Paranoia

15

We drove all day long. 

No joke. 

It was nearly nightfall before Justin decided it was time to find somewhere to park it for the night and rest. 

We pulled off the highway into a small town that had seen better days. 

Or maybe it didn't, I'd never been here before. 

"Would you look at that? An old hotel. Might as well give that a shot, right?" Justin says sarcastically. 

"I could go for a bed right now." Jenny says with a sigh. 

"Then it's final. We will check the place out, see if it looks safe enough to stay in tonight." Justin says, pulling into the small hotel's parking lot. 

The night sky was begging to set in place, small stars peeking in through the navy blue sky. Ever since the outbreak, I've been able to see the stars clearer. Since humans didn't need light anymore, since most of them were dead, the night sky was almost always visible. I've always loved the night. It made me smile every time I looked at the stars.

We hop out of the car, and Justin and Mr. Baker head inside to scope the place out, make sure that there weren't too many bodies, and to double check that everything is secure. 

After a few minutes, Mr. Baker comes out, followed by Justin. "This place is so old, that they don't use key cards. Which is good, because we wouldn't be able to get into any of the rooms if they did. They just have keys for each of the rooms hanging in the front. Just like in the olden days," Mr. Baker lets out a laugh. 

"Just get a room on the third floor, since that seems to be the cleanest, and not as many mice and rats in there." Justin says, and Doctor Erin cringes. 

We all make our way inside, the lobby very dark and damp. Cob webs and dust seemed to cover every corner of the place, and glass was broken from some of the windows. 

"I wonder if they serve a complementary breakfast." I say, earning a laugh from Justin and Jenny. 

"Don't hope for much, looks like the service is pretty bad here." Tyler joins in on the fun. 

Nolan grabs a key for a room, taking his backpack full of stuff with him, and makes his way to the stairs. I follow him, going up the stairs. It was dark, and extremely creepy. 

Hotels freak me out. Ever since I saw the movie "The Shining," I never wanted to step foot into another hotel again. But now, I was in one, with only nine other people, cob webs, dust, maybe a few dead bodies, and some rats. I wouldn't be surprised if twins sprung out from behind the corner and started asking me to come and play with them. 

Nolan finds our room, which was on the third floor, on the left side, the second door down. The hallways were dark, the only bit of of light was moonlight, that shone from the window at the end of the hallway. 

Nolan opened our door, and we entered the room. It was small, but had two beds, and a bathroom. That's all we really needed for the night. 

I plopped my bag down onto the bag furthest from the door, you know, just in case Jack Torrence were to come knocking on it with an axe. 

Nolan closed the door, and grabbed a candle from his bag, along with a box of matches. 

"Perfect. I thought this couldn't get any scarier." I mumble to myself as Nolan lit the candle. 

"What is so scary about a candle?" Nolan asks, blowing out the match he just lit. A little bit of steam whirled in the air around the burnt match, as if a ghost was leaving it's burn, charred, body. 

"You know, those cult movies where they used candles as they cut open a lamb and drink it's blood." I pull my knees close to my chest, something I often do when I am freaked out. 

Nolan laughs, "You watched too many scary movies as a kid." 

"It helped me prepare for the worst." The room suddenly goes silent, the only noise was the sound of the family of mice living downstairs. 

"I guess this is the worst, huh?" Nolan says softly. 

"Close enough to it." I sigh. 

"Why don't you try to get some rest, you need it." Nolan says as he rummages through his bag. 

"We all need it." 

"Well, yeah, I guess." Nolan sighs. "But, I don't think I will be sleeping tonight."

"Why?"

"I'm not tired."

"I'll stay up with you." I offer. 

"No, really it's okay. You need sleep." Nolan looks over at me, the candle light making half of his face lighter, and the other half full of dark shadows. 

I nod. I stand up and do my best to dust off my bed, clearing it from the three years worth of dust that had collected on it. I take my blanket and lay it over the bed, just in case. I fluff out my pillows, and shut my eyes. The feeling of laying in bed almost reminded me of home. It felt nice. I fell asleep almost instantly, the soft bed drawing me into sleep quicker than anything else. 

_____

Nolan was not in my room the next morning. 

I sat up, feeling fully refreshed and healthy when I woke up. The early morning sun swept through the curtains and onto my face. 

I slipped on my shoes, and walked over to the room next door. I knock three times. 

"Who is it?" Tyler's groggy voice is heard through the other side of the door. 

"Housekeeping." I reply. 

I hear Tyler chuckle as he unlocks the door to his room. 

As he opens the door, I see a little bit of Liam, asleep on the bed in the background.

"That's cute." I smile.

"Oh, yeah. He's a cutie. I've sorta taken him under my wing ever since his parent's died. He needs a guy, sorta like an older brother. I wanted to give that to him." Tyler smiles widely. "So, why are you here?"

"Oh, right, have you seen Nolan? He was in my room last night, but he's not there now." 

"I thought I heard him and Justin, and Mr. Baker talking outside earlier."

"It's really early, why are they talking this early?" 

"Maybe it has something to do with what our plans for the day, I'm not sure." Tyler shrugs. 

"Okay, well, I guess I'll just look around and see if I can find them." 

"Do you need help?" Tyler says quickly. 

"I'm sorry, what?" 

"Do you need help looking for him?" 

"No, it's okay." I say softly.

"Okay, well just let me know." Tyler nods, and shuts the door. 

I begin walking down the steps. The lobby was still deserted. I go outside, and see Justin, Nolan, and Mr. Baker standing outside, having a hushed conversation, over something. 

I walked over to them. As I get closer, I see a heap of something laying on the ground, surrounded by a pool of red. 

"What is that?" I ask, grossed out. 

"Not what. Who." Nolan replied to me. 

"It's Miss Violet." Mr. Baker says, shaking his head, choking back tears.