The Green Park Hotel

Act 2

I could not get settled. I glanced at the clock on the other side of my room. It was quater past 12. I had been endlessly tossing and turning, trying so hard to get to sleep. I knew I wasn't restless, it's as if I could feel a force somewhere in the hotel keeping me awake. I just hoped this force, what or wherever it may be, isn't evil. I suddenly got a urge to adventure. I swung my legs out of my bed and sat up. I quietly shuffled over to the door. As I grabbed the handle my thoughts actually kicked in and something inside my head asked me,
Do I really want to do this?
I thought for a moment and made a decision,
Yes, its not like there's anything dangerous here
Or is there?
My thoughts asked. I sternly nodded to no one in particular and unlocked my rooms door. It swung open with a quiet creak. I glanced down the dimly lit hallway to see if anyone was around. It looked empty so I snuck down the hallway, heading left towards the stairs. I had no destination in particular, I just wanted to get out of that room.

The floorboards creaked as I sneakily ran down the hallway. I stopped dead in my tracks. I don't know if it was the fact I was tired or that my footsteps were echoing, I could hear something behind me. Without turning or thinking I broke into a sprint towards the stairs. The noise behind me seemed to speed up too. I grabbed the banister of the stairs and began to run up them, when I ran into someone. I felt myself leaning backwards. As I almost fell, a hand grabbed onto mine. My eyes were tightly shut and my face was scrunched up. I slowly opened one eye to see who had saved me from falling. I let out a deep breath, which I didn't know I was holding in until this point, when I realized who it was.
It was Joan.
There was something strange though. He looked panicked, his eyes were wide and his hair was messy, as if he had been running his hands through it. His white shirt was creased and messily rolled up at the sleeves. He pulled me back up onto the step below him and spoke. "Oh erm h-hey Lindsey, what are y- what are you doing here?" He was stuttering and he spoke quickly. Completely the opposite of what he was like earlier. "I was just," I quickly thought of an excuse, "I thought I had lost one of my books when I dropped them here earlier, it was keeping me awake so I had to have a look." I mentally cringed at how terrible that excuse was.
"oh, o-okay" He said quickly as he began edging down the stairs. It was almost like he was trying to get away as fast as possible. I was extremely suspicious, so I wasn't gonna let that happen. I swiftly stepped in his way. "well it looks like there's nothing here" he hastily said.
"so it seems," I shyly looked down at my shoes and kicked the ground a bit, "erm, if you don't mind me asking, would you- would you walk me back to my room?" I smiled slightly and looked up at him. He sighed and gave in. "sure, I guess" he said, more calmly. We walked to my room in a stiff, awkward silence. Our hands brushed a few times. When we reached my room he turned to face me. The awkwardness seemed to increase. I turned and unlocked the door. Joan was tapping his foot impatiently, so I unlocked the door as slow as possible. I heard him let out a harsh breath. I turned to face him, he was hiding his hands behind his back. His foot was bouncing lightly on the ground.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap
"erm, goodnight I guess" I said with a small, forced smile.
"goodnight" he said quickly. I stepped into my room and smiled at him before I shut the door. I waited until I heard his footsteps and opened my door again, peeking my head out a little. He was quickly walking back towards the stairs. He kept looking around him. Now I was curious. He looked in all directions as he got to the bottom of the stairs, his hand gripping tightly on the banister. He then proceeded to quickly walk up the stairs. Something was happening in this hotel, and I was determined to find out what.