to me. I can do without your help."
"Oh.. Well... You're Marie, right?" She nodded at me, and I continued, "Well, I'm gonna be here for a while now, so if you ever want to talk to me, I'm at the room... Er, the utility closet down the hall." I pointed out the door with my thumb.
"She put you in the closet?" She raised an eyebrow at me
"Well, the big closet, not the little one." I rose my arms up, to show it was bigger.
"Ohhh..." She giggled a bit, to my surprise, and leaned away, having a little smile. She lifted up her arms, and was holding a teddy bear in her hands. I hadn't seen it before, she might have been holding it to her chest. She said, "This is Crimson, he's my favorite teddy bear. He's always who I usually talk to, because nobody else likes me." I looked at the bear, and noticed a few things about it. One of it's ears was ripped off entirely, and the hole was patched up with bit of a plaid shirt. The bear's right arm was colored a darker red, hinting that she had bled on this bear before. His left leg was burned, and some parts of it were falling apart in ashes burned to a crisp. One of the bears eyes, the left one to be exact, was hanging off by a thread. I noticed also, he had a large black stitch across the center of his chest, where the heart would be.
I tilted my head a bit, and asked her, "What happened to him?"
She hugged him to her chest again, and answered, "Well, at the High School I go to, I'm the only one who walks around with a stuffed animal, and they burned his leg... Also, they played that monkey thing and threw him over my head a bunch, then gave him to a dog, which ripped a hole in him. I fixed him with some fabric I had. Also, there was a girl in my class that stabbed him, and I had to stitch him up.. I put a little heart in him, so he'd feel better." She stopped for a moment or two, then added, suddenly, "Oh, and I bled all over him once... I was holding him so I'd stop crying."
I looked at her face, which was once again troubled, and then got up off of the bed. I picked up the lamp, and put all the pieces in the trash. I looked at her and asked, "What about the overhead light, Marie?"
She looked up to me and said, "I don't like it. I bought that lamp instead."
I absorbed the information, and placed the rest of the lamp on the night stand. It stayed, and I waved to her. "I have to go and meet everyone else right now, but I'll see you around." She nodded to me, and stayed curled up in her little ball holding her teddy bear. I picked up the clipboard and looked at her information as I walked out. "(18)Marie Bloodbourne. Severe depression, to be watched over closely." I decided to add my own notes under her also. "Likes to cuddle, Has a teddy bear named Crimson." I finished her notes, and walked up to Room Nine. I looked at the door. "DO NOT DISTURB!"
Chapter 11: Threat
I was standing there looking at the door handle, staring at the sign hanging there. I was very hesitant to go into the room. I must have stood there for about ten minutes, as echoes passed through my mind of word I was told.
"I'm pretty sure Kya in Room Nine is capable of murder" Lilith had said to me earlier..
I turned around and walked right back into the office area. I looked over to the table and the lady from earlier was gone... Okay then. I turned back and went into the kitchen. Alma was done cooking now, and looked up at me surprised when I walked in. "Can I help you, Boy?"
I pointed over my shoulder and said, "Uh, yeah. I got kind of a problem. Room Nine. It says not to disturb, and by what I've heard so far, I don't want to disturb."
She let out a long sigh, pulled off the oven mitts, and walked with me to Room Nine. "Watch this." she said to me. She then immediately knocked loudly on the door, and leaned on the wall behind me.
I heard movement inside, then the door hand shake for a bit, as if someone was struggling with the handle. Then a girl opened the door. She was pretty short, and blood red eyes staring at me. Her hair was an unkempt silver-blue, and went down passed her .. well, it was long hair. She definitely looked like she had just woken up, angrily staring into the pit of my eyes. I noticed how pale she was, and for a second I was wondering if it was just the lights here, until I realized that SOME people looked normal. Alma laughed behind me, and patted me on the back. I heard her say, "Good luck kid" and walk away. I turned my head and watched her go around the corner. I continued to look until I heard the dining room door slide shut.
I turned my head back to Room Nine, Kya's room apparently, and she was still leaning on the wall, staring at me angrily. I asked her, "You look a little grumpy.. Did I wake you?"
I got an instant, and very annoyed, "Yes."
I rubbed the back of my head and thought for a second. "Well..." I said, "I kinda need everyone's name and age.."
"I don't like you."
"Why?" I said surprised.
"You're a boy. I hate boys."
"Why?" I repeated.
"I'll kill you if you bother me."
I stood there a little freaked out for a minute, then said again, "I need to know your name..."
"Kya Skye. K-Y-A, S-K-Y-E. K-ya. Got it, stupid?"
"Yeah... I got it.. Are you sexist?"
"Yes. Very. That's probably why I hate you already. Boys are so stupid, including you."
"That's not too nice..."
She opened the door more and started to say, "Hey you, I could kill you if..." and then fell down into me, pushing us both down into the wall behind me.
I checked her, asking her "Are you all right? Kya?" I looked around at her face and she had lines under her eyes. She seemed so pale, almost dead. I tried to help her stand up, but every time it was like she flailed at me trying to hurt me. I sat there on the floor with her, as some doors started to open. I would have looked to see which ones, but my eyes were scanning the room that she had left open when she exited it. She had a roughly normal room, except the shelves full of blood pouches, and the coffin on a platform where a bed should usually be. For a few minutes, I was so focused on the strange though that she either was, or thought she was, a vampire that I hadn't noticed someone talking to me. Maybe it was because it was a whisper. I turned my head to the left and Lilith was trying to talk to me, and she seemed very concerned.
"Are you all right? CT? Hey, did she bite you?" I heard her whisper.
I looked down and I didn't have any bite marks, so I looked back up to her and said, "I'm fine. Is she all right?"
"I think she's malnourished today. Help me carry her in?"
We picked her up and carried her into the room, her mumbling hate at me the whole time. Lilith examined her for a few minutes. I saw her check pulse, breathing, and her eyes. I also noticed her check Kya's mouth... and I saw fangs. Lilith decided to push me out of the room after a few minutes. "Go, go. Don't you have a job CT? I wouldn't want to keep you." I was pushed right into the hallway, and the door closed behind me. I turned and looked at the door, then over to the doorway of Room Ten, where someone was staring at me..
"I'm pretty sure Kya in Room Nine is capable of murder" Lilith had said to me earlier..
I turned around and walked right back into the office area. I looked over to the table and the lady from earlier was gone... Okay then. I turned back and went into the kitchen. Alma was done cooking now, and looked up at me surprised when I walked in. "Can I help you, Boy?"
I pointed over my shoulder and said, "Uh, yeah. I got kind of a problem. Room Nine. It says not to disturb, and by what I've heard so far, I don't want to disturb."
She let out a long sigh, pulled off the oven mitts, and walked with me to Room Nine. "Watch this." she said to me. She then immediately knocked loudly on the door, and leaned on the wall behind me.
I heard movement inside, then the door hand shake for a bit, as if someone was struggling with the handle. Then a girl opened the door. She was pretty short, and blood red eyes staring at me. Her hair was an unkempt silver-blue, and went down passed her .. well, it was long hair. She definitely looked like she had just woken up, angrily staring into the pit of my eyes. I noticed how pale she was, and for a second I was wondering if it was just the lights here, until I realized that SOME people looked normal. Alma laughed behind me, and patted me on the back. I heard her say, "Good luck kid" and walk away. I turned my head and watched her go around the corner. I continued to look until I heard the dining room door slide shut.
I turned my head back to Room Nine, Kya's room apparently, and she was still leaning on the wall, staring at me angrily. I asked her, "You look a little grumpy.. Did I wake you?"
I got an instant, and very annoyed, "Yes."
I rubbed the back of my head and thought for a second. "Well..." I said, "I kinda need everyone's name and age.."
"I don't like you."
"Why?" I said surprised.
"You're a boy. I hate boys."
"Why?" I repeated.
"I'll kill you if you bother me."
I stood there a little freaked out for a minute, then said again, "I need to know your name..."
"Kya Skye. K-Y-A, S-K-Y-E. K-ya. Got it, stupid?"
"Yeah... I got it.. Are you sexist?"
"Yes. Very. That's probably why I hate you already. Boys are so stupid, including you."
"That's not too nice..."
She opened the door more and started to say, "Hey you, I could kill you if..." and then fell down into me, pushing us both down into the wall behind me.
I checked her, asking her "Are you all right? Kya?" I looked around at her face and she had lines under her eyes. She seemed so pale, almost dead. I tried to help her stand up, but every time it was like she flailed at me trying to hurt me. I sat there on the floor with her, as some doors started to open. I would have looked to see which ones, but my eyes were scanning the room that she had left open when she exited it. She had a roughly normal room, except the shelves full of blood pouches, and the coffin on a platform where a bed should usually be. For a few minutes, I was so focused on the strange though that she either was, or thought she was, a vampire that I hadn't noticed someone talking to me. Maybe it was because it was a whisper. I turned my head to the left and Lilith was trying to talk to me, and she seemed very concerned.
"Are you all right? CT? Hey, did she bite you?" I heard her whisper.
I looked down and I didn't have any bite marks, so I looked back up to her and said, "I'm fine. Is she all right?"
"I think she's malnourished today. Help me carry her in?"
We picked her up and carried her into the room, her mumbling hate at me the whole time. Lilith examined her for a few minutes. I saw her check pulse, breathing, and her eyes. I also noticed her check Kya's mouth... and I saw fangs. Lilith decided to push me out of the room after a few minutes. "Go, go. Don't you have a job CT? I wouldn't want to keep you." I was pushed right into the hallway, and the door closed behind me. I turned and looked at the door, then over to the doorway of Room Ten, where someone was staring at me..
Chapter 12: Reflection
I walked over to the girl leaning out of Room Ten. She had light gray eyes, long blond hair, and an emotionless expression. The dress she wore was white, and went right to her knees. Although her eyes were locked onto mine, I didn't feel like anyone was looking at me. I also noticed that she didn't have any pupils. Well, not visibly anyways.
I said to her, "Hi, I'm the new caretaker here. I'm getting everyone's name and age." After I thought about if for a moment, I realized I never found out Kya's age...
The girl from Room Ten leaned off of the door frame and looked at me with her pupil-less eyes. She said, "I'm Claire. Claire Hall."
"Okay..." I wrote that down. Claire Hall.
She poked the board, her emotionless expression met me when I looked back at her. She added, "I'm 18 years old, and about my eyes, it's hereditary. There's a thin film over my eyes. I can see out, but you can't see in... I thought I'd tell you that before you asked me anything about it, or walk away thinking strange things..."
I looked at her, amazed and confused for a few moments, then looked down at the clipboard and wrote her age down. "Okay," I said, "I just need to get everyone else's information now... I'm going to be so tired by the end of this-"
She suddenly grabbed my clipboard and walked into her room with it, leaving the door wide open behind her. I stood there confused, then took a few steps after her into her room. The whole room was very pale. Even where there was color, it was dull. Her room was covered in mirrors and reflective surfaces, which made me a little dizzy. Her desk was a dull gray, with a reflective surface. The chair was wooden, which matched the floor.
Her bed was wooden too, and the sheets were another pale color. Maybe blue? Her walls were all white, and covered in mirrors. Each of the corners had a strange mirror with a unique design on it, and was hung towards the center of the room on a wire.The center of the room had a mirror embedded on the floor, the design was an x, one of the branches each leading to the corners. The room, other than that, was normal. Her windows were a little big, and her bathroom door had a mirror on it, of course. I noticed her move to the bed and sit on it, then examined the nearly bare desk and my clipboard was there. I sat next to her and poked her shoulder. "Why'd you do that? Just snatching my clipboard and walking into your room like that?"
"I was bored" she said, again with no expression or emotion at all in her form.
"Oh, okay... Then..." I noticed her proper she was sitting. Straight up with her hands folded over her lap. Maybe she was from some kind of rich family? But why would she have all the mirrors? .... Narcissism? I stood up again and stretched. "Well, I guess I'll leave then."
I looked over at her, here eyes were wide open, and she had a small dot in the center of them... but I thought I couldn't see her pupils? I leaned down in front of her and put my hand on her shoulder. I started to say, "Hey, are you all right?" But before I really finished the room felt weird, it seemed to be pulling inward on itself, and the four mirrors in the corner seemed to glow at the glass, then suddenly I was somewhere else.... I was in a world of mirrors, alone. I was in a large room, to be exact, and the mirrors here matched the mirrors in her room.. But none here on my left side, where her large window was... Which made me realize, there was no mirrors on that side of the room. I took a few steps out of the strange room and down a mirrored hallway, to what seemed to be a church. I saw someone at the end, possibly Claire, but I started to have the weird feeling again, and then I was back in her room again. She was laying asleep on her bed, and I was confused. I quickly grabbed the clipboard and ran out of her room. I was NOT going back in there again. Oh well, I guess now I had to go to Room Eleven.
I said to her, "Hi, I'm the new caretaker here. I'm getting everyone's name and age." After I thought about if for a moment, I realized I never found out Kya's age...
The girl from Room Ten leaned off of the door frame and looked at me with her pupil-less eyes. She said, "I'm Claire. Claire Hall."
"Okay..." I wrote that down. Claire Hall.
She poked the board, her emotionless expression met me when I looked back at her. She added, "I'm 18 years old, and about my eyes, it's hereditary. There's a thin film over my eyes. I can see out, but you can't see in... I thought I'd tell you that before you asked me anything about it, or walk away thinking strange things..."
I looked at her, amazed and confused for a few moments, then looked down at the clipboard and wrote her age down. "Okay," I said, "I just need to get everyone else's information now... I'm going to be so tired by the end of this-"
She suddenly grabbed my clipboard and walked into her room with it, leaving the door wide open behind her. I stood there confused, then took a few steps after her into her room. The whole room was very pale. Even where there was color, it was dull. Her room was covered in mirrors and reflective surfaces, which made me a little dizzy. Her desk was a dull gray, with a reflective surface. The chair was wooden, which matched the floor.
Her bed was wooden too, and the sheets were another pale color. Maybe blue? Her walls were all white, and covered in mirrors. Each of the corners had a strange mirror with a unique design on it, and was hung towards the center of the room on a wire.The center of the room had a mirror embedded on the floor, the design was an x, one of the branches each leading to the corners. The room, other than that, was normal. Her windows were a little big, and her bathroom door had a mirror on it, of course. I noticed her move to the bed and sit on it, then examined the nearly bare desk and my clipboard was there. I sat next to her and poked her shoulder. "Why'd you do that? Just snatching my clipboard and walking into your room like that?"
"I was bored" she said, again with no expression or emotion at all in her form.
"Oh, okay... Then..." I noticed her proper she was sitting. Straight up with her hands folded over her lap. Maybe she was from some kind of rich family? But why would she have all the mirrors? .... Narcissism? I stood up again and stretched. "Well, I guess I'll leave then."
I looked over at her, here eyes were wide open, and she had a small dot in the center of them... but I thought I couldn't see her pupils? I leaned down in front of her and put my hand on her shoulder. I started to say, "Hey, are you all right?" But before I really finished the room felt weird, it seemed to be pulling inward on itself, and the four mirrors in the corner seemed to glow at the glass, then suddenly I was somewhere else.... I was in a world of mirrors, alone. I was in a large room, to be exact, and the mirrors here matched the mirrors in her room.. But none here on my left side, where her large window was... Which made me realize, there was no mirrors on that side of the room. I took a few steps out of the strange room and down a mirrored hallway, to what seemed to be a church. I saw someone at the end, possibly Claire, but I started to have the weird feeling again, and then I was back in her room again. She was laying asleep on her bed, and I was confused. I quickly grabbed the clipboard and ran out of her room. I was NOT going back in there again. Oh well, I guess now I had to go to Room Eleven.
Chapter 13: A Little Problem
I walked up to Room Eleven and noticed it was open. I leaned in and knocked on the door, which had a little doll head symbol under the number. Looking in I saw a large amount of white and pink, all over the walls, the carpet, floral designs and such. Other than that, her desk didn't have a computer, but a sewing machine on top of it. Her carpet just had one big pink flower on it. There was a multitude of dolls all over the pink floral bed and lining the shelves along the sides of the room. On the carpet sat a young girl and - to my surprise - Emma.
The young girl looked like she was at least five years younger than everyone else in the building I'd seen so far, with curly blond hair and bright pink eyes. She had "Love" branded into the right side of her neck, making my cringe a bit thinking of how it must've hurt. The young girl herself seemed bright and happy, a big smile on her face, a cute dress that went down past her knees with a similar floral pattern. She and Emma were playing with some of the dolls, the young girl herself with a dark green one with snakelike eyes.
"Hey Emma." I said, waving.
"CT! Good to see you again."
"Yeah, it's been a short time." I said, smiling. She smiled somewhat affectionately at my comment, and then motioned to the young girl.
"CT, this is Una Love. We just call her Love, usually, since she's just so lovable." She smiled, and Una Love beamed back at her.
"You're the new caretaker?" Love asked me, hugging her doll.
"Yep, that's me." I help up the clipboard. "This is my sidekick, Clipboard."
She giggled cutely. "I'm Una! Like Emma said, a lot of people here call me Love. I don't mind it." She smile got wider. "Wanna meet some of my dolls? I made them myself!"
I nodded, and went in, sitting down near them. I took the time to write down "Una Love" next to her room number while she snatched up some of her dolls, and Emma told me she was twelve. I added that, and also noted "Energetic and happy. Likes dolls."
She sat down next to me again with four or five new dolls. She pulled out a navy-blue to black shaded dog with three heads and a tail with porcupine like spikes pointing backwards all stitched into it. Wanna guess it's name? "This one is Cerberus." She said. She played with it a bit, moving it around and acting like it was a living creature for a bit, then put it down. "This one.." She picked up a red doll. It had a lion face of vicious nature, a mane of fire, and what looked like horns down it's back. the tail had what looked like a rattle on it and four spikes. "Is Kimera."
Emma interjected. "Love, I know you wanna show him all the dolls, but he doesn't have all the time in the world." She frowned softly at Love. "He needs to see everyone, like you did on your first day. Remember? It was just a few weeks ago."
Love nodded, then looked back to me. "Fine, just one more." She pulled out the first doll again, which she was playing with when I had entered. "This is Lamia." I noticed it's dark dress slenderly fit the doll, and was longer in the back then in the front, a design running down that side. The hair of the creature was snake-like, but it seemed to be the most humanoid of all of her creations from my quick scan of the room. I commented on how much I liked her dolls, told her how good of a doll-maker she was, and she offered to make me one. Emma and I were literally pushed out of the room after that and the door locked behind us.
"Well..." Emma began, "Are you having a good time?" she smiled softly at me.
"So far, I actually am. Kya tried to eat me though, and Claire dragged me into a hall of mirrors... I think I'm high."
Emma laughed and hugged me. "You'll understand it all in time, friend." She smiled. "Don't worry."
"I wasn't worried until you told me not to worry."
She laughed softly once more. "Anyways, Una's only been here three weeks. I try to give her some of my time so she's not so lonely being the only girl her age. She's exceptional at dolls, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I was impressed."
We chatted for a few minutes before Emma looked at a nearby wall clock, said "Look at the time" and then walked away, leaving me to my duties in the remaining nine rooms. Looking at Love's door one last time, I noticed the symbol on hers. Lamia's head with a 1 in each eye.
The young girl looked like she was at least five years younger than everyone else in the building I'd seen so far, with curly blond hair and bright pink eyes. She had "Love" branded into the right side of her neck, making my cringe a bit thinking of how it must've hurt. The young girl herself seemed bright and happy, a big smile on her face, a cute dress that went down past her knees with a similar floral pattern. She and Emma were playing with some of the dolls, the young girl herself with a dark green one with snakelike eyes.
"Hey Emma." I said, waving.
"CT! Good to see you again."
"Yeah, it's been a short time." I said, smiling. She smiled somewhat affectionately at my comment, and then motioned to the young girl.
"CT, this is Una Love. We just call her Love, usually, since she's just so lovable." She smiled, and Una Love beamed back at her.
"You're the new caretaker?" Love asked me, hugging her doll.
"Yep, that's me." I help up the clipboard. "This is my sidekick, Clipboard."
She giggled cutely. "I'm Una! Like Emma said, a lot of people here call me Love. I don't mind it." She smile got wider. "Wanna meet some of my dolls? I made them myself!"
I nodded, and went in, sitting down near them. I took the time to write down "Una Love" next to her room number while she snatched up some of her dolls, and Emma told me she was twelve. I added that, and also noted "Energetic and happy. Likes dolls."
She sat down next to me again with four or five new dolls. She pulled out a navy-blue to black shaded dog with three heads and a tail with porcupine like spikes pointing backwards all stitched into it. Wanna guess it's name? "This one is Cerberus." She said. She played with it a bit, moving it around and acting like it was a living creature for a bit, then put it down. "This one.." She picked up a red doll. It had a lion face of vicious nature, a mane of fire, and what looked like horns down it's back. the tail had what looked like a rattle on it and four spikes. "Is Kimera."
Emma interjected. "Love, I know you wanna show him all the dolls, but he doesn't have all the time in the world." She frowned softly at Love. "He needs to see everyone, like you did on your first day. Remember? It was just a few weeks ago."
Love nodded, then looked back to me. "Fine, just one more." She pulled out the first doll again, which she was playing with when I had entered. "This is Lamia." I noticed it's dark dress slenderly fit the doll, and was longer in the back then in the front, a design running down that side. The hair of the creature was snake-like, but it seemed to be the most humanoid of all of her creations from my quick scan of the room. I commented on how much I liked her dolls, told her how good of a doll-maker she was, and she offered to make me one. Emma and I were literally pushed out of the room after that and the door locked behind us.
"Well..." Emma began, "Are you having a good time?" she smiled softly at me.
"So far, I actually am. Kya tried to eat me though, and Claire dragged me into a hall of mirrors... I think I'm high."
Emma laughed and hugged me. "You'll understand it all in time, friend." She smiled. "Don't worry."
"I wasn't worried until you told me not to worry."
She laughed softly once more. "Anyways, Una's only been here three weeks. I try to give her some of my time so she's not so lonely being the only girl her age. She's exceptional at dolls, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I was impressed."
We chatted for a few minutes before Emma looked at a nearby wall clock, said "Look at the time" and then walked away, leaving me to my duties in the remaining nine rooms. Looking at Love's door one last time, I noticed the symbol on hers. Lamia's head with a 1 in each eye.
Chapter 14: You and Your Eyes
I turned to approach door for room twelve and there was a soft tug on my shoulder. I turned and saw Lilith, softly smiling at me with a squint.
"Heya there, Caretaker."
"Oh hi Lilith. Kya okay?"
"She fine. So how is it being the caretaker so far?" She whispered in her normal way.
"Ah, it's nice so far. I'm liking most of the people."
"Oh.. Well, you can come and take care of me any time." I could have sworn I saw her wink. "I'm gonna retreat to my room for now though, the halls are too bright.."
Day ran by us, followed swiftly by an angry Sara yet again, yelling until Day tripped and Sara bludgeoned her until getting her things back, then the two stormed off in different directions and the doors closed.
".. and loud... Have fun, CT." She dragged her fingertip down my arm and turned away,swaying as she seemed to glide back to her room. I heard her door close. I rubbed my arm softly, it tingling where she had touched me earlier. I turned back to the door to Room Twelve. It was actually a metal door, the "12" made out of small LED lights that glowed just enough to make the numbers visible in the darkness. I heard a bunch of small noises inside, got curious and knocked.
I heard a small "bing" and the sounds all stopped. "Yeah?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm the new caretaker, I was wondering if I could get your name and age?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then the door opened. I saw a dark grey- or maybe silver - wall and the girl stepped out. She was wearing a well-fit shirt with a Mario star on it, faded by excessive wear. She had slacks on, some numbers and quotes scribbled onto them. I noticed the Konami Code stitched into the waist of the pants. She had what looked like engineer gloves hanging from her waistband on each side of the pants, and wore goggles I couldn't even see her eyes through. "You're ... a new caretaker, eh?" She looked me up and down. "Maiara Crowe, age twenty. You play games?"
About half an hour and seven ass-kickings later, I put the Xbox controller down. "Yeah, I'm done. I can't beat you." I said, looking around her room. She had every game console I'd ever known laid out on her entertainment center, a plasma screen tv, a complex custom computer and several high-tech looking gadgets nearby that I assumed were for internet or piracy. Her shelves were packed to the brim with every hit game I'd ever known and a multitude of those I'd never heard of. I noticed pipes and wires around her room and lead into the floor and walls. What made me most curious was an oddly placed switch underneath the desk, which I could only see from the angle I was at sitting on the Kirby beanbag I'd taken my place at.
"Hey, dude."
"Yeah?"
"If you're done I got stuff to do." She turned off the console and put the controllers on a charging pad (which it clearly said on the side.) "I was only taking a break for a bit, I'm actually pretty busy." She looked away from me, distancing herself. She was leaning against her computer desk, far from where I was sitting.
"All right. Was fun." I grabbed the clipboard and tried to not overstay my welcome. I closed the door behind me and it clicked.
"Hey Mr. Caretaker, you meet Mai?" I turned to see Love ask me.
"Yep. She's cool. Not very talkative though."
Love tilted her head confused. "Weird, she's usually very gabby." She finished her statement and skipped over into a room on the corner, 17, and closed the door behind her. I looked at the gear emblem on Maiara's door, then wrote a note near her. "Technological. Gamer."
"Heya there, Caretaker."
"Oh hi Lilith. Kya okay?"
"She fine. So how is it being the caretaker so far?" She whispered in her normal way.
"Ah, it's nice so far. I'm liking most of the people."
"Oh.. Well, you can come and take care of me any time." I could have sworn I saw her wink. "I'm gonna retreat to my room for now though, the halls are too bright.."
Day ran by us, followed swiftly by an angry Sara yet again, yelling until Day tripped and Sara bludgeoned her until getting her things back, then the two stormed off in different directions and the doors closed.
".. and loud... Have fun, CT." She dragged her fingertip down my arm and turned away,swaying as she seemed to glide back to her room. I heard her door close. I rubbed my arm softly, it tingling where she had touched me earlier. I turned back to the door to Room Twelve. It was actually a metal door, the "12" made out of small LED lights that glowed just enough to make the numbers visible in the darkness. I heard a bunch of small noises inside, got curious and knocked.
I heard a small "bing" and the sounds all stopped. "Yeah?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm the new caretaker, I was wondering if I could get your name and age?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then the door opened. I saw a dark grey- or maybe silver - wall and the girl stepped out. She was wearing a well-fit shirt with a Mario star on it, faded by excessive wear. She had slacks on, some numbers and quotes scribbled onto them. I noticed the Konami Code stitched into the waist of the pants. She had what looked like engineer gloves hanging from her waistband on each side of the pants, and wore goggles I couldn't even see her eyes through. "You're ... a new caretaker, eh?" She looked me up and down. "Maiara Crowe, age twenty. You play games?"
About half an hour and seven ass-kickings later, I put the Xbox controller down. "Yeah, I'm done. I can't beat you." I said, looking around her room. She had every game console I'd ever known laid out on her entertainment center, a plasma screen tv, a complex custom computer and several high-tech looking gadgets nearby that I assumed were for internet or piracy. Her shelves were packed to the brim with every hit game I'd ever known and a multitude of those I'd never heard of. I noticed pipes and wires around her room and lead into the floor and walls. What made me most curious was an oddly placed switch underneath the desk, which I could only see from the angle I was at sitting on the Kirby beanbag I'd taken my place at.
"Hey, dude."
"Yeah?"
"If you're done I got stuff to do." She turned off the console and put the controllers on a charging pad (which it clearly said on the side.) "I was only taking a break for a bit, I'm actually pretty busy." She looked away from me, distancing herself. She was leaning against her computer desk, far from where I was sitting.
"All right. Was fun." I grabbed the clipboard and tried to not overstay my welcome. I closed the door behind me and it clicked.
"Hey Mr. Caretaker, you meet Mai?" I turned to see Love ask me.
"Yep. She's cool. Not very talkative though."
Love tilted her head confused. "Weird, she's usually very gabby." She finished her statement and skipped over into a room on the corner, 17, and closed the door behind her. I looked at the gear emblem on Maiara's door, then wrote a note near her. "Technological. Gamer."
Chapter 15: A Girl Named Thirteen
All right, Room 12 was down, and I just had eight more rooms to check. As I walked around the corner to where Room Thirteen was, I immediately noticed the the light above this door was out. Looking down, I also noticed a small flickering from the bottom of the door, and light flickering into the hallway from a small hole located about a foot from the ground. Looking closer at the door, I noticed it seemed more worn then the rest of the hotel. The door was more of a gray color than a brown, other than a small rectangle at about my eye height, where the room number was usually hung. The door was covered in crack and dents, and parts of the door were falling in on itself. I looked at the knocker on the door, and noticed it was equally as weary. The brass was old and unpolished, and was half hanging off, making me scared to touch it, for it may fall off. Looking at the hinge area of the door, I noticed the rust and wear there also, marking this door as obviously old and very likely to collapse soon. Regardless, I had to knock on the door, I had too meet everyone before I could go back to the main room.
I knocked on the door, and to my surprise it didn't fall down. It did, however, crack open and let a static music sound enter the hallway, like a radio with one speaker blown. I heard movement right inside the room, and after a moment the girl who inhabited the room which held the old door was in front of me.
She had dark hair, possibly black, down to her ears. I noticed she had light skin, nearly gray in shade. Her shirt was loosely worn, and had a bunny skull design on it. The girl wore black jeans, which had some chains on it, looking also like some chains had been removed, or fallen off leaving half hanging chains, some small holes, and random links hanging off of the sides. She had gloves with no fingers on, black as well. I noticed she wasn't wearing shoes, which should be normal; This was her room. She has an earring on one ear, a skull in the shape of a bunny head. She looked at me with a somewhat straight look, a hint of hopelessness in a way covering her face like a light mist.
I held out my hand to her, and said, "Hello, I'm the new caretaker for the hotel, It's the only job I could get in this town, to be honest.."
She looked at me, her mouth slanted in a way now. She raised one eyebrow and replied in a bored kind of tone, "So, you're like our janitor or something?" A confused look covering her face soon after saying this, though I wasn't sure it it was caused by what I had said, or the fact that I was the only guy in the hotel.
"Uhhh, No." I replied, as my eyes peered into the room behind her. I noticed right away where the static drowned music was coming from, an old radio on the desk she had in her room. The desk itself was also run down, missing it's front left leg. The leg was only supported by a stack of Stephen King books, some of which were missing the pages which were located around the bottom of the stack, or had broken spines. The leg of the desk was spearing through the top book, 'Salem's Lot, and still the desk was slanted. On top of the desk, however, was an old computer. The monitor for the computer was on, and the screen was covered in scratches and cracks. The keyboard, I could see, was missing several keys, including the K key, the left shift, the delete key, and number 7 through 9, on both the number pad and the row of keys on top of the letters. The mouse was next to the keyboard, so old it did not even contain a scroll wheel. I could see from here it was also broken, and missing the right button. I looked down for a moment, and noticed that her carpet was missing large spots of cover, the thread unraveling at the edges, including at her feet.
Her bed, which I could also see from the doorway, was missing all four legs, saw off about two inches from the bed's bottom. The mattress was flattened, and a few springs were sticking out of the side of the bed. She had black and white striped sheets, which had holes also. Her pillows and blankets had the same bunny skull design as her shirt and single earring.
I looked back at her, questioningly, and asked, "Why do you only have one earring?"
She replied, "I lost the other one, Mr. Caretaker guy."
"Oh." I responded, my eyes darting back into the room noticing the wallpaper peeling off of the walls, and the light was, as I had thought, flickering on the ceiling. The ceiling was missing a few panels itself, and looked like there was a large water stain above the door.
She looked down to my hand, which I was still holding out. "So, you wanna know my name and stuff?" She said, rubbing the back of her head in an unsure way.
I nodded, and replied to her, "I need the names so I make sure everything goes to the right place, when people get mail."
She examined my hand before saying, "My name doesn't really matter, Everyone calls me Thirteen, it's always been my apartment number, my birthday, everything. Not to mention I'm always unlucky, if you can't tell." She said the last bit as she pointed behind her to the desk and bed. She went to shake my hand, but as soon as she came in contact with me, a shock met, and she pulled her hand away, as I did mine. I heard her mutter, "Owch.." She looked back up to me, her old expression returning, as I noticed her eyes, a strange and beautiful purple, slightly darker than a usual tone, and something I'd never seen before in my life.
"So, Thirteen.." I said slowly, "You look like you could use some new things. Should I try and see if we have some stuff you could use," I peered over to the door she leaned against, "Like a new door?"
She replied, "All I need for right now it to have that reattached to the door." She pointed next to the door, where I just now noticed a small symbol of her bunny head design again, a 1 in the left ear, a 3 in the right.
I nodded to her, and said, "I'll have it done soon."
She added to her previous statement, "I never get any mail anyways, My family is either all dead, or the few who are alive don't really give a damn. I don't have a TV, so I never get games or movies. You may not ever need to deliver mail to me."
"Oh, Okay then."
"Well, Is that all you needed, Mr. Caretaker Man?"
"I guess so." I responded, as I went to go walk to room fourteen, she closed her door, and a second later I heard a bang, like something had fallen.
I turned back, and noticed the hinges had completely broken, and I stepped back to see her looking at the door on the ground in front of her. She was yelling, "God dammit, I have to fix the thing again, I just got new stuff a month ago, damned hinges, something's up with this room!" I watched as she leaned her head on her arm, and then against the wall. Right after this, the light flickered intensely, A popping sound was heard as the light went out, and the glass dome around the bulb fell down and shattered into a pile of glass. "Oh, are you kidding me!?" She said, then kicked at wall, which, in response, a hole appeared, and the electric panel next to the door fell off. "Oh, Shit!"
I quietly tiptoed away from the room, as she continued her little mental breakdown in her doorway. I looked down to the room list and next to her I wrote, "Thirteen - Unlucky" I though about it for a second, the looked back down and added, "Kind of cute, I should help her fix up the room some." Then I walked up to room fourteen, a door which had stickers on it, and knocked.
I knocked on the door, and to my surprise it didn't fall down. It did, however, crack open and let a static music sound enter the hallway, like a radio with one speaker blown. I heard movement right inside the room, and after a moment the girl who inhabited the room which held the old door was in front of me.
She had dark hair, possibly black, down to her ears. I noticed she had light skin, nearly gray in shade. Her shirt was loosely worn, and had a bunny skull design on it. The girl wore black jeans, which had some chains on it, looking also like some chains had been removed, or fallen off leaving half hanging chains, some small holes, and random links hanging off of the sides. She had gloves with no fingers on, black as well. I noticed she wasn't wearing shoes, which should be normal; This was her room. She has an earring on one ear, a skull in the shape of a bunny head. She looked at me with a somewhat straight look, a hint of hopelessness in a way covering her face like a light mist.
I held out my hand to her, and said, "Hello, I'm the new caretaker for the hotel, It's the only job I could get in this town, to be honest.."
She looked at me, her mouth slanted in a way now. She raised one eyebrow and replied in a bored kind of tone, "So, you're like our janitor or something?" A confused look covering her face soon after saying this, though I wasn't sure it it was caused by what I had said, or the fact that I was the only guy in the hotel.
"Uhhh, No." I replied, as my eyes peered into the room behind her. I noticed right away where the static drowned music was coming from, an old radio on the desk she had in her room. The desk itself was also run down, missing it's front left leg. The leg was only supported by a stack of Stephen King books, some of which were missing the pages which were located around the bottom of the stack, or had broken spines. The leg of the desk was spearing through the top book, 'Salem's Lot, and still the desk was slanted. On top of the desk, however, was an old computer. The monitor for the computer was on, and the screen was covered in scratches and cracks. The keyboard, I could see, was missing several keys, including the K key, the left shift, the delete key, and number 7 through 9, on both the number pad and the row of keys on top of the letters. The mouse was next to the keyboard, so old it did not even contain a scroll wheel. I could see from here it was also broken, and missing the right button. I looked down for a moment, and noticed that her carpet was missing large spots of cover, the thread unraveling at the edges, including at her feet.
Her bed, which I could also see from the doorway, was missing all four legs, saw off about two inches from the bed's bottom. The mattress was flattened, and a few springs were sticking out of the side of the bed. She had black and white striped sheets, which had holes also. Her pillows and blankets had the same bunny skull design as her shirt and single earring.
I looked back at her, questioningly, and asked, "Why do you only have one earring?"
She replied, "I lost the other one, Mr. Caretaker guy."
"Oh." I responded, my eyes darting back into the room noticing the wallpaper peeling off of the walls, and the light was, as I had thought, flickering on the ceiling. The ceiling was missing a few panels itself, and looked like there was a large water stain above the door.
She looked down to my hand, which I was still holding out. "So, you wanna know my name and stuff?" She said, rubbing the back of her head in an unsure way.
I nodded, and replied to her, "I need the names so I make sure everything goes to the right place, when people get mail."
She examined my hand before saying, "My name doesn't really matter, Everyone calls me Thirteen, it's always been my apartment number, my birthday, everything. Not to mention I'm always unlucky, if you can't tell." She said the last bit as she pointed behind her to the desk and bed. She went to shake my hand, but as soon as she came in contact with me, a shock met, and she pulled her hand away, as I did mine. I heard her mutter, "Owch.." She looked back up to me, her old expression returning, as I noticed her eyes, a strange and beautiful purple, slightly darker than a usual tone, and something I'd never seen before in my life.
"So, Thirteen.." I said slowly, "You look like you could use some new things. Should I try and see if we have some stuff you could use," I peered over to the door she leaned against, "Like a new door?"
She replied, "All I need for right now it to have that reattached to the door." She pointed next to the door, where I just now noticed a small symbol of her bunny head design again, a 1 in the left ear, a 3 in the right.
I nodded to her, and said, "I'll have it done soon."
She added to her previous statement, "I never get any mail anyways, My family is either all dead, or the few who are alive don't really give a damn. I don't have a TV, so I never get games or movies. You may not ever need to deliver mail to me."
"Oh, Okay then."
"Well, Is that all you needed, Mr. Caretaker Man?"
"I guess so." I responded, as I went to go walk to room fourteen, she closed her door, and a second later I heard a bang, like something had fallen.
I turned back, and noticed the hinges had completely broken, and I stepped back to see her looking at the door on the ground in front of her. She was yelling, "God dammit, I have to fix the thing again, I just got new stuff a month ago, damned hinges, something's up with this room!" I watched as she leaned her head on her arm, and then against the wall. Right after this, the light flickered intensely, A popping sound was heard as the light went out, and the glass dome around the bulb fell down and shattered into a pile of glass. "Oh, are you kidding me!?" She said, then kicked at wall, which, in response, a hole appeared, and the electric panel next to the door fell off. "Oh, Shit!"
I quietly tiptoed away from the room, as she continued her little mental breakdown in her doorway. I looked down to the room list and next to her I wrote, "Thirteen - Unlucky" I though about it for a second, the looked back down and added, "Kind of cute, I should help her fix up the room some." Then I walked up to room fourteen, a door which had stickers on it, and knocked.
Chapter 16: A Little on the Bright Side
She opened the door and peeked out a bit. Her skin was on the tanner side, so she most likely spent a lot of time in the sunlight. Her eyes were the brightest of blues, and her hair was blond with a bit of light pink at the tips. The hair went to about shoulders length, and some was braided and tied along the side of her head, the two braids meeting at the back of her head. Upon seeing a new face, obviously not whom she had thought was at the door, she opened it and smiled warmly at me, holding out her hand. "Hello" she began, "I'm Monia Wright. I assume you're the new caretaker?"
I shook her hand. "Yeah. Does word really spread that fast around here?"
Her smile stayed. It felt nice, her gentle gaze with that smile. It was different from what I was used to around here. She was very friendly in an innocent way, something one finds rarely. "No, not really" She shook her head slowly. "I just can't think of any other reason a young man I've never seen before would be in the Inn. Alma has a habit of hiring men for the job because she finds them to work more dedicated towards the young women who live in the confines of these walls. She'd be correct in that aspect, but I think she enjoys the drama that accompanies the job."
"Ah. I see. Well.. I'll keep that in mind?" I looked at her shirt which had a design with wings on it stitched into the back and wrapped around her shoulders, and the tips of the wings intersected across her chest. She wore jeans with a bit of wear here and there, and white socks. Her pose was elegant, which I found rare seeing how nobody here so far really had the effort to try and look nice all the time, most slouching or letting their hair fall around randomly.
"Want to come in?" She stood off to the side a bit and motioned a hand inwards. A sweet scent invaded my space, and I became curious about the room as it lingered. I nodded and walked into her doorway. Her room was bright and white. There was a wing design on her bed, in a design of six wings, three on each side. She had posters of bands like Flyleaf and Breaking Benjamin, which surprised me. On her desk was a small fish tank with various Tetra fish in it and a few others which I wasn't quite sure of the name. She had a sunroof in her room, along with the normal window which seemed to be bigger here, and in the corner was a bird cage with a dove inside. Her bathroom door was slightly ajar, and I could see a towel inside with the wing logo again. Her dresser and desk had stickers pasted on them, and there were a couple comfortable looking chairs in the room. I stood in the middle of the room looking around.
"It's very bright."
She walked in by me, leaving her door open, and sat on the her of her bed with her hands in her lap. "I like the sunlight." I wrote that down, along with her name.
"Oh, right, how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen." She continue to smile at me as I noted it, then blinked and looked at her fish tank for a moment, walked over to it and fed them. "Sorry I forgot again guys.." she trailed her fingertip down the side of the glass. "I'll try not to tomorrow. You're lucky that our new friend reminded me."
I though for a moment. "Wait.. how did I remind you that you needed to feed your fish?"
