SCAREBNB

two: strange(rs)

The seven of us were gathered around the dining table, phones in hands, brows furrowed. I was scrolling through my settings, trying to find a way to connect to some kind of signal.

"Should I try and make an emergency call?" Lucas suggested.

"I've already tried," Cadence snapped. "It's not going through."

"Okay, look." The first boy—who was seemingly the most authoritative—shoved his phone back in his pocket and straightened. "This is probably an accident, but until signal comes back, we're stuck in here."

His use of the word stuck made my chest constrict a little.

"In the meantime, we may as well just chill out."

"Chill out?" I said, unable to stifle my fear. "The door won't open, what if there's, I don't know, a fire? We don't even know you, as far as we know—"

"And we don't know you either," he said coldly. "As far as we know this is some prank you're pulling."

"Oh, come on," Lucas said bitterly. "You're right. We should just chill out and wait until we can contact someone. And we don't know each other, no. I'm Lucas, this is Annie, Cadence and Sierra."

I narrowed my eyes at the boy. His jaw pulsed.

"I'm Elijah. This is Gabriel—" he pointed at the tall boy, and then to the redhead—" and James."

"We're just supposed to be here for the weekend," Lucas continued. "There must've been a double booking or something, I mean we were sure we booked the top floor for the balcony."

"Us too." Elijah looked out of the darkened window.

"At least we have tequila," Cadence said. I watched her eyes swoop over each boy, and I could almost visualize the calculations going on in her head. "A shot to pass the time?"

A shot to pass the time was quickly two. Each time Cadence bounced around the circle with lime and the tequila bottle, I brushed her off. The locked door now had me far too on edge to drown out that little voice in my head, reminding me of my mortality.

"No thanks." Gabriel shook his head too when offered a second. Like me, maybe he couldn't comprehend us drinking with such a dangerous situation. Something wasn't right.

I watched Gabriel as he observed his friends knock back the shot on a count of three. He had warm brown eyes that focused intently, framed with black lashes and beneath the chestnut curls of his hair.

"This may as well be a party!" Annie said, shimmying towards the speaker to turn up Lucas' music.

"Not if the tequila runs out," Cadence said, looking at the bottle with a pout.

"Good thing we're prepared," Elijah reached over to their luggage and pulled out another unopened bottle.

Great, booze would solve this.

My hunger to get drunk was now incomprehensible as I wrapped my arms around myself. It was nearing ten o'clock, and still my phone showed no reception. I felt a hot sweat sheen my skin, a biproduct of my anxiety.

"Hey," Annie whispered, nudging me with her elbow from my side. "You okay?"

I nodded stiffly and gave her a tight smile. "Just... the situation."

Annie gave me a knowing look and squeezed my shoulder. She was one of the few people who knew about my inner turmoil.

"We'll be okay," she said. "It's just a random misunderstanding, a coincidence the door locked. I'm sure it'll be resolved in no time."