The Twelve Crime Countdown

Ten Lords A-leaping

(Y/N)'s POV

An uproar snared the large community downstairs. The loudness almost hurt my ears at the sheer volume. The crowds pressed against the windows and front doors to the building. They screamed and shouted in their frenzied panic.

"What's going on?!" I covered my ears with the palms of my hands. "Excuse me, do you know what's happening?!" I shouted over the noise to someone quickly descending the stairs.

"What?!" They called back, whipping around to look at me.

"I said, do you know what's happening?!" I tried to raise my volume to beat the crowd.

"We're snowed in, no one can get out through the doors! They're going to make an announcement in a minute!" They shouted over the loud panic.

My heart dropped to my feet upon hearing the news. All of my things are stuck in the car and I can't leave this resort. I never wanted to be in this place for this reason.

"Let's head back upstairs!" Will tugged on my arm, pulling me to go up the steps once more.

"Okay," We climbed up the stairs, pushing past people in the packed stairs to come back up to the second floor. Hannibal guided us into an abandoned corridor.

The small corridor had to have at least four rooms max. At the end, two armchairs accompanied a window on either side.

Slowly creeping up to the window like something from a horror movie would creep up on me. I peered down to the large, thick blanket of snow. Rooftops sprinkled the large white blanket of powdery frost.

"We're going to be here for a long time." I slowly slid down to sit against a wall next to one of the armchairs. My phone buzzed repeatedly in my pocket.

It continued to buzz when I took it out of my pocket. An on-slot of notifications blew up my phone. Weather alerts, texts, emails, and so on icons rapidly flooded my alerts to the double digits.

They didn't expect the snow to go away soon one weather outlet said. Another suspected it would only take a week to be manageable again. A car wrecked a few hours earlier in the slick ice.

My texts and emails mostly listed Jack's name as who gave it to me. Was the case going well? Did I get to a hotel? The unit has been shut down due to the weather. Most of the subject matter had his concern present.

I tapped a text message from him to start responding back. 'We're snowed-in at the resort. I'll keep you updated.' My phone dangled in my fingers over my lap after pressing send.

"What should we do now? We're stuck!" My phone dropped into my lap before I put my head in my hands. Worry filled my chest. My poorly crafted glass-made hope cracking a little bit more.

Speakers screeched to life. "Attention! Attention!" A voice crackled over the intercom.

"I want everyone's attention for one moment, please!" Cracks and screeches from the old system interrupted the voice. "Staff will assign a room to everyone here for everyone's cooperation at this time. Please, wait for someone to assist you."

"That is all, thank you." The intercom clicked.

Will adjusted in his seat, tapping his foot against the heavily designed navy carpet. His eyes cast down.

"Worried about your dogs at home, Will?" Hannibal settled into his seat, watching Will closely.

"This is a big storm to leave dogs alone in." His eyes fluttered, and he turned to face the window.

"How many dogs do you have, Will?" My eyebrow raised at him.

"There's 6." He plainly stared into the cold outdoors.

"Woah, that's a lot of dogs, Will."

He only hummed along with me.

Silence fell back over us. I slowly slid to lean up against the armchair Hannibal sat in. The creme-colored wall kept my eye contact for the time being.

"Excuse me?" Someone came to us. They wore a uniform common with the other staff at the resort. Their hair was pinned behind their hair in a well-put-together bun.

"Has anyone got you a room yet?" They stammered. The golden name tag shined brightly, it must have been new. Their behavior certainly showed that they were new to this job.

"No, not yet." I looked at the boys. Their eyes trained on the worker in front of them. "Is there a room for us?"

"Yes, there is one prepared." They gave a wavering smile. "Please, follow me." They turned on their heel and strolled down the hall.

I hopped onto my feet to catch up with them. Hannibal and Will kept close behind me.

"Here's your room." They fished their pockets for the keys that jingled in their grasp. The key slid into the lock and opened the door.

The door opened into a grand living room. It had always been my dream to come here. Not exactly like the wonderland I hoped it would be like.

Slowly drifting through the living room. The lights acted like a spotlight over the many seating arrangements.

I dropped onto the dark brown couch in front of a TV that hung on the wall. My laptop bag found its home on the little glass coffee table.

"Well, what should we do now? We're going to be here for a while." Twisting to face the two that slowly wandered behind me.

"I don't know...what is there to do here?" Will turned to face me.

"Uh, we could see what we can find on the TV?" I took a glance over my shoulder at the black screen of the TV. "I don't know. The world is your oyster." My shoulders shrugged.

"Hannibal? Any ideas?" I furrowed my brows, looking at him.

His hand brushed along a table next to him. "This is a place you always wanted to see, isn't it? What would you like to do?"

"Um, well, we could try to watch something for now?"
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1003 Words