She giggled softly, nearly childishly, and said "Your Green Day shirt. The heart looks kinda like scales to me."
I looked down at my shirt. I didn't see it, but I nodded at her anyways. "All right. So uh.." I pointed over at the cage in the corner. "What's the bird's name?"
She giggled again, I loved the laugh. "Her name is Angie. I feed her at dinner and the food lasts her until the next day. Dinner's soon, so you should go and meet everyone else soon as well. Is it all right if I pardon you now?"
I nodded, not quite sure how to react to the way she said 'you should leave and meet everyone' and turned to walk away.
"Goodbye caretaker. I hope to see you again soon."
I turned and smiled. "Thank you, you too, Monia." I motioned to the door. "Do you want me to keep this open?"
She shook her head. "No, it's quite all right, I request you close it. A couple of our fellow room mates dislike excessive light, especially sunlight, so I'd like for you to close it and I'll see you at dinner, I hope?"
I nodded. "I'm starving, I can't wait to eat. Whatever Alma made smells really, really good."
She waved goodbye at me with a gently smile and a soft movement, and I gave a comparably lazy and much less nice wave in a response. I closed the door behind me and looked at my sidekick, Clipboard.
"Sweet, happy, loves light and pets, innocent (?)"
I looked over to room fifteen, which was finally the corner of this long hallway. It started at five, and ended at fifteen. Turning my view back down the other direction, I noticed Kya leaning out her door and talking to Marie. Marie saw me and waved, her bandage still on her arm. I waved back. Kya must have known it was me because she didn't even take the effort to turn around. I guess the two of them were friends though?
I took one last glance at Monia's door. Her symbol on the door, as everyone had, was the six wings surrounding a 14. It seemed interesting, I liked it, then I just shrugged and walked over to room fifteen.
I shook her hand. "Yeah. Does word really spread that fast around here?"
Her smile stayed. It felt nice, her gentle gaze with that smile. It was different from what I was used to around here. She was very friendly in an innocent way, something one finds rarely. "No, not really" She shook her head slowly. "I just can't think of any other reason a young man I've never seen before would be in the Inn. Alma has a habit of hiring men for the job because she finds them to work more dedicated towards the young women who live in the confines of these walls. She'd be correct in that aspect, but I think she enjoys the drama that accompanies the job."
"Ah. I see. Well.. I'll keep that in mind?" I looked at her shirt which had a design with wings on it stitched into the back and wrapped around her shoulders, and the tips of the wings intersected across her chest. She wore jeans with a bit of wear here and there, and white socks. Her pose was elegant, which I found rare seeing how nobody here so far really had the effort to try and look nice all the time, most slouching or letting their hair fall around randomly.
"Want to come in?" She stood off to the side a bit and motioned a hand inwards. A sweet scent invaded my space, and I became curious about the room as it lingered. I nodded and walked into her doorway. Her room was bright and white. There was a wing design on her bed, in a design of six wings, three on each side. She had posters of bands like Flyleaf and Breaking Benjamin, which surprised me. On her desk was a small fish tank with various Tetra fish in it and a few others which I wasn't quite sure of the name. She had a sunroof in her room, along with the normal window which seemed to be bigger here, and in the corner was a bird cage with a dove inside. Her bathroom door was slightly ajar, and I could see a towel inside with the wing logo again. Her dresser and desk had stickers pasted on them, and there were a couple comfortable looking chairs in the room. I stood in the middle of the room looking around.
"It's very bright."
She walked in by me, leaving her door open, and sat on the her of her bed with her hands in her lap. "I like the sunlight." I wrote that down, along with her name.
"Oh, right, how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen." She continue to smile at me as I noted it, then blinked and looked at her fish tank for a moment, walked over to it and fed them. "Sorry I forgot again guys.." she trailed her fingertip down the side of the glass. "I'll try not to tomorrow. You're lucky that our new friend reminded me."
I though for a moment. "Wait.. how did I remind you that you needed to feed your fish?"
She giggled softly, nearly childishly, and said "Your Green Day shirt. The heart looks kinda like scales to me."
I looked down at my shirt. I didn't see it, but I nodded at her anyways. "All right. So uh.." I pointed over at the cage in the corner. "What's the bird's name?"
She giggled again, I loved the laugh. "Her name is Angie. I feed her at dinner and the food lasts her until the next day. Dinner's soon, so you should go and meet everyone else soon as well. Is it all right if I pardon you now?"
I nodded, not quite sure how to react to the way she said 'you should leave and meet everyone' and turned to walk away.
"Goodbye caretaker. I hope to see you again soon."
I turned and smiled. "Thank you, you too, Monia." I motioned to the door. "Do you want me to keep this open?"
She shook her head. "No, it's quite all right, I request you close it. A couple of our fellow room mates dislike excessive light, especially sunlight, so I'd like for you to close it and I'll see you at dinner, I hope?"
I nodded. "I'm starving, I can't wait to eat. Whatever Alma made smells really, really good."
She waved goodbye at me with a gently smile and a soft movement, and I gave a comparably lazy and much less nice wave in a response. I closed the door behind me and looked at my sidekick, Clipboard.
"Sweet, happy, loves light and pets, innocent (?)"
I looked over to room fifteen, which was finally the corner of this long hallway. It started at five, and ended at fifteen. Turning my view back down the other direction, I noticed Kya leaning out her door and talking to Marie. Marie saw me and waved, her bandage still on her arm. I waved back. Kya must have known it was me because she didn't even take the effort to turn around. I guess the two of them were friends though?
I took one last glance at Monia's door. Her symbol on the door, as everyone had, was the six wings surrounding a 14. It seemed interesting, I liked it, then I just shrugged and walked over to room fifteen.
Chapter 17: Two in One
As I walked up to room fifteen, the upper-right corner room, I heard someone talking. Someone who was very annoyed, might I add. The voice was filtered into a hard to understand noise, but the girl inside was talking so loud I could make out most of the words. "... thinks that she can just waltz into anyone's room and take what she wants, Kitty! Sure, I don't care at all, take all my artifacts so you can just go and be the little devil you are!" She snapped sarcastically. "I don't think little Ms Satan child even knows what half the shit she steals from me does! You know what she took from me yesterday?"
"No, Sarie. What she take?"
"A god damn graphic novel. She even lost my page."
"How do you know she took by accident? I mean, if you think about, you don't know if she meant to take or not. Maybe she was planning on reading for her... personal uses?"
"... I did not even think about that. Probably, in my clearer hindsight, but why not give Dayanara some money to go and buy herself her OWN little book so she can frig herself to it?! I'm not sure I even wanna read it after thinking what she might have done with it."
I let out a small chuckle that was near inaudible, and then there was silence.
"What is it Kitty? You hear something?"
"There's a person at door."
"Really? ..."
Whoever Kitty was seemed to leave out random words of her sentences. I raised my hand to knock, and then the door opened. I lowered my hand again and waved.
"Eavesdropping?" the girl asked. It was the girl from before, who had picked Day's lock and argued with her for stealing something. She had Purple hair that started out straight at her roots, but wound into wild curls at around shoulder length. She had eyes that were a fusion of blue for an outer ring, blending slowly into a green ring nearest to her pupil. She had a dress of a purple shade near to her hair. Small buckles and symbols of unknown origin were stitched into her dress with several different colors of thread. The dress went down to her hands, where upon the backside there were hexagrams stitched in. She had a very unique scent to her, and I'd describe it if there was any other possible word for it other than "unique". Behind her there was another girl, she had brown hair, an orange tanktop with stripes and a hand grenade on it, and a short jean skirt. Her eyes were A bright orange that reflected light, making them look light they were glowing. The girl at the door was Sara, who was slightly pale, and the girl in the background was Kitty, who looked fairly tanned, as if she spent all day in the sunlight.
"Sorry" I said "I just need to-"
"I saw you earlier. You were talking to Dayanara." She crossed her arms. "You're either a poor boy she tricked into coming to see her or the new caretaker."
"He's the caretaker." Kitty said.
Sara turned. "How do you know?"
Kitty was staring at the clipboard. "Says right there."
I glanced down at the clipboard and noticed it had something scribbled on the back. I brought it close to my face so I could see the small writing, and indeed "caretaker" was written there. I looked at Kitty. "How did you see that from way over there?"
"Have good eyesight."
"She does. Can we help you Mr. Eaves?"
"I need everyone's name and age." I shook the clipboard slightly
"Sara and Kitty Little. Twenty and Nineteen, respectively. Kitty's room is actually that one." She pointed to the room beside hers, the first room on the next hallway. "She just spend all the time in my room or the room in the corner our rooms are linked to."
"What is the corner room?"
"Is a room. A seeecret room." I heard Kitty from the background. I looked over and she was laying on her back on the floor, stretching and rolling around oddly.
"She's... Special." Sara said. "Well, you're busy Mr. Eaves, so good day, go and listen to someone else's conversation."
She closed the door and I wrote down what she had told me. Sara and Kitty. They had the same last name, so were they related? They didn't look it. I heard two people arguing behind me and turned around.
"No, Sarie. What she take?"
"A god damn graphic novel. She even lost my page."
"How do you know she took by accident? I mean, if you think about, you don't know if she meant to take or not. Maybe she was planning on reading for her... personal uses?"
"... I did not even think about that. Probably, in my clearer hindsight, but why not give Dayanara some money to go and buy herself her OWN little book so she can frig herself to it?! I'm not sure I even wanna read it after thinking what she might have done with it."
I let out a small chuckle that was near inaudible, and then there was silence.
"What is it Kitty? You hear something?"
"There's a person at door."
"Really? ..."
Whoever Kitty was seemed to leave out random words of her sentences. I raised my hand to knock, and then the door opened. I lowered my hand again and waved.
"Eavesdropping?" the girl asked. It was the girl from before, who had picked Day's lock and argued with her for stealing something. She had Purple hair that started out straight at her roots, but wound into wild curls at around shoulder length. She had eyes that were a fusion of blue for an outer ring, blending slowly into a green ring nearest to her pupil. She had a dress of a purple shade near to her hair. Small buckles and symbols of unknown origin were stitched into her dress with several different colors of thread. The dress went down to her hands, where upon the backside there were hexagrams stitched in. She had a very unique scent to her, and I'd describe it if there was any other possible word for it other than "unique". Behind her there was another girl, she had brown hair, an orange tanktop with stripes and a hand grenade on it, and a short jean skirt. Her eyes were A bright orange that reflected light, making them look light they were glowing. The girl at the door was Sara, who was slightly pale, and the girl in the background was Kitty, who looked fairly tanned, as if she spent all day in the sunlight.
"Sorry" I said "I just need to-"
"I saw you earlier. You were talking to Dayanara." She crossed her arms. "You're either a poor boy she tricked into coming to see her or the new caretaker."
"He's the caretaker." Kitty said.
Sara turned. "How do you know?"
Kitty was staring at the clipboard. "Says right there."
I glanced down at the clipboard and noticed it had something scribbled on the back. I brought it close to my face so I could see the small writing, and indeed "caretaker" was written there. I looked at Kitty. "How did you see that from way over there?"
"Have good eyesight."
"She does. Can we help you Mr. Eaves?"
"I need everyone's name and age." I shook the clipboard slightly
"Sara and Kitty Little. Twenty and Nineteen, respectively. Kitty's room is actually that one." She pointed to the room beside hers, the first room on the next hallway. "She just spend all the time in my room or the room in the corner our rooms are linked to."
"What is the corner room?"
"Is a room. A seeecret room." I heard Kitty from the background. I looked over and she was laying on her back on the floor, stretching and rolling around oddly.
"She's... Special." Sara said. "Well, you're busy Mr. Eaves, so good day, go and listen to someone else's conversation."
She closed the door and I wrote down what she had told me. Sara and Kitty. They had the same last name, so were they related? They didn't look it. I heard two people arguing behind me and turned around.
Chapter 18: Turn the Stones
I turned and saw the two leaning out of rooms seventeen and eighteen. From seventeen was a girl with bright blonde hair with lines of blue dyed in. Her eyes were a light grey and seemed to flash lightly each time she yelled. She wore a tank-top with a Daft Punk logo on it, and a fishnet tee underneath it. A bra strap was visible, as well as part of a black bra with bright colored stripes on it. She wore torn jeans, half a leg missing from the left half. The other girl was much less energetic, standing still near the other girl glaring with silver, reflective eyes. This other girl was as tall if not taller than I, and her hair went down to- I shit you not- the floor, long untangled strands of silver. She wore a Powerman 5000 logo on the arm of a sweater that was otherwise gray going down to her knees.
"You can't just let your music blast so loud, Alice. Anya will hear it and come to beat your ass." said the silver girl.
"Bullshit! My music adds life and rhythm, what does your music do other than use excessive bump bump bump?!" She made movements with her hand to simulate a speaker pounding.
"Uhh, Have more then one line of lyrics? I get it, daft punk, they're around the world. Big. Freaking. Woop."
"Ugghhh.." She stopped and turned to me. "You, care-dude, Daft Punk or Powerman?
I blinked. "Umm." I thought for a minute. "Blink 182."
"Fuck you." She turned and walked into her room, and the door slammed. I heard the familiar sound of Aerodynamic fade in.
The other girl walked over, a solid expression on her face. "So you're hear to learn everyone's name, I assume?"
"Yes, and age."
"Age too? That's new." She glances over to Alice's door, rolled her eyes, then turned towards her room, motioning to me. "Follow. My room is soundproofed."
I followed her as she said. Her room was very... Shiny. She had Iron shelves lining the wall on one side, assorted sands and stones in long glass cases atop them. Each labeled. She had a metal desk, a computer with silver finish, and an Xbox 360 of similar design. Her carpet and walls were gray as well.
"It's very gray." I said, closing the door behind me. The music from next door was suddenly inaudible.
"I'm nearly colorblind. However, faint colors that I do see I tend to try and focus on, and it strains my eyes. I wear my glasses for TV and Gears of War. That's about it." She sat on the back of a sofa in the dead center of her room, next to the bed, and fell over the back of it onto the seat cushion. I blushed up as when she did that, a sight of her panties and bare chest flashed at me for just a blurred moment. She couldn't see my expression, and was none the wiser, so I pulled myself together and went to sit next to her. She was trying to get the shirt to stop falling as she sat upside-down on her sofa. "Damn thing won't stay."
"Put pants on?"
"I'm not wearing a bra under this either." She blinked and looked at me, a slight blush fluttering over her face, the most color I'd seen in the room at all.
"You don't say?" I looked down at the clipboard as she confusedly tried to make sense of what I said. "So what's your name?"
"Elizabeth Slade." She waited for me to jot it down. "Nineteen years old." I wrote that down as well, with "colorblind", "Lazy" and "Metal-head" I didn't exactly try to hide it, so she snickered as I wrote them down. "I'm lazy?"
"You're sitting upside down and refuse to take the effort to put on pants. So yup!"
She laughed. "Fine, wait one second." She tried to roll off the cushion, but the shirt fell down on her again and over her head, exposing her body and causing her to fall head-first to the ground. I heard a 'dong' type sound, as if she had hit a metal floor, stared for a second, then as she started to fix the shirt I looked away, trying to act as if I'd seen nothing.
When she'd fixed the shirt her face was the deepest blush I'd seen all day, her face a burning hot crimson. "Wh-What did you see?"
"You fall, then I looked away."I lied. It seemed to calm her down a bit, and she walked over to the dresser behind the sofa. A minute and she was back, still recovering from her fall but wearing gray sweats now. She rubbed her head.
"Is there anything else you need to know? .. Ow.."
"Alice's info?"
"Alice.. um... Turner? Eighteen." I wrote down that, as well as Energetic.
"Oh, just curious, who started the fight?"
"I did. I was leaving to go to the kitchen for dinner, because it's soon." She pointed to the corner of the room above the closet and I noticed it for the first time. A brown box with a speaker on it. "In every room, same spot." She looked at an alarm near her bed. "Any second now, actu-
DING Ding ding- Alma's voice came onto the speaker. "Food time, ladies. Oh, and whoever has that poor boy, bring him to dinner too? I doubt he's eaten recently."
I got up and me and Elizabeth left the room. She guided me to the Dining Room I saw earlier, and everyone was sitting down.
"You can't just let your music blast so loud, Alice. Anya will hear it and come to beat your ass." said the silver girl.
"Bullshit! My music adds life and rhythm, what does your music do other than use excessive bump bump bump?!" She made movements with her hand to simulate a speaker pounding.
"Uhh, Have more then one line of lyrics? I get it, daft punk, they're around the world. Big. Freaking. Woop."
"Ugghhh.." She stopped and turned to me. "You, care-dude, Daft Punk or Powerman?
I blinked. "Umm." I thought for a minute. "Blink 182."
"Fuck you." She turned and walked into her room, and the door slammed. I heard the familiar sound of Aerodynamic fade in.
The other girl walked over, a solid expression on her face. "So you're hear to learn everyone's name, I assume?"
"Yes, and age."
"Age too? That's new." She glances over to Alice's door, rolled her eyes, then turned towards her room, motioning to me. "Follow. My room is soundproofed."
I followed her as she said. Her room was very... Shiny. She had Iron shelves lining the wall on one side, assorted sands and stones in long glass cases atop them. Each labeled. She had a metal desk, a computer with silver finish, and an Xbox 360 of similar design. Her carpet and walls were gray as well.
"It's very gray." I said, closing the door behind me. The music from next door was suddenly inaudible.
"I'm nearly colorblind. However, faint colors that I do see I tend to try and focus on, and it strains my eyes. I wear my glasses for TV and Gears of War. That's about it." She sat on the back of a sofa in the dead center of her room, next to the bed, and fell over the back of it onto the seat cushion. I blushed up as when she did that, a sight of her panties and bare chest flashed at me for just a blurred moment. She couldn't see my expression, and was none the wiser, so I pulled myself together and went to sit next to her. She was trying to get the shirt to stop falling as she sat upside-down on her sofa. "Damn thing won't stay."
"Put pants on?"
"I'm not wearing a bra under this either." She blinked and looked at me, a slight blush fluttering over her face, the most color I'd seen in the room at all.
"You don't say?" I looked down at the clipboard as she confusedly tried to make sense of what I said. "So what's your name?"
"Elizabeth Slade." She waited for me to jot it down. "Nineteen years old." I wrote that down as well, with "colorblind", "Lazy" and "Metal-head" I didn't exactly try to hide it, so she snickered as I wrote them down. "I'm lazy?"
"You're sitting upside down and refuse to take the effort to put on pants. So yup!"
She laughed. "Fine, wait one second." She tried to roll off the cushion, but the shirt fell down on her again and over her head, exposing her body and causing her to fall head-first to the ground. I heard a 'dong' type sound, as if she had hit a metal floor, stared for a second, then as she started to fix the shirt I looked away, trying to act as if I'd seen nothing.
When she'd fixed the shirt her face was the deepest blush I'd seen all day, her face a burning hot crimson. "Wh-What did you see?"
"You fall, then I looked away."I lied. It seemed to calm her down a bit, and she walked over to the dresser behind the sofa. A minute and she was back, still recovering from her fall but wearing gray sweats now. She rubbed her head.
"Is there anything else you need to know? .. Ow.."
"Alice's info?"
"Alice.. um... Turner? Eighteen." I wrote down that, as well as Energetic.
"Oh, just curious, who started the fight?"
"I did. I was leaving to go to the kitchen for dinner, because it's soon." She pointed to the corner of the room above the closet and I noticed it for the first time. A brown box with a speaker on it. "In every room, same spot." She looked at an alarm near her bed. "Any second now, actu-
DING Ding ding- Alma's voice came onto the speaker. "Food time, ladies. Oh, and whoever has that poor boy, bring him to dinner too? I doubt he's eaten recently."
I got up and me and Elizabeth left the room. She guided me to the Dining Room I saw earlier, and everyone was sitting down.
Chapter 19: Dinner for Twenty-Two
As I wandered into the dining room I saw the chairs were mostly filled. I knew everyone here except for two small girls at the end of the table who I believe might have been twins, be definitely were related. They both had grey eyes and blond hair down to the shoulders. They were arguing over whos fork was whos, I could hear from here.
"Have fun Caretaker" Elizabeth said as she softly pat my shoulder and walked down the table and sat near the end. The table was nine chairs long, for eighteen along the two sides, and two chairs long at the end of each shorter side, for a total of twenty-two chairs. The twins were sitting at the far end in the pair. I noticed that the order that the people were sitting around the table was not, as one would expect, their order in the hallway. Millie Grey was sitting next to Thirteen, and the seat beside her was empty. I decided to take that one, since it was at the end of the table. Kya was sitting across from me, and Marie next to her, who waved cutely with her fingers (as well as made Crimson wave a stuffed paw at me) while Kya seemed to glare at me as if I'd just bloodily massacred her pet or something.
"Heya Mr. Caretaker Man." I heard from beside me. I turned and saw Thirteen looking at me with her normal lazy expression. Millie Grey was now wearing a grayish-blue sweater, waving gently to me. I waved back.
"Hey Thirteen, Millie Grey. You two friends?"
"Yeah." Millie Grey said. "Actually, we're waiting for Emma. It's quite ironic, actually, she's never on time." She let out a soft giggle.
"So Caretaker Man, do you have name?" Thirteen asked.
"Yeah, actually. I-"
"Nobody cares." I heard an angry snap from across the table in a small but vicious voice. I looked over in bewilderment at Kya.
"Why doesn't anyone care?" I looked at her puzzled.
"Because you're just some temporary jackass who's gonna run down this hill at maximum velocity at the first hint of catastrophe and leave us to clean it up. Like a little bitch, you're gonna whimper down the stone with your tail between your legs and a boot-print on your ass. Crying, possibly. I can see you as a fragile, pathetic bastard who just stares blankly at someone who has anything more complex than "Hi" to say, and you're gonna either become some hornball jackass boy, or some pathetic "only ACTING tough" guy who will flee. I know it, you're all the same. There is no Prince Charming, no perfect knight, and no dream boy but inside someone's actual dreams. You're a pathetic bastard who doesn't even deserve a name. Nobody likes you." She finished her snapping monologue after she had attracted the attention of everyone in the Inn. The people who had yet to enter the room for dinner, Emma along their numbers, were standing just by the doorway staring in shock at Kya.
I glanced down, feeling kinda shitty. ".. I like me"
"Congratulations, you love yourself. Now you can masturbate happily." She got up, knocking the chair down in the process, and stormed out of the room past the group at the door way. Everyone was silent until a door was heard slamming from the other side of the building.
"Wow, what a bitch!" I heard someone say. I turned and looked who. Lana.
"Well" Alma said, pulling off cooking gloves "No food for her then. Everyone else, eat up!"
"Wait, IS your name?" Dayanara asked.
"Nevermind." I said. "Doesn't matter, I don't wanna say anymore. Just call me caretaker or something, make up a nickname. I ran away from my old life, shouldn't use my old name."
"Wait, who's that?" one of the twins asked.
Alma laughed. "Okay, so for anyone who doesn't know, this is our new caretaker. The young man left him home and ran out of money here, so he's staying here in the caretaker room, where else? If you have any problems or needs that aren't food related, ask him. As a caretaker, he's here to take care of you. Whether or not you choose to use his services or not is up to you." she walked down to the end of the table and sat down at one of the chairs. All of them were different, but I noticed only now the weirdest one. Next to Alma, closes to the door, was a chair with a skull on the backrest of it. There were spider-webs between the wooden posts holding it, and it looked gravely underused. "Nekro" was carved into the wood. I looked at it for most of dinner, splitting my attention between the amazing food, my freinds Emma, Thirteen and Millie Grey, and it. Nobody mentioned it, nobody else looked at it, and I had a feeling asking about if would get me nowhere.
"So," Thirteen said, "You wanna help me fix up, right? Tomorrow you can grab some stuff from the supply room across from your room and help me? There's a door or two in there."
"All right then, I'd be happy to."
....
After time passed for a while, the tenants slowly trickled out of the dining room and back to their rooms. We hung out in my room, Thirteen, Millie Grey, Emma and I. Out of our small group, Millie Grey left first, claiming she needed to feed her pet. Emma followed her, with a customary "Wow, look at the time! I need to get to bed."
"I sleep late," Thirteen said, "So knock first tomorrow." I nodded, and she left my room. I glanced at the clock. 2:36. It had been only me and Thirteen for at least two hours. I stretched, still not quite tired, and decided I might need some medicine to help. The closet next to my room has some sleeping medicine, I remembered seeing. I tiptoed to my door, opened it, and slipped out. I looked down past the dining room. Nothing. Down by Millie Grey's room. Nobody. I was clear.
I turned around and was staring eye to eye with Lilith. "Boo." She whispered softly.
"Have fun Caretaker" Elizabeth said as she softly pat my shoulder and walked down the table and sat near the end. The table was nine chairs long, for eighteen along the two sides, and two chairs long at the end of each shorter side, for a total of twenty-two chairs. The twins were sitting at the far end in the pair. I noticed that the order that the people were sitting around the table was not, as one would expect, their order in the hallway. Millie Grey was sitting next to Thirteen, and the seat beside her was empty. I decided to take that one, since it was at the end of the table. Kya was sitting across from me, and Marie next to her, who waved cutely with her fingers (as well as made Crimson wave a stuffed paw at me) while Kya seemed to glare at me as if I'd just bloodily massacred her pet or something.
"Heya Mr. Caretaker Man." I heard from beside me. I turned and saw Thirteen looking at me with her normal lazy expression. Millie Grey was now wearing a grayish-blue sweater, waving gently to me. I waved back.
"Hey Thirteen, Millie Grey. You two friends?"
"Yeah." Millie Grey said. "Actually, we're waiting for Emma. It's quite ironic, actually, she's never on time." She let out a soft giggle.
"So Caretaker Man, do you have name?" Thirteen asked.
"Yeah, actually. I-"
"Nobody cares." I heard an angry snap from across the table in a small but vicious voice. I looked over in bewilderment at Kya.
"Why doesn't anyone care?" I looked at her puzzled.
"Because you're just some temporary jackass who's gonna run down this hill at maximum velocity at the first hint of catastrophe and leave us to clean it up. Like a little bitch, you're gonna whimper down the stone with your tail between your legs and a boot-print on your ass. Crying, possibly. I can see you as a fragile, pathetic bastard who just stares blankly at someone who has anything more complex than "Hi" to say, and you're gonna either become some hornball jackass boy, or some pathetic "only ACTING tough" guy who will flee. I know it, you're all the same. There is no Prince Charming, no perfect knight, and no dream boy but inside someone's actual dreams. You're a pathetic bastard who doesn't even deserve a name. Nobody likes you." She finished her snapping monologue after she had attracted the attention of everyone in the Inn. The people who had yet to enter the room for dinner, Emma along their numbers, were standing just by the doorway staring in shock at Kya.
I glanced down, feeling kinda shitty. ".. I like me"
"Congratulations, you love yourself. Now you can masturbate happily." She got up, knocking the chair down in the process, and stormed out of the room past the group at the door way. Everyone was silent until a door was heard slamming from the other side of the building.
"Wow, what a bitch!" I heard someone say. I turned and looked who. Lana.
"Well" Alma said, pulling off cooking gloves "No food for her then. Everyone else, eat up!"
"Wait, IS your name?" Dayanara asked.
"Nevermind." I said. "Doesn't matter, I don't wanna say anymore. Just call me caretaker or something, make up a nickname. I ran away from my old life, shouldn't use my old name."
"Wait, who's that?" one of the twins asked.
Alma laughed. "Okay, so for anyone who doesn't know, this is our new caretaker. The young man left him home and ran out of money here, so he's staying here in the caretaker room, where else? If you have any problems or needs that aren't food related, ask him. As a caretaker, he's here to take care of you. Whether or not you choose to use his services or not is up to you." she walked down to the end of the table and sat down at one of the chairs. All of them were different, but I noticed only now the weirdest one. Next to Alma, closes to the door, was a chair with a skull on the backrest of it. There were spider-webs between the wooden posts holding it, and it looked gravely underused. "Nekro" was carved into the wood. I looked at it for most of dinner, splitting my attention between the amazing food, my freinds Emma, Thirteen and Millie Grey, and it. Nobody mentioned it, nobody else looked at it, and I had a feeling asking about if would get me nowhere.
"So," Thirteen said, "You wanna help me fix up, right? Tomorrow you can grab some stuff from the supply room across from your room and help me? There's a door or two in there."
"All right then, I'd be happy to."
....
After time passed for a while, the tenants slowly trickled out of the dining room and back to their rooms. We hung out in my room, Thirteen, Millie Grey, Emma and I. Out of our small group, Millie Grey left first, claiming she needed to feed her pet. Emma followed her, with a customary "Wow, look at the time! I need to get to bed."
"I sleep late," Thirteen said, "So knock first tomorrow." I nodded, and she left my room. I glanced at the clock. 2:36. It had been only me and Thirteen for at least two hours. I stretched, still not quite tired, and decided I might need some medicine to help. The closet next to my room has some sleeping medicine, I remembered seeing. I tiptoed to my door, opened it, and slipped out. I looked down past the dining room. Nothing. Down by Millie Grey's room. Nobody. I was clear.
I turned around and was staring eye to eye with Lilith. "Boo." She whispered softly.
Chapter 20: Shadow of Dejection
"Holy shit!" I softly yelled, stumbling back and falling onto the carpeted wood floor. I made a soft thud against the carpet, and Lilith giggled at my reaction, pushed her dress to her legs so I couldn't glance up if given a right angle, and bent forward with her hand extended to help me up. I took her hand and she pulled me back to my feet.
"Surprise you?" She whispered
"Yeah, if you could notice my subtlety." I joked.
She nodded "I did indeed, but it was so subtle I nearly missed it, dear." She giggled, and I noticed the emphasis she threw on the word "dear."
"Well, What.. how did you.. Why are you up so late?" I finally finished a question.
"I'm an insomniac." She whispered. "I also am fairly nocturnal. Sunlight and myself don't mix."
"So what are you doing out here near my door?"
"Well, for one I'm seeing the.." She looked me up and down. ".. new cutie in the Inn after bedtime.." I blushed. "Also, I needed to grab something from the closet." She held up a bottle of Sleep-Aid.
"Oh!" I pointed "I wanted one of those too. It's why I came out here."
"Follow." She smiled naughtily at me and grabbed my wrist. It tingled. I was hesitantly dragged behind her through the dining room and into the kitchen, where she got a couple of glasses and put some water in them for us, then giving me a pill. "They're strong pills, and might make you a bit tipsy." She smiled again, leaning against the cabinet beside her, tilting her head against it as well. "Maybe you should go to MY room, and then I can keep a very dedicated eye on you?
I took the pill she gave me with a swig of water. "I'd love to, but I think you'd take the chance to strip me in my delirium.
"Me? Quite definitely." She blushed and smiled again, moving her glance away from mine shyly. "There's just something about you.." her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip, her mind in another place for a few seconds. She let out a soft moan, then her eyes widened in shock, her blush darkening. "S-sorry." she whispered, then took a long drink of water.
"Cute moan." I said with a laugh, then took a few sips of water myself.
"Do you like me?" She whispered solemnly, staring into her glass of water.
"Yeah, of course. You're a really cool girl." I was pretty sure she meant in a more then friend way, but I decided to wait and see if she got more specific.
She turned to me, her expression not changing at all, but she put the glass down on the counter and walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulder and neck area, getting on her tip-toes, and leaning her face close to mine. My body instantly was covered in the same strange tingle I got every time I came in contact with her. She half-whispered, half-moaned "I meant in a more personal way. I'm going to be honest.. I've never invited someone into my room before you.. I'm very secluded, and I've never felt a need to become intimate with anyone before, but you.. You..ah" She let out another soft moan and pressed her body to mine, and I might have objected but my body was disagreeing with any attempts. As if automatically, my arms curled around her waist to pull her closer. "You just... attract me.. melt my cold and dead heart into something pulsing and alive.."
I tried to formulate a response as she stared into my eyes, I really did, but it was so hard. The feeling was similar to the one that Lana had afflicted on me when I'd first arrived here, but different in a way that the feeling from Lana was sex-driven, and Lilith's was more emotional. The tingle on my skin got worse with her every breath, her lips leaned forward towards mine.
The light clicked on, and Lilith flinched back, then let go of me and backed up in surprise by the figure in the doorway. Millie Grey was standing there bewildered. "Well," she began, "seems I'm not the only one to drag the Caretaker into the kitchen, but I did it with a different motive. What might you be planning, Lilith?"
"I.. nothing, I was just getting some sleep medicine for myself and the caretaker."
"Were you planning on administering it with your tongue?"
Lilith blushed darkly, which in light I noticed greatly contrasted her deathly pale skin, and she walked out of the room without looking at anyone again.
"Well, Thanks Millie Grey, I was just asking for someone to save me from the incredibly interested girl." I said sarcastically. She frowned, and I felt a little bad. "Sorry, my head's a bit funny right now..
"Lilith does that. I'm shocked though, I have never seen her soo.. affectionate. She's usually kept to herself with the exception of the nocturnal tenants. She sits at the opposite corner from you at dinner, next to the twins, but I noticed her staring at you the whole time." She walked across the room, rinsed and cleaned the cup Lilith left behind, then refilled with with water. "I think she feels threatened by me because I'm your friend." She glanced back at me. "Hey CT?"
I blinked, still a bit out of it. "Yes Millie Grey?"
"You do know you can step away from the wall now, right? And you can put your arms down, Lilith isn't standing in front of you anymore." I looked down, and noticed my arms were linked in a circle a few inches in front of myself as if I was still holding someone. I lowered them, a bit bewildered, and stepped away from the wall, the last of the tingle fading away.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed." I took a step towards the door, then stopped and turned back to her. "You went to bed at around midnight, why are you up again?"
"Pet needed water."
"Oh." I accepted the brief answer and walked to my room. Millie Grey walked behind me and then went to her room as I put the Sleep-Aid bottle back into the closet. When I closed the door, Lilith was there again.
"I.. I'm sorry about earlier." She whispered, looking a bit dejected about the whole thing.
"I didn't mind it, Lilith. I was holding you, remember?"
A bit of shine sparked happily into her eyes, but was quickly drowned back out by her shadow of dejection. "I.. I'm sorry we got caught."
"Ahh. I see." I thought to myself for a second about how to react to her to cheer her up. When I looked back up, she was gone. I quickly turned my head just in time to see her silently moving to her room, and grabbed her hand. She stopped immediately as if I'd paralyzed, then glanced down at her hand. I noticed that for the first time, I wasn't tingling while touching her. Her skin felt soft, flawless, and fragile. I slid my hand up her arm as I walked up to her, then placed my hand on her cheek. "Can I make you feel better somehow?"
She was blushing again, as dark as when we'd been caught by Millie Grey. She opened her mouth to talk, but no sound came out but a single stutter. She closed her mouth and stared for a second, and then pressed her lips to my cheek. The tingle went through my body again, same exactly way as it did the first time I found myself outside her room, and the next I knew I was standing alone in the hallway. I heard door to Room 5 close, then headed off to bed myself, a tad bewildered and dizzy.
"Surprise you?" She whispered
"Yeah, if you could notice my subtlety." I joked.
She nodded "I did indeed, but it was so subtle I nearly missed it, dear." She giggled, and I noticed the emphasis she threw on the word "dear."
"Well, What.. how did you.. Why are you up so late?" I finally finished a question.
"I'm an insomniac." She whispered. "I also am fairly nocturnal. Sunlight and myself don't mix."
"So what are you doing out here near my door?"
"Well, for one I'm seeing the.." She looked me up and down. ".. new cutie in the Inn after bedtime.." I blushed. "Also, I needed to grab something from the closet." She held up a bottle of Sleep-Aid.
"Oh!" I pointed "I wanted one of those too. It's why I came out here."
"Follow." She smiled naughtily at me and grabbed my wrist. It tingled. I was hesitantly dragged behind her through the dining room and into the kitchen, where she got a couple of glasses and put some water in them for us, then giving me a pill. "They're strong pills, and might make you a bit tipsy." She smiled again, leaning against the cabinet beside her, tilting her head against it as well. "Maybe you should go to MY room, and then I can keep a very dedicated eye on you?
I took the pill she gave me with a swig of water. "I'd love to, but I think you'd take the chance to strip me in my delirium.
"Me? Quite definitely." She blushed and smiled again, moving her glance away from mine shyly. "There's just something about you.." her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip, her mind in another place for a few seconds. She let out a soft moan, then her eyes widened in shock, her blush darkening. "S-sorry." she whispered, then took a long drink of water.
"Cute moan." I said with a laugh, then took a few sips of water myself.
"Do you like me?" She whispered solemnly, staring into her glass of water.
"Yeah, of course. You're a really cool girl." I was pretty sure she meant in a more then friend way, but I decided to wait and see if she got more specific.
She turned to me, her expression not changing at all, but she put the glass down on the counter and walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulder and neck area, getting on her tip-toes, and leaning her face close to mine. My body instantly was covered in the same strange tingle I got every time I came in contact with her. She half-whispered, half-moaned "I meant in a more personal way. I'm going to be honest.. I've never invited someone into my room before you.. I'm very secluded, and I've never felt a need to become intimate with anyone before, but you.. You..ah" She let out another soft moan and pressed her body to mine, and I might have objected but my body was disagreeing with any attempts. As if automatically, my arms curled around her waist to pull her closer. "You just... attract me.. melt my cold and dead heart into something pulsing and alive.."
I tried to formulate a response as she stared into my eyes, I really did, but it was so hard. The feeling was similar to the one that Lana had afflicted on me when I'd first arrived here, but different in a way that the feeling from Lana was sex-driven, and Lilith's was more emotional. The tingle on my skin got worse with her every breath, her lips leaned forward towards mine.
The light clicked on, and Lilith flinched back, then let go of me and backed up in surprise by the figure in the doorway. Millie Grey was standing there bewildered. "Well," she began, "seems I'm not the only one to drag the Caretaker into the kitchen, but I did it with a different motive. What might you be planning, Lilith?"
"I.. nothing, I was just getting some sleep medicine for myself and the caretaker."
"Were you planning on administering it with your tongue?"
Lilith blushed darkly, which in light I noticed greatly contrasted her deathly pale skin, and she walked out of the room without looking at anyone again.
"Well, Thanks Millie Grey, I was just asking for someone to save me from the incredibly interested girl." I said sarcastically. She frowned, and I felt a little bad. "Sorry, my head's a bit funny right now..
"Lilith does that. I'm shocked though, I have never seen her soo.. affectionate. She's usually kept to herself with the exception of the nocturnal tenants. She sits at the opposite corner from you at dinner, next to the twins, but I noticed her staring at you the whole time." She walked across the room, rinsed and cleaned the cup Lilith left behind, then refilled with with water. "I think she feels threatened by me because I'm your friend." She glanced back at me. "Hey CT?"
I blinked, still a bit out of it. "Yes Millie Grey?"
"You do know you can step away from the wall now, right? And you can put your arms down, Lilith isn't standing in front of you anymore." I looked down, and noticed my arms were linked in a circle a few inches in front of myself as if I was still holding someone. I lowered them, a bit bewildered, and stepped away from the wall, the last of the tingle fading away.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed." I took a step towards the door, then stopped and turned back to her. "You went to bed at around midnight, why are you up again?"
"Pet needed water."
"Oh." I accepted the brief answer and walked to my room. Millie Grey walked behind me and then went to her room as I put the Sleep-Aid bottle back into the closet. When I closed the door, Lilith was there again.
"I.. I'm sorry about earlier." She whispered, looking a bit dejected about the whole thing.
"I didn't mind it, Lilith. I was holding you, remember?"
A bit of shine sparked happily into her eyes, but was quickly drowned back out by her shadow of dejection. "I.. I'm sorry we got caught."
"Ahh. I see." I thought to myself for a second about how to react to her to cheer her up. When I looked back up, she was gone. I quickly turned my head just in time to see her silently moving to her room, and grabbed her hand. She stopped immediately as if I'd paralyzed, then glanced down at her hand. I noticed that for the first time, I wasn't tingling while touching her. Her skin felt soft, flawless, and fragile. I slid my hand up her arm as I walked up to her, then placed my hand on her cheek. "Can I make you feel better somehow?"
She was blushing again, as dark as when we'd been caught by Millie Grey. She opened her mouth to talk, but no sound came out but a single stutter. She closed her mouth and stared for a second, and then pressed her lips to my cheek. The tingle went through my body again, same exactly way as it did the first time I found myself outside her room, and the next I knew I was standing alone in the hallway. I heard door to Room 5 close, then headed off to bed myself, a tad bewildered and dizzy.
Chapter 21: Attempted Repairs
I rolled over on my side uncomfortably and the sun shone on my closed eyes. I squinted anyways, as many would, then rolled over. A heard a familiar voice speak to me. "So, dude, are you like dead, or just in a coma?"
I turned back over and sat up, staring at Thirteen. "Why are you in my room?"
"I knocked for a good five minutes first. It's noon. Why aren't you up yet?"
"You kept me up late, remember?"
"Yes, and I still got up at ten."
"Lilith occupied my attention for a few minutes after."
"Yes." She snickered softly. "Millie Grey told me and Emma this morning."
"Should it be 'Emma and I', Thirteen?"
"Don't correct me, you just woke up. We're gonna fix my room today, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah." I tossed off my covers and swung my legs of the bed. I blinked my eyes a few time, trying to get used to the light in the room.
"Here." She held out a cloth in from of me, and I grabbed it.
"What is it?" I asked, too lazy to unfold the cloth to look at it.
"It's what I assume is a shirt. I took it out of the shelf over on your dresser marked 'Shirts'."
"Oh." I put on the shirt and stood up, stretching.
She glanced down at my feet quizzically. "You sleep in your socks?"
"Sometimes. I guess you take them off at night then?"
She shrugged. "I take everything off at night." She turned and walked out my room and into the door across the hallway, which was a supply closet if I remembered correctly. As much as I would have loved to sit there and fantasized what Thirteen might have taken off all her clothes for each night, it wasn't really my business. I had a job to do right now anyways. I stretched again and followed her out of the room.
The closet itself was less of a closet as I for some reason remember being told, and more like a complete room filled with various things from assemble able desks, a couple mattresses, some doors, a few lights, and various other room items. There was a stone floor, wood walls, and a barely useful light hanging from the ceiling. There were pipes and cords running along the ceiling here, and there was another door in the corner labelled "do not enter." My immediate response was, of course, to go over an try to open the door. Thirteen looked over at me.
"It says not to enter, dude."
"I'm not entering, I'm opening." I turned the handle and it clicked.
"True. I like this one by the way." She walked over and waited. I pulled the handle and the door didn't budge. Not like it was jammed or locked, but as if some force was holding it in place.
"Eh, I ain't getting in." I let go of the old handle and it turned back to it's normal position. We turned to go and grab the door Thirteen had chosen. The door behind us creaked open quite audibly and a sinister, ghastly laughter echoed from it's confines. It sounded backmasked, and fed through some kind of white noise feed, but at the same time I could tell it was directly from a source, not run through any kind of technology. Thirteen and I - See? I say it right, she's just too lazy or bored too. Thirteen and I looked at each other, then at the door behind us. The door was open only a few inches.
"Dare we?" She asked, turning back to me, a slightly scared and confused, wide eyed expression on her face. I gulped, waited a few seconds, and nodded. I took one step to the door.
"Thirteen, CT. I see you're looking for a replacement door, but it's the other way." Alma voice echoed from the Main doorway across the room. A growl echoed from the secret door, then the door creaked back closed. "It says not to go in."
I gulped again. "Yes, but we weren't going inside, we were just gonna open it."
"Well, then I'll reword the sign later. You're not to go near there upon any circumstances."
"Um.." Thirteen rubbed her arm, still a bit shaken from whatever it was just happened. "What.. was that?"
"A bad thing." Alma turned and left the room, then the dining room door was heard sliding.
"Okay then, door, right!" I said, turning to the door. She went to help, but I just picked the thing up myself and carried it. I pretended as if it wasn't a heavy door, so I looked fairly badass. When we got to the door way I noticed the door frame was new.
"I put it in before waking you up."
"I see." She handed me a screwdriver and I put the door on. I also took the panel from beside the door and re-installed it onto her door. She asked if I could ask with the computer too. "Yeah, wait one sec."
I turned and left her room, then knocked on the door of Room 12. Maiara opened the door. "Oh, it's you. What?"
"Thirteen has a broken computer. Got spare parts?"
"What's she need?"
"Well, her keyboard's missing keys, she's got half a mouse, her screen's messed, I think h-
"Fucked up computer, I get it. Wait one second." Maiara turned and opened a cabinet, the pulled out an optical mouse, Keyboard, and an LCD screen. "Here, now out."
"Okay!" I turned and went back to Thirteen's room. We hooked up all of the new stuff. The new screen even came with speakers installed, so we tossed her old speakers with the rest of the replaced stuff. The computer booted up slowly, and when it finally did it just reeked of crappy hardware, so I left again. I knew where to go to get parts, and I knew Maiara wouldn't want to see me again, so instead I went to a different room and knocked.
"Whaaat?" I heard from the other side, softly.
"Caretaker. I need something. You don't use your computer, right?"
"No.." Lilith opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she wasn't wearing her customary gothic dress, but a black tank-top and purple panties. "If you want it, come in and get it.." She whispered, squinting in pain at the light. I went in and mostly shut the door behind me, then took the computer as a whole from her desk, where it was collecting dust. When I had it all stacked up to go, I turned as saw Lilith sprawled out on her bed. She was staring intently, yet sleepily, at me. Her hair wasn't styles back into it's normal bun and random strands down style.
"Did I.. were you still asleep?"
"I stayed up for a bit after we parted.. I'm a bit of a night owl.."
"Why's that, Lilith?"
She was silent for a bit. "I..." She thought for a bit more, then sighed. "It's complicated. I'm kinda.. allergic to direct sunlight."
"Like a vampire or something?" I leaned against the desk.
"Nothing of the sort." She sat up and shook her head. "Very different." She was quiet for bit again. "Close the door on your way out? I need sleep." She curled up on her bed facing away from me. That was it. No seductive whispers, to touching me and tingling my skin, no trying to pin me against a wall and kiss me again, she just pretty much kicked me out. I was bewildered, but I did as she said and went to Thirteen's room with the stuff.
She looked at me oddly. "So, you have a crush on her or something?"
"I wanted to talk to her. Last night she said some thing I wanted clarified. I got more questions then answers." I opened the two computers and replaced all the parts the looked broken or dirty. I brought the rest into my room and Thirteen and I picked out a new ceiling light for her room and installed that. We ended up fixing the plug on her wall, and plastering over the holes. All in all, the whole job took about three or four hours to complete. Afterward we sprawled out on her bed, and no, not together. I was laying at the food or the bed, my fingers kind of hurting, and she up and the pillows. Our legs were hanging off the side of the bed.
"Hey." She said at me.
"What?"
"Thanks for helping dude. I'da never got this place all done."
"No problem, it's my job to help you guys out."
Pepper walked by the door, looked in, noticed me, and spoke. "'Ey, CT. Alma is looking for you. I think something about the twins. The two of the twerps are at your room."
I sat up. "Oh. Uhh, thanks Pep."
"No problem. Be nice though, cuz if you aren't I'll kill you." She said matter-of-factly and turned away, walking off.
The room was quiet for a moment.
"So does she always seem homicidal, or am I just unlucky with her?"
"A bit of both. Better go see the twins though. They're impatient, that's why they sit closest to the kitchen at dinner."
"I see." I got up and stretched. "Need help getting up?"
She made a face. "Whadda I look like, ancient to you? I can get up myself. I'm just ... comfy."
I laughed and left with a goodbye, walking back to my room.
I turned back over and sat up, staring at Thirteen. "Why are you in my room?"
"I knocked for a good five minutes first. It's noon. Why aren't you up yet?"
"You kept me up late, remember?"
"Yes, and I still got up at ten."
"Lilith occupied my attention for a few minutes after."
"Yes." She snickered softly. "Millie Grey told me and Emma this morning."
"Should it be 'Emma and I', Thirteen?"
"Don't correct me, you just woke up. We're gonna fix my room today, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah." I tossed off my covers and swung my legs of the bed. I blinked my eyes a few time, trying to get used to the light in the room.
"Here." She held out a cloth in from of me, and I grabbed it.
"What is it?" I asked, too lazy to unfold the cloth to look at it.
"It's what I assume is a shirt. I took it out of the shelf over on your dresser marked 'Shirts'."
"Oh." I put on the shirt and stood up, stretching.
She glanced down at my feet quizzically. "You sleep in your socks?"
"Sometimes. I guess you take them off at night then?"
She shrugged. "I take everything off at night." She turned and walked out my room and into the door across the hallway, which was a supply closet if I remembered correctly. As much as I would have loved to sit there and fantasized what Thirteen might have taken off all her clothes for each night, it wasn't really my business. I had a job to do right now anyways. I stretched again and followed her out of the room.
The closet itself was less of a closet as I for some reason remember being told, and more like a complete room filled with various things from assemble able desks, a couple mattresses, some doors, a few lights, and various other room items. There was a stone floor, wood walls, and a barely useful light hanging from the ceiling. There were pipes and cords running along the ceiling here, and there was another door in the corner labelled "do not enter." My immediate response was, of course, to go over an try to open the door. Thirteen looked over at me.
"It says not to enter, dude."
"I'm not entering, I'm opening." I turned the handle and it clicked.
"True. I like this one by the way." She walked over and waited. I pulled the handle and the door didn't budge. Not like it was jammed or locked, but as if some force was holding it in place.
"Eh, I ain't getting in." I let go of the old handle and it turned back to it's normal position. We turned to go and grab the door Thirteen had chosen. The door behind us creaked open quite audibly and a sinister, ghastly laughter echoed from it's confines. It sounded backmasked, and fed through some kind of white noise feed, but at the same time I could tell it was directly from a source, not run through any kind of technology. Thirteen and I - See? I say it right, she's just too lazy or bored too. Thirteen and I looked at each other, then at the door behind us. The door was open only a few inches.
"Dare we?" She asked, turning back to me, a slightly scared and confused, wide eyed expression on her face. I gulped, waited a few seconds, and nodded. I took one step to the door.
"Thirteen, CT. I see you're looking for a replacement door, but it's the other way." Alma voice echoed from the Main doorway across the room. A growl echoed from the secret door, then the door creaked back closed. "It says not to go in."
I gulped again. "Yes, but we weren't going inside, we were just gonna open it."
"Well, then I'll reword the sign later. You're not to go near there upon any circumstances."
"Um.." Thirteen rubbed her arm, still a bit shaken from whatever it was just happened. "What.. was that?"
"A bad thing." Alma turned and left the room, then the dining room door was heard sliding.
"Okay then, door, right!" I said, turning to the door. She went to help, but I just picked the thing up myself and carried it. I pretended as if it wasn't a heavy door, so I looked fairly badass. When we got to the door way I noticed the door frame was new.
"I put it in before waking you up."
"I see." She handed me a screwdriver and I put the door on. I also took the panel from beside the door and re-installed it onto her door. She asked if I could ask with the computer too. "Yeah, wait one sec."
I turned and left her room, then knocked on the door of Room 12. Maiara opened the door. "Oh, it's you. What?"
"Thirteen has a broken computer. Got spare parts?"
"What's she need?"
"Well, her keyboard's missing keys, she's got half a mouse, her screen's messed, I think h-
"Fucked up computer, I get it. Wait one second." Maiara turned and opened a cabinet, the pulled out an optical mouse, Keyboard, and an LCD screen. "Here, now out."
"Okay!" I turned and went back to Thirteen's room. We hooked up all of the new stuff. The new screen even came with speakers installed, so we tossed her old speakers with the rest of the replaced stuff. The computer booted up slowly, and when it finally did it just reeked of crappy hardware, so I left again. I knew where to go to get parts, and I knew Maiara wouldn't want to see me again, so instead I went to a different room and knocked.
"Whaaat?" I heard from the other side, softly.
"Caretaker. I need something. You don't use your computer, right?"
"No.." Lilith opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she wasn't wearing her customary gothic dress, but a black tank-top and purple panties. "If you want it, come in and get it.." She whispered, squinting in pain at the light. I went in and mostly shut the door behind me, then took the computer as a whole from her desk, where it was collecting dust. When I had it all stacked up to go, I turned as saw Lilith sprawled out on her bed. She was staring intently, yet sleepily, at me. Her hair wasn't styles back into it's normal bun and random strands down style.
"Did I.. were you still asleep?"
"I stayed up for a bit after we parted.. I'm a bit of a night owl.."
"Why's that, Lilith?"
She was silent for a bit. "I..." She thought for a bit more, then sighed. "It's complicated. I'm kinda.. allergic to direct sunlight."
"Like a vampire or something?" I leaned against the desk.
"Nothing of the sort." She sat up and shook her head. "Very different." She was quiet for bit again. "Close the door on your way out? I need sleep." She curled up on her bed facing away from me. That was it. No seductive whispers, to touching me and tingling my skin, no trying to pin me against a wall and kiss me again, she just pretty much kicked me out. I was bewildered, but I did as she said and went to Thirteen's room with the stuff.
She looked at me oddly. "So, you have a crush on her or something?"
"I wanted to talk to her. Last night she said some thing I wanted clarified. I got more questions then answers." I opened the two computers and replaced all the parts the looked broken or dirty. I brought the rest into my room and Thirteen and I picked out a new ceiling light for her room and installed that. We ended up fixing the plug on her wall, and plastering over the holes. All in all, the whole job took about three or four hours to complete. Afterward we sprawled out on her bed, and no, not together. I was laying at the food or the bed, my fingers kind of hurting, and she up and the pillows. Our legs were hanging off the side of the bed.
"Hey." She said at me.
"What?"
"Thanks for helping dude. I'da never got this place all done."
"No problem, it's my job to help you guys out."
Pepper walked by the door, looked in, noticed me, and spoke. "'Ey, CT. Alma is looking for you. I think something about the twins. The two of the twerps are at your room."
I sat up. "Oh. Uhh, thanks Pep."
"No problem. Be nice though, cuz if you aren't I'll kill you." She said matter-of-factly and turned away, walking off.
The room was quiet for a moment.
"So does she always seem homicidal, or am I just unlucky with her?"
"A bit of both. Better go see the twins though. They're impatient, that's why they sit closest to the kitchen at dinner."
"I see." I got up and stretched. "Need help getting up?"
She made a face. "Whadda I look like, ancient to you? I can get up myself. I'm just ... comfy."
I laughed and left with a goodbye, walking back to my room.
Chapter 22: Two Heads
I walked back up to my room and I saw the twins, petite little things, wrapped up in towels outside my door facing the other direction. Their feet were wet, but the rest of their bodies were dry. I had a strong feeling they were naked beneath the towels. They both had blond hair to their chins, roughly. One had curls, and the other had straight down hair. They both had a tattoo on the left shoulder of two snake heads. They were shorter than me, about shoulder height if not shorter.
"There he is, turn around, ask him to help ya!" Alma yelled from down the hall, then turned and walked back into the dining room.
They turned around and looked at me. the one with straight hair glared at me, but the other, curly haired one smiled softly. They both had grey eyes.
"Hi!" The curly haired one piped up. "I'm Trista! This is my sister Tari." She motioned to the other girl, who just grunted in some sort of acknowledgment. "we were going to bathe earlier, but we can't reach the little valve on the top of the room that controls a little sprinkler, or shower head. Might you be so kind as to come and help us reach it? We enjoy the mist setting on it. Alma often assist us, but she is busy right now and wanted us to meet you. Could you assist?" She smiled at me. Her sister continued to scowl, muttering something I couldn't hear.
"Well, 'm not doing anything else, so I'd be happy to help. I actually wanted to meet you girls last night but I ran out of time by dinner. Alma wanted me to get to know everyone."
"Well, Trista and Tari Rode. Age seventeen. We're in Room 20. I like to help people out with things, and meet new people which kind of sucks when you're segregated onto a hill. Tari likes-"
Tari sighed impatiently. "I like sitting in warm baths with a mist setting without the worry of being patient with a caretaker guy who's supposed to be helping me while I'm standing here in the cold hallway in a god damn towel! Please, now that we're all cuddly and acquainted, can I get my bath?!" She turned and stormed off to the doors across from the kitchen and walked into one. Trista and I stared after her, Trista chuckling.
"She likes short waits. She rushes everywhere like there's no time. You may notice she gets annoyed when something takes time. It was really bad when we were in public schools." She told me as we walked towards the Bath. I mentally noted all of this for my report to my buddy clipboard later.
We walked into the bath room and I was suddenly in an awe. There was about three of for feet of smooth marble between the door and the pool of water ahead of us. Steps were carved down into it and then it declined into deeper waters. I assumed that it ranged from two to six feet in depth. It was a hot spring in a literal sense that it looked like the hotel was built around it. Natural stones were around the room, one of which fell down in the back, making it an ideal place to lay down and be only partially in the water. From the ceiling there was six lanterns hanging, two on the far wall, one each on the left and right sides of the room, and the final two hanging near the marble-water edge. They lit up the room with a form of ambiance, gently reflecting off of the smooth, sourceless waves that danced across the spring. The whole room felt cleansing, and the water was a pure color. I felt as if beauty in ti's purest form once had lived in this very spring, and had left it's essence in every small pebble, every drop of warm, steamy water, and every grain of sand surrounding the area with a calming aura of naturality. I reiterate, I was in utter awe.
"So, you like?" Trista asked. I simply nodded, looking around the room more. "Good! Have fun cleaning it every single day!"
"Wa- wait what? EVERY DAY I GOTTA -"
She laughed. "I'm kidding, calm down, hon. This place practically cleans itself. The water has a self stabilizing property to it, and it acts as a great way to rid the body of impurities. The shower heads above us pull water directly from below. The only thing you'll need to clean is the marble strip here in front, and maybe wipe down the bench down there."
I followed my eyes to where she was pointing. The entrance to the bath was on the left side of the room. Along the front side of the building. So this marble strip ran the whole length of the room, and at the other end was a small wooden, clean and tidy bench with a small stack of clothes on it, and a very impatient Tari. I decided to make this quick, as to not ruined her morning any further. "So, Where's this control I need to mess with?"
"Right above the stairs in the middle, along that pipe there. It runs to three shower heads in the room. Be a dear and help with that, hon?"
I walked to the middle of the room and looked up at the pipe. There was a control dial that looked out of place with the rest of the room. It was a small red handle with a blue glowing LED at the end of each part of the four-pronged handle. There was four settings next to it: Off, Mist, Shower, Spray. One of the lights was shaped like an arrow to signify which setting the shower was currently set to. It was set to "off" right now. I remembered that they wanted the mist setting, and clicked it over once. All three of the shower heads came to life with a warm steamy mist, and Tari happily squeaked in the corner, tapping her toes against the marble happily. Removing my hand from the dial I saw a cursive "M" etched into the center. Noted.
"Well, that's it?" I looked at Trista, and she nodded.
"Thank you, CT. May I call you CT? I remember that you didn't care much for a name from your past after last night. I may make up a nickname then, yes. I'll think on it." She smiled. I wanted to trust her, really, but the mischievous grin gave it away, I was in for hell. Tari pretty much forced me out then, and I heard a click on the Japanese style sliding doors. Although they did look like every other door here. I shook my head an walked back to my room - again - and picked up the clip board. Room 20: Trista and Tari Rode. Trista: Seems sweet, Enjoys helping others, very patient. Tari: Not so much.
I put the clipboard down on the bed's side table and sighed, just in time to hear a knock on my door frame.
"There he is, turn around, ask him to help ya!" Alma yelled from down the hall, then turned and walked back into the dining room.
They turned around and looked at me. the one with straight hair glared at me, but the other, curly haired one smiled softly. They both had grey eyes.
"Hi!" The curly haired one piped up. "I'm Trista! This is my sister Tari." She motioned to the other girl, who just grunted in some sort of acknowledgment. "we were going to bathe earlier, but we can't reach the little valve on the top of the room that controls a little sprinkler, or shower head. Might you be so kind as to come and help us reach it? We enjoy the mist setting on it. Alma often assist us, but she is busy right now and wanted us to meet you. Could you assist?" She smiled at me. Her sister continued to scowl, muttering something I couldn't hear.
"Well, 'm not doing anything else, so I'd be happy to help. I actually wanted to meet you girls last night but I ran out of time by dinner. Alma wanted me to get to know everyone."
"Well, Trista and Tari Rode. Age seventeen. We're in Room 20. I like to help people out with things, and meet new people which kind of sucks when you're segregated onto a hill. Tari likes-"
Tari sighed impatiently. "I like sitting in warm baths with a mist setting without the worry of being patient with a caretaker guy who's supposed to be helping me while I'm standing here in the cold hallway in a god damn towel! Please, now that we're all cuddly and acquainted, can I get my bath?!" She turned and stormed off to the doors across from the kitchen and walked into one. Trista and I stared after her, Trista chuckling.
"She likes short waits. She rushes everywhere like there's no time. You may notice she gets annoyed when something takes time. It was really bad when we were in public schools." She told me as we walked towards the Bath. I mentally noted all of this for my report to my buddy clipboard later.
We walked into the bath room and I was suddenly in an awe. There was about three of for feet of smooth marble between the door and the pool of water ahead of us. Steps were carved down into it and then it declined into deeper waters. I assumed that it ranged from two to six feet in depth. It was a hot spring in a literal sense that it looked like the hotel was built around it. Natural stones were around the room, one of which fell down in the back, making it an ideal place to lay down and be only partially in the water. From the ceiling there was six lanterns hanging, two on the far wall, one each on the left and right sides of the room, and the final two hanging near the marble-water edge. They lit up the room with a form of ambiance, gently reflecting off of the smooth, sourceless waves that danced across the spring. The whole room felt cleansing, and the water was a pure color. I felt as if beauty in ti's purest form once had lived in this very spring, and had left it's essence in every small pebble, every drop of warm, steamy water, and every grain of sand surrounding the area with a calming aura of naturality. I reiterate, I was in utter awe.
"So, you like?" Trista asked. I simply nodded, looking around the room more. "Good! Have fun cleaning it every single day!"
"Wa- wait what? EVERY DAY I GOTTA -"
She laughed. "I'm kidding, calm down, hon. This place practically cleans itself. The water has a self stabilizing property to it, and it acts as a great way to rid the body of impurities. The shower heads above us pull water directly from below. The only thing you'll need to clean is the marble strip here in front, and maybe wipe down the bench down there."
I followed my eyes to where she was pointing. The entrance to the bath was on the left side of the room. Along the front side of the building. So this marble strip ran the whole length of the room, and at the other end was a small wooden, clean and tidy bench with a small stack of clothes on it, and a very impatient Tari. I decided to make this quick, as to not ruined her morning any further. "So, Where's this control I need to mess with?"
"Right above the stairs in the middle, along that pipe there. It runs to three shower heads in the room. Be a dear and help with that, hon?"
I walked to the middle of the room and looked up at the pipe. There was a control dial that looked out of place with the rest of the room. It was a small red handle with a blue glowing LED at the end of each part of the four-pronged handle. There was four settings next to it: Off, Mist, Shower, Spray. One of the lights was shaped like an arrow to signify which setting the shower was currently set to. It was set to "off" right now. I remembered that they wanted the mist setting, and clicked it over once. All three of the shower heads came to life with a warm steamy mist, and Tari happily squeaked in the corner, tapping her toes against the marble happily. Removing my hand from the dial I saw a cursive "M" etched into the center. Noted.
"Well, that's it?" I looked at Trista, and she nodded.
"Thank you, CT. May I call you CT? I remember that you didn't care much for a name from your past after last night. I may make up a nickname then, yes. I'll think on it." She smiled. I wanted to trust her, really, but the mischievous grin gave it away, I was in for hell. Tari pretty much forced me out then, and I heard a click on the Japanese style sliding doors. Although they did look like every other door here. I shook my head an walked back to my room - again - and picked up the clip board. Room 20: Trista and Tari Rode. Trista: Seems sweet, Enjoys helping others, very patient. Tari: Not so much.
I put the clipboard down on the bed's side table and sighed, just in time to hear a knock on my door frame.
Chapter 23: Castles Will Fall
I looked up at the frame of my door and Marie from Room Eight was standing there, with Crimson clutched to her chest by her bandaged arm. "Oh, Hi. What'cha need?" I sat up again.
"I- um.. Hi I just.. It..." She stood there staring for a few more seconds, then held out her arm. Not the one I had treated before. There was three cuts on it. First of all, I panicked for a second and got up, rushing out of the room and to the small closet nearby, pulling out the med kit once again. I pushed Marie int my room and sat her on the edge of the bed. I opened the kit and examined her wound. There was three shallow cuts going across her wrists. Since they were shallow, it wasn't for depression reasons, I was assuming anyways, but rather for my attention. I looked up to her face and she was staring with her big amber eyes into mine. Her mouth was at a slight frown, but just slight enough that I assumed it was because of the pain, her attention was much to focused into me. I pulled out alcohol from the kit and dabbed it onto a small cloth, the patted the cut with it. She winced slightly, then slightly bit her lip, staring intensely at me still. I pulled out some gauze and wrapped it around her wrist, clipping the end and then closing the kit up again.
I sighed. "So, why'd you cut yourself?"
She was staring still, but I don't think she was listening. I snapped my fingers and she blinked, pulling back to reality. "Huh?"
"Marie, why did you cut yourself?" I tapped my foot impatiently.
"It's just something I do.." She lowered her arm finally, putting it on her lap. "How are you?"
"Did you do it to get my attention?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Nooooo!" She said, but with just enough guilt that it gave her away. (If not from the way she said it alone.)
"So you did." I crossed my arms, trying to look disciplinary.
"I ..." She looked down at her hand. The other was still holding her bear to her heart. I noticed stuff written on the first bandage, and a piece of tape around the bear's left arm to match her existing bandage.
I sat down beside her and pulled softly at her sleeve. She looked back up at me and then moved her left arm out to me. I began to read the bandage. There was a short poem written down the thumb side of the bandage:
"I- um.. Hi I just.. It..." She stood there staring for a few more seconds, then held out her arm. Not the one I had treated before. There was three cuts on it. First of all, I panicked for a second and got up, rushing out of the room and to the small closet nearby, pulling out the med kit once again. I pushed Marie int my room and sat her on the edge of the bed. I opened the kit and examined her wound. There was three shallow cuts going across her wrists. Since they were shallow, it wasn't for depression reasons, I was assuming anyways, but rather for my attention. I looked up to her face and she was staring with her big amber eyes into mine. Her mouth was at a slight frown, but just slight enough that I assumed it was because of the pain, her attention was much to focused into me. I pulled out alcohol from the kit and dabbed it onto a small cloth, the patted the cut with it. She winced slightly, then slightly bit her lip, staring intensely at me still. I pulled out some gauze and wrapped it around her wrist, clipping the end and then closing the kit up again.
I sighed. "So, why'd you cut yourself?"
She was staring still, but I don't think she was listening. I snapped my fingers and she blinked, pulling back to reality. "Huh?"
"Marie, why did you cut yourself?" I tapped my foot impatiently.
"It's just something I do.." She lowered her arm finally, putting it on her lap. "How are you?"
"Did you do it to get my attention?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Nooooo!" She said, but with just enough guilt that it gave her away. (If not from the way she said it alone.)
"So you did." I crossed my arms, trying to look disciplinary.
"I ..." She looked down at her hand. The other was still holding her bear to her heart. I noticed stuff written on the first bandage, and a piece of tape around the bear's left arm to match her existing bandage.
I sat down beside her and pulled softly at her sleeve. She looked back up at me and then moved her left arm out to me. I began to read the bandage. There was a short poem written down the thumb side of the bandage:
Take what they refuse to give, and eventually their castles will fall.
The sinners notice a hole in their wall.
Through it their shadows and demons will crawl.
Before us blades bring the bloody brawl.
This land was once my world,
But inward this corruption swirled,
And now black petals have unfurled,
And in a cover of corpses the castle curled.
The sinners notice a hole in their wall.
Through it their shadows and demons will crawl.
Before us blades bring the bloody brawl.
This land was once my world,
But inward this corruption swirled,
And now black petals have unfurled,
And in a cover of corpses the castle curled.
She blushed as I read it, and when I looked over at her, she turned her head away from my view shyly. I turned the her hand again, looking at the palm of her hand, and there was a teddy bear face similar to the emblem on her door drawn there. Down the inside of her arm the bandages had a few stained lines of blood from the previous day's episode. I turned her hand and placed it on her knee beside the other, but stopped in surprise when I saw a heart on the back of it. It was a bit worn, and the ink sank into the bandage as if it had been re-written a hundred times, making the text inside illegible. She pulled her hand away.
"That's.. I like to draw... sometimes." She glanced back at me slowly, her hair slightly covering her face. She looked down at her stuffed animal. "Crimson said 'Hello.'"
"Well hello back." I said, slightly bending over to try and see her face better. It worked, a bit. She tilted her head up towards mine a bit again. "He asks, 'How are you this afternoon?'" I saw he blush again.
"Well.. I'm good, but a bit worried about Marie here. For some reason she thinks she can only talk to me if she's hurt, which isn't true. I'd talk to her whenever she likes, she just needs to come and ask."
"He.. do I gotta?" She stopped. At first I thought she was playing around, but now it seemed a bit more realistic. Marie actually thought that Crimson was talking to her. I felt my face change a bit, but then I tried to regain my expression. She looked back up. "He said 'She tends to do stupid things sometimes when she wants to know someone better.' ..." Her face blushed a darker shade, then she looked down and more hair fell in the way, shielding her face from my eyes.
"Well... You can talk to me whenever you want. You don't need to cut yourself to come to visit. You can just swing by and talk, okay?"
She looked back up and into my eyes. Her hair sort of fell off to the side again. not all of it, but a good amount so I could actually see her face again. After a few moments of silent staring, she scooted over and leaned against me just as she had done in her room when we had met. I silently wondered if every day with Marie would be like this. Sorrow and bleeding, followed by a bout with insanity, topped off with a warm cuddle with good intentions- kinda pushing me off of a bed. My concentration on the morbid possibility was broken when she asked me something.
"Did you hate the poem?" She rubbed her head against my shoulder. I didn't respond immediately because the question bothered me. Not the topic, but the wording. She didn't ask what I thought about it, or if I liked it, but if I Hated it..
"No, Marie. I did not. It was a well written poem, I think."
"You hesitated.. You actually hate it, don't you?" I think I could hear the tears reaching her eyes just by the shaking in her voice.
"No, I told you the truth. I like it. I think that the way you set up the rhyme scheme and the alliteration in the last line of each part was very good, and you should be happy about it. May I ask what it's about?" I put my hand on her opposite shoulder and rubbed softly, trying to comfort her, and also trying to slide back onto my own bed more so I didn't go falling to the floor.
She was quiet for a short time, and her breathing became a bit heavier. It lasted about a minute, and just when I was about to ask again, she said it. "It was a nightmare I had, where people came to somewhere safe and tried to take someone away.. They broke the safe places defenses and a fight broke out... blood was everywhere, and people died... a lot of people who didn't need to..."
I felt bad for asking, and squeezed her shoulder softly. We sat like that for a few more minutes until there was yet another knock at my door. I looked up and saw Sara standing there. Her eyes a bit on the wide side, obviously feeling awkward as if she had interrupted something. "I'm horribly sorry to intrude, but I'd like to talk to you in my room for a few minutes."
Chapter 24: Home
I walked into Sara's room with a bit of hesitation. She had shelves lined with odd trinkets and small plants I'd never seen before, alien looking skulls, several stones carved in with markings I couldn't read. I saw a stone that looked like it was glowing and reached out to touch it, and she slapped the back of my hand. "No touching, Eaves."
"Eaves, nice, thanks, I get a nickname. I wasn't eavesdropping before by the way, I was gaining the courage to knock."
"I see." She said, nodding. "For a few minutes? Sit."
I went to sit on one of the three or four beanbags on the floor.
"Not on that one, it's Kitty's. She'll smell you've been there."
"Oh." I blinked. Well, I suppose out-of-the-ordinary was normal here. I sat on a different bag and looked at the Latin words on her carpet. The whole design was in the form of a hexagram, like her gloves. There was six equally spaced points and a circle around it. "So, you drag me in here, I'm wondering what for."
"Because I can. I'm allowed to." She stuck out her tongue, sitting at the edge of her bed, then sighed, and laid back on her pillow. I heard the door click closed and turned, nobody there. I turned back to Sara.
"No, really, why?"
She was quiet for a short time, staring at the ceiling. Finally, she stated: "I'm homesick..." She teared up. "I miss my home.. I can't get back there.. My mom and my sister.. I'll probably never see them again.. The only..." She was too teared up to talk. I decided she had dragged me in to talk. I got up and sat at the edge of the bed. I didn't know what to say, and didn't want to say the wrong thing, so I just reached out and put my hand on hers. I saw her face curl a bit more, and she rolled on her side, towards me. She turned from crying to sobbing. How long had she been holding this in? I moved my hand to her arm and rubbed softly. I eventually formed up some words.
"When you leave home.. You never leave those you love behind. You always take a bit with you. But just the same, they always take a bit of you with them. This way you're never apart. Your family and friends will never truly be away." I had hoped my words had bared as much weight as I had tried to put on them. I saw her stop sobbing. She calmed down, but tears still flowed from her eyes.
"Do.." She stopped and sniffled, then tried to regain herself. "D-Do you feel that way for your family... and your friends?" I nodded. She sniffled again. "I-I'm sorry you're seeing me.. me like this I just... I.. You're away from home too... I thought ma- maybe... You'd understand."
I nodded. "I do. I have a family and friends as well. I miss them very much, but it's not a family I can go back to, so I keep them here." I tapped my chest. She stared at my chest then put her hand against it, feeling my heart beat. I saw her eyes shimmer a bit, but it must have been from the tears, right? I felt something inside my heart lift. Some dark weight moved, and I felt a bit warmer inside. Sara smiled a bit.
"It's like I can hear them saying they miss you." Her eyes turned solemn again, and she frowned. "... I can never, ever go back home.. Even if I want to... Even if I try, I'll never get back.."
"Why not, Sara?"
"I just... can't. I'll tell you another day.."
"Well then I'll hold you to that promise." I squeezed her arm softly, and she smiled again, then waved me away and I stood up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. I moved back to the Bean bag. She sat back up and moved her legs off of the side of the bed.
"Thank you.."
"Well, you can pay me with an answer to a question I've got.. Why come to me?"
"It's 'cuz.. You're the caretaker?"
"I highly doubt that's any reason."
"Fine.. It's because you ran away too.. I thought it was a good idea."
"Sara, what I mean is.. Why come to me and not talk to Kitty about it?"
Sara was silent for a few moments. I saw her open her mouth, just to close a few seconds later. This happened several times over the course of a few minutes. Finally, she found the words. "Kitty.. never had anyone back home besides me. I'm all she's ever known for a family, all she'll ever remember. She's never had anyone or anything else. She never had the chance and now she never will. I suppose we live here now.. I don't know how long we will. I've been here with Kitty for three years. We helped Alma establish the Inn. Well... She had already opened it, we just helped it get bigger, and cleaner, and nicer. I designed the spring."
"Designed it?"
"Yeah.. I mean it was..It's like... Look Eaves, I like architecture." She crossed her arms, and I laughed.
"Okay okay! I get it, you made it all look pretty and nice. I suppose I should thank you then."
She blinked confused. I saw her trying to come up with an answer herself, but found none. She asked me, "Thank you for what?"
"Well Sara, for help make my new home."
"Eaves, nice, thanks, I get a nickname. I wasn't eavesdropping before by the way, I was gaining the courage to knock."
"I see." She said, nodding. "For a few minutes? Sit."
I went to sit on one of the three or four beanbags on the floor.
"Not on that one, it's Kitty's. She'll smell you've been there."
"Oh." I blinked. Well, I suppose out-of-the-ordinary was normal here. I sat on a different bag and looked at the Latin words on her carpet. The whole design was in the form of a hexagram, like her gloves. There was six equally spaced points and a circle around it. "So, you drag me in here, I'm wondering what for."
"Because I can. I'm allowed to." She stuck out her tongue, sitting at the edge of her bed, then sighed, and laid back on her pillow. I heard the door click closed and turned, nobody there. I turned back to Sara.
"No, really, why?"
She was quiet for a short time, staring at the ceiling. Finally, she stated: "I'm homesick..." She teared up. "I miss my home.. I can't get back there.. My mom and my sister.. I'll probably never see them again.. The only..." She was too teared up to talk. I decided she had dragged me in to talk. I got up and sat at the edge of the bed. I didn't know what to say, and didn't want to say the wrong thing, so I just reached out and put my hand on hers. I saw her face curl a bit more, and she rolled on her side, towards me. She turned from crying to sobbing. How long had she been holding this in? I moved my hand to her arm and rubbed softly. I eventually formed up some words.
"When you leave home.. You never leave those you love behind. You always take a bit with you. But just the same, they always take a bit of you with them. This way you're never apart. Your family and friends will never truly be away." I had hoped my words had bared as much weight as I had tried to put on them. I saw her stop sobbing. She calmed down, but tears still flowed from her eyes.
"Do.." She stopped and sniffled, then tried to regain herself. "D-Do you feel that way for your family... and your friends?" I nodded. She sniffled again. "I-I'm sorry you're seeing me.. me like this I just... I.. You're away from home too... I thought ma- maybe... You'd understand."
I nodded. "I do. I have a family and friends as well. I miss them very much, but it's not a family I can go back to, so I keep them here." I tapped my chest. She stared at my chest then put her hand against it, feeling my heart beat. I saw her eyes shimmer a bit, but it must have been from the tears, right? I felt something inside my heart lift. Some dark weight moved, and I felt a bit warmer inside. Sara smiled a bit.
"It's like I can hear them saying they miss you." Her eyes turned solemn again, and she frowned. "... I can never, ever go back home.. Even if I want to... Even if I try, I'll never get back.."
"Why not, Sara?"
"I just... can't. I'll tell you another day.."
"Well then I'll hold you to that promise." I squeezed her arm softly, and she smiled again, then waved me away and I stood up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. I moved back to the Bean bag. She sat back up and moved her legs off of the side of the bed.
"Thank you.."
"Well, you can pay me with an answer to a question I've got.. Why come to me?"
"It's 'cuz.. You're the caretaker?"
"I highly doubt that's any reason."
"Fine.. It's because you ran away too.. I thought it was a good idea."
"Sara, what I mean is.. Why come to me and not talk to Kitty about it?"
Sara was silent for a few moments. I saw her open her mouth, just to close a few seconds later. This happened several times over the course of a few minutes. Finally, she found the words. "Kitty.. never had anyone back home besides me. I'm all she's ever known for a family, all she'll ever remember. She's never had anyone or anything else. She never had the chance and now she never will. I suppose we live here now.. I don't know how long we will. I've been here with Kitty for three years. We helped Alma establish the Inn. Well... She had already opened it, we just helped it get bigger, and cleaner, and nicer. I designed the spring."
"Designed it?"
"Yeah.. I mean it was..It's like... Look Eaves, I like architecture." She crossed her arms, and I laughed.
"Okay okay! I get it, you made it all look pretty and nice. I suppose I should thank you then."
She blinked confused. I saw her trying to come up with an answer herself, but found none. She asked me, "Thank you for what?"
"Well Sara, for help make my new home."
Chapter 25: On My Own
I left Sara's room and the door clicked. The other room with a door on this corner was Kitty's. I saw that her door was different from the others. It folded like a divider, and had a thin sheet draped inside. It was open just a bit, and I could slightly see through the sheet. She was laying near a large glass window directly in the sunlight. I could see a vague outline of her image - cloth-less - laying on her side. I decided I shouldn't peep, and turned away, walking down the hallway that housed Thirteen and Lilith. I tried to be as quiet as possible, as not to disrupt Kitty's obviously acute ears. I stopped walking, however, just as I passed Room 6. The door was also slightly ajar, and I could hear singing inside.
".. I'm just a big disgrace. Lied too much, he said that he's had enough. Am I too much? He said that he's had enough.. Standing on my own.. Forget about the life I used to know.." She sang softly, and sadly. She was singing a slightly altered version of Three Days Grace's On My Own. I peeked in - totally just to make sure she hadn't stolen anything, really. I wasn't peeking for any curious reasons.- and I saw her with a doll in her hand. It was a hand made one, I saw. When I looked at it, I was horrified. It's hair and eyes were like mine. It had jeans on, and it's shirt had a heart on it with black lines across. She was just tossing final details onto it. I watched her finish up on left thing, putting a small clipboard in it's hand. She stopped singing and then her eyes changed. I saw the white of her eyes flood as red as the red, just leaving her pupils as the only contrast. She picked up a push pin and pressed it into the doll's chest. I was expecting some kind of voodoo heart attack, but no, nothing. She picked up another one and another, pushing them through the doll's hands and eyes. She then held the last one over the doll hesitantly. She moved it down to it's crotch, then stopped and moved it back again. After a few more seconds of trying to find a place to put it, she just slammed it into the doll's chest, sticking into the same hole as the pin in the doll's heart. Her eyes reverted to normal, and then she stood up, dusted her frilly pink dress off, and put the doll on the shelf, closest to her bed. "Perfect."
I took a few steps back, as quiet as possible, then acted as if I was walking up for the first time, and knocked. She walked over and answered the door. "Oh, Hi Caretaker!" She smiled innocently and cutely, looking adorable. "I was just thinking about you.." She leaned her head on the door frame.
"You... don't say?" I tried to look surprised. Did she buy it?
"Oh, does it surprise you? You're new here, it's bound to be a subject on everyone's mind." She smiled again. "What can I do ya for?"
I laughed, just a little. "I wanted to talk to you actually, do you got any time?"
"Yep!" She opened the door to her room and invited me. Oh no..
"Actually, we can talk out here if you want." Whew, crisis averted.
"I like my room. I have my music in here." She turned and walked back inside. Damn her.
I follower her into the room and glanced around the gray, morbid room. Everything looked... creepy. "Well this is.. morbid."
She frowned. "It was like this when I got it.."
"Oh. Change it?"
"What if I'm haunted? I heard someone died in here before."
"Uhh.. Right." I went to go look down at my clipboard, but it wasn't with me, it was in my room. Damn. I pledged to never leave without it again. "I was wondering something."
"Yes?"
"Why do you keep stealing from Sara?"
She blinked, then smiled. "Oh I could never steal. I'm a good girl, really. Sara just seems to like to blame me for a lot of things. I make a good scape goat."
I shot her a 'I don't buy your bullshit' look, and she sighed. "Really, Day. Why do you steal from Sara?"
She pouted. "I wanna go hoooommmeee." She kicked her arms and feet like a child would during a tantrum. "I don't like being a prisoner here...." She looked over at her CD player, which was still playing the one song, again and again. She mouthed the words with the song "I need to run, far away. Can't go back to that place. Like she told me I'm, just a big disgrace.." She stared at the radio for a few moments, her eyes becoming unfocused and distant. Instead of breaking her trance, I looked around the room. There was twenty-two dolls on the top shelf. The first was me, as I saw her put it there. The next one looked like Lana, with pins on her face and personal places. The one after was supposed to be Emma, a tack sticking out of the side of her head. Pepper, her head, mouth, and hands. Millie-Grey, her mouth, her hands, and her penguin, which was in her hand. Lilith, her lips and hands, like most before her. Her eyes were also pinned. Then I saw the next one, Day had her own, the pieces were all torn from each other, and nailed to the wall. What looked like blood was flowing out of it's chest. I had to look away. Screw the rest of the dolls, I wasn't interested anymore. Not after seeing that one. Day was still spaced out, so I glanced around more. She had more CDs in the corner, but all were broken or scratched, unplayable by any means. There were unfamiliar dolls hanging from the ceiling, or in coffins along the wall opposite her bed, in the corner on a shelf. Each had Xs over the eyes. I glanced at Day again. Still out of it.
"Dayanara?"
She snapped back to reality. "Huh?" She looked at me confused, as if she had forgotten I was there completely, then faded back into her sweet, innocent mode. "Sorry, I'm a little spacey when listening to music."
"I.. see. Day, why do you think stealing from Sara will help you leave?"
"Well.. she's... something's gotta work."
I gave up, even if she gave me some information, it would probably be a lie. I leaned back against the chair to her desk, which was directly across from the bedside she sat on now. "So what about the dolls that look like people, what's with them?"
"I like making dolls that look like people it's a f... a hobby of mine." She smiled "It's just like Love's hobby, except I make people, not monsters."
"And the tacks and nails in each of them?"
"It's.." She stood up and looked at me. "What I don't like about the doll.." She took steps towards me slowly, until she was close enough to breathe on me. I was expecting a poisonous breath, but it was a sweet smell. "I'm not good at making dolls you know.. I wanna get better."
I took a step away from the desk and sidestepped her, went over closer to the bed, further from where she was standing, and looked at 'my doll'. There wasn't really anything wrong with it. She walked back to me again, and I realized I had actually backed myself into a corner. I'll admit, I was scared.
"See? I messed up the.. that part." She leaned against me, grabbing softly at the arms of my shirt and frowned. "I'm not good at it.. It's all I have to do here - make dolls.." She pushed against me more, and I almost fell.
"No, y-you could read or something."
"Reading is so boring though, Caretaker.. I wish I had something else to do.." She pushed me back again, slowly, still trying to seem innocent. The back of my legs were against the edge of her mattress now. I was officially cornered.
"Y'know, Day, this isn't very com-" She leaned into me more and I fell onto her bed with a thud. The mattress wasn't as soft as mine, but it wasn't like falling onto the ground. She straddled me and pinned my hands over my head. "You know, CT, You're asking a lot of questions.." She stared into my eyes, and I saw them change to red again, flooding the whites away. "Do I get anything in return?"
"I.." I felt every one of my feelings grow. They were being amplified some how. Wait, no. Not every feeling, just the dark ones. My lust, my anger, even my fear. They must have doubled in that instance of her staring at me like that. Wait, maybe tripled? "I shouldn't.. I mean I-"
"You're supposed to take care of me.." She leaned down, pressing her breasts to my chest, breathing against my lips. I felt trapped. I knew what claustrophobia was like. "So.. take care of me.." She slid her hands off of my wrists and to my chest. "I won't bite too hard.. I promise, I'm lying.." She moaned into my mouth, and I felt my ability to hold back diminish more. "C'mon, please?" She pulled her dress open just enough to show down it, her slightly small breasts and panties now very visible to me. "I want it so bad.. fall into impurity with me?"
"I.. I.." I bit my lip, tried to pull my eyes away form her, but it was impossible. I couldn't hold back forever. I put my arms on her sides, and she moaned again.
"Yes, come now, do as I say.. I'll tell you what ever you want as long as you do. Be my new doll?" She bit her lip.
I slid my hands down to her waist and started to pull at her skirt.
"Dayanara!" A third voice intruded. She looked away, and I felt all the pressure dissipate immediately. I pulled my hands back and she looked at me again, sad. She then rolled off of me and walked to the person in her doorway. I sat up flustered. It was Monia. She was glaring at Day, and Day glaring back. "Why are you torturing our care taker?"
"I wasn't. We were just cuddling."
"Right, of course, if your definition of cuddling is premarital sexual contact driven purely by your own needs without regard for emotion or free will on his part."
"He had free will. I unpinned his hands."
"He did NOT. I saw it in your eyes, you were forcing him."
"Nu-uh! You're making it up."
"Even the good caretaker knows that you're the liar here."
The room was silent for a moment.
"Caretaker," Monia said to me, "You may now leave the room, go about your other business, I implore you."
"Yep, sure!" I got up and walked out of the room, fast, then down to about Pepper's room, then stopped and quietly walked back to the corner, leaning against it in that very hallway, listening closely to their conversation.
"You're abusing your power, Day."
"No, I'm using it, not abusing it. It's perfectly reasonable. Who made you boss?"
"You know who did. Now stop trying to force him to do things!"
"Oh." She said abruptly, the was quiet. "Ohhh.." I heard in a more seductive voice, then a knock against the wall. "You LIKE him.."
"Wh-What?! N-No I do not, Dayanara, now let me go this instant!"
"Oh no no.. I mean, it's reasonable. He's a good looking man, Harmonia. Think about it for just a moment, can you envision it? The warm feeling of him in your sheets, his lips softly kissing yours?"
Monia was silent. I wondered, was Day doing the same thing she was to me?
"What about... the gentle sensation of your bare breasts rubbing against his chest, bringing you pleasure as you bounce up and down on his hips as he takes that darling innocence of yours?"
I heard a moan, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Day's this time. A door opened somewhere in the Inn, and then a movement from the two.
"N-No, I can't. Good day, Dayanara. I've got work to do!" Then her storm down the hallway.
Dayanara giggled. "So now I'm standing here alone, I'm learning how to live life on my own. Forget about the past, I'll never know" She sang, and then I heard her door close.
".. I'm just a big disgrace. Lied too much, he said that he's had enough. Am I too much? He said that he's had enough.. Standing on my own.. Forget about the life I used to know.." She sang softly, and sadly. She was singing a slightly altered version of Three Days Grace's On My Own. I peeked in - totally just to make sure she hadn't stolen anything, really. I wasn't peeking for any curious reasons.- and I saw her with a doll in her hand. It was a hand made one, I saw. When I looked at it, I was horrified. It's hair and eyes were like mine. It had jeans on, and it's shirt had a heart on it with black lines across. She was just tossing final details onto it. I watched her finish up on left thing, putting a small clipboard in it's hand. She stopped singing and then her eyes changed. I saw the white of her eyes flood as red as the red, just leaving her pupils as the only contrast. She picked up a push pin and pressed it into the doll's chest. I was expecting some kind of voodoo heart attack, but no, nothing. She picked up another one and another, pushing them through the doll's hands and eyes. She then held the last one over the doll hesitantly. She moved it down to it's crotch, then stopped and moved it back again. After a few more seconds of trying to find a place to put it, she just slammed it into the doll's chest, sticking into the same hole as the pin in the doll's heart. Her eyes reverted to normal, and then she stood up, dusted her frilly pink dress off, and put the doll on the shelf, closest to her bed. "Perfect."
I took a few steps back, as quiet as possible, then acted as if I was walking up for the first time, and knocked. She walked over and answered the door. "Oh, Hi Caretaker!" She smiled innocently and cutely, looking adorable. "I was just thinking about you.." She leaned her head on the door frame.
"You... don't say?" I tried to look surprised. Did she buy it?
"Oh, does it surprise you? You're new here, it's bound to be a subject on everyone's mind." She smiled again. "What can I do ya for?"
I laughed, just a little. "I wanted to talk to you actually, do you got any time?"
"Yep!" She opened the door to her room and invited me. Oh no..
"Actually, we can talk out here if you want." Whew, crisis averted.
"I like my room. I have my music in here." She turned and walked back inside. Damn her.
I follower her into the room and glanced around the gray, morbid room. Everything looked... creepy. "Well this is.. morbid."
She frowned. "It was like this when I got it.."
"Oh. Change it?"
"What if I'm haunted? I heard someone died in here before."
"Uhh.. Right." I went to go look down at my clipboard, but it wasn't with me, it was in my room. Damn. I pledged to never leave without it again. "I was wondering something."
"Yes?"
"Why do you keep stealing from Sara?"
She blinked, then smiled. "Oh I could never steal. I'm a good girl, really. Sara just seems to like to blame me for a lot of things. I make a good scape goat."
I shot her a 'I don't buy your bullshit' look, and she sighed. "Really, Day. Why do you steal from Sara?"
She pouted. "I wanna go hoooommmeee." She kicked her arms and feet like a child would during a tantrum. "I don't like being a prisoner here...." She looked over at her CD player, which was still playing the one song, again and again. She mouthed the words with the song "I need to run, far away. Can't go back to that place. Like she told me I'm, just a big disgrace.." She stared at the radio for a few moments, her eyes becoming unfocused and distant. Instead of breaking her trance, I looked around the room. There was twenty-two dolls on the top shelf. The first was me, as I saw her put it there. The next one looked like Lana, with pins on her face and personal places. The one after was supposed to be Emma, a tack sticking out of the side of her head. Pepper, her head, mouth, and hands. Millie-Grey, her mouth, her hands, and her penguin, which was in her hand. Lilith, her lips and hands, like most before her. Her eyes were also pinned. Then I saw the next one, Day had her own, the pieces were all torn from each other, and nailed to the wall. What looked like blood was flowing out of it's chest. I had to look away. Screw the rest of the dolls, I wasn't interested anymore. Not after seeing that one. Day was still spaced out, so I glanced around more. She had more CDs in the corner, but all were broken or scratched, unplayable by any means. There were unfamiliar dolls hanging from the ceiling, or in coffins along the wall opposite her bed, in the corner on a shelf. Each had Xs over the eyes. I glanced at Day again. Still out of it.
"Dayanara?"
She snapped back to reality. "Huh?" She looked at me confused, as if she had forgotten I was there completely, then faded back into her sweet, innocent mode. "Sorry, I'm a little spacey when listening to music."
"I.. see. Day, why do you think stealing from Sara will help you leave?"
"Well.. she's... something's gotta work."
I gave up, even if she gave me some information, it would probably be a lie. I leaned back against the chair to her desk, which was directly across from the bedside she sat on now. "So what about the dolls that look like people, what's with them?"
"I like making dolls that look like people it's a f... a hobby of mine." She smiled "It's just like Love's hobby, except I make people, not monsters."
"And the tacks and nails in each of them?"
"It's.." She stood up and looked at me. "What I don't like about the doll.." She took steps towards me slowly, until she was close enough to breathe on me. I was expecting a poisonous breath, but it was a sweet smell. "I'm not good at making dolls you know.. I wanna get better."
I took a step away from the desk and sidestepped her, went over closer to the bed, further from where she was standing, and looked at 'my doll'. There wasn't really anything wrong with it. She walked back to me again, and I realized I had actually backed myself into a corner. I'll admit, I was scared.
"See? I messed up the.. that part." She leaned against me, grabbing softly at the arms of my shirt and frowned. "I'm not good at it.. It's all I have to do here - make dolls.." She pushed against me more, and I almost fell.
"No, y-you could read or something."
"Reading is so boring though, Caretaker.. I wish I had something else to do.." She pushed me back again, slowly, still trying to seem innocent. The back of my legs were against the edge of her mattress now. I was officially cornered.
"Y'know, Day, this isn't very com-" She leaned into me more and I fell onto her bed with a thud. The mattress wasn't as soft as mine, but it wasn't like falling onto the ground. She straddled me and pinned my hands over my head. "You know, CT, You're asking a lot of questions.." She stared into my eyes, and I saw them change to red again, flooding the whites away. "Do I get anything in return?"
"I.." I felt every one of my feelings grow. They were being amplified some how. Wait, no. Not every feeling, just the dark ones. My lust, my anger, even my fear. They must have doubled in that instance of her staring at me like that. Wait, maybe tripled? "I shouldn't.. I mean I-"
"You're supposed to take care of me.." She leaned down, pressing her breasts to my chest, breathing against my lips. I felt trapped. I knew what claustrophobia was like. "So.. take care of me.." She slid her hands off of my wrists and to my chest. "I won't bite too hard.. I promise, I'm lying.." She moaned into my mouth, and I felt my ability to hold back diminish more. "C'mon, please?" She pulled her dress open just enough to show down it, her slightly small breasts and panties now very visible to me. "I want it so bad.. fall into impurity with me?"
"I.. I.." I bit my lip, tried to pull my eyes away form her, but it was impossible. I couldn't hold back forever. I put my arms on her sides, and she moaned again.
"Yes, come now, do as I say.. I'll tell you what ever you want as long as you do. Be my new doll?" She bit her lip.
I slid my hands down to her waist and started to pull at her skirt.
"Dayanara!" A third voice intruded. She looked away, and I felt all the pressure dissipate immediately. I pulled my hands back and she looked at me again, sad. She then rolled off of me and walked to the person in her doorway. I sat up flustered. It was Monia. She was glaring at Day, and Day glaring back. "Why are you torturing our care taker?"
"I wasn't. We were just cuddling."
"Right, of course, if your definition of cuddling is premarital sexual contact driven purely by your own needs without regard for emotion or free will on his part."
"He had free will. I unpinned his hands."
"He did NOT. I saw it in your eyes, you were forcing him."
"Nu-uh! You're making it up."
"Even the good caretaker knows that you're the liar here."
The room was silent for a moment.
"Caretaker," Monia said to me, "You may now leave the room, go about your other business, I implore you."
"Yep, sure!" I got up and walked out of the room, fast, then down to about Pepper's room, then stopped and quietly walked back to the corner, leaning against it in that very hallway, listening closely to their conversation.
"You're abusing your power, Day."
"No, I'm using it, not abusing it. It's perfectly reasonable. Who made you boss?"
"You know who did. Now stop trying to force him to do things!"
"Oh." She said abruptly, the was quiet. "Ohhh.." I heard in a more seductive voice, then a knock against the wall. "You LIKE him.."
"Wh-What?! N-No I do not, Dayanara, now let me go this instant!"
"Oh no no.. I mean, it's reasonable. He's a good looking man, Harmonia. Think about it for just a moment, can you envision it? The warm feeling of him in your sheets, his lips softly kissing yours?"
Monia was silent. I wondered, was Day doing the same thing she was to me?
"What about... the gentle sensation of your bare breasts rubbing against his chest, bringing you pleasure as you bounce up and down on his hips as he takes that darling innocence of yours?"
I heard a moan, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Day's this time. A door opened somewhere in the Inn, and then a movement from the two.
"N-No, I can't. Good day, Dayanara. I've got work to do!" Then her storm down the hallway.
Dayanara giggled. "So now I'm standing here alone, I'm learning how to live life on my own. Forget about the past, I'll never know" She sang, and then I heard her door close.
Chapter 26: The First Answers
I sighed. This job was so stressful. I was starting to see that the tenants here were abnormal as the Inn suggested. I took a deep breath and thought slowly. Where could I learn more about Day's house arrest? Or what she had just done? Sara certainly wouldn't give me any information seeing how she was so brief on the subject earlier. I also could cross Monia off of the list, since she seemed to be so directly connected to the matter. I leaned off of the wall and decided on who to go to. Alma owned the hotel, didn't she? She must know something. However, I had not even taken a step yet when a door nearby opened. I looked over to see Lana opening her door. Oh no..
I was hit by a sudden nostalgic wave of addiction, a want to be close to her as soon as her eyes met mine. This was surely why she was here, if only part of it. I took a few steps closer to her despite every cell in my body knowing I probably should have gone the other way around. She smiled. "Hi Caretaker. Miss me?" She was sweet, and endeared herself to me with a gentle hug. It was unlike the seemingly sexual driven encounter I'd met her by originally. She cuddled against my chest softly, resting her head in the curve of my neck. Her scent overcame me and I was filled with an addictive need of more. I was just barely able to hold back from hugging her as well, but I withheld myself. "I sure missed you.. I wish I could have been useful last night after Kya was so rude to you.. Next time let me cheer you up?" She leaned back enough to stare into my eyes..
I was unable to respond, in fear that I'd say something stupid that would give her the wrong idea, or worse, a good idea. I had to say something though, so I replied mindlessly with "Well I'm a big boy you know, I can take care of myself. It was just words and all."
She reached her hand up to my face and trailed the back of her hand down my cheek. "You know.. Words hold a heavy burden often times, love.." She placed her lips softly to my cheek. "Try to relax? You can come in my room whenever. I'll be kind... Gentle.." She tilted her head sweetly to one side, staring lovingly at my lips. I saw her softly bite her own, spaced out into her own little fantasy for a few moments. She then looked back up at my eyes. "Well, my sweet, I'm sure you've got work to do. I'll try my best to leave you until you visit on your own accord." She trailed her hand down my cheek again. "And you will... I know it." She softly kissed my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. "Goodbye.." She turned and walked back into her room, and the door closed. I suddenly found myself missing her presence. Her soft fingertips gone from my senses.. I placed my hand on my cheek where she had touched me, the other to my neck. They both were hot, whether it was because of blush or some sort of withdrawl I knew not. I noticed suddenly I was breathing heavily, and my heart was racing.. I walked up to her door and lifted my hand to knock. No. Wait the hell was I doing? I needed to go to Alma. I turned around and walked towards the dining room door, but to hear a giggle behind me. It seemed otherwordly, echoing from all around me, but focused to my rear. The world around me seemed to distort in places, like raindrops on a puddle.. Was I imagining it? I turned around to see Love standing by the office door.
"Well, well, Mister.. you seemed almost ready to take her up on her offer." She giggled again, and the same effect. It bewildered me to no end.
"I.. What are you doing, spying on me?"
She blinked, confused. "Nu-uh Mister. I was playing with my dolls in here." She pointed into the front office. You remember, the place with just one table? "It's a lot of space, and the other dolls won't get jealous if they can't see." She held up a couple dolls she had shown be before.
"Oh.. and I was not. I'm going to see Alma. I gotta go kiddo." I turned and opened the dining room door, closing it behind me. I shook my head, trying to get all of the oddness out. After a couple minutes, I'd gotten it out, and then walked down the room and opened the curtain to the kitchen. I had walked in on a conversation.
".. and it was so surreal, I just stared at it until it kind of fell and broke.. I guess I left the freezer open too long." Millie-Grey said. She was holding her pet penguin -Frosty?- in her arms, and talking to Alma.
"Yes, dear, icicles tend to melt when you leave a freezer open." Alma looked bored, until she gazed over at me. "And how might I be able to help ya, newbie?" She laughed at me. "You get lost or something? I should hope not, the building is a rectangle."
"No, I was wondering something and I thought you might be able to answer it Alma." I looked over at Millie-Grey and waved. "Hi there."
She waved back, staring. "Hi CT. I pray you slept well?"
"Thirteen kept me up late."
"She tends to do that from time to time." She looked over at Alma. "Well, it was a good conversation. Thank you. I'll leave you to you duties." She paused and looked passed Alma. "Also, the chicken is burning."
"What?" Alma turned. "Dammit!" She pulled it off of the burner and tossed a cloth over it, and the flames died down. I saw her click the burner off and she turned to me, taking off the cooking gloves she wore. Millie-Grey had gone. "Well, Caretaker, how might I help you?"
"Well, I heard Sara mention that Day was here because she was under house arrest.. I was wondering if you knew why?"
Alma leaned back against the counter and stared at me for a second. She seemed to be in her serious mode once more, thinking whether I deserved to know. Would she tell me? "Fine, c'mere. I'll tell you. I suppose you deserve to know." She motioned for me to come closer. I walked over to her and leaned on the counter beside her. "Day's a bit.. crazy.. and scary, if you hadn't noticed. She has a way of bringing out the worst in people."
"Yeah, she kinda tried that on me." Tried? She was doing a pretty good job last I remembered. I decided to keep that to myself though.
"Hmph." Alma was quiet for a moment. I realized that she hadn't answered my question, just told me what I already knew. "Well.. She steals a lot to try and get out of here. She thinks that the right thing will help her escape. Of course, Monia'd just drag her right back if she could get away, but Dayanara's not big on details. Monia is Dayanara's .. arresting officer, of sorts. She's here to make sure Day ain't goin' nowhere. She does a damn good job of keeping her out of trouble too." So what I was to understand is that the innocent seeming girl in Room 6 was being held back by the very innocent girl in Room 14? Well, cops everywhere just lost a bit of manliness.
I realized my question was still unanswered. "Okay.. Now that you've hopefully run out of ways to avoid the question, why is she under house arrest?" I glanced over at her, and she sighed.
"Fine. All right, you got me." She stood for a few minutes, her mouth half open as if looking for the right way to say what she wanted to. "Okay, so Day was once in.. a hospital. Yeah. She was in a calm, well mannered mental hospital, and she got there by.. well, decieving people into thinking she deserved a kind calm, well-mannered treatment. For what, nobody knows, but she had gotten to this.. nice place." Alma stopped for a moment, and thought out what to say next. I wasn't 100% sure I wasn't being lied to, but hey, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter of content, so I listened still. "Day was able to live there until the man who ran the place found out that Day was somehow tricking people into killing themselves, and sent her away to a dark and lonely asylum. She lived there in solitude for a while, but every time someone came to give her food, she did the same thing to them."
I interrupted. "Okay, so Day's in a Inn where she gets fed, and has room to walk around the building freely, interacting with twenty other people because she is some kind of chain killer via suicide?! What the hell? I'm sorry if I fail to see how this is safe."
"It's safe because this is Abnormal Inn, Caretaker. This is what we specialize in. We have Monia's help in the matter. She has a very similar ability to Day, but it's a polar opposite. Where Day can bring out the worst in people, Monia can bring out the best. They can affect each other, however, so it's easy to notice the two in a battle. I'm going to assume you've noticed it as well and take it you're not a blind and dumb man. Try not be get caught in the crossfire, as you're the hotel caretaker, no Dayanara's weapon of choice." She sighed. "That's as much as I'm obliged to tell you. I suggest you find something productive now, or I'll dock your pay for sitting around chatting."
I stood dumbfounded. "But.. what should I do?"
"Well, who do you know the least?"
I thought about it. I would have said Dayanara, but as of the last hour or so I'd gotten to know her all too well. "Alice and Kitty. They're the two I know the least."
"Talk to them?"
"Well.. Kitty's sleeping and Alice is currently malicious towards my music choice." Yes, Kitty's 'sleeping' ... naked next to a window, last I saw.
Alma rolled her eyes and sighed. "Sara?"
"I saw her before Day, remember?. That's why I'm curious."
"Then Elizabeth. She's your best bet with Alice, now go, I have to finish cooking dinner."
"I'm kinda on good terms with-"
"GO!" She pointed towards the door, and I scuttled away quickly.
I was hit by a sudden nostalgic wave of addiction, a want to be close to her as soon as her eyes met mine. This was surely why she was here, if only part of it. I took a few steps closer to her despite every cell in my body knowing I probably should have gone the other way around. She smiled. "Hi Caretaker. Miss me?" She was sweet, and endeared herself to me with a gentle hug. It was unlike the seemingly sexual driven encounter I'd met her by originally. She cuddled against my chest softly, resting her head in the curve of my neck. Her scent overcame me and I was filled with an addictive need of more. I was just barely able to hold back from hugging her as well, but I withheld myself. "I sure missed you.. I wish I could have been useful last night after Kya was so rude to you.. Next time let me cheer you up?" She leaned back enough to stare into my eyes..
I was unable to respond, in fear that I'd say something stupid that would give her the wrong idea, or worse, a good idea. I had to say something though, so I replied mindlessly with "Well I'm a big boy you know, I can take care of myself. It was just words and all."
She reached her hand up to my face and trailed the back of her hand down my cheek. "You know.. Words hold a heavy burden often times, love.." She placed her lips softly to my cheek. "Try to relax? You can come in my room whenever. I'll be kind... Gentle.." She tilted her head sweetly to one side, staring lovingly at my lips. I saw her softly bite her own, spaced out into her own little fantasy for a few moments. She then looked back up at my eyes. "Well, my sweet, I'm sure you've got work to do. I'll try my best to leave you until you visit on your own accord." She trailed her hand down my cheek again. "And you will... I know it." She softly kissed my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. "Goodbye.." She turned and walked back into her room, and the door closed. I suddenly found myself missing her presence. Her soft fingertips gone from my senses.. I placed my hand on my cheek where she had touched me, the other to my neck. They both were hot, whether it was because of blush or some sort of withdrawl I knew not. I noticed suddenly I was breathing heavily, and my heart was racing.. I walked up to her door and lifted my hand to knock. No. Wait the hell was I doing? I needed to go to Alma. I turned around and walked towards the dining room door, but to hear a giggle behind me. It seemed otherwordly, echoing from all around me, but focused to my rear. The world around me seemed to distort in places, like raindrops on a puddle.. Was I imagining it? I turned around to see Love standing by the office door.
"Well, well, Mister.. you seemed almost ready to take her up on her offer." She giggled again, and the same effect. It bewildered me to no end.
"I.. What are you doing, spying on me?"
She blinked, confused. "Nu-uh Mister. I was playing with my dolls in here." She pointed into the front office. You remember, the place with just one table? "It's a lot of space, and the other dolls won't get jealous if they can't see." She held up a couple dolls she had shown be before.
"Oh.. and I was not. I'm going to see Alma. I gotta go kiddo." I turned and opened the dining room door, closing it behind me. I shook my head, trying to get all of the oddness out. After a couple minutes, I'd gotten it out, and then walked down the room and opened the curtain to the kitchen. I had walked in on a conversation.
".. and it was so surreal, I just stared at it until it kind of fell and broke.. I guess I left the freezer open too long." Millie-Grey said. She was holding her pet penguin -Frosty?- in her arms, and talking to Alma.
"Yes, dear, icicles tend to melt when you leave a freezer open." Alma looked bored, until she gazed over at me. "And how might I be able to help ya, newbie?" She laughed at me. "You get lost or something? I should hope not, the building is a rectangle."
"No, I was wondering something and I thought you might be able to answer it Alma." I looked over at Millie-Grey and waved. "Hi there."
She waved back, staring. "Hi CT. I pray you slept well?"
"Thirteen kept me up late."
"She tends to do that from time to time." She looked over at Alma. "Well, it was a good conversation. Thank you. I'll leave you to you duties." She paused and looked passed Alma. "Also, the chicken is burning."
"What?" Alma turned. "Dammit!" She pulled it off of the burner and tossed a cloth over it, and the flames died down. I saw her click the burner off and she turned to me, taking off the cooking gloves she wore. Millie-Grey had gone. "Well, Caretaker, how might I help you?"
"Well, I heard Sara mention that Day was here because she was under house arrest.. I was wondering if you knew why?"
Alma leaned back against the counter and stared at me for a second. She seemed to be in her serious mode once more, thinking whether I deserved to know. Would she tell me? "Fine, c'mere. I'll tell you. I suppose you deserve to know." She motioned for me to come closer. I walked over to her and leaned on the counter beside her. "Day's a bit.. crazy.. and scary, if you hadn't noticed. She has a way of bringing out the worst in people."
"Yeah, she kinda tried that on me." Tried? She was doing a pretty good job last I remembered. I decided to keep that to myself though.
"Hmph." Alma was quiet for a moment. I realized that she hadn't answered my question, just told me what I already knew. "Well.. She steals a lot to try and get out of here. She thinks that the right thing will help her escape. Of course, Monia'd just drag her right back if she could get away, but Dayanara's not big on details. Monia is Dayanara's .. arresting officer, of sorts. She's here to make sure Day ain't goin' nowhere. She does a damn good job of keeping her out of trouble too." So what I was to understand is that the innocent seeming girl in Room 6 was being held back by the very innocent girl in Room 14? Well, cops everywhere just lost a bit of manliness.
I realized my question was still unanswered. "Okay.. Now that you've hopefully run out of ways to avoid the question, why is she under house arrest?" I glanced over at her, and she sighed.
"Fine. All right, you got me." She stood for a few minutes, her mouth half open as if looking for the right way to say what she wanted to. "Okay, so Day was once in.. a hospital. Yeah. She was in a calm, well mannered mental hospital, and she got there by.. well, decieving people into thinking she deserved a kind calm, well-mannered treatment. For what, nobody knows, but she had gotten to this.. nice place." Alma stopped for a moment, and thought out what to say next. I wasn't 100% sure I wasn't being lied to, but hey, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter of content, so I listened still. "Day was able to live there until the man who ran the place found out that Day was somehow tricking people into killing themselves, and sent her away to a dark and lonely asylum. She lived there in solitude for a while, but every time someone came to give her food, she did the same thing to them."
I interrupted. "Okay, so Day's in a Inn where she gets fed, and has room to walk around the building freely, interacting with twenty other people because she is some kind of chain killer via suicide?! What the hell? I'm sorry if I fail to see how this is safe."
"It's safe because this is Abnormal Inn, Caretaker. This is what we specialize in. We have Monia's help in the matter. She has a very similar ability to Day, but it's a polar opposite. Where Day can bring out the worst in people, Monia can bring out the best. They can affect each other, however, so it's easy to notice the two in a battle. I'm going to assume you've noticed it as well and take it you're not a blind and dumb man. Try not be get caught in the crossfire, as you're the hotel caretaker, no Dayanara's weapon of choice." She sighed. "That's as much as I'm obliged to tell you. I suggest you find something productive now, or I'll dock your pay for sitting around chatting."
I stood dumbfounded. "But.. what should I do?"
"Well, who do you know the least?"
I thought about it. I would have said Dayanara, but as of the last hour or so I'd gotten to know her all too well. "Alice and Kitty. They're the two I know the least."
"Talk to them?"
"Well.. Kitty's sleeping and Alice is currently malicious towards my music choice." Yes, Kitty's 'sleeping' ... naked next to a window, last I saw.
Alma rolled her eyes and sighed. "Sara?"
"I saw her before Day, remember?. That's why I'm curious."
"Then Elizabeth. She's your best bet with Alice, now go, I have to finish cooking dinner."
"I'm kinda on good terms with-"
"GO!" She pointed towards the door, and I scuttled away quickly.
Chapter 27: Bouncing Coins
I decided to be smart, and swung by my room to pick up Mr. Clipboard, my good friend. I then spun right around, and out my door. I peeked into the lobby where Love was. The corner of the hotel was such a strange place to have the lobby. I had my doubts this was always a hotel. It might have been something else at one point. Most likely much smaller. I waved to her, and she waved back, then I turned the other direction. I walked passed the kitchen, waving at Alma, she nodded happily as I returned to "work." Some men are probably jealous of my job, but so far, it's been mostly stress. I had a couple fun times, but whenever I got into a more intimate experience, it's been stressful. Hmm... Well, I suppose that's not entirely true. I had a good amount of fun with Lilith. There's just... something about her?
I walked more and noticed something that I had missed before. There was a door between the kitchen and Room Twenty. There was a Room Twenty-One. I stopped dead at my step and stared at it. It was a black wood, faded to white in some places. There was cracks in the wood like there was once a heavy pressure upon it. There was a spider web in the top left corner, and spider perched neatly upon it. I noticed the number embedded in the door, and the silhouette of a design where there would normally be a symbol for the door. A skull, I noticed, was the nearest matching shape to what I saw. My curiosity overwhelmed me, I reached for the handle.
I stumbled, and bumped my head on the door frame, and a sudden pain ran across the palm of my hand. I shook my head, bewildered for a moment, and looked at the knob. Oh, no, I didn't. There was no knob on the door, just a hole where one should me. Screws that would have held it in place were still imbedded, sticking out slightly with no heads on them. There was blood on them. Fresh blood. This is where it would have been creepy, if I hadn't looked at my hand and noticed two parallel cuts on my hand the the same size of and distance between the two screws. I sighed, and walked back towards my room. Alma popped out of the kitchen.
"What about work, Boy?!"
"I got a cut on the screws back on Room Twenty-One's door."I opened the small closet beside my room and grabbed a little bit of bandage, wrapping it on my hand. "I'm going now." I closed the door and turned to go back up the hall. Alma was staring blankly at me.
...
"Alma?"
"Yes?" She replied, still leaning out of the doorway.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing." She looked around awkwardly. "Well, have fun with Ebiza-who yeah. Go." She ducked back into the kitchen, and the door closed behind her. Odd.
I walked down the hall and around the corner. Room Eighteen lay in front of me. Would she be awake? I thought for a moment. It was totally after noon by now. That meant yes, right? I knocked. There was about a minute of nothing. Was she in her room? I knocked again. I heard a thud inside, and then a rustle to the door. It flew open in a rush, and a very tired looking Elizabeth was staring at me through half open eyes, the same sweatshirt from before upon her shoulders. Don't look down, I told myself. Don't look down. Don't look down.
I glanced down. She was only wearing that sweatshirt, no pants. I pretended to be looking at the clipboard. Thank god I grabbed it. I looked back up at her. "Hi Elizabeth. You look tired, should I .. go?"
She shook her head. "No, no, you can come in. I'm ..." She yawned. "I'm up." She turned and walked inside, leaving the door open. I walked inside behind her, and she leaned on the back of her couch. "Close it." She yawned again, and it made me feel like I need to as well. I held it back and closed the door.
"So, how'd you sleep?"
"Me?" She sighed. "About as well as a rock."
"Isn't that good?"
"Sorry, Let me finish. About as well as a rock in a dryer set to extra fast."
"Ah, so.. not good?" I had to ask, as I was unfamiliar with rock sleeping habits.
She shook her head. "So what's up?"
"Actually, I don't know. I was yelled at by Alma for not working, and she pushed me off towards people I'm unfamiliar with. That'd be Kitty and Alice."
She blinked sleepily for a while before pointing at herself. "Elizabeth."
I laughed. "Yes, but you, as of now, are the only person I know who has any kind of relationship with Ms. Turner." I walked over and leaned on the couch next to her, and noticed pennies all over the back of it, several on the table beyond the couch, and a few in a plastic cup that was placed atop it. "What's with the pennies?"
She glanced down at them. "Oh.." She picked one up. "Hm.. Watch. Move." I moved as she told me to, and she aligned herself behind the couch and with the cup. She tossed the penny at the cushion on the front of the couch, and it bounced into the cup with a coin-like klunk. I blinked in surprise, raised my eyebrows, and looked back over at her.
"Wow, cool."
"Mhmm." She said, then spaced out in thought for a moment. I let her, staring at her kindly. I was somewhat intrigued by her. Her hair and eyes with both that lustrous silver-like color. They both seemed to slightly reflect the light. Not much was in the room right now though, just a bit that was slipping in through the windows. I looked over at them and examined the blinds. Metal flaps that didn't seem to reflect the light. I noticed a bumpy texture on them and wanted to go touch them, but I withheld myself. I can't go touching every bump that catches my interest here, can I?
Elizabeth yawned again, and I followed swiftly in her action. "Oh damn. It's contagious."
She laughed. "Sorry, I was just spacing out. I used to bounce these coins like this and play truth or dare with my big brother."
"Truth or dare? With coins?" I was puzzled.
She nodded. "If you bounce it in, you get a turn. If you miss, you lose a turn. It's simple. After getting it in, you ask 'truth or dare' just like a normal game."
"Seems like fun."
"You wanna play?" She held up another penny.
"Oh no, I shouldn't. Truth or dare for me often ends up with kissing in a closet."
"Well, my closet's full. If any kissing happens it'll probably be on the sofa." She laughed, jokingly. It was cute. "C'mon, one of us has to dare the other to make kissing happen, right?" She put the penny in my hand. "I got one in earlier. Truth or Dare?"
I half sighed, half laughed. "Dare."
"I dare you to play with me." She stuck out her tongue. Oh, she was a bit of a brat now, wasn't she?
I put the clipboard down on side of the bed, and aligned myself with the cup. Focus man, focus. I tossed the coin at the cushion and watched as it spun through the air. I held my breath. The coin fell down, bounced off the table, and onto the edge of the cup. C'mon, C'mon! It fell off, back onto the table, and I sighed.
"Ha ha." She laughed. "My turn. Nice first try though." She grabbed another penny and bounced it off of her cushion. It landed flawlessly again, a klunk in the cup. "Yes! Truth or dare?"
I sighed. "Truth."
"Wimp."
"Hey! I picked dare first." I stated. I had a point there, you couldn't deny it. She could have dared me to run around naked or something, but didn't.
"True.. Okay so.. Truth. Where did you come from, to get here?"
"I started over on the east coast. I bounced around a bit, before I even ran away. I spent some time in Massachusetts with a small gang, jumped hotels in New York, and stole a car in Virginia."
"You stole a car?!" She was astounded.
"Well, it was in the middle of the woods and had moss on it. It wasn't going anywhere. It didn't get me far anyways. I eventually sold it for train fair, then fell asleep on the trip. Here I am."
"Well.. nobody wanted the thing, but you still STOLE it. Where were you headed anyways?"
I smiled. "You only get one question, kiddo." I grabbed a second coin and bounced it. It went in this time. "Yes! Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Wimp."
"Hey! That's not very caretaker-y of you."
"I'm sorry, it's just you did it so well, I wanted to try it."
She laughed. "Wanted to try calling me a wimp? Fine, should I pick dare?"
"Nah, I already got a question ready."
"Good! I hate waiting for people to think of them."
"Why don't you like wearing all your clothes?"
She looked down, blushing softly. "They're itchy. I don't like wearing all the artificial kinds of clothe they process in those plants of theirs.. this sweatshirt my Nany gave me. She was nice. This shirt is nice. It's soft." She held out her arm for me to feel, and I did. It was silky smooth, and light and soft the the touch. I nodded.
"Very nice, very nice indeed." I handed her a coin.
She bounced it off the cushion and it landed again. "Pick."
"Dare."
She smirked. "Oh the choices.. See, I'm not related to you, so I don't need to humiliate you in the same ways, I have a broader spectrum."
"Oh, thanks. I feel so honored." I said sarcastically.
"I dare you to write 'Beautiful' on that clipboard of yours under my name."
I picked it up and wrote it as she dared, and showed her.
"Good." She smiled. "Now you'll always remember me when you look at it." She stuck out her tongue.
"Great dare. Totally worth it. why didn't I think of something that amazing?" Sarcasm again. I rolled my eyes and bounced another coin. I made it. "Okay, choose Missy."
"Dare."
I laughed. "I dare you to put some pants on. I keep wanting to look down at your legs."
She blushed and mumbled something. I couldn't hear her.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" she piped up. "Point that way, toward the TV, table, all that stuff. Don't turn around, okay?"
"Okay."
"Promise not to turn around?"
I nodded. "I promise, Elizabeth."
"Okay.. Turn, now, go."
I turned away and looked down at the coins, and she rummaged through her dresser. I rested my head on my hand, blocking my peripheral vision of the area. It was only then I noticed I could see her reflection in the TV. Despite my best efforts I couldn't look away. She pulled out a pair of underwear as well. She was literally only wearing that shirt?? She pulled them up, facing the dresser, so away from me, and I got a glance at her ass. I felt perverted - peeping even - but then it dawned on me she hadn't kicked me out of the room to change. Again. She pulled on pants as well and walked back over.
"Okay," She said, "My turn again." I glanced down at her pants. Grey jeans. I think I remembered her mention being colorblind. Vivid colors made her eyes hurt though. Perhaps her eyes were trying to make the colors work, but were straining themselves in the process? I heard a klunk again. "Okay, Pick."
I turned and looked at her. What should I pick, Truth, or Dare? I'll pick dare again, I suppose. Then I don't give her a reason to call me a wimp again. It didn't bother me anyways, but hey, why give her a reason to say it? .. Second thought, she might have a mean dare. "Truth."
"Did you actually see anything when I fell yesterday?"
Shit. "Uhhh.. Yeah."
She blushed darkly. "O-Oh... You.. You had said you didn't."
"I didn't wanna embarrass you."
She looked away, hiding her face. She changed the subject. "So Alma wanted you to meet Alice better, right? She likes orange stuff. Flavored. I don't know about colors, I can't see them." She was holding her face, and leaning over the sofa by her waist. The shirt fell a bit and showed a bit of her back, nothing serious, but the jeans didn't help from reminding me of what I'd seen just a few minutes ago.
"Uhh, anything else?" I looked at the small pile of coins, pushing them around. My face was hot, I was probably blushing. she wouldn't see it anyways.
"Techno. She loves it. She hates rock though.. So saying Blink-182, which is punk rock, basically meant you were on my side."
"Oh. Should I have said something else?"
She looked up at me, a bit sad. "No..If you had said Daft Punk she would have hung out with you and I would be alone.."
I suddenly felt a bit sorry for her. She was in her room alone all day. Her neighbor was always yelling at her. Did Elizabeth have any other friends here? I bounced a coin into the cup.
"Truth."
"Perfect. Do you have any more friends here, Elizabeth?" I looked over at her.
Her face was still blushed up, but not as badly. Hey eyes teared up, and she shook her head. "No.. No I don't."
I stepped over and hugged her near instinctively. I was a bit on the cuddly side. We might have been like that for a few minutes, before she leaned off of me enough to look at me. "Thanks.."
"You okay?"
She was staring at me, through her tears. "I..." She leaned a bit closer, and then a piercing scream shot through the Inn. We backed up and looked at the door.
"I thought your room was soundproofed?"
She blinked, about as shaken as I was by the sudden scream. "It... is."
I walked more and noticed something that I had missed before. There was a door between the kitchen and Room Twenty. There was a Room Twenty-One. I stopped dead at my step and stared at it. It was a black wood, faded to white in some places. There was cracks in the wood like there was once a heavy pressure upon it. There was a spider web in the top left corner, and spider perched neatly upon it. I noticed the number embedded in the door, and the silhouette of a design where there would normally be a symbol for the door. A skull, I noticed, was the nearest matching shape to what I saw. My curiosity overwhelmed me, I reached for the handle.
I stumbled, and bumped my head on the door frame, and a sudden pain ran across the palm of my hand. I shook my head, bewildered for a moment, and looked at the knob. Oh, no, I didn't. There was no knob on the door, just a hole where one should me. Screws that would have held it in place were still imbedded, sticking out slightly with no heads on them. There was blood on them. Fresh blood. This is where it would have been creepy, if I hadn't looked at my hand and noticed two parallel cuts on my hand the the same size of and distance between the two screws. I sighed, and walked back towards my room. Alma popped out of the kitchen.
"What about work, Boy?!"
"I got a cut on the screws back on Room Twenty-One's door."I opened the small closet beside my room and grabbed a little bit of bandage, wrapping it on my hand. "I'm going now." I closed the door and turned to go back up the hall. Alma was staring blankly at me.
...
"Alma?"
"Yes?" She replied, still leaning out of the doorway.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing." She looked around awkwardly. "Well, have fun with Ebiza-who yeah. Go." She ducked back into the kitchen, and the door closed behind her. Odd.
I walked down the hall and around the corner. Room Eighteen lay in front of me. Would she be awake? I thought for a moment. It was totally after noon by now. That meant yes, right? I knocked. There was about a minute of nothing. Was she in her room? I knocked again. I heard a thud inside, and then a rustle to the door. It flew open in a rush, and a very tired looking Elizabeth was staring at me through half open eyes, the same sweatshirt from before upon her shoulders. Don't look down, I told myself. Don't look down. Don't look down.
I glanced down. She was only wearing that sweatshirt, no pants. I pretended to be looking at the clipboard. Thank god I grabbed it. I looked back up at her. "Hi Elizabeth. You look tired, should I .. go?"
She shook her head. "No, no, you can come in. I'm ..." She yawned. "I'm up." She turned and walked inside, leaving the door open. I walked inside behind her, and she leaned on the back of her couch. "Close it." She yawned again, and it made me feel like I need to as well. I held it back and closed the door.
"So, how'd you sleep?"
"Me?" She sighed. "About as well as a rock."
"Isn't that good?"
"Sorry, Let me finish. About as well as a rock in a dryer set to extra fast."
"Ah, so.. not good?" I had to ask, as I was unfamiliar with rock sleeping habits.
She shook her head. "So what's up?"
"Actually, I don't know. I was yelled at by Alma for not working, and she pushed me off towards people I'm unfamiliar with. That'd be Kitty and Alice."
She blinked sleepily for a while before pointing at herself. "Elizabeth."
I laughed. "Yes, but you, as of now, are the only person I know who has any kind of relationship with Ms. Turner." I walked over and leaned on the couch next to her, and noticed pennies all over the back of it, several on the table beyond the couch, and a few in a plastic cup that was placed atop it. "What's with the pennies?"
She glanced down at them. "Oh.." She picked one up. "Hm.. Watch. Move." I moved as she told me to, and she aligned herself behind the couch and with the cup. She tossed the penny at the cushion on the front of the couch, and it bounced into the cup with a coin-like klunk. I blinked in surprise, raised my eyebrows, and looked back over at her.
"Wow, cool."
"Mhmm." She said, then spaced out in thought for a moment. I let her, staring at her kindly. I was somewhat intrigued by her. Her hair and eyes with both that lustrous silver-like color. They both seemed to slightly reflect the light. Not much was in the room right now though, just a bit that was slipping in through the windows. I looked over at them and examined the blinds. Metal flaps that didn't seem to reflect the light. I noticed a bumpy texture on them and wanted to go touch them, but I withheld myself. I can't go touching every bump that catches my interest here, can I?
Elizabeth yawned again, and I followed swiftly in her action. "Oh damn. It's contagious."
She laughed. "Sorry, I was just spacing out. I used to bounce these coins like this and play truth or dare with my big brother."
"Truth or dare? With coins?" I was puzzled.
She nodded. "If you bounce it in, you get a turn. If you miss, you lose a turn. It's simple. After getting it in, you ask 'truth or dare' just like a normal game."
"Seems like fun."
"You wanna play?" She held up another penny.
"Oh no, I shouldn't. Truth or dare for me often ends up with kissing in a closet."
"Well, my closet's full. If any kissing happens it'll probably be on the sofa." She laughed, jokingly. It was cute. "C'mon, one of us has to dare the other to make kissing happen, right?" She put the penny in my hand. "I got one in earlier. Truth or Dare?"
I half sighed, half laughed. "Dare."
"I dare you to play with me." She stuck out her tongue. Oh, she was a bit of a brat now, wasn't she?
I put the clipboard down on side of the bed, and aligned myself with the cup. Focus man, focus. I tossed the coin at the cushion and watched as it spun through the air. I held my breath. The coin fell down, bounced off the table, and onto the edge of the cup. C'mon, C'mon! It fell off, back onto the table, and I sighed.
"Ha ha." She laughed. "My turn. Nice first try though." She grabbed another penny and bounced it off of her cushion. It landed flawlessly again, a klunk in the cup. "Yes! Truth or dare?"
I sighed. "Truth."
"Wimp."
"Hey! I picked dare first." I stated. I had a point there, you couldn't deny it. She could have dared me to run around naked or something, but didn't.
"True.. Okay so.. Truth. Where did you come from, to get here?"
"I started over on the east coast. I bounced around a bit, before I even ran away. I spent some time in Massachusetts with a small gang, jumped hotels in New York, and stole a car in Virginia."
"You stole a car?!" She was astounded.
"Well, it was in the middle of the woods and had moss on it. It wasn't going anywhere. It didn't get me far anyways. I eventually sold it for train fair, then fell asleep on the trip. Here I am."
"Well.. nobody wanted the thing, but you still STOLE it. Where were you headed anyways?"
I smiled. "You only get one question, kiddo." I grabbed a second coin and bounced it. It went in this time. "Yes! Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Wimp."
"Hey! That's not very caretaker-y of you."
"I'm sorry, it's just you did it so well, I wanted to try it."
She laughed. "Wanted to try calling me a wimp? Fine, should I pick dare?"
"Nah, I already got a question ready."
"Good! I hate waiting for people to think of them."
"Why don't you like wearing all your clothes?"
She looked down, blushing softly. "They're itchy. I don't like wearing all the artificial kinds of clothe they process in those plants of theirs.. this sweatshirt my Nany gave me. She was nice. This shirt is nice. It's soft." She held out her arm for me to feel, and I did. It was silky smooth, and light and soft the the touch. I nodded.
"Very nice, very nice indeed." I handed her a coin.
She bounced it off the cushion and it landed again. "Pick."
"Dare."
She smirked. "Oh the choices.. See, I'm not related to you, so I don't need to humiliate you in the same ways, I have a broader spectrum."
"Oh, thanks. I feel so honored." I said sarcastically.
"I dare you to write 'Beautiful' on that clipboard of yours under my name."
I picked it up and wrote it as she dared, and showed her.
"Good." She smiled. "Now you'll always remember me when you look at it." She stuck out her tongue.
"Great dare. Totally worth it. why didn't I think of something that amazing?" Sarcasm again. I rolled my eyes and bounced another coin. I made it. "Okay, choose Missy."
"Dare."
I laughed. "I dare you to put some pants on. I keep wanting to look down at your legs."
She blushed and mumbled something. I couldn't hear her.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" she piped up. "Point that way, toward the TV, table, all that stuff. Don't turn around, okay?"
"Okay."
"Promise not to turn around?"
I nodded. "I promise, Elizabeth."
"Okay.. Turn, now, go."
I turned away and looked down at the coins, and she rummaged through her dresser. I rested my head on my hand, blocking my peripheral vision of the area. It was only then I noticed I could see her reflection in the TV. Despite my best efforts I couldn't look away. She pulled out a pair of underwear as well. She was literally only wearing that shirt?? She pulled them up, facing the dresser, so away from me, and I got a glance at her ass. I felt perverted - peeping even - but then it dawned on me she hadn't kicked me out of the room to change. Again. She pulled on pants as well and walked back over.
"Okay," She said, "My turn again." I glanced down at her pants. Grey jeans. I think I remembered her mention being colorblind. Vivid colors made her eyes hurt though. Perhaps her eyes were trying to make the colors work, but were straining themselves in the process? I heard a klunk again. "Okay, Pick."
I turned and looked at her. What should I pick, Truth, or Dare? I'll pick dare again, I suppose. Then I don't give her a reason to call me a wimp again. It didn't bother me anyways, but hey, why give her a reason to say it? .. Second thought, she might have a mean dare. "Truth."
"Did you actually see anything when I fell yesterday?"
Shit. "Uhhh.. Yeah."
She blushed darkly. "O-Oh... You.. You had said you didn't."
"I didn't wanna embarrass you."
She looked away, hiding her face. She changed the subject. "So Alma wanted you to meet Alice better, right? She likes orange stuff. Flavored. I don't know about colors, I can't see them." She was holding her face, and leaning over the sofa by her waist. The shirt fell a bit and showed a bit of her back, nothing serious, but the jeans didn't help from reminding me of what I'd seen just a few minutes ago.
"Uhh, anything else?" I looked at the small pile of coins, pushing them around. My face was hot, I was probably blushing. she wouldn't see it anyways.
"Techno. She loves it. She hates rock though.. So saying Blink-182, which is punk rock, basically meant you were on my side."
"Oh. Should I have said something else?"
She looked up at me, a bit sad. "No..If you had said Daft Punk she would have hung out with you and I would be alone.."
I suddenly felt a bit sorry for her. She was in her room alone all day. Her neighbor was always yelling at her. Did Elizabeth have any other friends here? I bounced a coin into the cup.
"Truth."
"Perfect. Do you have any more friends here, Elizabeth?" I looked over at her.
Her face was still blushed up, but not as badly. Hey eyes teared up, and she shook her head. "No.. No I don't."
I stepped over and hugged her near instinctively. I was a bit on the cuddly side. We might have been like that for a few minutes, before she leaned off of me enough to look at me. "Thanks.."
"You okay?"
She was staring at me, through her tears. "I..." She leaned a bit closer, and then a piercing scream shot through the Inn. We backed up and looked at the door.
"I thought your room was soundproofed?"
She blinked, about as shaken as I was by the sudden scream. "It... is."
Chapter 28: Shudders and Screams
I opened the door to Elizabeth's room and glanced around the small hallway. Kitty stumbled out of her room on the corner to my right. She was pulling her pants all the way up, and glanced over at me. "What happen?"
I shrugged. "I have no clue." I stepped out and walked over to her. "I heard the scream and came out of the room, just like you did." We both looked down the longer hallway ahead of us. There was a small gathering by a door down there. "I should go check that out.."
"Okay Caretake. Go and see." She waved at me and walked into Sara's room. Her vocabulary and skipping of sounds and words confused me sometimes. I would have to ask her about it. She knew Sara for a long time, right? Sara talked fine, so I don't think they were foreign or anything..
I wandered over to the group that had congregated down the hall and nudged through. Room Seven. Tina's room.. I glanced inside. Tina was curled up under the small end table that was sitting beside her bed; The table with her spider on it. The spider was mimicking her actions, it seemed, curled up in the corner of the tank behind a rock. As I stepped foot in the doorway, they both stared at me. Alma was kneeled down next to Tina trying to calm her down. I guess I now knew where the scream came from. I felt a tug on my sleeve from just behind me, and turned. Millie-Grey. She pulled me aside.
"Yeah Millie-Grey?"
"You don't have to use the whole name all the time. Just Millie would work."
"I like the whole name." I tried to smile, but it didn't work. I was still a bit shaken from the scream.
"Okay then. I just wanted to talk to you for a sec and tell you a bit about Tina, since this is probably gonna happen more than once." She crossed her arms, and shivered a bit. Wait, Millie-Grey shivered? She practically lived in a freezer, she couldn't be cold. Maybe the scream had freaked her out too.
"Well, what can you tell me?" I leaned against the wall. We were standing by the door to Room Six.
"Do you know her last name?"
"Nope!"
"Sonjeva. Spelled with a J, sounds like a Y. It's Russian or something. Remember that one." I lifted up my clipboard to show her I had it with me, then scribbled the name down. "She's here because something really fucked up happened with her family. I don't know what, Alma wouldn't tell us anymore. She's very traumatized. She never opens doors, and won't go near windows. She likes spiders and small spaces. It's weird. They had to close up part of her room when she moved here."
I nodded slowly. I noted on the clipboard: "Traumatized, no windows/doors"
"Thanks Millie-Grey." I nodded at her in thanks, and she nodded back, looked passed me for a moment, then went back to her room. I went back to Tina's door. Nothing had changed. When I stepped in, Tina stared at me once more. Alma glanced over, looked back at Tina, and sighed.
She stood up and walked over to me. "We don't know what happened. She won't talk. Good luck Caretaker. This is your job now, not mine." She patted my shoulder, shooed the crowd, and went back to her own work. Probably either cooking or her room.
I walked slowly over to Tina and stopped about a foot and a half away, then sat on the floor there.
"Tina?"
She stared at my wide eyed, shuddering softly. She was silent, and her eyes shot to the door every time someone walked by in the hall. Her legs were clutched to her chest. She was playing gently with one of the blue bows on the cuff of her shirt. Day poked her head around the corner after a few minutes. I grew suspicious and got up to talk to her.
"What are you up to?" I suspiciously glared at her. "Did you do something?"
She shook her head. I was expecting to see her "innocent" face, but she stared bewildered into the room. "No, I was just sitting in my room and I hear my neighbor suddenly shriek." Her glance moved to me. "What happened?"
"No one knows. She just kinda screamed."
"Oh.. Maybe try closing the door and talk to her in private?" She shrugged. "She doesn't like people, maybe it will help."
I raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of helping, why are you trying to?"
She smiled. "Maybe one day you'll return the favor?" She turned and went back into her room, and I went into Tina's, just in the doorway.
"Do you want this closed?" I put my hand on the door.
Her wide eyes darted from me to the door, then back to me. She nodded. I closed the door and went back over to her. It was fairly dark, but she had a night light plugged into the corner. A bit unneeded for a seventeen year old girl, isn't it? I wondered just what it was that scared her so much.
"So Tina.. Can you tell me what happened?"
She just continues to stare at me from under the table. I saw her bite into her lip.
"C'mon, I just wanna help, Tina. You can trust me."
"N-No.." She spoke. It was very faint and brief, but I had gotten a word out of her again.
I held my hand out, about halfway between us. It was an offering. I wanted her to reach out to me, as I was to her. I was probably asking too much. "C'mon, at least try? I'm not gonna hurt you."
She was silent, staring at my hand. She shuddered again. It was a time before anything else happened. My arm was getting tired. "P- ..." She stuttered, then tried to speak again. "P-promise?" She glanced up at me with melancholy eyes.
I nodded, and smiled warmly at her. "I promise."
She slowly reached out and placed her fingers on to the palm of my hand. She held them there for a minute, probably less though. She seemed spaced out, her eyes pointing slightly downward. She looked back at me. "I..." She wiggled slowly out of the small underbelly of the table and next to me, leaning back against the side of the bed. "I.. h-had a dream.. A nightmare.. ab-bout the d-dark man.."
I shrugged. "I have no clue." I stepped out and walked over to her. "I heard the scream and came out of the room, just like you did." We both looked down the longer hallway ahead of us. There was a small gathering by a door down there. "I should go check that out.."
"Okay Caretake. Go and see." She waved at me and walked into Sara's room. Her vocabulary and skipping of sounds and words confused me sometimes. I would have to ask her about it. She knew Sara for a long time, right? Sara talked fine, so I don't think they were foreign or anything..
I wandered over to the group that had congregated down the hall and nudged through. Room Seven. Tina's room.. I glanced inside. Tina was curled up under the small end table that was sitting beside her bed; The table with her spider on it. The spider was mimicking her actions, it seemed, curled up in the corner of the tank behind a rock. As I stepped foot in the doorway, they both stared at me. Alma was kneeled down next to Tina trying to calm her down. I guess I now knew where the scream came from. I felt a tug on my sleeve from just behind me, and turned. Millie-Grey. She pulled me aside.
"Yeah Millie-Grey?"
"You don't have to use the whole name all the time. Just Millie would work."
"I like the whole name." I tried to smile, but it didn't work. I was still a bit shaken from the scream.
"Okay then. I just wanted to talk to you for a sec and tell you a bit about Tina, since this is probably gonna happen more than once." She crossed her arms, and shivered a bit. Wait, Millie-Grey shivered? She practically lived in a freezer, she couldn't be cold. Maybe the scream had freaked her out too.
"Well, what can you tell me?" I leaned against the wall. We were standing by the door to Room Six.
"Do you know her last name?"
"Nope!"
"Sonjeva. Spelled with a J, sounds like a Y. It's Russian or something. Remember that one." I lifted up my clipboard to show her I had it with me, then scribbled the name down. "She's here because something really fucked up happened with her family. I don't know what, Alma wouldn't tell us anymore. She's very traumatized. She never opens doors, and won't go near windows. She likes spiders and small spaces. It's weird. They had to close up part of her room when she moved here."
I nodded slowly. I noted on the clipboard: "Traumatized, no windows/doors"
"Thanks Millie-Grey." I nodded at her in thanks, and she nodded back, looked passed me for a moment, then went back to her room. I went back to Tina's door. Nothing had changed. When I stepped in, Tina stared at me once more. Alma glanced over, looked back at Tina, and sighed.
She stood up and walked over to me. "We don't know what happened. She won't talk. Good luck Caretaker. This is your job now, not mine." She patted my shoulder, shooed the crowd, and went back to her own work. Probably either cooking or her room.
I walked slowly over to Tina and stopped about a foot and a half away, then sat on the floor there.
"Tina?"
She stared at my wide eyed, shuddering softly. She was silent, and her eyes shot to the door every time someone walked by in the hall. Her legs were clutched to her chest. She was playing gently with one of the blue bows on the cuff of her shirt. Day poked her head around the corner after a few minutes. I grew suspicious and got up to talk to her.
"What are you up to?" I suspiciously glared at her. "Did you do something?"
She shook her head. I was expecting to see her "innocent" face, but she stared bewildered into the room. "No, I was just sitting in my room and I hear my neighbor suddenly shriek." Her glance moved to me. "What happened?"
"No one knows. She just kinda screamed."
"Oh.. Maybe try closing the door and talk to her in private?" She shrugged. "She doesn't like people, maybe it will help."
I raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of helping, why are you trying to?"
She smiled. "Maybe one day you'll return the favor?" She turned and went back into her room, and I went into Tina's, just in the doorway.
"Do you want this closed?" I put my hand on the door.
Her wide eyes darted from me to the door, then back to me. She nodded. I closed the door and went back over to her. It was fairly dark, but she had a night light plugged into the corner. A bit unneeded for a seventeen year old girl, isn't it? I wondered just what it was that scared her so much.
"So Tina.. Can you tell me what happened?"
She just continues to stare at me from under the table. I saw her bite into her lip.
"C'mon, I just wanna help, Tina. You can trust me."
"N-No.." She spoke. It was very faint and brief, but I had gotten a word out of her again.
I held my hand out, about halfway between us. It was an offering. I wanted her to reach out to me, as I was to her. I was probably asking too much. "C'mon, at least try? I'm not gonna hurt you."
She was silent, staring at my hand. She shuddered again. It was a time before anything else happened. My arm was getting tired. "P- ..." She stuttered, then tried to speak again. "P-promise?" She glanced up at me with melancholy eyes.
I nodded, and smiled warmly at her. "I promise."
She slowly reached out and placed her fingers on to the palm of my hand. She held them there for a minute, probably less though. She seemed spaced out, her eyes pointing slightly downward. She looked back at me. "I..." She wiggled slowly out of the small underbelly of the table and next to me, leaning back against the side of the bed. "I.. h-had a dream.. A nightmare.. ab-bout the d-dark man.."
Chapter 29: Of My Nightmares
"The dark man, eh? Who's that?" I asked, but I actually just though it was a bad dream. Some nightmare of some dark figure who she was scared of simply because he was dark. Menacing, a shadow. A silhouette. Oh how so very wrong I was.
"Th-Th... The dark man.. it's what the police officer.. c-called him when they found me.." She shivered.
"Found you? Whatcha mean? I'm sorry, it's just I'm new here.. I don't know anything much yet." What a crappy excuse. I was actually just curious.
"Af-after my parents died.." Her fingers clenched, digging into her shirt and most likely clawing at her arms. "Th-there was.. an officer. She said.. I saw th-the dark man.. b-but everyone else calls him other things.."
"What kinds of things?"
"It's.." She wiggled a bit, uncomfortably, glancing down and to the side, away from me. "I.. heard Alma.." She bit her lip. "She c-called him.. The Terror.. Sara called him the Fear.. I.." She stopped and rested her head against my shoulder. We sat in the dark, silent room for several minutes. I got the feeling I should change the subject a bit, and did so.
"So Tina.. this nightmare you had.."
"H-he... He came to get me.." She shuddered again.
"Why would he come to get you?"
"Be-because.. I got away.." She stared ahead, her eyes distant. I leaned forward enough to see her eyes. Yeah, totally spaced out. Her face showed she was scared. I reached my hand up and bushed her cheek. "Ahh!" She screamed and pushed me away, falling back in the opposite direction, breathing heavily. For a few seconds she looked around, confused as to where she was, what was going on, and who was with her. "Oh.." She sighed, calming down, shuddering once more. "S-sorry... I ... I was thinking.."
"Well.. try not to?" I reached over and softly brushed her cheek again with the back of two of my fingers. She slowly reached her hand up and pressed her fingertips to the back of my hand, staring at me.
"Y- ...." She blinked and put her thumb around the other side of my hand, holding it gently. "You're so gentle.."
"Well, Tina, I try to be."
"Why?" She stared at my puzzled. I couldn't come up with an answer right away, to be honest. Why was I the way I was? Was it something in my past? My journey from my home to here? Was it just some strange inner inhostility, or was it this place?
"I'm gentle because it's the best way to be. I'm gentle so I can help people. You're one of those people, Tina."
Her icy blue eyes shimmered as she stared at me in the small amount of light. "I.." She squeezed my hand softly. "How do I not think about it?"
"Get a friend? How about going and seeing other people in the inn? I'm sure that there are people who would love to hang out with you."
She shook her head, her eyes wide. "No... I.. I can't trust them. They might hurt me.. and what if.. I don't like windows.. everyone else's room has windows.."
"Why do you trust me?" I tilted my head.
"You.. you promised." She stared at me again with those fragile eyes of hers "There's just... it's something about you.. that I can trust."
I smiled. "Thank you for that." I thought about what she said. 'There's just something about you.' I knew who to go to. I pulled my hand away softly from her grip. Her hand stayed up as if she was still holding mine there. "I'll be right back, I promise." I turned and walk to the door, opening it and closing it behind me. "I promise." Did a single promise have such a power? And if it did, and I ever broke it, what would it do? I wondered on the effects for a very short time until I reached my destination, and knocked on the door. It opened just a crack, until the girl inside saw who it was, then the door flew open and her arm were around my shoulders. Lilith held me tight.
She whispered "Hi Caretaker.." and rubber her head against my shoulder. I pat her on the back.
"Hi, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" She leaned back and looked my in the eyes, a soft smile across her pale face. Her hair was tied up behind her and needles stuck through it. I didn't exactly know hair styles, but it was cute.
"What do you need? I'll try my best." She ran her fingertip down the edge of my jaw and to my chin. My skin tingled as it met hers.
"I.." I couldn't think. What was I here for? Tina. I was here to ask a favor for Tina. "You know Tina? She's two rooms down."
Lilith nodded. "Tina Sonjeva. She's the little scared one. Only leaves her room for breakfast and dinner."
That one. She stays in her room all day and thinks about things that scare her. One of those things is windows, for some weird reason. I was wondering if maybe you - since you have a sealed over window in your room - would mind hanging out with her sometime?"
She glanced over towards Tina's room. I followed her gaze, and a small little frightened Tina was peering our of her doorway down to us. Lilith extended a hand towards her. "C'mon, I don't bite. I promise sweetie."
Tina glanced down, and poked the carpet outside of her door with the toe of her sock. A glance down the hallway both ways. She looked into her room again. Double-checking the floor again. She took a step out, closed her door, and walked over slowly, nibbling on the cuff of the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "I.." She stared at Lilith's hand for a few moments, and then glanced at me. I nodded, and she reached up to touch Lilith's finger with her own. They sat there for a few seconds until Lilith reached over with her other hand and wrapped her arm around Tina's shoulder.
"I don't have a window in my room you know. I'm not a fan of the sunlight. You can come by and talk to me anytime. Wanna see inside?"
Tina nodded slowly.
"What do you like?" They walked into Lilith's room, and she turned back to close the door. "Oh, Caretaker." She summoned me closer with a wag of her finger.
"Yes, Lilith?" I smiled.
"You owe me a favor now too." She leaned up and planted her lips to my cheek, the corner of her lips touching my own. A sensation went through my body and I became dizzy. When it wore off and I could see again, Lilith's door was closed. I was hoping I had done good. Lilith was very friendly and gentle, and Tina liked that from what I had seen. Although, Lilith was also intimidating, and Tina was paranoid. I wondered if it would work out.
"I hadn't thought of that. Good call, Caretaker."
I turned down the short hallway near Room Five and Alma was standing outside the lobby door. "Oh, Hi Alma."
"You're doing a good job. Proud of you." She gave me a nod and I smiled. She turned away and I glanced back at Lilith's door. My curiosity was overwhelming.. I needed to know what had happened in Tina's past.
"Th-Th... The dark man.. it's what the police officer.. c-called him when they found me.." She shivered.
"Found you? Whatcha mean? I'm sorry, it's just I'm new here.. I don't know anything much yet." What a crappy excuse. I was actually just curious.
"Af-after my parents died.." Her fingers clenched, digging into her shirt and most likely clawing at her arms. "Th-there was.. an officer. She said.. I saw th-the dark man.. b-but everyone else calls him other things.."
"What kinds of things?"
"It's.." She wiggled a bit, uncomfortably, glancing down and to the side, away from me. "I.. heard Alma.." She bit her lip. "She c-called him.. The Terror.. Sara called him the Fear.. I.." She stopped and rested her head against my shoulder. We sat in the dark, silent room for several minutes. I got the feeling I should change the subject a bit, and did so.
"So Tina.. this nightmare you had.."
"H-he... He came to get me.." She shuddered again.
"Why would he come to get you?"
"Be-because.. I got away.." She stared ahead, her eyes distant. I leaned forward enough to see her eyes. Yeah, totally spaced out. Her face showed she was scared. I reached my hand up and bushed her cheek. "Ahh!" She screamed and pushed me away, falling back in the opposite direction, breathing heavily. For a few seconds she looked around, confused as to where she was, what was going on, and who was with her. "Oh.." She sighed, calming down, shuddering once more. "S-sorry... I ... I was thinking.."
"Well.. try not to?" I reached over and softly brushed her cheek again with the back of two of my fingers. She slowly reached her hand up and pressed her fingertips to the back of my hand, staring at me.
"Y- ...." She blinked and put her thumb around the other side of my hand, holding it gently. "You're so gentle.."
"Well, Tina, I try to be."
"Why?" She stared at my puzzled. I couldn't come up with an answer right away, to be honest. Why was I the way I was? Was it something in my past? My journey from my home to here? Was it just some strange inner inhostility, or was it this place?
"I'm gentle because it's the best way to be. I'm gentle so I can help people. You're one of those people, Tina."
Her icy blue eyes shimmered as she stared at me in the small amount of light. "I.." She squeezed my hand softly. "How do I not think about it?"
"Get a friend? How about going and seeing other people in the inn? I'm sure that there are people who would love to hang out with you."
She shook her head, her eyes wide. "No... I.. I can't trust them. They might hurt me.. and what if.. I don't like windows.. everyone else's room has windows.."
"Why do you trust me?" I tilted my head.
"You.. you promised." She stared at me again with those fragile eyes of hers "There's just... it's something about you.. that I can trust."
I smiled. "Thank you for that." I thought about what she said. 'There's just something about you.' I knew who to go to. I pulled my hand away softly from her grip. Her hand stayed up as if she was still holding mine there. "I'll be right back, I promise." I turned and walk to the door, opening it and closing it behind me. "I promise." Did a single promise have such a power? And if it did, and I ever broke it, what would it do? I wondered on the effects for a very short time until I reached my destination, and knocked on the door. It opened just a crack, until the girl inside saw who it was, then the door flew open and her arm were around my shoulders. Lilith held me tight.
She whispered "Hi Caretaker.." and rubber her head against my shoulder. I pat her on the back.
"Hi, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" She leaned back and looked my in the eyes, a soft smile across her pale face. Her hair was tied up behind her and needles stuck through it. I didn't exactly know hair styles, but it was cute.
"What do you need? I'll try my best." She ran her fingertip down the edge of my jaw and to my chin. My skin tingled as it met hers.
"I.." I couldn't think. What was I here for? Tina. I was here to ask a favor for Tina. "You know Tina? She's two rooms down."
Lilith nodded. "Tina Sonjeva. She's the little scared one. Only leaves her room for breakfast and dinner."
That one. She stays in her room all day and thinks about things that scare her. One of those things is windows, for some weird reason. I was wondering if maybe you - since you have a sealed over window in your room - would mind hanging out with her sometime?"
She glanced over towards Tina's room. I followed her gaze, and a small little frightened Tina was peering our of her doorway down to us. Lilith extended a hand towards her. "C'mon, I don't bite. I promise sweetie."
Tina glanced down, and poked the carpet outside of her door with the toe of her sock. A glance down the hallway both ways. She looked into her room again. Double-checking the floor again. She took a step out, closed her door, and walked over slowly, nibbling on the cuff of the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "I.." She stared at Lilith's hand for a few moments, and then glanced at me. I nodded, and she reached up to touch Lilith's finger with her own. They sat there for a few seconds until Lilith reached over with her other hand and wrapped her arm around Tina's shoulder.
"I don't have a window in my room you know. I'm not a fan of the sunlight. You can come by and talk to me anytime. Wanna see inside?"
Tina nodded slowly.
"What do you like?" They walked into Lilith's room, and she turned back to close the door. "Oh, Caretaker." She summoned me closer with a wag of her finger.
"Yes, Lilith?" I smiled.
"You owe me a favor now too." She leaned up and planted her lips to my cheek, the corner of her lips touching my own. A sensation went through my body and I became dizzy. When it wore off and I could see again, Lilith's door was closed. I was hoping I had done good. Lilith was very friendly and gentle, and Tina liked that from what I had seen. Although, Lilith was also intimidating, and Tina was paranoid. I wondered if it would work out.
"I hadn't thought of that. Good call, Caretaker."
I turned down the short hallway near Room Five and Alma was standing outside the lobby door. "Oh, Hi Alma."
"You're doing a good job. Proud of you." She gave me a nod and I smiled. She turned away and I glanced back at Lilith's door. My curiosity was overwhelming.. I needed to know what had happened in Tina's past.
Chapter 30: The Lighter
I walked back to my own room and I noticed the door slightly open, and rustling inside. Someone was in my room. I reached out and grabbed the handle of the door, it burning my fingertips with an unexpected heat. I pulled my hand back, the door made a single creak and the sound inside stopped. I backed up and into the still open door to the entrance of the hotel, putting a finger over my lips to let Love know to be quiet. She nodded, and continued to play with her dolls. I could hear the door to my room creak open for a moment, then creak back to it's ajar position. I glanced back at Love, giving her a questioning glance. She thought silently for a moment, then held up three fingers. Why three? What could that mean? Three people were in my room? Wait no.. I knew what she meant. It was a room number. Room Three: Pepper's room. I went back to my doorway and pushed it open, Pepper was standing nearby my dresser, the top drawer open.
"Pantie raid, Pepper?"
She blinked out of surprise, then returned to her scowl. "Did you steal my lighter?"
"You have a lighter?"
She crossed her arms. "I have a shit-ton of candles, remember? I need something to light them with."
"I pictured you as more of a matches kind of girl. I didn't steal your lighter, Pepper. I've never even gone into your room."
She tapped her foot impatiently. "Well someone had to have stolen it, it's not where I left..." Her eyes widened, and she had a look of sudden realization on her face. "The Twins.."
"You think they stole your lighter?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Thank you, bye." She went to walk by me but I blocked her at the doorway.
"No. nuh-uh. You're not leaving my room until you clean up this mess you made. There's clothes all over." I leaned into my room more and I noticed a larger pile of clothes in the corner, which I had not left there. "All of the mess, cleaned. I'll go talk to the twins."
She grumbled.
"Hey, you're the smart one who decided to tear apart her caretaker's room and accuse him of being a thief. I'm just saying clean it up. I'm even going to get the lighter for you."
She sighed. "Th.." She let out a long groan, hesitantly and half-heartedly saying "Fiiinnee.. THANK.. YOU.. Now get my lighter."
I shook my head disapprovingly. "You're not a very nice lady. I will, but if my room's not clean when I come back, I'm keeping it until it is." I turned and walked out of my room, and down the hallway to the Twin's room, which was caked between Alma's room and Room 21, Rooms 19 and 20 being on the corner. I knocked on the door.
"Just a minute!" I heard a yell, and much movement. "A minute" was more like five minutes, and after that the door finally opened. One of the two was standing in the doorway and smiling. "Hi CT! How can we help you today?" She was being polite. This one was definitely Trista.
"Maybe he wants us to help him by staying in our room and not talking to him?" Tari was in the background, annoyed. I could see her laying on the bottom level of a bunk bed. It was a white wood bed with a ladder at the end. The top bed was neat, the sheets tucked in, and a kitten plush lie carefully atop the pillow. The bottom bed was a mess, clothes piled on the end of the bed, the blanket's tossed, various items behind her pillows including - but not even slightly limited to - a water bottle, an empty bag of popcorn, a laptop, and pair of glasses, CD cases, plush toys, more clothes, and a bag of hair ties. Tari was wearing a tank-top and shorts, her hair tied into pigtails. She was reading a manga that I couldn't make out from where I was.
The walls of their room was a beige color as far as I could tell, and had two dressers - one on either side of the computer desk in the parallel corner of the back wall to the bed. Through their window you could see the town.
"Actually.." I looked back at Trista, who was wearing a pink t-shirt with some band logo on it. She had jeans and socks on below that, her hair curled into soft bouncy springs. I resisted the temptation to reach out and bounce one. "Pepper asked me to come and ask if you guys.. I mean, you girls saw her lighter."
They both looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Hey, Sherlock?" Tari piped up from her messy bed, "Pepper uses matches, not a lighter. She hates lighters. I know you're new, but this is something you pick up on fairly quick because her jeans have matches stamped on the ass."
I blushed. "I didn't look at her ass, Tari."
She shrugged. "Your loss. So you just walked by her room and she asked you to come bother us?"
"Actually she's ..." Well, she was in my room looking for something that wasn't her lighter. This means she was looking for something else, obviously, and she had lied to me. Moreover, I had specifically told her to stay in my room while I left her unattended so she could move more things around.
"Oh my, you didn't leave her in your room, did you?" Trista asked.
....
"I gotta go, sorry." I turned and walked back to my room. Love ran by me and into the kitchen. I ignored her and walked into my room as Pepper stood there holding a lighter in her hand. It was a dark gray Zippo model with a smoke design on the side.
"You bastard."
"What's that?" I pointed at the lighter in her hand. Wait, no, screw the lighter. "Oh, I have a better question. Why did you lie to me? Trista just called me an idiot and said you don't use lighters."
"I don't, but apparently YOU do. Mind telling me where you got this?" She tapped her foot impatiently.
I thought about it.. I'd had it for a while. I remember that the guy on the train almost took it away from me when I tried to get on, but before that, nothing. "I don't remember."
"Bullshit!" she stamped her foot. "You have one last chance to change that answer before I get angry."
"Pantie raid, Pepper?"
She blinked out of surprise, then returned to her scowl. "Did you steal my lighter?"
"You have a lighter?"
She crossed her arms. "I have a shit-ton of candles, remember? I need something to light them with."
"I pictured you as more of a matches kind of girl. I didn't steal your lighter, Pepper. I've never even gone into your room."
She tapped her foot impatiently. "Well someone had to have stolen it, it's not where I left..." Her eyes widened, and she had a look of sudden realization on her face. "The Twins.."
"You think they stole your lighter?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Thank you, bye." She went to walk by me but I blocked her at the doorway.
"No. nuh-uh. You're not leaving my room until you clean up this mess you made. There's clothes all over." I leaned into my room more and I noticed a larger pile of clothes in the corner, which I had not left there. "All of the mess, cleaned. I'll go talk to the twins."
She grumbled.
"Hey, you're the smart one who decided to tear apart her caretaker's room and accuse him of being a thief. I'm just saying clean it up. I'm even going to get the lighter for you."
She sighed. "Th.." She let out a long groan, hesitantly and half-heartedly saying "Fiiinnee.. THANK.. YOU.. Now get my lighter."
I shook my head disapprovingly. "You're not a very nice lady. I will, but if my room's not clean when I come back, I'm keeping it until it is." I turned and walked out of my room, and down the hallway to the Twin's room, which was caked between Alma's room and Room 21, Rooms 19 and 20 being on the corner. I knocked on the door.
"Just a minute!" I heard a yell, and much movement. "A minute" was more like five minutes, and after that the door finally opened. One of the two was standing in the doorway and smiling. "Hi CT! How can we help you today?" She was being polite. This one was definitely Trista.
"Maybe he wants us to help him by staying in our room and not talking to him?" Tari was in the background, annoyed. I could see her laying on the bottom level of a bunk bed. It was a white wood bed with a ladder at the end. The top bed was neat, the sheets tucked in, and a kitten plush lie carefully atop the pillow. The bottom bed was a mess, clothes piled on the end of the bed, the blanket's tossed, various items behind her pillows including - but not even slightly limited to - a water bottle, an empty bag of popcorn, a laptop, and pair of glasses, CD cases, plush toys, more clothes, and a bag of hair ties. Tari was wearing a tank-top and shorts, her hair tied into pigtails. She was reading a manga that I couldn't make out from where I was.
The walls of their room was a beige color as far as I could tell, and had two dressers - one on either side of the computer desk in the parallel corner of the back wall to the bed. Through their window you could see the town.
"Actually.." I looked back at Trista, who was wearing a pink t-shirt with some band logo on it. She had jeans and socks on below that, her hair curled into soft bouncy springs. I resisted the temptation to reach out and bounce one. "Pepper asked me to come and ask if you guys.. I mean, you girls saw her lighter."
They both looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Hey, Sherlock?" Tari piped up from her messy bed, "Pepper uses matches, not a lighter. She hates lighters. I know you're new, but this is something you pick up on fairly quick because her jeans have matches stamped on the ass."
I blushed. "I didn't look at her ass, Tari."
She shrugged. "Your loss. So you just walked by her room and she asked you to come bother us?"
"Actually she's ..." Well, she was in my room looking for something that wasn't her lighter. This means she was looking for something else, obviously, and she had lied to me. Moreover, I had specifically told her to stay in my room while I left her unattended so she could move more things around.
"Oh my, you didn't leave her in your room, did you?" Trista asked.
....
"I gotta go, sorry." I turned and walked back to my room. Love ran by me and into the kitchen. I ignored her and walked into my room as Pepper stood there holding a lighter in her hand. It was a dark gray Zippo model with a smoke design on the side.
"You bastard."
"What's that?" I pointed at the lighter in her hand. Wait, no, screw the lighter. "Oh, I have a better question. Why did you lie to me? Trista just called me an idiot and said you don't use lighters."
"I don't, but apparently YOU do. Mind telling me where you got this?" She tapped her foot impatiently.
I thought about it.. I'd had it for a while. I remember that the guy on the train almost took it away from me when I tried to get on, but before that, nothing. "I don't remember."
"Bullshit!" she stamped her foot. "You have one last chance to change that answer before I get angry."
Chapter 31: The Starved Men
I could remember now. Before I had gotten on that long train to Green Town, I had met a young man. Our encounter had been one of luck, or maybe misfortune. Either way, I could remember it now.
I was standing in a convenience store just outside the station. I was starving, my stomach was rumbling and tearing at my insides, as if it blamed me for it's lack of food. I had just spent the most of my money on the ticket, so I had but a few coins left. I couldn't afford to buy a snack, but I could perhaps steal one. I glanced around the store. There was a mirror in the corner of the room opposite the clerk, allowing him to see the two hidden isles all from behind his desk. If I couldn't distract him, then I would need to either give up or think of something sneaky to pull. I decided that stealing from the aisles was out of the question. He was already focused on me, and I knew he'd see. I didn't look suspicious yet, just confused. I decided to talk to the clerk.
I walked up to the counter he was leaning on. Candy decorated the outside just out of his field of view.
"Excuse me, Sir. I was wondering if you knew where I could find the schedule for the train? I was hoping there was one here, but I can't see one."
The man sleepily stared at me, his blue eyes half open. He was adorned with a dark green shirt and jeans, over which he had a vest with some not-so-catchy logo and the store name, along with his little "My name is Something!" tag. He was seemingly unshaven and his hair unkempt. If I was to guess, the man had been there all day. It was 8pm.
"Yes, Yes. There is a schedule just outside and to the left, right on the platform and behind the benches. I can't believe you hadn't seen it though." He scratched his small facial hairs and yawned. "My manager will get mad if you don't buy something and I'm talking to you. do you have any money?"
I shook my head. "Sorry friend, I've just run out on that ticket. Thank you for your help, though. I should go find that schedule."
I stepped out of the store and walked a few steps away. I pulled out a snicker bar from my pocket - My prize. Of course I knew where the schedule was. It was behind every bench in the station, along with a map of the train lines. I had bought a ticket for the longest train out. I sat down on a bench with only one other person who had been on the other side of the bench. He had dark black hair and dirty pale skin. He wore an equally dark and dirty hoodie, a black shirt with a gray smoke logo, and dirty jeans. He had socks on, but only one shoe, which was torn and messy. When I sat down and opened my candy bar, he looked over to me. His face was pulled tightly over his bones, his eyes sunken into his head, and a veil of utter, unimaginable exhaustion on his face. It looked as if just closing his eyes would cause him to pass out. "Hey.." He said over to me.
"Yes?" I looked back to him.
"Can you spare a bite?"
That was a good question. COULD I spare a bite, even if it was just one? I was famished, my insides trying to eat each other. I felt as if my body was a city, and the last of the food had just run out. The people running rampant and trying to devour each other, all for a bit of food. Even so, this candy bar would not be enough to hold me over. I knew such hunger that it was killing me.. but the man beside me looked so much worse. "You know what.. No, I can't spare you a bite."
His face dropped in such dejection. He seemed a mix of several negative emotions: Anger, sorrow, hopelessness. He sighed as he said "Oh. Okay then, thank you for your time."
I pulled the bar in half. "Instead, I'll give you a few bites. Here's half of it. I stole it anyways."
The look upon his face altered so dramatically when he reached out for the bar. Taking the first bite, one would think that he had just tasted life for the first time in years. "Thank you.. So much." He leaned back against the schedule and took his bites, and I did mine. We asked no names.
"So you stole it.. Why?" He asked with a glance after taking his last bite.
I chewed the rest of my candy bar and dropped the wrapper into the barrel beside me. "I don't have any more money. I'm getting on this train with my last few bucks."
He stood up and stepped over to me, pulling some things out of his pocket. "You're a good man. You don't deserve to go hungry." He handed me two things. A black Zippo lighter with a gray smoke symbol and a $10 bill.
I stared confused. Why had he not bought food if he had the money too? Why give me a lighter? It was just a candy bar. "Hey.. uh.." I looked back up to his pale, starved face. "What's this?"
"An offering to a kind man. You deserve it."
"Oh, no, I can't. You need the money more than I do. You should go and buy some food with that."
"I insist." He motioned the items to me again.
"No, really sir. I'd prefer if you keep them for yourself. I have a whole backpack of stuff but you only have the lighter. You should keep that, I wouldn't need it."
"Bullshit. You're stealing for food. Take it."
"You don't have food either. Would you have even eaten if I hadn't come along? Go buy some food for yourself. I can handle without."
He tapped his foot. "Dude.. You have one last change to change that answer before I get angry."
I sighed and held my hand out. He put the items in my hand. "In case you didn't notice, I was fully capable of getting food without stealing. You need it more than me. You don't want to be put in a cell, trust me."
I nodded. After he walked away, I looked at the time. With thirty minutes left until my train arrived, I walked back to the store and bought $5 worth of food. The clerk seemed happy, and I was less hungry. I put the remaining $5 into my backpack and nibbled on food until the train pulled up. When it did, I showed the large bearded man my ticket and walked to the back of the train, collapsing there and my world fading as I gently - finally - got some sleep.
I was standing in a convenience store just outside the station. I was starving, my stomach was rumbling and tearing at my insides, as if it blamed me for it's lack of food. I had just spent the most of my money on the ticket, so I had but a few coins left. I couldn't afford to buy a snack, but I could perhaps steal one. I glanced around the store. There was a mirror in the corner of the room opposite the clerk, allowing him to see the two hidden isles all from behind his desk. If I couldn't distract him, then I would need to either give up or think of something sneaky to pull. I decided that stealing from the aisles was out of the question. He was already focused on me, and I knew he'd see. I didn't look suspicious yet, just confused. I decided to talk to the clerk.
I walked up to the counter he was leaning on. Candy decorated the outside just out of his field of view.
"Excuse me, Sir. I was wondering if you knew where I could find the schedule for the train? I was hoping there was one here, but I can't see one."
The man sleepily stared at me, his blue eyes half open. He was adorned with a dark green shirt and jeans, over which he had a vest with some not-so-catchy logo and the store name, along with his little "My name is Something!" tag. He was seemingly unshaven and his hair unkempt. If I was to guess, the man had been there all day. It was 8pm.
"Yes, Yes. There is a schedule just outside and to the left, right on the platform and behind the benches. I can't believe you hadn't seen it though." He scratched his small facial hairs and yawned. "My manager will get mad if you don't buy something and I'm talking to you. do you have any money?"
I shook my head. "Sorry friend, I've just run out on that ticket. Thank you for your help, though. I should go find that schedule."
I stepped out of the store and walked a few steps away. I pulled out a snicker bar from my pocket - My prize. Of course I knew where the schedule was. It was behind every bench in the station, along with a map of the train lines. I had bought a ticket for the longest train out. I sat down on a bench with only one other person who had been on the other side of the bench. He had dark black hair and dirty pale skin. He wore an equally dark and dirty hoodie, a black shirt with a gray smoke logo, and dirty jeans. He had socks on, but only one shoe, which was torn and messy. When I sat down and opened my candy bar, he looked over to me. His face was pulled tightly over his bones, his eyes sunken into his head, and a veil of utter, unimaginable exhaustion on his face. It looked as if just closing his eyes would cause him to pass out. "Hey.." He said over to me.
"Yes?" I looked back to him.
"Can you spare a bite?"
That was a good question. COULD I spare a bite, even if it was just one? I was famished, my insides trying to eat each other. I felt as if my body was a city, and the last of the food had just run out. The people running rampant and trying to devour each other, all for a bit of food. Even so, this candy bar would not be enough to hold me over. I knew such hunger that it was killing me.. but the man beside me looked so much worse. "You know what.. No, I can't spare you a bite."
His face dropped in such dejection. He seemed a mix of several negative emotions: Anger, sorrow, hopelessness. He sighed as he said "Oh. Okay then, thank you for your time."
I pulled the bar in half. "Instead, I'll give you a few bites. Here's half of it. I stole it anyways."
The look upon his face altered so dramatically when he reached out for the bar. Taking the first bite, one would think that he had just tasted life for the first time in years. "Thank you.. So much." He leaned back against the schedule and took his bites, and I did mine. We asked no names.
"So you stole it.. Why?" He asked with a glance after taking his last bite.
I chewed the rest of my candy bar and dropped the wrapper into the barrel beside me. "I don't have any more money. I'm getting on this train with my last few bucks."
He stood up and stepped over to me, pulling some things out of his pocket. "You're a good man. You don't deserve to go hungry." He handed me two things. A black Zippo lighter with a gray smoke symbol and a $10 bill.
I stared confused. Why had he not bought food if he had the money too? Why give me a lighter? It was just a candy bar. "Hey.. uh.." I looked back up to his pale, starved face. "What's this?"
"An offering to a kind man. You deserve it."
"Oh, no, I can't. You need the money more than I do. You should go and buy some food with that."
"I insist." He motioned the items to me again.
"No, really sir. I'd prefer if you keep them for yourself. I have a whole backpack of stuff but you only have the lighter. You should keep that, I wouldn't need it."
"Bullshit. You're stealing for food. Take it."
"You don't have food either. Would you have even eaten if I hadn't come along? Go buy some food for yourself. I can handle without."
He tapped his foot. "Dude.. You have one last change to change that answer before I get angry."
I sighed and held my hand out. He put the items in my hand. "In case you didn't notice, I was fully capable of getting food without stealing. You need it more than me. You don't want to be put in a cell, trust me."
I nodded. After he walked away, I looked at the time. With thirty minutes left until my train arrived, I walked back to the store and bought $5 worth of food. The clerk seemed happy, and I was less hungry. I put the remaining $5 into my backpack and nibbled on food until the train pulled up. When it did, I showed the large bearded man my ticket and walked to the back of the train, collapsing there and my world fading as I gently - finally - got some sleep.
Chapter 32: The First Threat
I took the lighter from Pepper's hands. This lighter should be somehow sentimental to me, right? It was given to me by a starving man who I had met by chance on the platform waiting for a train. It was only now I noticed it. This was his way of repaying me for being a kind man, but why would it matter to him, how kind I was?
"This lighter.. I got it from a man at the train station after I gave him half of my candy bar. He said I was kind and forced me to take the lighter and ten bucks. Then he walked away. That was about it."
"And if I don't believe you?" She glared at me, her fiery eyes burning into my own.
Love ran by the door with Alma. "See, See? I told you, there's a man at the door!"
"Yes, I can see that, Love. Please take your dolls and return to your room."
"But.. this room has more space."
"I'm sorry, you can come back after the man leaves." Alma did not sound happy.
Love left and Alma closed the office door. In curiosity, for Pepper and I leaned against the wall to hear the conversation the two were having. The word were inaudible for a time, only a murmur able to be heard. We then moved and sat onto the mattress, leaning there closer to the front door and we could hear the conversation now.
The Man's voice was hardly audible, but we could make out an official sounding tone as we tried to stifle our breathing. ".. the best. Trust me, Alma. If you give us what we want, we'll leave you alone."
"I said NO, Agent Dux. Perhaps you'd best go tell your friends that as well."
"Believe me, we just want the one favor thi-
"Until you want something else from us. You've been given your answer. Be a good little suit and go tell your precious government your results."
The man sighed. "Alma Ibnornn. If you refuse to comply with the stated rules in which you have been given for free use of the property the military will be given authorization to evict the tenants and take whom we wish where we wish by the contract in which YOU signed."
"Bring it on." I imagined she had some sort of smirk at this point in time.
"Alma, it saddens me to see-"
"Okay, goodbye Agent Dux." The door slammed. I walked over to my doorway as the office door opened. Alma walked by.
"Alma, what was that about?" I asked her.
"It's not much of your business."
I laughed. "It's my job to not mind my own business."
She stopped walking and sighed. She motioned me to follow her.
I looked over to Pepper. "Like I said, it's not my lighter. A weirdo gave it to me. Please do me a favor and put my stuff back? I have a job to do." I turned and left before giving her a chance to talk. When Alma and I were both in the kitchen and the door closed Alma began to speak.
"Agent Dux operates under a wing of government in which they are to imprison anyone with abnormal traits and keep them away from society where they can do harm. This is usually only the dangerous ones. Since some of them reside here, such as Kya, then obviously it's his unit's job to come and get them. However, with a contract in which I signed I am allowed to house said abnormal individuals so long as they do not leave the premises and do not harm others." She became silent.
"So.. nobody left, right? Why is Dux here?"
"Dux wants Elizabeth."
Straight to the point. It was uninformative and brief, but something about her words stung me. I didn't want Elizabeth to go, especially with some weirdo government man who's job description was probably "go and contain them weirdos."
I tried to find words, stopped a few times. "Why does he want Elizabeth?"
"I don't know. He demanded to have her or he would take her by force."
I thought for a moment. From what I was told, they were allowed to live here so long as they didn't violate the two rules she stated before. Since neither of those rules had been broken, then they weren't allowed to do that, right? "So is there a place where it says he's allowed to do that?"
"I don't know. I have a copy of the contract in my room. If you want, then I can go and get it for you and you can read it for a while." She looked at the clock. "Dinner's in an hour."
I agreed to take the offer and soon I was in my room reading the contract. Pepper actually cleaned up, in case you were curious.
The contract in which she signed said that she would be able to house any number of normal or abnormal individuals of any origin or race for as long as they wished so long as they did not harm any other individuals and did not leave a five mile radius of the Inn. If they were to leave that radius then the protection was void. If they harmed another individual and it became known, the protection was also void. Nothing in the contract said anything about a possibility of eviction, or even the military's authorization to react in the way that Dux had threatened. He was overstepping his boundaries for Elizabeth, and I didn't know why. I wanted to know.
I needed to know.
I put down the papers after reading through them a second time and thinking a bit too much. I glanced over to the clock. It was nine pm. Dinner had started at seven pm.. I never even heard the announcement.
There was a knock on my door and I flinched in surprise. After a few moments, I put the papers on my dresser and opened the door. Elizabeth was standing there, holding a plate of food for me.
"Hey caretaker. We all noticed you didn't come to dinner. Alma said to leave you alone for the night, but then later she came and asked me to give you some dinner sooo.." She smiled and offered me the plate. It was macaroni and a cheeseburger. "Here you go! The rest of the food was cold so I made you something myself. I was bored anyways."
I had to hold tears back. The previous night at dinner I had got the most painful insult of my life, I felt. Tonight, I had the one person who I needed to talk to the most in the world personally delivering my food. I took the plate and put it somewhere flat nearby and then turned back to her and hugged her tightly. She staggered, surprised, then wrapped her arms back around me.
"Everything okay, Caretaker? It's just food. Really, It was no trouble."
"I need to talk to you Elizabeth."
"This lighter.. I got it from a man at the train station after I gave him half of my candy bar. He said I was kind and forced me to take the lighter and ten bucks. Then he walked away. That was about it."
"And if I don't believe you?" She glared at me, her fiery eyes burning into my own.
Love ran by the door with Alma. "See, See? I told you, there's a man at the door!"
"Yes, I can see that, Love. Please take your dolls and return to your room."
"But.. this room has more space."
"I'm sorry, you can come back after the man leaves." Alma did not sound happy.
Love left and Alma closed the office door. In curiosity, for Pepper and I leaned against the wall to hear the conversation the two were having. The word were inaudible for a time, only a murmur able to be heard. We then moved and sat onto the mattress, leaning there closer to the front door and we could hear the conversation now.
The Man's voice was hardly audible, but we could make out an official sounding tone as we tried to stifle our breathing. ".. the best. Trust me, Alma. If you give us what we want, we'll leave you alone."
"I said NO, Agent Dux. Perhaps you'd best go tell your friends that as well."
"Believe me, we just want the one favor thi-
"Until you want something else from us. You've been given your answer. Be a good little suit and go tell your precious government your results."
The man sighed. "Alma Ibnornn. If you refuse to comply with the stated rules in which you have been given for free use of the property the military will be given authorization to evict the tenants and take whom we wish where we wish by the contract in which YOU signed."
"Bring it on." I imagined she had some sort of smirk at this point in time.
"Alma, it saddens me to see-"
"Okay, goodbye Agent Dux." The door slammed. I walked over to my doorway as the office door opened. Alma walked by.
"Alma, what was that about?" I asked her.
"It's not much of your business."
I laughed. "It's my job to not mind my own business."
She stopped walking and sighed. She motioned me to follow her.
I looked over to Pepper. "Like I said, it's not my lighter. A weirdo gave it to me. Please do me a favor and put my stuff back? I have a job to do." I turned and left before giving her a chance to talk. When Alma and I were both in the kitchen and the door closed Alma began to speak.
"Agent Dux operates under a wing of government in which they are to imprison anyone with abnormal traits and keep them away from society where they can do harm. This is usually only the dangerous ones. Since some of them reside here, such as Kya, then obviously it's his unit's job to come and get them. However, with a contract in which I signed I am allowed to house said abnormal individuals so long as they do not leave the premises and do not harm others." She became silent.
"So.. nobody left, right? Why is Dux here?"
"Dux wants Elizabeth."
Straight to the point. It was uninformative and brief, but something about her words stung me. I didn't want Elizabeth to go, especially with some weirdo government man who's job description was probably "go and contain them weirdos."
I tried to find words, stopped a few times. "Why does he want Elizabeth?"
"I don't know. He demanded to have her or he would take her by force."
I thought for a moment. From what I was told, they were allowed to live here so long as they didn't violate the two rules she stated before. Since neither of those rules had been broken, then they weren't allowed to do that, right? "So is there a place where it says he's allowed to do that?"
"I don't know. I have a copy of the contract in my room. If you want, then I can go and get it for you and you can read it for a while." She looked at the clock. "Dinner's in an hour."
I agreed to take the offer and soon I was in my room reading the contract. Pepper actually cleaned up, in case you were curious.
The contract in which she signed said that she would be able to house any number of normal or abnormal individuals of any origin or race for as long as they wished so long as they did not harm any other individuals and did not leave a five mile radius of the Inn. If they were to leave that radius then the protection was void. If they harmed another individual and it became known, the protection was also void. Nothing in the contract said anything about a possibility of eviction, or even the military's authorization to react in the way that Dux had threatened. He was overstepping his boundaries for Elizabeth, and I didn't know why. I wanted to know.
I needed to know.
I put down the papers after reading through them a second time and thinking a bit too much. I glanced over to the clock. It was nine pm. Dinner had started at seven pm.. I never even heard the announcement.
There was a knock on my door and I flinched in surprise. After a few moments, I put the papers on my dresser and opened the door. Elizabeth was standing there, holding a plate of food for me.
"Hey caretaker. We all noticed you didn't come to dinner. Alma said to leave you alone for the night, but then later she came and asked me to give you some dinner sooo.." She smiled and offered me the plate. It was macaroni and a cheeseburger. "Here you go! The rest of the food was cold so I made you something myself. I was bored anyways."
I had to hold tears back. The previous night at dinner I had got the most painful insult of my life, I felt. Tonight, I had the one person who I needed to talk to the most in the world personally delivering my food. I took the plate and put it somewhere flat nearby and then turned back to her and hugged her tightly. She staggered, surprised, then wrapped her arms back around me.
"Everything okay, Caretaker? It's just food. Really, It was no trouble."
"I need to talk to you Elizabeth."
Chapter 33: Elements
We walked into my room and sat on the edge of the bed. I tasted her food and nodded in acceptance. It was very good food. The cheeseburger was juiciest and most perfectly melted together I'd eaten in a long time - not that it means much when you've been homeless for a few years. I ate it in a few bites, hungrily. The macaroni was tender and buttery, lightly salted. It was quickly gone as well and I discarded the plate onto a flat surface nearby.
"So Caretaker, what did you want to talk about?" She smiled at me happily, blissfully unaware that someone wanted to take her away.
"I..." My voice trailed off before I even could formulate one sentence. I didn't know how to go about this conversation, to be honest. I could just tell her straight and hope that it wouldn't become awkward, or I could build up to it. I also needed to make it known that we had no intention of letting her go with Dux. "Can you tell me more about you?" I decided on the easing into it method.
"Sure, what do you wanna know?" She tilted her head slightly to one side, her silver-colored hair slowly slipping off of her shoulder and to her side.
"Why are you in Abnormal Inn, for starters?" I was hoping I hadn't jumped onto a touchy subject. It I did, then this conversation would become much more awkward that I had originally intended.
"Are.. you sure you wanna know?" She asked.
I nodded.
"Well.. AI is a hotel for weird people.. I suppose you and Alma might be the most normal of us." She noticed the papers on my dresser. "But you probably knew that by now, right Caretaker?"
So far, she'd told me what I already knew. Everyone here seemed to do that. "Yeah, I did."
"Well we're all weird in different ways. I'm a special kind of human being. There's several different kinda of people with weird abilities, and it's not limited to just humans either. I'm an elemental."
Elemental? Like, those little things made out of fire or water you see in video games? Um, what? Actually, that was my real reaction. "What? What does that mean? I thought they were like.. not real?"
She laughed. "I didn't expect you to get it without me explaining it a bit more. In the most basic terms, everything is an elemental. Some elementals are just more profound. Elementals are usually subject to one of four.. I guess domains of classification, that being earth, water, fire, and air. We're more in tune with a specific element and some of us are rare because we have a specific focus. I'm an earth, but I can only affect metals. Mostly manufactured ones, because it's what I have practice with the most." She stopped and thought to herself for a second. "Okay, here, I have an idea. Hand me your fork."
I picked up my fork and handed it to her. "Okay, here you go. What are you gonna do with it?"
She giggled. "Just watch for a second, Mister impatient." She held the fork in between her thumb and index finger. It was an all metal fork, from what I saw. After a second it moved. The fork became more fluid, like she was molding water, or something similar. I watched as the metal fork changed into a metal cross, then a spoon, then a butterfly, and finally a silver flower. She smiled and placed it into my hand. "That's what I can do. It's a kind of symbiotic bond between my body and the element itself. I could actually absorb that and become more dense as well." She held up her hand and her skin rippled, and became more metallic as a smooth metal claw formed over each of her fingers. "I'm basically a living blacksmith.. or weapon, if I was a bad person."
A living weapon. Perhaps that's why Agent Dux wanted Elizabeth away from the Inn. He wanted to use her as a weapon, probably for some sort of military experiment to go to war with more advanced soldiers or something of that kind. "Good thing you're a good person then, Elizabeth." Her hand changed back to smooth, soft human skin and she smiled. "So you were born this way?"
She opened her mouth and sat there for a few seconds, her eyes looking around the room. "Yeeaaahhnnoo. It's like.." She put her hands up as if she was holding a ball. "When my mom was pregnant she was.. like, a hippie or something, and so was my dad., but they weren't like the normal pot smoking hippies who sit on the grass with guitars they were like into magic and the planet and stuff so they would sit around and meditate and stuff or something."
"So your Mom and Dad chanting made you metallic?"
"Yeaaahhnno. It made me an earth elemental though. After I was born my mom died, and my dad moved us to the city. He became very industrial then, and worked in a factory working with making cars or metal beams or something, so every day he's bring me home a little metal trinket to play with. I was still really young so I was susceptible to the elemental changes and after a while my body started absorbing the metals. My dad didn't know what to do, so we moved back out here where there was no factories. We didn't live in a town this small, but we still lived in something smaller than a city. When I started getting into my teenage years I lost my ability to see colors. Well, I lost the ability to see all but a little bit of color. My hair went from blond to this silver, and my blue eyes changed too. I always used to like swimming, but then I couldn't swim anymore. I just sank in the water. I almost drowned once, but when I was at the bottom of the pool I accidentally absorbed the metal adhesives that the pool's tiles had holding it together and the drain and... all the water drained out. I never went swimming after that." She sighed. "My dad died not too long ago and some government people came to get me. I was put in a jail like place, but they didn't keep me long because I kept absorbing the metal on the door and getting out. After a while they just brought me here." She smiled. "And now I know you."
"Wow.. So you just kinda.. slowly became all metallic over time?"
She nodded. "Yeah. My dad said it had nothing to do with magic or anything, but I always found books with weird symbols in them in our house. I don't know why he would keep them though." I could tell she did her best to explain it, but so far I still was hazy on how one became an elemental. Maybe she didn't know all too well herself. "So that's what you wanted to talk about?"
Right, I still had to tell her about Dux.. "No, Actually. I just needed to understand something. Elizabeth, a man came to the house today and talked to Alma."
"Oh, yes, she mentioned that at dinner. She said not to open the door for anyone from the government for a while. She just agreed because they never come around here unless it's to drop someone off."
"Alma said.." I choked on my words. I was nervous, but she had a right to know. "Alma said that the man who came to the Inn today said he wanted you. He said he was going to take you away, and if that Alma refused to hand you over he would come back with soldiers and take you.." Her face dropped. "Alma told him that he better bring a lot of soldiers, because we're not giving you up. I agree with that. There's no way I'm letting Agent Dux take away my friend."
Elizabeth's eyes teared up and she bit down on her bottom lip. I saw her jaw shake a bit, and she moved closer to me all of a sudden, moving the metal flower out of my hand and sat onto my lap, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Thank you so much" She choked out between her sobs.
She didn't have many friends. I'm guessing that this was one of the first times someone had stood up for her in her life. I wasn't going to let Dux take away anyone from this Inn. I made a promise to Alma that I would take care of this Inn.
I intend to keep that promise.
"So Caretaker, what did you want to talk about?" She smiled at me happily, blissfully unaware that someone wanted to take her away.
"I..." My voice trailed off before I even could formulate one sentence. I didn't know how to go about this conversation, to be honest. I could just tell her straight and hope that it wouldn't become awkward, or I could build up to it. I also needed to make it known that we had no intention of letting her go with Dux. "Can you tell me more about you?" I decided on the easing into it method.
"Sure, what do you wanna know?" She tilted her head slightly to one side, her silver-colored hair slowly slipping off of her shoulder and to her side.
"Why are you in Abnormal Inn, for starters?" I was hoping I hadn't jumped onto a touchy subject. It I did, then this conversation would become much more awkward that I had originally intended.
"Are.. you sure you wanna know?" She asked.
I nodded.
"Well.. AI is a hotel for weird people.. I suppose you and Alma might be the most normal of us." She noticed the papers on my dresser. "But you probably knew that by now, right Caretaker?"
So far, she'd told me what I already knew. Everyone here seemed to do that. "Yeah, I did."
"Well we're all weird in different ways. I'm a special kind of human being. There's several different kinda of people with weird abilities, and it's not limited to just humans either. I'm an elemental."
Elemental? Like, those little things made out of fire or water you see in video games? Um, what? Actually, that was my real reaction. "What? What does that mean? I thought they were like.. not real?"
She laughed. "I didn't expect you to get it without me explaining it a bit more. In the most basic terms, everything is an elemental. Some elementals are just more profound. Elementals are usually subject to one of four.. I guess domains of classification, that being earth, water, fire, and air. We're more in tune with a specific element and some of us are rare because we have a specific focus. I'm an earth, but I can only affect metals. Mostly manufactured ones, because it's what I have practice with the most." She stopped and thought to herself for a second. "Okay, here, I have an idea. Hand me your fork."
I picked up my fork and handed it to her. "Okay, here you go. What are you gonna do with it?"
She giggled. "Just watch for a second, Mister impatient." She held the fork in between her thumb and index finger. It was an all metal fork, from what I saw. After a second it moved. The fork became more fluid, like she was molding water, or something similar. I watched as the metal fork changed into a metal cross, then a spoon, then a butterfly, and finally a silver flower. She smiled and placed it into my hand. "That's what I can do. It's a kind of symbiotic bond between my body and the element itself. I could actually absorb that and become more dense as well." She held up her hand and her skin rippled, and became more metallic as a smooth metal claw formed over each of her fingers. "I'm basically a living blacksmith.. or weapon, if I was a bad person."
A living weapon. Perhaps that's why Agent Dux wanted Elizabeth away from the Inn. He wanted to use her as a weapon, probably for some sort of military experiment to go to war with more advanced soldiers or something of that kind. "Good thing you're a good person then, Elizabeth." Her hand changed back to smooth, soft human skin and she smiled. "So you were born this way?"
She opened her mouth and sat there for a few seconds, her eyes looking around the room. "Yeeaaahhnnoo. It's like.." She put her hands up as if she was holding a ball. "When my mom was pregnant she was.. like, a hippie or something, and so was my dad., but they weren't like the normal pot smoking hippies who sit on the grass with guitars they were like into magic and the planet and stuff so they would sit around and meditate and stuff or something."
"So your Mom and Dad chanting made you metallic?"
"Yeaaahhnno. It made me an earth elemental though. After I was born my mom died, and my dad moved us to the city. He became very industrial then, and worked in a factory working with making cars or metal beams or something, so every day he's bring me home a little metal trinket to play with. I was still really young so I was susceptible to the elemental changes and after a while my body started absorbing the metals. My dad didn't know what to do, so we moved back out here where there was no factories. We didn't live in a town this small, but we still lived in something smaller than a city. When I started getting into my teenage years I lost my ability to see colors. Well, I lost the ability to see all but a little bit of color. My hair went from blond to this silver, and my blue eyes changed too. I always used to like swimming, but then I couldn't swim anymore. I just sank in the water. I almost drowned once, but when I was at the bottom of the pool I accidentally absorbed the metal adhesives that the pool's tiles had holding it together and the drain and... all the water drained out. I never went swimming after that." She sighed. "My dad died not too long ago and some government people came to get me. I was put in a jail like place, but they didn't keep me long because I kept absorbing the metal on the door and getting out. After a while they just brought me here." She smiled. "And now I know you."
"Wow.. So you just kinda.. slowly became all metallic over time?"
She nodded. "Yeah. My dad said it had nothing to do with magic or anything, but I always found books with weird symbols in them in our house. I don't know why he would keep them though." I could tell she did her best to explain it, but so far I still was hazy on how one became an elemental. Maybe she didn't know all too well herself. "So that's what you wanted to talk about?"
Right, I still had to tell her about Dux.. "No, Actually. I just needed to understand something. Elizabeth, a man came to the house today and talked to Alma."
"Oh, yes, she mentioned that at dinner. She said not to open the door for anyone from the government for a while. She just agreed because they never come around here unless it's to drop someone off."
"Alma said.." I choked on my words. I was nervous, but she had a right to know. "Alma said that the man who came to the Inn today said he wanted you. He said he was going to take you away, and if that Alma refused to hand you over he would come back with soldiers and take you.." Her face dropped. "Alma told him that he better bring a lot of soldiers, because we're not giving you up. I agree with that. There's no way I'm letting Agent Dux take away my friend."
Elizabeth's eyes teared up and she bit down on her bottom lip. I saw her jaw shake a bit, and she moved closer to me all of a sudden, moving the metal flower out of my hand and sat onto my lap, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Thank you so much" She choked out between her sobs.
She didn't have many friends. I'm guessing that this was one of the first times someone had stood up for her in her life. I wasn't going to let Dux take away anyone from this Inn. I made a promise to Alma that I would take care of this Inn.
I intend to keep that promise.
Chapter 34: Why You're Here
Sleep had come all too easily that night. I had walked a half-asleep Elizabeth to her room and placed her down in her bed. I remember her smiling happily at me before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep with red lines down her cheeks from the tears she had cried. After that I left the room and returned to my own, sighing and picking up the metal flower she had crafted me. I glanced over to the numbered shelves that lined my walls.
"Well.. I gotta have a use for 'em, right?" I decided out loud, and placed the flower on the small circular platform with the 18 on it. With a long sigh I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes. I fell asleep within seconds; slumber, I welcome thee.
---
Nausea. A dizzy, room spinning feeling. Itchy and shivering. A laughter faded in, crackling and popping like fire, with a sound similar to a back-masked voice similar to it's own hinted at each word. The same voice I had heard with Thirteen the previous morning. "Ahahahaha.. Wake up, Caretaker..."
It demanded I wake, but I could feel slumber pulling me back. Darkness surrounded me. I faded into unconsciousness once more.
"WAKE UP!" It screamed, and my world shook. I sat straight up in my bed, a cold sweat breaking my skin.
It was still dark. I looked at the clock and noticed the time. 4:14 am. I had gotten maybe three hours of sleep. The voice I had heard.. was it a nightmare? I didn't see anyone around me. To be honest to you, I was expecting to see a strange man with a goatee and a sharp knife standing there, but no. Nothing. I was alone.
"Come here, Caretaker.." The voice echoed around me. It was definitely masculine, I can tell you now. No way this was a woman's voice. Since the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, I had no idea what it wanted me to do. What was it?
"Who are you?"
A laugh echoed again, it's crackle and inhale causing me to shiver. "If you want to know then all you have to do is come here, Caretaker.."
I was a bit scared.. or maybe more than a bit. "Where the hell am I gonna go? You're a creepy voice that seems to be coming out of the god damn walls."
The room seemed to shake and shrink in on itself. The walls moved like the surface of water during rain, shooting out like pins and needles. My door opened and the movement stopped. I was terrified.
"Wh-what the fuck is going on?"
"Come and see.." The voice beckoned me, and the door to the storage room across the hall opened. What choice did I have? No way I would get to sleep with this voice calling me, or my horrible curiosity fueling my imagination. This is the part of the book where you yell at the main character like: "No, person! You're stupid! Don't open the door, it's a serial killer! No, that's not a sick person, it's a zombie! That isn't your husband entering the bathroom while you shower, lady. It's the bad guy!" After you yell that what happens every damn time?
I got up and walked to my door. Leaning out and looking around, I saw nobody. I was half hoping that Lilith would pop up again as I turned around. I took a step out onto the carpet with my bare feet and for the first time I noticed that my doorway had a wooden floor. Weird.
Nobody else was awake, it seemed. I glanced into the storage room from the hallway and saw only darkness-guised furniture. Looking around the hallways I saw similar darkened areas with equal lack of life.
"Enter the room, Caretaker.. You're no child. Have a spine.." It - He? - mocked me. Against better judgement I stepped into the storage room and took a better look around again. Still nothing. Then I heard the click and creak of the door opening in the corner. The door that said "Do not enter." A ghastly laugh echoed into the room from it with a wave of sudden heat, and as that door opened the storage door behind me closed. No turning back now.
I stood there staring through the door for a few seconds. The room directly next to this one was the hot spring that the in was built around. I half expected to see that, but instead I saw a staircase that went down. There was a dull, flickering orange glow emanating from the downstairs. Another, more severe shudder went through my spine and each of my bones. If "bad feeling" was a physical thing this room would be filled with it.
Again against all judgement I walked closer to whatever it was that called me. As I entered the stairway the door again closed behind me and I walked ever closer to the origin of this ominous speaker. When I got down all of the stairs I saw what it was that was calling me. Underneath the spring was a bed of fire. It pulsed and shook as if it was alive. The flames were contained in this room, all on a platform that was about a foot higher than the floor. The room itself was carved out of the dark stone that made the mountain I stood upon right now. The fire pulse as the voice came over me again, but this time with a visible source. "Greetings Caretaker.." The words echoed in the small cave we stood in. "I am Hearth.. I ... am the reason you are here."
I stared in disbelief at the animated flickering entity in front of me. I had to be dreaming, right?
"Well.. I gotta have a use for 'em, right?" I decided out loud, and placed the flower on the small circular platform with the 18 on it. With a long sigh I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes. I fell asleep within seconds; slumber, I welcome thee.
---
Nausea. A dizzy, room spinning feeling. Itchy and shivering. A laughter faded in, crackling and popping like fire, with a sound similar to a back-masked voice similar to it's own hinted at each word. The same voice I had heard with Thirteen the previous morning. "Ahahahaha.. Wake up, Caretaker..."
It demanded I wake, but I could feel slumber pulling me back. Darkness surrounded me. I faded into unconsciousness once more.
"WAKE UP!" It screamed, and my world shook. I sat straight up in my bed, a cold sweat breaking my skin.
It was still dark. I looked at the clock and noticed the time. 4:14 am. I had gotten maybe three hours of sleep. The voice I had heard.. was it a nightmare? I didn't see anyone around me. To be honest to you, I was expecting to see a strange man with a goatee and a sharp knife standing there, but no. Nothing. I was alone.
"Come here, Caretaker.." The voice echoed around me. It was definitely masculine, I can tell you now. No way this was a woman's voice. Since the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, I had no idea what it wanted me to do. What was it?
"Who are you?"
A laugh echoed again, it's crackle and inhale causing me to shiver. "If you want to know then all you have to do is come here, Caretaker.."
I was a bit scared.. or maybe more than a bit. "Where the hell am I gonna go? You're a creepy voice that seems to be coming out of the god damn walls."
The room seemed to shake and shrink in on itself. The walls moved like the surface of water during rain, shooting out like pins and needles. My door opened and the movement stopped. I was terrified.
"Wh-what the fuck is going on?"
"Come and see.." The voice beckoned me, and the door to the storage room across the hall opened. What choice did I have? No way I would get to sleep with this voice calling me, or my horrible curiosity fueling my imagination. This is the part of the book where you yell at the main character like: "No, person! You're stupid! Don't open the door, it's a serial killer! No, that's not a sick person, it's a zombie! That isn't your husband entering the bathroom while you shower, lady. It's the bad guy!" After you yell that what happens every damn time?
I got up and walked to my door. Leaning out and looking around, I saw nobody. I was half hoping that Lilith would pop up again as I turned around. I took a step out onto the carpet with my bare feet and for the first time I noticed that my doorway had a wooden floor. Weird.
Nobody else was awake, it seemed. I glanced into the storage room from the hallway and saw only darkness-guised furniture. Looking around the hallways I saw similar darkened areas with equal lack of life.
"Enter the room, Caretaker.. You're no child. Have a spine.." It - He? - mocked me. Against better judgement I stepped into the storage room and took a better look around again. Still nothing. Then I heard the click and creak of the door opening in the corner. The door that said "Do not enter." A ghastly laugh echoed into the room from it with a wave of sudden heat, and as that door opened the storage door behind me closed. No turning back now.
I stood there staring through the door for a few seconds. The room directly next to this one was the hot spring that the in was built around. I half expected to see that, but instead I saw a staircase that went down. There was a dull, flickering orange glow emanating from the downstairs. Another, more severe shudder went through my spine and each of my bones. If "bad feeling" was a physical thing this room would be filled with it.
Again against all judgement I walked closer to whatever it was that called me. As I entered the stairway the door again closed behind me and I walked ever closer to the origin of this ominous speaker. When I got down all of the stairs I saw what it was that was calling me. Underneath the spring was a bed of fire. It pulsed and shook as if it was alive. The flames were contained in this room, all on a platform that was about a foot higher than the floor. The room itself was carved out of the dark stone that made the mountain I stood upon right now. The fire pulse as the voice came over me again, but this time with a visible source. "Greetings Caretaker.." The words echoed in the small cave we stood in. "I am Hearth.. I ... am the reason you are here."
I stared in disbelief at the animated flickering entity in front of me. I had to be dreaming, right?
Chapter 35: Hearth
The flames crackled and grew as the horrific laughter echoed around me again. "Poor boy! You look as if you've seen a ghost!"
I continued my disbelieving stare. It wasn't a dream. "Well, I'm talking to a fire and it's talking back. Put yourself in my shoes."
"I am Hearth. I don't have shoes." This time I was the one who laughed. I wipes sweat from my forehead and sighed.
"This can't be happening." I shook my head and looked more closely around the room. There were pipes and small machines around the room. "What the hell IS all of this?"
"I am what heats the water here. The pipes you see around you go to the sinks of the Inn. The other small ports you see around you are to compliment a geothermal generator that Maiara has miniaturized and built to allow power to exist here without cables to the rest of society. She's done this all for Alma, and she has done this all out of kindness. What other questions have you?"
I took a couple steps closer, and then needed to back up again because of the heat. "Jeez, dude, could it get any hotter?" I asked sarcastically. I noticed immediately that the flames shrank to small embers and the room cooled with pipes hissing and releasing cold water into the air. If any doubt had still existed that this was a hallucination, it was now gone. The flames had reacted to my discomfort. I walked closer and sat nearer to the flames. There was a small place just next to the edge of Hearth that was indented in a semi circle. There was no flames here, but the stone was burned black.
"I hope you're more comfortable now, Caretaker. I have much I wish to speak to you about." The small flames flickered up for a moment as it asked the next question. "Would you be kind and place a log from the corner into the indent before you? I wish to speak to you 'face to face'."
My face turned to one of confusion, and I glanced to the corner it was speaking of. I got up, put the log in the fire, and sat back down. Part of the flames creeped out of the existing area and crawled toward the log as if they were severed hands that were still moving on their own. As the embers came in contact with the log, it burst up bright, but without heat. A demonic face was now before me. It was made of flames, as you may suspect. The mouth was open wide and jagged like that of a Jack-o-lantern, and the eyes like that of a cartoon evil, angled half-circles that were kept non-uniform by the rising flames. The face had no other features. "Whoa.." was all I was able to say.
"So.. As I asked before, what other questions have you?"
"What are you?" I spat out instinctual. My curiosity was eating at me again.
"I am Hearth. THE Hearth. I am the one and only entity of energy, existing as flames alone and unable to move from here where I am tethered. At once time free, that time has long gone. A woman sealed me here and I am bound to serve this home forevermore.. Not that I mind."
"Sooo.." I stared puzzled. "What ARE you?"
The flames flickered as if a breath went across them. Hearth's equivalent of a human sigh. "I am a far gone child of the original living flame given to man by gods in a time long past. As noted by I, I exist only as these flames now. I once had a physical form however."
I nodded, understanding more. Essentially, it was a damn fire. That's what it was and what it was telling me. Perhaps I was trying to read to deep into it. "So why am I here?"
"Define here, boy. Do you wish you wish to know why you are in this room, or in this Inn?"
"Uhh.. Let's go with this room, first."
"I wished to speak with you." The flame face turned, looking up to the stairs that were partly hidden now by the ceiling. "In order to do so without using up too much of my own energy, I brought you to I, where I can speak without projecting myself into your mind." It turned to me again. "I can move through the Greyworld in voice as a spirit could. This projection, however, takes much from me."
"What's Greyworld?"
"That is not my question to answer, Caretaker. Ms. Hall would be better suited for such a query." Claire. Great.
"Okay then, why am I here at the Inn?"
"I summoned you long ago, two years time. After the Inn's first caretaker, I needed one who I knew I could count on to keep the ones here safe. Your coming here is not one of chance, nor has been any of those before you. I've beckoned them each and all to me, here."
"Wait... how?"
"If I were to explain how my gravitation of other individuals was to work, would you truly understand?"
I paused.. Would I? "No."
"Then ask one more question, and then I shall ask my own."
"Why at 4 am?"
"I do not need to fuel the rest of the building. The energy is off, the sink usage is minimal, and the bath above is unheated for the moment. I can cool myself to a hospitable temperature and speak with you, even call you as I had before. That took much power for me, as I existed in two domains of existence at one moment in time. Also, you're not busy at this hour. We can speak without interruption and you had nobody to run to as your body initially responded to having two souls in one as I called out to you. If you don't understand that part, then I shall elaborate."
"Please?"
"In order to speak with you, I needed to insert my own consciousness into your mind. The shaking feeling you went through was that process. As I was not fully placing myself into your soul, you only had a minor horror. Others who go through such a process usually have searing pain for hours. You had minor pain for a minute, at best. If I were to try that during the day, you'd have called for help and the others would have noticed. I do not want them knowing I am here. Only the ones who need to are aware."
"Who's that?"
"I said you got one more question and then it was my turn, Caretaker. That means it is my turn. More questions for next time."
I sighed. "Fine, Fine. Don't get your cinders all in a knot."
I got a laugh out of him. Albeit it was one of his morbid, screened over crackling fire-monster laughs, but for some reason it made me feel more comfortable. I was feeling less scared and confused now, and more at home. It was only at this point in time that I was talking to the man of the house. This creature was what kept the place running. He kept it safe. If he could summon people here, he could send them away. A powerful creature I would never fully understand, but I all of a sudden came to respect. "Caretaker, Abnormal Inn needs guidance. After the first, you're the most capable. Some who are here now may leave, but I can tell you now that there will definitely be more after those who are here already. Your timing was perfect, for as you have seen a man came to the door just yesterday and threatened my home. These people are my responsibility. They might as well be my own children. You yourself are now included in this connection."
"Oh.." I stared at the makeshift face of the entity. It frowned at me and sighed again.
"They need guidance. They need someone to be there for them. Someone to keep them strong for as long as they can. I see this in you. You can be what they need. Do not overstep your lines, but make sure you don't keep from one something they need. Do not confuse need and desire." It looked off to the side for a moment, then back to me "You may become close to those who you wish. Your friendship with Thirteen. Your romantic interest in Lilith. I will accept these. However, you're not to become entwined to one in such a way that you deprive another. I gave the first this warning and he did not follow. I will implore you to listen so you have a better outcome, friend." It - ... he suddenly glanced up and his emotion turned blank. "You should be asleep."
"Well I would, but a little light went on in my room to let me know the door was open. You don't like keeping to yourself, do you Hearth?" Alma said from behind me.
"Why would I? It is my duty to keep a caretaker as informed as he need be to properly pursue his duties. If he is to make an error, it is my own as well if I had not forewarned him. Ms. Ibnornn, I'd appreciate respect for my work, not scolding. You may own the place, but it is by my will it exists. Forget that not."
She sighed. "Well, the caretaker is human, and need his sleep. Forget that not."
A fiery chuckle. "Fine then." He turned back to me. "Young sir, your employer is requesting you return to your chambers. Do not keep her waiting. You have young ladies to tend to in the morning."
There wasn't much else said afterwards. I left him and Alma talking and returned to my room. Alma went to bed roughly ten minutes after I did. I sat up for a while thinking about my talk with him. It was enlightening to say the least, but so many more questions were made then answered..
I continued my disbelieving stare. It wasn't a dream. "Well, I'm talking to a fire and it's talking back. Put yourself in my shoes."
"I am Hearth. I don't have shoes." This time I was the one who laughed. I wipes sweat from my forehead and sighed.
"This can't be happening." I shook my head and looked more closely around the room. There were pipes and small machines around the room. "What the hell IS all of this?"
"I am what heats the water here. The pipes you see around you go to the sinks of the Inn. The other small ports you see around you are to compliment a geothermal generator that Maiara has miniaturized and built to allow power to exist here without cables to the rest of society. She's done this all for Alma, and she has done this all out of kindness. What other questions have you?"
I took a couple steps closer, and then needed to back up again because of the heat. "Jeez, dude, could it get any hotter?" I asked sarcastically. I noticed immediately that the flames shrank to small embers and the room cooled with pipes hissing and releasing cold water into the air. If any doubt had still existed that this was a hallucination, it was now gone. The flames had reacted to my discomfort. I walked closer and sat nearer to the flames. There was a small place just next to the edge of Hearth that was indented in a semi circle. There was no flames here, but the stone was burned black.
"I hope you're more comfortable now, Caretaker. I have much I wish to speak to you about." The small flames flickered up for a moment as it asked the next question. "Would you be kind and place a log from the corner into the indent before you? I wish to speak to you 'face to face'."
My face turned to one of confusion, and I glanced to the corner it was speaking of. I got up, put the log in the fire, and sat back down. Part of the flames creeped out of the existing area and crawled toward the log as if they were severed hands that were still moving on their own. As the embers came in contact with the log, it burst up bright, but without heat. A demonic face was now before me. It was made of flames, as you may suspect. The mouth was open wide and jagged like that of a Jack-o-lantern, and the eyes like that of a cartoon evil, angled half-circles that were kept non-uniform by the rising flames. The face had no other features. "Whoa.." was all I was able to say.
"So.. As I asked before, what other questions have you?"
"What are you?" I spat out instinctual. My curiosity was eating at me again.
"I am Hearth. THE Hearth. I am the one and only entity of energy, existing as flames alone and unable to move from here where I am tethered. At once time free, that time has long gone. A woman sealed me here and I am bound to serve this home forevermore.. Not that I mind."
"Sooo.." I stared puzzled. "What ARE you?"
The flames flickered as if a breath went across them. Hearth's equivalent of a human sigh. "I am a far gone child of the original living flame given to man by gods in a time long past. As noted by I, I exist only as these flames now. I once had a physical form however."
I nodded, understanding more. Essentially, it was a damn fire. That's what it was and what it was telling me. Perhaps I was trying to read to deep into it. "So why am I here?"
"Define here, boy. Do you wish you wish to know why you are in this room, or in this Inn?"
"Uhh.. Let's go with this room, first."
"I wished to speak with you." The flame face turned, looking up to the stairs that were partly hidden now by the ceiling. "In order to do so without using up too much of my own energy, I brought you to I, where I can speak without projecting myself into your mind." It turned to me again. "I can move through the Greyworld in voice as a spirit could. This projection, however, takes much from me."
"What's Greyworld?"
"That is not my question to answer, Caretaker. Ms. Hall would be better suited for such a query." Claire. Great.
"Okay then, why am I here at the Inn?"
"I summoned you long ago, two years time. After the Inn's first caretaker, I needed one who I knew I could count on to keep the ones here safe. Your coming here is not one of chance, nor has been any of those before you. I've beckoned them each and all to me, here."
"Wait... how?"
"If I were to explain how my gravitation of other individuals was to work, would you truly understand?"
I paused.. Would I? "No."
"Then ask one more question, and then I shall ask my own."
"Why at 4 am?"
"I do not need to fuel the rest of the building. The energy is off, the sink usage is minimal, and the bath above is unheated for the moment. I can cool myself to a hospitable temperature and speak with you, even call you as I had before. That took much power for me, as I existed in two domains of existence at one moment in time. Also, you're not busy at this hour. We can speak without interruption and you had nobody to run to as your body initially responded to having two souls in one as I called out to you. If you don't understand that part, then I shall elaborate."
"Please?"
"In order to speak with you, I needed to insert my own consciousness into your mind. The shaking feeling you went through was that process. As I was not fully placing myself into your soul, you only had a minor horror. Others who go through such a process usually have searing pain for hours. You had minor pain for a minute, at best. If I were to try that during the day, you'd have called for help and the others would have noticed. I do not want them knowing I am here. Only the ones who need to are aware."
"Who's that?"
"I said you got one more question and then it was my turn, Caretaker. That means it is my turn. More questions for next time."
I sighed. "Fine, Fine. Don't get your cinders all in a knot."
I got a laugh out of him. Albeit it was one of his morbid, screened over crackling fire-monster laughs, but for some reason it made me feel more comfortable. I was feeling less scared and confused now, and more at home. It was only at this point in time that I was talking to the man of the house. This creature was what kept the place running. He kept it safe. If he could summon people here, he could send them away. A powerful creature I would never fully understand, but I all of a sudden came to respect. "Caretaker, Abnormal Inn needs guidance. After the first, you're the most capable. Some who are here now may leave, but I can tell you now that there will definitely be more after those who are here already. Your timing was perfect, for as you have seen a man came to the door just yesterday and threatened my home. These people are my responsibility. They might as well be my own children. You yourself are now included in this connection."
"Oh.." I stared at the makeshift face of the entity. It frowned at me and sighed again.
"They need guidance. They need someone to be there for them. Someone to keep them strong for as long as they can. I see this in you. You can be what they need. Do not overstep your lines, but make sure you don't keep from one something they need. Do not confuse need and desire." It looked off to the side for a moment, then back to me "You may become close to those who you wish. Your friendship with Thirteen. Your romantic interest in Lilith. I will accept these. However, you're not to become entwined to one in such a way that you deprive another. I gave the first this warning and he did not follow. I will implore you to listen so you have a better outcome, friend." It - ... he suddenly glanced up and his emotion turned blank. "You should be asleep."
"Well I would, but a little light went on in my room to let me know the door was open. You don't like keeping to yourself, do you Hearth?" Alma said from behind me.
"Why would I? It is my duty to keep a caretaker as informed as he need be to properly pursue his duties. If he is to make an error, it is my own as well if I had not forewarned him. Ms. Ibnornn, I'd appreciate respect for my work, not scolding. You may own the place, but it is by my will it exists. Forget that not."
She sighed. "Well, the caretaker is human, and need his sleep. Forget that not."
A fiery chuckle. "Fine then." He turned back to me. "Young sir, your employer is requesting you return to your chambers. Do not keep her waiting. You have young ladies to tend to in the morning."
There wasn't much else said afterwards. I left him and Alma talking and returned to my room. Alma went to bed roughly ten minutes after I did. I sat up for a while thinking about my talk with him. It was enlightening to say the least, but so many more questions were made then answered..
Chapter 36: Disconnected
I woke to the sound of my door flying open and slamming against the wall. The sudden sound and shock tossed me from the edge of my bed and into a blanketed mess upon my soft navy blue carpet. In my bewilderment I tried to force my eyes to get used to the sudden brightness. Lilith was walking from my doorway and grabbed my firmly by the arm, pulling me out of the blankets and to me feet.
"Uhh, you couldn't wait to see me or something?" I said jokingly, but her expression returned no humor as she pulled me out of my room. "Um, can I get any kind of explanation?" I asked as she pulled me passed Room Two, where Emma was leaning out of her doorway looking roughly as confused as I.
Lilith whispered a brief, but suddenly enlightening answer to my query. "Tina."
As we got around the corner I was now moving faster than Lilith was, so I practically dragged her through the familiar small crowd around Tina's room. "Show's over people. Back to your rooms please, I need a bit more quiet."
The people dispersed along with their murmurs, and I stepped into Tina's room. She was cuddled beneath her table again, a similar expression to the previous day. I reached my hand out and held hers, squeezing softly. I was not hesitant this time. She let out a small squeak and her eyes widened as she snapped violently back to reality from whatever waking nightmare she had been having. "I-I it I can't believe it the the he I uhh.." She panted in her paranoia, struggling in her attempts to form an audible sentence that consisted of whole words. "I saw him. He's here. He's going to get me." Her icy blue eyes look up and locked onto my own. She was serious, and whether or not someone was coming to get her, she was horrified of the mere possibility. She believed that her nightmare was at the front door.
"Tina.." I picked her up, pulling her out of the small area. I sat down on the edge of her bed and laid her across my lap, her legs curling beside my own. She clung to my tank-top as a child would to a brother, or father. "No matter what ever tries to get you.." I squeezed her hand again, and I could feel her relax in my arms. ".. I will never let them hurt you."
Lilith moved from the doorway and sat down beside me, placing a hand on Tina's lap. "We will never let anyone hurt you. You can count on us, dear." Lilith leaned close and brushed Tina's hair over her ear gently, keeping eye contact with her. "Everyone here loves you. We wouldn't let someone hurt you, and if they tried we would do everything in our power to stop them."
"N-not them.." Tina stuttered, "Just... Him."
"You said you saw him, was it in your dreams?" Lilith tilted her head slightly as she whispered her question.
"No... It was like I was there, witnessing it.. He got off of a train. There was a tall muscular man with a beard who tried to get him to pay for a ticket and he ... He swallowed him!" Tina's eyes widened as she said the last bit, and Lilith and I exchanged confused glances. We knew that Tina was speaking of her Dark Man, the Shadow she always speak of. I also knew that the man who she said this Dark Man "swallowed" was the conductor of the wood line that went into the town. If this was a delusion on her part, it was a morbidly vivid one. Tina shifted uncomfortably on my lap, and then turned to her spider. He was hiding under some of the miscellaneous items that made up the floor of his home, and you could see him shiver. He was as scared as Tina was.
"Caretaker." I turned to Lilith, who was calling me. "I'll help Tina relax. You should go and talk to Mai about Tina's vision." She took Tina's hand and helped her off my lap. The two sat and whispered further down the bed, Lilith looking over at me still, and I got to my feet and left the room, closing the door behind me. Lilith was very good with Tina, and I was glad that I had brought Tina to her.
I knocked on the door to Room Twelve and Mai's voice came through. "Come in."
I opened the door and walked in, closing it behind me. Mai was leaning over her computer desk, the computer itself disassembled on the desk as she tinkered with it. "Maiara. Did you hear about Tina's freakout?"
"Nope." She adjusted her goggles and continued her work on the system without even a glance in my direction.
"Well, She says that she saw her Dark Man swallow the train conductor. Lilith said I should come and ask you for assistance."
Maiara put down her tools and swiveled her chair to me. "So the train station you say?"
"Yeah, it sounded a lot like the guy I saw when I took the train here."
She rolled the chair over to her bed and grabbed the tv remote, toggling channels and some security footage of the town popped up. I was astounded that she had such a thing, but more interested in why she thought she would even need it. After thinking for a moment about this and Dux, I wondered if Dux WAS Tina's Dark Man. Could he be the one here to harm her? She was scared of him because he was against the Inn?
Maiara changed the channel to the station. "What? That's weird. I'm not getting anything. Gimme a second, I'll bump it back a bit." She clicked a few buttons and after a few seconds the station appeared on a low resolution picture. A man stepped out of the train with long black hair that went passed his shoulders. He had a trench-coat on, a black turtleneck sweater, black jeans, and to top it off he also wore black boots. I could see the man's shadow quiver as me moved, but I marked that aspect to his coat. After he had gotten a few feet from the train car, the conductor came out after him and began yelling and motioning to the cart. There was no sound, so I couldn't hear the conversation. I could tell, however, that the conductor was very unhappy and the man in black didn't seem to really give a damn. He tried to wave him away and the conductor refused. He tried a second time and the conductor shoved him. They stood still for a moment, the conductor presumably waiting for a retaliation. The cloaked man rose his hand to his side, and Maiara and I both watched in horror as the man was pulled into his own shadow, dragged into the cement screaming and terror. Then all of a sudden, he was gone. Not even his shadow remained. The cloaked man turned to leave, but then stopped and turned towards the camera we were watching. His blue eyes locked with the lens for a moment and then he reached his hand forward.
We saw static and it was paired with "Connection Lost - Please re-establish."
"Uhh, you couldn't wait to see me or something?" I said jokingly, but her expression returned no humor as she pulled me out of my room. "Um, can I get any kind of explanation?" I asked as she pulled me passed Room Two, where Emma was leaning out of her doorway looking roughly as confused as I.
Lilith whispered a brief, but suddenly enlightening answer to my query. "Tina."
As we got around the corner I was now moving faster than Lilith was, so I practically dragged her through the familiar small crowd around Tina's room. "Show's over people. Back to your rooms please, I need a bit more quiet."
The people dispersed along with their murmurs, and I stepped into Tina's room. She was cuddled beneath her table again, a similar expression to the previous day. I reached my hand out and held hers, squeezing softly. I was not hesitant this time. She let out a small squeak and her eyes widened as she snapped violently back to reality from whatever waking nightmare she had been having. "I-I it I can't believe it the the he I uhh.." She panted in her paranoia, struggling in her attempts to form an audible sentence that consisted of whole words. "I saw him. He's here. He's going to get me." Her icy blue eyes look up and locked onto my own. She was serious, and whether or not someone was coming to get her, she was horrified of the mere possibility. She believed that her nightmare was at the front door.
"Tina.." I picked her up, pulling her out of the small area. I sat down on the edge of her bed and laid her across my lap, her legs curling beside my own. She clung to my tank-top as a child would to a brother, or father. "No matter what ever tries to get you.." I squeezed her hand again, and I could feel her relax in my arms. ".. I will never let them hurt you."
Lilith moved from the doorway and sat down beside me, placing a hand on Tina's lap. "We will never let anyone hurt you. You can count on us, dear." Lilith leaned close and brushed Tina's hair over her ear gently, keeping eye contact with her. "Everyone here loves you. We wouldn't let someone hurt you, and if they tried we would do everything in our power to stop them."
"N-not them.." Tina stuttered, "Just... Him."
"You said you saw him, was it in your dreams?" Lilith tilted her head slightly as she whispered her question.
"No... It was like I was there, witnessing it.. He got off of a train. There was a tall muscular man with a beard who tried to get him to pay for a ticket and he ... He swallowed him!" Tina's eyes widened as she said the last bit, and Lilith and I exchanged confused glances. We knew that Tina was speaking of her Dark Man, the Shadow she always speak of. I also knew that the man who she said this Dark Man "swallowed" was the conductor of the wood line that went into the town. If this was a delusion on her part, it was a morbidly vivid one. Tina shifted uncomfortably on my lap, and then turned to her spider. He was hiding under some of the miscellaneous items that made up the floor of his home, and you could see him shiver. He was as scared as Tina was.
"Caretaker." I turned to Lilith, who was calling me. "I'll help Tina relax. You should go and talk to Mai about Tina's vision." She took Tina's hand and helped her off my lap. The two sat and whispered further down the bed, Lilith looking over at me still, and I got to my feet and left the room, closing the door behind me. Lilith was very good with Tina, and I was glad that I had brought Tina to her.
I knocked on the door to Room Twelve and Mai's voice came through. "Come in."
I opened the door and walked in, closing it behind me. Mai was leaning over her computer desk, the computer itself disassembled on the desk as she tinkered with it. "Maiara. Did you hear about Tina's freakout?"
"Nope." She adjusted her goggles and continued her work on the system without even a glance in my direction.
"Well, She says that she saw her Dark Man swallow the train conductor. Lilith said I should come and ask you for assistance."
Maiara put down her tools and swiveled her chair to me. "So the train station you say?"
"Yeah, it sounded a lot like the guy I saw when I took the train here."
She rolled the chair over to her bed and grabbed the tv remote, toggling channels and some security footage of the town popped up. I was astounded that she had such a thing, but more interested in why she thought she would even need it. After thinking for a moment about this and Dux, I wondered if Dux WAS Tina's Dark Man. Could he be the one here to harm her? She was scared of him because he was against the Inn?
Maiara changed the channel to the station. "What? That's weird. I'm not getting anything. Gimme a second, I'll bump it back a bit." She clicked a few buttons and after a few seconds the station appeared on a low resolution picture. A man stepped out of the train with long black hair that went passed his shoulders. He had a trench-coat on, a black turtleneck sweater, black jeans, and to top it off he also wore black boots. I could see the man's shadow quiver as me moved, but I marked that aspect to his coat. After he had gotten a few feet from the train car, the conductor came out after him and began yelling and motioning to the cart. There was no sound, so I couldn't hear the conversation. I could tell, however, that the conductor was very unhappy and the man in black didn't seem to really give a damn. He tried to wave him away and the conductor refused. He tried a second time and the conductor shoved him. They stood still for a moment, the conductor presumably waiting for a retaliation. The cloaked man rose his hand to his side, and Maiara and I both watched in horror as the man was pulled into his own shadow, dragged into the cement screaming and terror. Then all of a sudden, he was gone. Not even his shadow remained. The cloaked man turned to leave, but then stopped and turned towards the camera we were watching. His blue eyes locked with the lens for a moment and then he reached his hand forward.
We saw static and it was paired with "Connection Lost - Please re-establish."
Chapter 37: Cannon Fire
"Wait, wait, wait!" Alma yelled. "Calm down you two. Tell me slowly."
"Okay so I was sitting in my room and then the caretaker just kinda knocked and asked to see the footage of the station, so I let him and we saw this guy who stepped out of the train and started arguing with the conductor who was this big huge dude who must've been like three times this scrawny guy's size, and then the conductor pushed the scrawny dude so he lifted up his hand and the conductor was eaten by his own shadow and it was crazy." Maiara breathed heavily as she finished her incredibly long, grammatically incorrect sentence. Alma stared dumbfounded at her, then turned to me.
"Yes, Some skinny guy at the train station make the huge scary train conductor get eaten by his own damn shadow. We're not kidding." I crossed my arms. I realized that Love was right Maiara did talk a lot. Sorry, is that off topic?
"Well, it seems that Tina's fears are legitimate then. Maiara, Please begin setting up some defenses in the case that this man is not just interested in talking." Maiara nodded and left. Alma turned to me. "Sadly, you're the messenger now. Go and inform poor Tina that the man of her nightmare is here. She needs the time to properly prepare herself, and has the right to know." With that I was pushed out of the room and returned to Tina and Lilith. When I got there Tina was smiling again, leaning against Lilith, and talking about her pet. Lilith must have been hiding her boredom, because when I walked back into the room her face lit up.
"Tina, look! The caretaker's back. I'm sure he has good news." She turned to me. "Please tell me it's good news.."
I went to Tina and kneed down in front of her, holding her hand as tight as I could to try and reassure her. I wanted to keep her calm. "Tina, I'm sorry.. but I think that the man that you saw is in town. We saw a man wearing a black trench-coat attack the train conductor, then shut down the camera that was focused on him." Her eyes were suddenly wide with horror, tears filling them up and rolling down her cheek as she trembled. "We won't let him get you though, Tina. Maiara's setting up the defense that Alma mentioned now, I believe. He'll never get here if Mai's smart as everyone says.
Tina was sobbing now, and all she managed to choke out before collapsing in her tears was "If he could swallow that b-big man so easily, then there's noth-thing that's stopping him from taking you too!"
I frowned, and wanted to cry myself seeing her curled in a ball sobbing. Lilith was sitting there beside her, a hand on Tina's side, trying to calm her. Lilith had the biggest look of lostness I'd seen in my life. Utter inability to assist consumed her. Every time she tried to reach out, Tina would bat her away. She frantically cried "Not again! Not again!" over and over.
Maiara walked by the door and whistled. The whistle didn't seem to affect Tina, but got my attention. She motioned for me to follow her, and handed me a strange cylinder when I got to the doorway, about two feet long and eight inches around. She made me follow her into the storage room and to the opposite corner of where I went down to see Hearth. There was another door in this corner, and when she opened it I saw stairs leading upwards. I followed her to the roof and to the edge where we could see down the path. "I sent a message to him through an intercom warning him not to come here." She grabbed a three-pronged rod ans slid it into holes in the roof, stopped halfway, then moved down a foot or two and slid it into that location instead.
"Well, what was his reaction?" I strained under the weight of the heavy cylinder, and placed it on the ground beside Mai.
"He swallowed the speaker." She said without an expression. "Gimme the barrel. It's inside."
I pulled the top of the cylinder off and spilled the contents in front of me. There was a long hexagonal shape, three long iron rods with coils inside decorating it leading down to larger, more constructed and solid chunk which had a trigger on the bottom. I assumed that was the barrel. There was also an odd sphere glowing a bright blue with an indent in one side that matched the triple prong of the barrel, and an odd metal disc which Mai snatched up and slapped onto the top of her stand, then tilted it to a parallel angle to her body. I gave her the heavy barrel and she hoisted it up and slid it onto the stand. "Thanks." She held out her hand again and I handed her the last piece: The sphere. "I'm gonna warn you now. I've never fired this before." She took the sphere from my hands and pointed the opening downwards.
"What is it?"
"Well, matter is known to come in four forms. The first is solid." She looked around at the ground below us. "Then there's liquid." She placed the sphere atop the currently skyward-pointed barrel and a handle popped out of the top of said barrel. "And with greater amounts of energy you get a gas, like the air we breathe." She grabbed the hand and pulled it downwards with all her might. It moved slowly at first, but then snapped down to the bulk of the weapon, the sphere losing all it's glow and a loud charging hum emanating from the weapon. "Then when you get insane amounts of energy, you get a plasma." Placing her hands firmly on the sphere, she yanked it up and looked down the stairs to the growing dark figure heading towards up. "That's what this shoots. A concentrated plasma bolt." The sphere fall to the roof with a loud hollow clunk. "Theoretically."
"Theoretically? You mean you don't know?"
"Uhhh.." She nudged the cannon's barrel slightly, and it fell down into a perpendicular position in relation to her own body. "Well, I'm predicting four different outcomes. One, we shoot and we hit him. Bingo, we win, threat gone. Two, I shoot and miss horribly because, like I said, I've never tested this." A few more beeps and hums sounded, and she tweaked some settings on the side of the now glowing machine.
"What about the other two possibilities?"
"Well um.. we could fire and nothing happens." She grabbed the handle and aimed it down the stairs towards town, and towards this dark man.
"Final outcome?"
"It explodes and kills us both." She pulled the trigger and the cannon made a hydraulic hiss. It sat for a moment, nothing happening.
"Kill us both? I'm liking this 'nothing happening' in comparison." Really? She waited until she was pulling the damn trigger to tell me my life was in danger just by being there? Oh well, nothing bad had happened, right?
The cannon began humming again, first lowly, then louder, a higher pitch quickly accumulating. Mai held her breath. The cannon grew ever louder with it's incredible hum and a sudden deafening bang echoed.
I felt a force push me back and a loud whine was in my ears. It screeched into my head and I couldn't hear myself yelling in the pain it had caused me. It only lasted a few seconds, but then I sat back up and I hear a distant explosion, a cloud of smoke covering the stairs where the man once stood. The cannon itself was gone, only twisted metal bars where the supports were before. I looked around and saw Maiara laying about seven feet away, her goggles shattered and blood trickling from her face. I rushed over to her and checked on her.
"Mai? C'mon.. Maiara! .... Dammit, talk to me!"
She shook her head slightly, waking up. "Wh... What?" Her face twisted in pain as she noticed her wounds, her breathing accelerating. However, this quickly passed and she sat up, pushing passed me and looking over to where her precious cannon once was, now only a smoking beam remaining. "D-Did it explode? No, no it couldn't have, we would be dead. That means it must have fired! The blast could have shot the cannon off of it's support... Yeah, that's probably it." She turned and looked at the mountain face behind us, and when I followed her gaze I saw a blue glow in the side of the stone, smoke billowing from it. "There.. but.." She propped herself up against me and used me as a crutch. I walked her back to where we could look down the stairs again, the large cloud where the man once was. "It hit him! Oh my god, I did it. It worked!" She turned wobbly to me and hugged me tightly, squeaks of happiness echoing from her and into the mountains which still rung from the cannon's fire.
"Mai.. You might want to take a look for a second." She followed my gaze down the stairs and shared my disbelief as the man stepped out of the cloud, the shadow at his feet swirling up around him like a protective hurricane. I couldn't believe it. All that and we hadn't even given him a damn scratch.
"Okay so I was sitting in my room and then the caretaker just kinda knocked and asked to see the footage of the station, so I let him and we saw this guy who stepped out of the train and started arguing with the conductor who was this big huge dude who must've been like three times this scrawny guy's size, and then the conductor pushed the scrawny dude so he lifted up his hand and the conductor was eaten by his own shadow and it was crazy." Maiara breathed heavily as she finished her incredibly long, grammatically incorrect sentence. Alma stared dumbfounded at her, then turned to me.
"Yes, Some skinny guy at the train station make the huge scary train conductor get eaten by his own damn shadow. We're not kidding." I crossed my arms. I realized that Love was right Maiara did talk a lot. Sorry, is that off topic?
"Well, it seems that Tina's fears are legitimate then. Maiara, Please begin setting up some defenses in the case that this man is not just interested in talking." Maiara nodded and left. Alma turned to me. "Sadly, you're the messenger now. Go and inform poor Tina that the man of her nightmare is here. She needs the time to properly prepare herself, and has the right to know." With that I was pushed out of the room and returned to Tina and Lilith. When I got there Tina was smiling again, leaning against Lilith, and talking about her pet. Lilith must have been hiding her boredom, because when I walked back into the room her face lit up.
"Tina, look! The caretaker's back. I'm sure he has good news." She turned to me. "Please tell me it's good news.."
I went to Tina and kneed down in front of her, holding her hand as tight as I could to try and reassure her. I wanted to keep her calm. "Tina, I'm sorry.. but I think that the man that you saw is in town. We saw a man wearing a black trench-coat attack the train conductor, then shut down the camera that was focused on him." Her eyes were suddenly wide with horror, tears filling them up and rolling down her cheek as she trembled. "We won't let him get you though, Tina. Maiara's setting up the defense that Alma mentioned now, I believe. He'll never get here if Mai's smart as everyone says.
Tina was sobbing now, and all she managed to choke out before collapsing in her tears was "If he could swallow that b-big man so easily, then there's noth-thing that's stopping him from taking you too!"
I frowned, and wanted to cry myself seeing her curled in a ball sobbing. Lilith was sitting there beside her, a hand on Tina's side, trying to calm her. Lilith had the biggest look of lostness I'd seen in my life. Utter inability to assist consumed her. Every time she tried to reach out, Tina would bat her away. She frantically cried "Not again! Not again!" over and over.
Maiara walked by the door and whistled. The whistle didn't seem to affect Tina, but got my attention. She motioned for me to follow her, and handed me a strange cylinder when I got to the doorway, about two feet long and eight inches around. She made me follow her into the storage room and to the opposite corner of where I went down to see Hearth. There was another door in this corner, and when she opened it I saw stairs leading upwards. I followed her to the roof and to the edge where we could see down the path. "I sent a message to him through an intercom warning him not to come here." She grabbed a three-pronged rod ans slid it into holes in the roof, stopped halfway, then moved down a foot or two and slid it into that location instead.
"Well, what was his reaction?" I strained under the weight of the heavy cylinder, and placed it on the ground beside Mai.
"He swallowed the speaker." She said without an expression. "Gimme the barrel. It's inside."
I pulled the top of the cylinder off and spilled the contents in front of me. There was a long hexagonal shape, three long iron rods with coils inside decorating it leading down to larger, more constructed and solid chunk which had a trigger on the bottom. I assumed that was the barrel. There was also an odd sphere glowing a bright blue with an indent in one side that matched the triple prong of the barrel, and an odd metal disc which Mai snatched up and slapped onto the top of her stand, then tilted it to a parallel angle to her body. I gave her the heavy barrel and she hoisted it up and slid it onto the stand. "Thanks." She held out her hand again and I handed her the last piece: The sphere. "I'm gonna warn you now. I've never fired this before." She took the sphere from my hands and pointed the opening downwards.
"What is it?"
"Well, matter is known to come in four forms. The first is solid." She looked around at the ground below us. "Then there's liquid." She placed the sphere atop the currently skyward-pointed barrel and a handle popped out of the top of said barrel. "And with greater amounts of energy you get a gas, like the air we breathe." She grabbed the hand and pulled it downwards with all her might. It moved slowly at first, but then snapped down to the bulk of the weapon, the sphere losing all it's glow and a loud charging hum emanating from the weapon. "Then when you get insane amounts of energy, you get a plasma." Placing her hands firmly on the sphere, she yanked it up and looked down the stairs to the growing dark figure heading towards up. "That's what this shoots. A concentrated plasma bolt." The sphere fall to the roof with a loud hollow clunk. "Theoretically."
"Theoretically? You mean you don't know?"
"Uhhh.." She nudged the cannon's barrel slightly, and it fell down into a perpendicular position in relation to her own body. "Well, I'm predicting four different outcomes. One, we shoot and we hit him. Bingo, we win, threat gone. Two, I shoot and miss horribly because, like I said, I've never tested this." A few more beeps and hums sounded, and she tweaked some settings on the side of the now glowing machine.
"What about the other two possibilities?"
"Well um.. we could fire and nothing happens." She grabbed the handle and aimed it down the stairs towards town, and towards this dark man.
"Final outcome?"
"It explodes and kills us both." She pulled the trigger and the cannon made a hydraulic hiss. It sat for a moment, nothing happening.
"Kill us both? I'm liking this 'nothing happening' in comparison." Really? She waited until she was pulling the damn trigger to tell me my life was in danger just by being there? Oh well, nothing bad had happened, right?
The cannon began humming again, first lowly, then louder, a higher pitch quickly accumulating. Mai held her breath. The cannon grew ever louder with it's incredible hum and a sudden deafening bang echoed.
I felt a force push me back and a loud whine was in my ears. It screeched into my head and I couldn't hear myself yelling in the pain it had caused me. It only lasted a few seconds, but then I sat back up and I hear a distant explosion, a cloud of smoke covering the stairs where the man once stood. The cannon itself was gone, only twisted metal bars where the supports were before. I looked around and saw Maiara laying about seven feet away, her goggles shattered and blood trickling from her face. I rushed over to her and checked on her.
"Mai? C'mon.. Maiara! .... Dammit, talk to me!"
She shook her head slightly, waking up. "Wh... What?" Her face twisted in pain as she noticed her wounds, her breathing accelerating. However, this quickly passed and she sat up, pushing passed me and looking over to where her precious cannon once was, now only a smoking beam remaining. "D-Did it explode? No, no it couldn't have, we would be dead. That means it must have fired! The blast could have shot the cannon off of it's support... Yeah, that's probably it." She turned and looked at the mountain face behind us, and when I followed her gaze I saw a blue glow in the side of the stone, smoke billowing from it. "There.. but.." She propped herself up against me and used me as a crutch. I walked her back to where we could look down the stairs again, the large cloud where the man once was. "It hit him! Oh my god, I did it. It worked!" She turned wobbly to me and hugged me tightly, squeaks of happiness echoing from her and into the mountains which still rung from the cannon's fire.
"Mai.. You might want to take a look for a second." She followed my gaze down the stairs and shared my disbelief as the man stepped out of the cloud, the shadow at his feet swirling up around him like a protective hurricane. I couldn't believe it. All that and we hadn't even given him a damn scratch.
Chapter 38: Comedy
The world turned dark around me. My head was dizzy and I stumble around, my feet hardly keeping me up. The world seemed to be spinning and fluxuating underneath my feet. I felt as if I was on a ship. I could barely make out a dim hallway I was in. Maiara was gone, and I was now by myself. My side hurt, but I couldn't bring myself to look. My gaze was fixed ahead of me. A doorway was glowing not even ten feet away. I limped and toppled through what felt like six inches of water and pushed the door, only to have it give no way. I looked at it confused, and then pushed again, harder. The wooden door bent under my force, but refused to open. I took a step back and rammed it one more time, using the whole of my weight to force it open. Inside the room, I found only horror. The bodies of everyone in the inn were pinned to the walls in gruesome, terrifying ways. I noticed now that I wasn't standing in shallow water, but a pool of blood. My hand wondered to my side as I went to grab my stomach and I felt a prick on my finger. Looking down I saw what originated my pain. Part of Mai's cannon had impaled my side, and a stream of blood was flowing down my leg. My dizziness became too much and I blacked out, falling backwards into nothingness...
---
I opened my eyes and I saw blue sky. I gasped, my hand immediately moving to my side. Nothing but my shirt was at my side. I had no wound there. I sat up and noticed I was no longer one the roof, but I was not in the horrifying room either. Instead I was about halfway down the stairs from the front of the Inn, standing right in front of Tina's nightmare man. His eyes were the palest blue I'd ever seen, early white at the brim, but a noticeable line of crimson was around his pupils. He was slim and tall, but he did not seem easily toppleable. The swirling shadows around his feet receded back into a normal shadow, and he brushed off some settled dust from his shoulder. I moved my head just a bit so I could see behind him, and I noticed a crater about six feet in diameter where we had shot him. I turned my gaze back onto him, a malicious glint hidden there.
He smirked at me. "Impressive, I must tell you." His voice was confident, perhaps too much so. He seemed to pulsate with a dark ambition which drove him to his goal. A goal which surely ended with Tina, I figured. I could hear a slight accent in his voice, perhaps a German... no, a Russian accent, but it was only faint; this made me think that perhaps a relative spoke the language, and he himself had spoken English most of his life. Now that I was in close proximity to him, I could see that he was perhaps in his early to mid-twenties. He tilted his head and spoke again. "Did you do that to hinder me, or to outright kill me, I wonder. I find it interesting, as I've yet to do anything wrong, friend."
"You're not my friend," I instinctively spat, "and you killed the train conductor."
"Killed? Why no, boy, I have not." He knelled down closer to me, and I moved up a few steps. My hand rested on someone else's for a moment, and I turned to see Mai lying there, barely conscious. "I simply gave him the same journey I did to you and your friend here. I showed him the deepest part of his mind and let him walk around in it for a few minutes. I'll let you know, he lasted a lot longer than you did." He turned to Maiara. "However, she didn't even make it as long as you. Your worst fear is something that has yet to come, but hers has already passed." He snickered. "It's funny, really. I enjoyed watching it. I'd assume I now know more about her than you do, and I've only seen her for a matter of roughly sixty seconds." He stood up, and I struggled to my feet as well.
"What... What the hell do you want?"
His entertained look faded, and was replaced by a serious, shady look. "Sonjeva."
Sonjeva... That was Tina's last name. I wasn't surprised, but at the same time I was scared. If any doubt in my mind had still existed that this was the man that Tina had feared, then it was now gone. "What do you want with her?" I glared at him, but I could tell that mine was not even a fraction as menacing as his was.
"I wish to drag her through the darkest pits of Hell and make her relive the most horrible moments of her dark past over and over, until it's no longer funny to me. Then I shall kill her and find something else that entertains me."
I sat there in disbelief as he said it all with a straight face. I could do nothing but shake my head. "No...”
"I'm sorry, speak up? I can't hear you when you're muttering."
"I said no. Tina isn't going anywhere, especially not with you. If you want to get to her-"
"Believe me, friend, I will cut you to ribbons to get to her, and you will say nothing to stop me. Choose you next words wisely." His glare intensified. I saw the red in his eyes grow outwards, and his shadow darkened once more.
"I ..." I gulped and chose my words. "You heard me. If you want to get to her, you'll have to not only go through me, but everyone from here to her."
"Hm...” He sighed and lifted his hand. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for pain, or worse, a return to his world of nightmares.
After a few seconds of nothing, I opened one eye to see him holding a coin. The coin was white, with a laughing mask on it. "Comedy," he said matter-of-factly, and then flipped the coin over. The opposite, as you may have guessed, was black with a crying mask on it. "Tragedy."
I nodded slowly. "Okay... and?"
"You're courageous. I respect that. I flip this now... If it lands on tragedy, I tear you and your friend here into small pieces and use your own bones to nail your body to the steps, and then continue to my objective."
My eyes widened, but I held my ground. "And... if it doesn't?"
"Hm...” In response to me, his eyes narrowed. "We'll see then, won't we?"
He placed the coin on his hand and flicked it up into the air. We both watched as it flipped through the air, and it landed in his hand. I saw a flash of black as he closed his hand. My eyes immediately shot up to his. He smirked, flipped his hand, and dropped the coin on the back of the other hand. The white side of the coin was face up.
"Well then, Caretaker of Abnormal Inn...” He flipped the coin back into his palm and turned around. "You have seven days. In one week I shall return. At that time, I shall not be so merciful. Cherish the time you have. A storm is coming...” I saw his shadow whip around him again, consuming him and flying down the stairs at an amazing speed. It stopped at the bottom, and he stepped back out of it, wandering away. In his wake, the stairs had reappeared, a note where he was standing. I picked it up and then looked down to Maiara, who was sobbing quietly on the stone stairs, curled into a ball.
"Mai?" I knelled down to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond, just continued her sobs. I squeezed a bit harder, and called her name again. Again, there was not even a hint of response. "Mai... He's gone. Let's go home."
She stopped her sobs and opened her eyes, looking into my own. This was the first time I had actually seen her eyes, and I was stunned at the sight. Her eyes were green, blended into a green-blue in several areas, but in the single most beautiful way I had ever seen. I was stunned for a few moments, and she realized this. She stared for a few more seconds, and then closed her eyes. She tried to get to her feet without my help, but then fell, toppling back down to me. I sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. I started slowly walking up the stairs with her, nothing but the sounds of birds in distant trees among our own footsteps.
Eventually, she spoke again. "Thank you for helping...”
I glanced over to her, but she was looking down at her feet now, solely trying to avoid eye contact with me. "Why are you doing that?"
"What?"
"You're avoiding looking at me."
"Because...” Her eyes slowly filled with tears again, and we stopped walking. I stood there with her for a few moments, and then she got her emotions back under her thumb. "I just... People like my eyes too much. I don't want anyone to get too attached."
"What's the worst that could happen?" I asked jokingly.
"You could die...” Her response was not so joking, and we walked up in silence for a short while.
"Is that what you saw, Mai?"
"Yes... No."
Her answer confused me... I tried to pick it apart. She saw me getting attached to the thought of seeing her eyes and dying... but she didn’t? I wonder if maybe she didn't mean it was me who she was dying. The man said her fear was something that had already happened. The event in which she saw was a horrific event from her past. I was just guessing here, but someone had fallen in love with her beautiful eyes. That someone had died because of it.
"Caretaker?"
My concentration on the matter was broken and I turned to her. We were almost at the top of the stairs now, though. "Yes, Mai?"
"What did you see?"
I stopped and looked at the door to the Inn. It was about twenty feet away. I sighed and nodded. "I ... saw you."
"Me?" she turned to me in surprise, then looked away again before I could return her sight.
"You... Tina, Thirteen, Sara, 'Beth, Pepper... everyone. Dead."
There was silence, and we finished walking up the stairs. As soon as we walked into the lobby office we were surrounded by people asking questions. I ignored them, as did Maiara. We pushed passed them and I walked her to her room. As soon as we were at her door, she let go of me and leaned on her wall. Her hand wandered to her doorknob and her door closed, but stopped just before I heard a click and re-opened. Her face reappeared, her beautiful eyes locking onto mine. They slightly filled with tears, and then stopped. "Thanks" she whispered, and then the door closed. I stood there for a minute or so, and then I heard water turn on. A shower, if I was correct. I took now to guess that some of the room had them, and some didn't. I hoped mine did, as I suddenly noticed the wear on my own body. I turned to return to Tina's room and I saw half a dozen worried faces staring back at me from the corner. For some reason they reminded me of the letter. I opened it and read it to myself silently.
---
I opened my eyes and I saw blue sky. I gasped, my hand immediately moving to my side. Nothing but my shirt was at my side. I had no wound there. I sat up and noticed I was no longer one the roof, but I was not in the horrifying room either. Instead I was about halfway down the stairs from the front of the Inn, standing right in front of Tina's nightmare man. His eyes were the palest blue I'd ever seen, early white at the brim, but a noticeable line of crimson was around his pupils. He was slim and tall, but he did not seem easily toppleable. The swirling shadows around his feet receded back into a normal shadow, and he brushed off some settled dust from his shoulder. I moved my head just a bit so I could see behind him, and I noticed a crater about six feet in diameter where we had shot him. I turned my gaze back onto him, a malicious glint hidden there.
He smirked at me. "Impressive, I must tell you." His voice was confident, perhaps too much so. He seemed to pulsate with a dark ambition which drove him to his goal. A goal which surely ended with Tina, I figured. I could hear a slight accent in his voice, perhaps a German... no, a Russian accent, but it was only faint; this made me think that perhaps a relative spoke the language, and he himself had spoken English most of his life. Now that I was in close proximity to him, I could see that he was perhaps in his early to mid-twenties. He tilted his head and spoke again. "Did you do that to hinder me, or to outright kill me, I wonder. I find it interesting, as I've yet to do anything wrong, friend."
"You're not my friend," I instinctively spat, "and you killed the train conductor."
"Killed? Why no, boy, I have not." He knelled down closer to me, and I moved up a few steps. My hand rested on someone else's for a moment, and I turned to see Mai lying there, barely conscious. "I simply gave him the same journey I did to you and your friend here. I showed him the deepest part of his mind and let him walk around in it for a few minutes. I'll let you know, he lasted a lot longer than you did." He turned to Maiara. "However, she didn't even make it as long as you. Your worst fear is something that has yet to come, but hers has already passed." He snickered. "It's funny, really. I enjoyed watching it. I'd assume I now know more about her than you do, and I've only seen her for a matter of roughly sixty seconds." He stood up, and I struggled to my feet as well.
"What... What the hell do you want?"
His entertained look faded, and was replaced by a serious, shady look. "Sonjeva."
Sonjeva... That was Tina's last name. I wasn't surprised, but at the same time I was scared. If any doubt in my mind had still existed that this was the man that Tina had feared, then it was now gone. "What do you want with her?" I glared at him, but I could tell that mine was not even a fraction as menacing as his was.
"I wish to drag her through the darkest pits of Hell and make her relive the most horrible moments of her dark past over and over, until it's no longer funny to me. Then I shall kill her and find something else that entertains me."
I sat there in disbelief as he said it all with a straight face. I could do nothing but shake my head. "No...”
"I'm sorry, speak up? I can't hear you when you're muttering."
"I said no. Tina isn't going anywhere, especially not with you. If you want to get to her-"
"Believe me, friend, I will cut you to ribbons to get to her, and you will say nothing to stop me. Choose you next words wisely." His glare intensified. I saw the red in his eyes grow outwards, and his shadow darkened once more.
"I ..." I gulped and chose my words. "You heard me. If you want to get to her, you'll have to not only go through me, but everyone from here to her."
"Hm...” He sighed and lifted his hand. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for pain, or worse, a return to his world of nightmares.
After a few seconds of nothing, I opened one eye to see him holding a coin. The coin was white, with a laughing mask on it. "Comedy," he said matter-of-factly, and then flipped the coin over. The opposite, as you may have guessed, was black with a crying mask on it. "Tragedy."
I nodded slowly. "Okay... and?"
"You're courageous. I respect that. I flip this now... If it lands on tragedy, I tear you and your friend here into small pieces and use your own bones to nail your body to the steps, and then continue to my objective."
My eyes widened, but I held my ground. "And... if it doesn't?"
"Hm...” In response to me, his eyes narrowed. "We'll see then, won't we?"
He placed the coin on his hand and flicked it up into the air. We both watched as it flipped through the air, and it landed in his hand. I saw a flash of black as he closed his hand. My eyes immediately shot up to his. He smirked, flipped his hand, and dropped the coin on the back of the other hand. The white side of the coin was face up.
"Well then, Caretaker of Abnormal Inn...” He flipped the coin back into his palm and turned around. "You have seven days. In one week I shall return. At that time, I shall not be so merciful. Cherish the time you have. A storm is coming...” I saw his shadow whip around him again, consuming him and flying down the stairs at an amazing speed. It stopped at the bottom, and he stepped back out of it, wandering away. In his wake, the stairs had reappeared, a note where he was standing. I picked it up and then looked down to Maiara, who was sobbing quietly on the stone stairs, curled into a ball.
"Mai?" I knelled down to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond, just continued her sobs. I squeezed a bit harder, and called her name again. Again, there was not even a hint of response. "Mai... He's gone. Let's go home."
She stopped her sobs and opened her eyes, looking into my own. This was the first time I had actually seen her eyes, and I was stunned at the sight. Her eyes were green, blended into a green-blue in several areas, but in the single most beautiful way I had ever seen. I was stunned for a few moments, and she realized this. She stared for a few more seconds, and then closed her eyes. She tried to get to her feet without my help, but then fell, toppling back down to me. I sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. I started slowly walking up the stairs with her, nothing but the sounds of birds in distant trees among our own footsteps.
Eventually, she spoke again. "Thank you for helping...”
I glanced over to her, but she was looking down at her feet now, solely trying to avoid eye contact with me. "Why are you doing that?"
"What?"
"You're avoiding looking at me."
"Because...” Her eyes slowly filled with tears again, and we stopped walking. I stood there with her for a few moments, and then she got her emotions back under her thumb. "I just... People like my eyes too much. I don't want anyone to get too attached."
"What's the worst that could happen?" I asked jokingly.
"You could die...” Her response was not so joking, and we walked up in silence for a short while.
"Is that what you saw, Mai?"
"Yes... No."
Her answer confused me... I tried to pick it apart. She saw me getting attached to the thought of seeing her eyes and dying... but she didn’t? I wonder if maybe she didn't mean it was me who she was dying. The man said her fear was something that had already happened. The event in which she saw was a horrific event from her past. I was just guessing here, but someone had fallen in love with her beautiful eyes. That someone had died because of it.
"Caretaker?"
My concentration on the matter was broken and I turned to her. We were almost at the top of the stairs now, though. "Yes, Mai?"
"What did you see?"
I stopped and looked at the door to the Inn. It was about twenty feet away. I sighed and nodded. "I ... saw you."
"Me?" she turned to me in surprise, then looked away again before I could return her sight.
"You... Tina, Thirteen, Sara, 'Beth, Pepper... everyone. Dead."
There was silence, and we finished walking up the stairs. As soon as we walked into the lobby office we were surrounded by people asking questions. I ignored them, as did Maiara. We pushed passed them and I walked her to her room. As soon as we were at her door, she let go of me and leaned on her wall. Her hand wandered to her doorknob and her door closed, but stopped just before I heard a click and re-opened. Her face reappeared, her beautiful eyes locking onto mine. They slightly filled with tears, and then stopped. "Thanks" she whispered, and then the door closed. I stood there for a minute or so, and then I heard water turn on. A shower, if I was correct. I took now to guess that some of the room had them, and some didn't. I hoped mine did, as I suddenly noticed the wear on my own body. I turned to return to Tina's room and I saw half a dozen worried faces staring back at me from the corner. For some reason they reminded me of the letter. I opened it and read it to myself silently.
I know you're reading this, and I want you to know that I am coming.
You will know when I'm at the door, Tina. I know you will.
Don't worry; I'll make it faster for you than it was for Mother and Father.
- Torn Sonjeva
You will know when I'm at the door, Tina. I know you will.
Don't worry; I'll make it faster for you than it was for Mother and Father.
- Torn Sonjeva
Chapter 39: Boris the Spider
I folded the note and put it in my pocket. Torn had left it behind for me to pass to her, but I was deciding on keeping it until I knew she was psychologically ready for it. I decided I should check now and headed over to her room. I passed by Monia who was holding something behind her back. "Hi Caretaker!" she said with a bright smile and passed swiftly by me. I paid it no mind and turn the handle to Room Seven.
Leaning in a bit, I saw Tina laying alone in the dark. She sniffled and whispered in the dark; she didn't acknowledge my being there at all. I stepped into the room and closed the door, and then loitered in the doorway for a while for my eyes to adjust. After a few minutes, I noticed what she was doing. She was curled up in a ball and had her pet spider on the palm of her hand, and she was whispering her troubles to it like a best friend. This continued for a few minutes, and then she opened the top of its home and it crawled inside. Only then did she look at me.
"Caretaker...” She looked worried, and her eyes teared up. She stood up and walked over to me and embraced me tightly, burying her small teary-eyed face against my chest. "You're okay...”
I couldn't help but let a smile loose. She was worried about me; I was flattered. I put my hand on her head and ran my fingers through her hair for a little while, feeling like a protector. I felt needed, integral, and even accepted when I was with these people. Well, most of them so far. Tina was once such person, and with her I knew that my presence was such a huge deal that if I were to have fallen to Torn then she would have shattered. She continued to softly sob into my chest for a few minutes and I ignored the soreness from my injuries as she did so. After a few minutes I walked her to her bedside. "How are you feeling?"
"Better... He went away?" She looked up at me with tears still in her eyes, and an empty hope shining there. It was as if she wanted to hear that he was gone, but didn't expect it.
"Yes, Tina. He went away for a while. You're safe for now." I put my hand on her shoulder. "No more tears now?"
"How long is a while?"
"He said he would leave you alone for seven days. Now we're ready for him. He won't get through us." I said it but... It was a lie. We had no idea how to deal with Torn. He was unstoppable from what I've seen. We didn't know any of his weaknesses, if he even had any. Wait... I wonder... "Hey, Tina?"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering..." On second thought... This was Tina. I should give her some time to be happy before asking such a thing. But now I made it seem like I HAD a question. I needed something, anything, to ask her so I could avoid upsetting her. My eyes finally glanced over to the spider's tank. "Why do you have a pet spider if you're so phobic?"
She glanced over to the tank and then back to me. "I... Well...” She bit her lip, and her eyes became tear filled once more. "He... He's scared of spiders. Ever since I was a child, when he came to hurt me I hid in the crawlspace below the house. He would stay away because there were spiders... I was hiding there two years ago when He... He..." Her lips trembled, and she couldn't keep herself composed anymore. She broke down into tears again, curled against my chest, and clawed at my shirt.
I reassured her once more, and tried to calm her down. "It's okay Tina... You don't need to talk about it. I understand." I wondered deep inside what it was he had done that was so horrible, but I didn't want to ask her directly. I could only assume it had to do with her parents. I remembered her saying that the police were talking about "him" after her parents had died. I was still curious about her pet, however. "So what about your pet? Tell me about him."
She glanced up at me, her eyes still shimmering with her tears. "B-Boris?"
I couldn't help but chuckle as she said it. "You named him Boris? You're silly, Tina." I put my hand on her cheek. She gasped slightly, and then leaned into my hand and rubbed against it. "Yes. Tell me the story of Boris the spider."
She smiled and rubbed her cheek against my hand for a while longer. Her own hand was placed atop it while the opposite hand still clenched my shirt. "W-Well..." She slowly let her smile fade. "When H-He was done with my family..." She bit her lip again. "He lit my home on fire and left. I was in the cr-crawlspace... and I hid there until all the fires were put out... The firefighters found us then. Boris and I were the only survivors of his first k-kill. We both lost our families that day..."
I noticed slowly over the course of the conversation that she said "family" instead of "parents." It was only after her stories today that I understood what she meant. In Tina's eyes, the only ones who really survived that day were Boris and herself. She never referred to "Him" by name. In a more literal than figurative sense, Torn - her brother - was dead to her. As far as she was concerned, he had died that day somewhere along the blood and ashes, and the man who was walking around to this day was a shadow. He was a living nightmare. To her, he was now "Fear Itself."
---
It must have been an hour, but somewhere along the way she had fallen asleep against me. I moved her off of my chest and placed her on her pillow. She awoke only briefly, a sleepy smile directed towards me before immediately falling back asleep. It was cute, and I smiled back to her as she slept. I turned to leave the room and heard a small "tink" behind me. I turned to see Boris with one leg against the glass of his tank. He was a tarantula, about half a palm-size. His hairs were black, and I could see a black X on his back, most likely darkened from the fire so long ago. He stared at me through the glass and I leaned down to his level. He tapped again.
"Hello Boris."
He wiggled a bit, and then waved a foot at me. It seemed like he could understand me. I was surprised, but after two days of being in this Inn I was no longer in disbelief of things.
"You're her best friend, aren't you?"
"Well... You take damn good care of her, Boris." I placed my fingertip against the glass, and he did the same with the tip of his leg. I considered it in informal handshake. "I'm counting on you to be there when I can't."
He let out one more wave, and I turned away. I left the room, presumable with eight eyes trained on my expectantly. I had just had a conversation with a spider. Was I going crazy?
"Dammit, you bitch!" I heard Dayanara yell from down the hall, and followed shortly by a metallic clang.
Leaning in a bit, I saw Tina laying alone in the dark. She sniffled and whispered in the dark; she didn't acknowledge my being there at all. I stepped into the room and closed the door, and then loitered in the doorway for a while for my eyes to adjust. After a few minutes, I noticed what she was doing. She was curled up in a ball and had her pet spider on the palm of her hand, and she was whispering her troubles to it like a best friend. This continued for a few minutes, and then she opened the top of its home and it crawled inside. Only then did she look at me.
"Caretaker...” She looked worried, and her eyes teared up. She stood up and walked over to me and embraced me tightly, burying her small teary-eyed face against my chest. "You're okay...”
I couldn't help but let a smile loose. She was worried about me; I was flattered. I put my hand on her head and ran my fingers through her hair for a little while, feeling like a protector. I felt needed, integral, and even accepted when I was with these people. Well, most of them so far. Tina was once such person, and with her I knew that my presence was such a huge deal that if I were to have fallen to Torn then she would have shattered. She continued to softly sob into my chest for a few minutes and I ignored the soreness from my injuries as she did so. After a few minutes I walked her to her bedside. "How are you feeling?"
"Better... He went away?" She looked up at me with tears still in her eyes, and an empty hope shining there. It was as if she wanted to hear that he was gone, but didn't expect it.
"Yes, Tina. He went away for a while. You're safe for now." I put my hand on her shoulder. "No more tears now?"
"How long is a while?"
"He said he would leave you alone for seven days. Now we're ready for him. He won't get through us." I said it but... It was a lie. We had no idea how to deal with Torn. He was unstoppable from what I've seen. We didn't know any of his weaknesses, if he even had any. Wait... I wonder... "Hey, Tina?"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering..." On second thought... This was Tina. I should give her some time to be happy before asking such a thing. But now I made it seem like I HAD a question. I needed something, anything, to ask her so I could avoid upsetting her. My eyes finally glanced over to the spider's tank. "Why do you have a pet spider if you're so phobic?"
She glanced over to the tank and then back to me. "I... Well...” She bit her lip, and her eyes became tear filled once more. "He... He's scared of spiders. Ever since I was a child, when he came to hurt me I hid in the crawlspace below the house. He would stay away because there were spiders... I was hiding there two years ago when He... He..." Her lips trembled, and she couldn't keep herself composed anymore. She broke down into tears again, curled against my chest, and clawed at my shirt.
I reassured her once more, and tried to calm her down. "It's okay Tina... You don't need to talk about it. I understand." I wondered deep inside what it was he had done that was so horrible, but I didn't want to ask her directly. I could only assume it had to do with her parents. I remembered her saying that the police were talking about "him" after her parents had died. I was still curious about her pet, however. "So what about your pet? Tell me about him."
She glanced up at me, her eyes still shimmering with her tears. "B-Boris?"
I couldn't help but chuckle as she said it. "You named him Boris? You're silly, Tina." I put my hand on her cheek. She gasped slightly, and then leaned into my hand and rubbed against it. "Yes. Tell me the story of Boris the spider."
She smiled and rubbed her cheek against my hand for a while longer. Her own hand was placed atop it while the opposite hand still clenched my shirt. "W-Well..." She slowly let her smile fade. "When H-He was done with my family..." She bit her lip again. "He lit my home on fire and left. I was in the cr-crawlspace... and I hid there until all the fires were put out... The firefighters found us then. Boris and I were the only survivors of his first k-kill. We both lost our families that day..."
I noticed slowly over the course of the conversation that she said "family" instead of "parents." It was only after her stories today that I understood what she meant. In Tina's eyes, the only ones who really survived that day were Boris and herself. She never referred to "Him" by name. In a more literal than figurative sense, Torn - her brother - was dead to her. As far as she was concerned, he had died that day somewhere along the blood and ashes, and the man who was walking around to this day was a shadow. He was a living nightmare. To her, he was now "Fear Itself."
---
It must have been an hour, but somewhere along the way she had fallen asleep against me. I moved her off of my chest and placed her on her pillow. She awoke only briefly, a sleepy smile directed towards me before immediately falling back asleep. It was cute, and I smiled back to her as she slept. I turned to leave the room and heard a small "tink" behind me. I turned to see Boris with one leg against the glass of his tank. He was a tarantula, about half a palm-size. His hairs were black, and I could see a black X on his back, most likely darkened from the fire so long ago. He stared at me through the glass and I leaned down to his level. He tapped again.
"Hello Boris."
He wiggled a bit, and then waved a foot at me. It seemed like he could understand me. I was surprised, but after two days of being in this Inn I was no longer in disbelief of things.
"You're her best friend, aren't you?"
"Well... You take damn good care of her, Boris." I placed my fingertip against the glass, and he did the same with the tip of his leg. I considered it in informal handshake. "I'm counting on you to be there when I can't."
He let out one more wave, and I turned away. I left the room, presumable with eight eyes trained on my expectantly. I had just had a conversation with a spider. Was I going crazy?
"Dammit, you bitch!" I heard Dayanara yell from down the hall, and followed shortly by a metallic clang.
Chapter 40: Dayanara's Blade
"Hey! Hey! Stop! Dayanara, Cut it out."
"I plan on it!"
Dayanara was holding a blade that looked as if it was carved out of volcanic rock. It was glowing with strange symbols along the side, and had an out of place band around the hold of the blade. She was trying to get at Monia, who was hiding behind a metallic Elizabeth. Her hand was solid metal, and she was blocking Day's blade with it. Any normal human hand would have been cut in half by the force I had seen Day bring the blade down. Elizabeth had jumped in the way just in time.
"I said stop. Go back to your room." I scolded her, but she ignored.
"You also told me to cut it out, and I will! I'll cut out that bitch's thieving heart!"
Harmonia protested, "I'm not thieving! It was confiscated, and then you snuck back into my room and stole it! It's only right that I take it away again."
"No! It isn't!" Dayanara screamed back in her direction. "This is my sword! Mine! My father crafted this sword with his very hands, don't you dare put your pathetic little fingers on it ever again!" She mocked, "You might get your hands dirty, and may the heavens forbid you get a mark on your perfect little skin, you servant."
"I am not a servant!"
"Hey!" I yelled, moving between Day and Elizabeth. "I said break it up." I hesitantly pushed Day's sword from Elizabeth, who shook her hand in pain. "Day, you should go back to your room."
"I am keeping what is mine. Not only is it mine by honest hard work, but it's mine by blood, and only by blood would it touch you again." She was glaring at Monia again.
"Day, you can keep the sword; just don't attack anyone with it again." My hands motioned for her to calm down.
She turned to leave to her room, but then whipped back around again, and the tip of her blade went over Elizabeth's shoulder and pressed gently against the front of Monia's throat. "Harmonia Lillian Wright, if you ever so much as touch my personal belongings again I shall be sending you back to your beloved Master without a head!" She moved the blade away swiftly, sliding it into a similarly modeled holster and walking away. Monia was left with a scratch on her neck. Her eyes wide with fear.
"Monia?" I stepped over to her and put my hands on her shoulders. "Can you tell m-"
SLAM. Dayanara was now back in her room.
"Um... Can you tell me what I missed?"
"Uh... sure. Come in then...” She turned around and walked into her door, still dazed from the events. Elizabeth and I said goodbyes and then I walked into Room Fourteen.
"I was told to not give her back the weapon because she might misuse it... but then she stole it back a few days ago, before you got here. I went and reclaimed it this morning when the commotion with Tina was going on."
"So... you stole it, and Day noticed."
"No, I did not steal it. She did, and it was a confiscated item. I had every right to take it back from her to stop her from misusing it, and you just let her have it back. If she finds out how to remove that white band from it, she might come after me and try to kill me."
"Why didn't she do it just now?"
"Because she can't do what she wants if that band is there; it's a seal."
"So that one little thing is stopping her from killing people?"
"Well, no. She could have killed you with it just now. I'm actually surprised that she didn't. You touched her sword after she screamed at me for doing just that."
"No, I touched her sword after you stole her sword."
"I did not steal it!" She crossed her arms. "Caretaker, I'm going to request you leave."
"But you're still bleeding."
She sighed in annoyance, and then wiped her hand across her neck. The blood and cut were both gone. "Now leave, and don't bother me until dinnertime."
"How...” I raised a hand and pointed to her neck. "How did you do that?"
"I asked you to leave."
I sighed and turned around. Her birds all chirped and tweeted at me as I turned away and closed the door. Around the corner I heard more bickering. Great...
"I plan on it!"
Dayanara was holding a blade that looked as if it was carved out of volcanic rock. It was glowing with strange symbols along the side, and had an out of place band around the hold of the blade. She was trying to get at Monia, who was hiding behind a metallic Elizabeth. Her hand was solid metal, and she was blocking Day's blade with it. Any normal human hand would have been cut in half by the force I had seen Day bring the blade down. Elizabeth had jumped in the way just in time.
"I said stop. Go back to your room." I scolded her, but she ignored.
"You also told me to cut it out, and I will! I'll cut out that bitch's thieving heart!"
Harmonia protested, "I'm not thieving! It was confiscated, and then you snuck back into my room and stole it! It's only right that I take it away again."
"No! It isn't!" Dayanara screamed back in her direction. "This is my sword! Mine! My father crafted this sword with his very hands, don't you dare put your pathetic little fingers on it ever again!" She mocked, "You might get your hands dirty, and may the heavens forbid you get a mark on your perfect little skin, you servant."
"I am not a servant!"
"Hey!" I yelled, moving between Day and Elizabeth. "I said break it up." I hesitantly pushed Day's sword from Elizabeth, who shook her hand in pain. "Day, you should go back to your room."
"I am keeping what is mine. Not only is it mine by honest hard work, but it's mine by blood, and only by blood would it touch you again." She was glaring at Monia again.
"Day, you can keep the sword; just don't attack anyone with it again." My hands motioned for her to calm down.
She turned to leave to her room, but then whipped back around again, and the tip of her blade went over Elizabeth's shoulder and pressed gently against the front of Monia's throat. "Harmonia Lillian Wright, if you ever so much as touch my personal belongings again I shall be sending you back to your beloved Master without a head!" She moved the blade away swiftly, sliding it into a similarly modeled holster and walking away. Monia was left with a scratch on her neck. Her eyes wide with fear.
"Monia?" I stepped over to her and put my hands on her shoulders. "Can you tell m-"
SLAM. Dayanara was now back in her room.
"Um... Can you tell me what I missed?"
"Uh... sure. Come in then...” She turned around and walked into her door, still dazed from the events. Elizabeth and I said goodbyes and then I walked into Room Fourteen.
"I was told to not give her back the weapon because she might misuse it... but then she stole it back a few days ago, before you got here. I went and reclaimed it this morning when the commotion with Tina was going on."
"So... you stole it, and Day noticed."
"No, I did not steal it. She did, and it was a confiscated item. I had every right to take it back from her to stop her from misusing it, and you just let her have it back. If she finds out how to remove that white band from it, she might come after me and try to kill me."
"Why didn't she do it just now?"
"Because she can't do what she wants if that band is there; it's a seal."
"So that one little thing is stopping her from killing people?"
"Well, no. She could have killed you with it just now. I'm actually surprised that she didn't. You touched her sword after she screamed at me for doing just that."
"No, I touched her sword after you stole her sword."
"I did not steal it!" She crossed her arms. "Caretaker, I'm going to request you leave."
"But you're still bleeding."
She sighed in annoyance, and then wiped her hand across her neck. The blood and cut were both gone. "Now leave, and don't bother me until dinnertime."
"How...” I raised a hand and pointed to her neck. "How did you do that?"
"I asked you to leave."
I sighed and turned around. Her birds all chirped and tweeted at me as I turned away and closed the door. Around the corner I heard more bickering. Great...
Chapter41: Charged
I curled my way around the corner and saw Elizabeth in the center of conflict once again. She was having an argument with Alice, the girl in Room Seventeen. "Well that wouldn't be a problem if you turned down your music!"
"There's nothing wrong with my music. It's just your ears, and they suck at hearing right!" Alice stomped her foot down.
"Really? REALLY? I can't believe we're doing this again, Alice. Does your radio have a volume knob?"
"Ye-"
"Then USE IT! You have fingers, and you can move them, so turn the music down and stop being such a self-centered bitch!" 'Beth screamed and then walked into her room. Alice's eyes began to fill with tears, and she shouted at 'Beth's soundproof door.
"At least I ... I can see colors!" She then turned and walked into her own room and slammed the door. Elizabeth was upset again and probably wanted some company, but I could see that the problem here was actually Alice. I knocked on the door and after a moment she tore it open in fury. "You? What do you want?"
"I wanna talk, Alice. You're the only one I don't know well yet." I explained. She sighed and wandered back into her room, and I followed closely behind, being sure to close the door behind me.
Inside her room the walls where a bright blue, and the banner at the top was a zig-zag pattern of hot pink, yellow, neon green, and the same blue from her wall. Several small LED lights speckled the ceiling. She had a bed to the left and a computer to the right. It seemed like this pattern was followed in most rooms excluding my own, down to the speaker in the upper corner. On her desk beside the computer was a stero speakers. The dial was set to "Off" at the moment, but I knew that this was often not the case. Her bed had black blankets with a blue bolt on them, and passed the foot of the bed was an out-of-place fusebox mounted upon on wall. She sat down on her computer chair and stared at me as I gazed around the room.
"So, what do you want, Caretaker?" She seemed unentertained.
"I was curious about your conflict and why you dislike certain music so passionately."
"My fight with Elizabeth? Figures, the only reason you talk to me is for her. She is always bitching to me about how loud and obnoxious my music is, when she has her own music just as loud."
"Well, Elizabeth has a sound-proof room to keep it all to herself. Maybe soundproof this one, or listen to some music with her?"
Alice's face twisted in disgust. "Ew. Listen to her music? Not interested. Our music is nothing alike."
"I'm sure you could find something similar if you tried hard enough."
"I am too, but I don't care enough to try, so why bother trying to talk me into it? Face it, Caretaker. I don't like Elizabeth."
I tilted my head curiously and sighed at my failure. "Why do you dislike Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth acts all depressed and lonely, like she's never had a friend in her whole damn life. She's had friend before she got here, but she just glooms around like nobody's ever said hi to her. She grew up in a family that met with other families every day for their little hippie shit, and I..." Alice made in "ugh" sound in disgust, then she put her head down on the desk. "It's a long story."
"Oh no, look at that. It's I-have-all-the-time-in-the-world o'clock."
Alice let out a small chuckle at my sarcastic joke and shrugged. "Fine. I guess I have some time. Elizabeth had her whole hippie thing until that thing happened with her and eventually she ended up here after some time. While she was off going to a normal school and having normal friends, I was in a theoretical prison. My parents were big on this whole science thing, and because of their jobs we lived in a compound right near their facility. Connected to it by a bridge, even. Every day I was surrounded by them and their science mumbo jumbo and their "don't touch this" attitude between leaving my gray, dull, tightly scheduled school life and falling asleep alone because they were still at work. I was forced to either A, sit in their lab and watch while doing my not-touch thing, or B, go home and do nothing at all. Note please that I had no television nor radio at the time. My room had literally no electronics when I lived with my parents. Not even a socket for one." She stopped her story to point to several things around the room: her computer, radio, light, and the LED set-up on her ceiling. "This is not the case with my room here, obviously. I have a TV and games in the cabinet over there, and then the obvious fuse box in my room."
I noted all of the objects she listed and noticed that this room had more electrical output then most others. Closer observation of the desk brought to my attention several hand-held games, a music player (which was connected to her radio), a cell phone, a retro looking plasma ball (which you touch and the electricity dances on the inside of the glass) and then extra speakers, as if she needed them. "Wow. Yeah, lots of chargy things. Why's the fuse box in here?"
Alice blinked. "Wanna see?" Her head tilted slightly, and a smirk crawled onto her face.
I was about to answer when a knock at the door interrupted me. "Alice!" Maiara's voice called from the other side of the door. "I need a bit of help. Can you?"
Alice sighed, but then her smirk returned as she was hit with an idea. "can I bring the new guy? He's probing my mind with questions."
"Uh..." Maiara went quiet for a minute, and then agreed. Alice and I left the room and went back into Mai's room. "Caretaker." She turned to me and I felt as if she was glaring at me through her big dark goggles. "Can I trust you with this?"
"Well it is kind of my job, so yes."
She nodded. "Point taken. If you prove otherwise, we could just kill you." She turned and moved to her computer desk.
"Is she kidding?" I asked Alice, who did nothing but giggle in retort.
Maiara hit the small, odd switch beneath her desk and a click echoed through the room. I watched in confusion as her bed rose up on a hydraulic platform and stairs became revealed beneath it. "Oh, hey Caretaker? Don't touch anything." She wandered down the stairs alongside Alice, and I followed shortly behind. Below her room was a very large open space that was roughly the size of the inn itself. In the center of the area you could see the outer walls of Hearth's area, with pipes and other such things running out of it and into the floor above for everyone's warm water, and leading to a small geothermal generator that I remember Hearth saying Maiara built for Alma and the Inn. Along the walls of the large room were dozens of strange machines and weaponry, even alien-looking technology. I stood dumbfounded, in awe. Maiara chuckled and nudged Alice. "Look, it's the expression you made when you first came in here."
Alice laughed as well and poked my arm. "Newbie always gets surprises in AI." She turned to Maiara. "Mai, whatcha need me for today?"
She motioned for Alice to follow and we wandered over to a desk with considerably more light focused on it. There was equipment around this desk and one could only conclude this was her work area. Atop the desk was a large object that looked similar to the cannon we had shot earlier that day. "What's this one?" Alice asked.
"This is a prototype I had for a plasma emission weapon. Tha cannon from today is a child of this design. The only problem here is that this weapon no longer functions because every shot disables the weapon. I found a way around this with the cannon." She motioned to me. "Caretaker, you remember the sphere we put on top before we fired it, correct? That sphere not only loads the energy into the cannon, but also takes the damage that the barrel would normally take by placing a ring atop the work end of the cannon that ejects after firing. I only wish I had thought of better stabilizing the cannon before we shot it into the side of the mountain. I need to get that retrieved later. Anyways, the error with this machine is that it fires smaller charges, like more of an assault rifle or a turret."
My attention slowly degraded as I stared at this round machine in the corner, held up my numerous cords and metal tendrils. The machine had a dark-grey metal casing, and it's glowing blue mechanical innards shone through from time to time from small holes or glass areas. The machine looked unfinished, but still had a hum of life in it. The very front of it sported a glowing blue light that would remind one of an eye. "sentient Cartographer" was written in black around the eye, curving around indefinitely. "Whoa." I said, staring.
"Dude." I turned back to Maiara. "You paying attention?" I nodded. "Good." Her gaze returned to Alice. "I basically need you to charge up the internal regulation system with a small jolt, then I need the individual charges for the weapon to be juiced up as well."
Alice nodded and smiled at me. "So, you know why I'm in here?"
"Not in the slightest." I tried to keep my attention undivided for her.
"Well then..." She paused and grabbed a small bullet case shaped object in a similar style to the gun and the machine in the corner: Silver-grey with a bit of blue. "Watch." Her soft grey eyes turned from me to the cartridge, and a saw a spark dart between her fingers. Electricity danced slowly at first, but grey to larger amounts quickly. As she generated more power for the cartridge, her eyes changed. First her eyes flashed slowly and became a light sky blue, and continued to grow until the color was a intense as the rest of the blue in the room. The charging of the cartridge was completed, and her eyes faded back to her normal color. Other than the humming, now glowing plasma charge in her palm Alice was her normal self. "That's what I do. My parents didn't let me have electronics because I mess with them. I charge or discharge everything I touch. I'm a living battery, and need to be careful. If I charge too many things, I'll Pass out or start to die from lack of current. However, if I get too overcharged then I'd die from an advanced kind of zappy heart attack thingy." She sighed. "It takes so much work, but that's why I have the fuse box in my room. Every morning and night right around when I hop in or out of bed I need to put myself at my normal dosage. It's like having to take medicine every day, but with lethal amounts of electricity."
"And she's quite useful when I need a bit of help," Maiara added. "Now, can you go off and help someone else? I need Alice to actually help instead of show off for the new boy." She turned back to her device on the desk.
I left the room and the bed lowered into place as I exited the laboratory. I wandered to my room and finally picked up my clipboard for the day, adding various notes to it. I wrote my findings on Tina's brother, Maiara's amazing intellect, and Alice's electrical tendencies. I decided to be odd and clipped the board onto my waist and wandered into the halls to see who else needed help today.
"There's nothing wrong with my music. It's just your ears, and they suck at hearing right!" Alice stomped her foot down.
"Really? REALLY? I can't believe we're doing this again, Alice. Does your radio have a volume knob?"
"Ye-"
"Then USE IT! You have fingers, and you can move them, so turn the music down and stop being such a self-centered bitch!" 'Beth screamed and then walked into her room. Alice's eyes began to fill with tears, and she shouted at 'Beth's soundproof door.
"At least I ... I can see colors!" She then turned and walked into her own room and slammed the door. Elizabeth was upset again and probably wanted some company, but I could see that the problem here was actually Alice. I knocked on the door and after a moment she tore it open in fury. "You? What do you want?"
"I wanna talk, Alice. You're the only one I don't know well yet." I explained. She sighed and wandered back into her room, and I followed closely behind, being sure to close the door behind me.
Inside her room the walls where a bright blue, and the banner at the top was a zig-zag pattern of hot pink, yellow, neon green, and the same blue from her wall. Several small LED lights speckled the ceiling. She had a bed to the left and a computer to the right. It seemed like this pattern was followed in most rooms excluding my own, down to the speaker in the upper corner. On her desk beside the computer was a stero speakers. The dial was set to "Off" at the moment, but I knew that this was often not the case. Her bed had black blankets with a blue bolt on them, and passed the foot of the bed was an out-of-place fusebox mounted upon on wall. She sat down on her computer chair and stared at me as I gazed around the room.
"So, what do you want, Caretaker?" She seemed unentertained.
"I was curious about your conflict and why you dislike certain music so passionately."
"My fight with Elizabeth? Figures, the only reason you talk to me is for her. She is always bitching to me about how loud and obnoxious my music is, when she has her own music just as loud."
"Well, Elizabeth has a sound-proof room to keep it all to herself. Maybe soundproof this one, or listen to some music with her?"
Alice's face twisted in disgust. "Ew. Listen to her music? Not interested. Our music is nothing alike."
"I'm sure you could find something similar if you tried hard enough."
"I am too, but I don't care enough to try, so why bother trying to talk me into it? Face it, Caretaker. I don't like Elizabeth."
I tilted my head curiously and sighed at my failure. "Why do you dislike Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth acts all depressed and lonely, like she's never had a friend in her whole damn life. She's had friend before she got here, but she just glooms around like nobody's ever said hi to her. She grew up in a family that met with other families every day for their little hippie shit, and I..." Alice made in "ugh" sound in disgust, then she put her head down on the desk. "It's a long story."
"Oh no, look at that. It's I-have-all-the-time-in-the-world o'clock."
Alice let out a small chuckle at my sarcastic joke and shrugged. "Fine. I guess I have some time. Elizabeth had her whole hippie thing until that thing happened with her and eventually she ended up here after some time. While she was off going to a normal school and having normal friends, I was in a theoretical prison. My parents were big on this whole science thing, and because of their jobs we lived in a compound right near their facility. Connected to it by a bridge, even. Every day I was surrounded by them and their science mumbo jumbo and their "don't touch this" attitude between leaving my gray, dull, tightly scheduled school life and falling asleep alone because they were still at work. I was forced to either A, sit in their lab and watch while doing my not-touch thing, or B, go home and do nothing at all. Note please that I had no television nor radio at the time. My room had literally no electronics when I lived with my parents. Not even a socket for one." She stopped her story to point to several things around the room: her computer, radio, light, and the LED set-up on her ceiling. "This is not the case with my room here, obviously. I have a TV and games in the cabinet over there, and then the obvious fuse box in my room."
I noted all of the objects she listed and noticed that this room had more electrical output then most others. Closer observation of the desk brought to my attention several hand-held games, a music player (which was connected to her radio), a cell phone, a retro looking plasma ball (which you touch and the electricity dances on the inside of the glass) and then extra speakers, as if she needed them. "Wow. Yeah, lots of chargy things. Why's the fuse box in here?"
Alice blinked. "Wanna see?" Her head tilted slightly, and a smirk crawled onto her face.
I was about to answer when a knock at the door interrupted me. "Alice!" Maiara's voice called from the other side of the door. "I need a bit of help. Can you?"
Alice sighed, but then her smirk returned as she was hit with an idea. "can I bring the new guy? He's probing my mind with questions."
"Uh..." Maiara went quiet for a minute, and then agreed. Alice and I left the room and went back into Mai's room. "Caretaker." She turned to me and I felt as if she was glaring at me through her big dark goggles. "Can I trust you with this?"
"Well it is kind of my job, so yes."
She nodded. "Point taken. If you prove otherwise, we could just kill you." She turned and moved to her computer desk.
"Is she kidding?" I asked Alice, who did nothing but giggle in retort.
Maiara hit the small, odd switch beneath her desk and a click echoed through the room. I watched in confusion as her bed rose up on a hydraulic platform and stairs became revealed beneath it. "Oh, hey Caretaker? Don't touch anything." She wandered down the stairs alongside Alice, and I followed shortly behind. Below her room was a very large open space that was roughly the size of the inn itself. In the center of the area you could see the outer walls of Hearth's area, with pipes and other such things running out of it and into the floor above for everyone's warm water, and leading to a small geothermal generator that I remember Hearth saying Maiara built for Alma and the Inn. Along the walls of the large room were dozens of strange machines and weaponry, even alien-looking technology. I stood dumbfounded, in awe. Maiara chuckled and nudged Alice. "Look, it's the expression you made when you first came in here."
Alice laughed as well and poked my arm. "Newbie always gets surprises in AI." She turned to Maiara. "Mai, whatcha need me for today?"
She motioned for Alice to follow and we wandered over to a desk with considerably more light focused on it. There was equipment around this desk and one could only conclude this was her work area. Atop the desk was a large object that looked similar to the cannon we had shot earlier that day. "What's this one?" Alice asked.
"This is a prototype I had for a plasma emission weapon. Tha cannon from today is a child of this design. The only problem here is that this weapon no longer functions because every shot disables the weapon. I found a way around this with the cannon." She motioned to me. "Caretaker, you remember the sphere we put on top before we fired it, correct? That sphere not only loads the energy into the cannon, but also takes the damage that the barrel would normally take by placing a ring atop the work end of the cannon that ejects after firing. I only wish I had thought of better stabilizing the cannon before we shot it into the side of the mountain. I need to get that retrieved later. Anyways, the error with this machine is that it fires smaller charges, like more of an assault rifle or a turret."
My attention slowly degraded as I stared at this round machine in the corner, held up my numerous cords and metal tendrils. The machine had a dark-grey metal casing, and it's glowing blue mechanical innards shone through from time to time from small holes or glass areas. The machine looked unfinished, but still had a hum of life in it. The very front of it sported a glowing blue light that would remind one of an eye. "sentient Cartographer" was written in black around the eye, curving around indefinitely. "Whoa." I said, staring.
"Dude." I turned back to Maiara. "You paying attention?" I nodded. "Good." Her gaze returned to Alice. "I basically need you to charge up the internal regulation system with a small jolt, then I need the individual charges for the weapon to be juiced up as well."
Alice nodded and smiled at me. "So, you know why I'm in here?"
"Not in the slightest." I tried to keep my attention undivided for her.
"Well then..." She paused and grabbed a small bullet case shaped object in a similar style to the gun and the machine in the corner: Silver-grey with a bit of blue. "Watch." Her soft grey eyes turned from me to the cartridge, and a saw a spark dart between her fingers. Electricity danced slowly at first, but grey to larger amounts quickly. As she generated more power for the cartridge, her eyes changed. First her eyes flashed slowly and became a light sky blue, and continued to grow until the color was a intense as the rest of the blue in the room. The charging of the cartridge was completed, and her eyes faded back to her normal color. Other than the humming, now glowing plasma charge in her palm Alice was her normal self. "That's what I do. My parents didn't let me have electronics because I mess with them. I charge or discharge everything I touch. I'm a living battery, and need to be careful. If I charge too many things, I'll Pass out or start to die from lack of current. However, if I get too overcharged then I'd die from an advanced kind of zappy heart attack thingy." She sighed. "It takes so much work, but that's why I have the fuse box in my room. Every morning and night right around when I hop in or out of bed I need to put myself at my normal dosage. It's like having to take medicine every day, but with lethal amounts of electricity."
"And she's quite useful when I need a bit of help," Maiara added. "Now, can you go off and help someone else? I need Alice to actually help instead of show off for the new boy." She turned back to her device on the desk.
I left the room and the bed lowered into place as I exited the laboratory. I wandered to my room and finally picked up my clipboard for the day, adding various notes to it. I wrote my findings on Tina's brother, Maiara's amazing intellect, and Alice's electrical tendencies. I decided to be odd and clipped the board onto my waist and wandered into the halls to see who else needed help today.
© Sebastian Dow 2009 - 2011