Dead End >> c.h au

Chapter Five

The only thing going through Calum’s mind was how much he needed to talk to Luke. Luke saw Calum pour his drink, he would be able to convince the rest of them that something weird was going on. Calum had a feeling whatever it was had something to do with Tim.

                Calum rushed down the hall and stopped in front of Luke’s room. He raised his hand to knock but hesitated before making contact with the door. He knocked lightly and waited through ten seconds of agonizing silence before knocking louder. Luke still didn’t answer.

                Calum didn’t blame him. If the roles were reversed he wouldn’t really want anyone talking to him at that moment. He involuntarily remembered Luke’s shriek of pain when the acid made contact with his face. Calum shuddered and stepped away from the door.

                The hotel was relatively empty so Calum could hear a voice from a few doors down. He didn’t notice he had started walking but the next thing he knew he was standing in front of Ashton’s suite. He debated knocking on the door to see Sally. Even though she wanted nothing to do with him, he just wanted to see her face. He wanted to apologize.

                Calum took a deep breath, swallowed his pride, and rapped against the wooden door with his knuckles. He heard movement within the room and he felt his heart speed up with every passing millisecond. He held his breath when the door swung open, revealing a distraught Ashton Irwin.

                “Is Sally here?” Calum said quickly. Ashton nodded and ushered him in quickly. Ashton scanned up and down the hallway before closing the door and locking it.

                He spun to Calum. “Something weird is going on, mate,” he breathed heavily. His eyes were wide in fear of the unknown. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, unable to get comfortable in this creepy hotel.

                “Tell me about it,” Calum rolled his eyes.

                Ashton stepped forward and held Calum’s shoulders at arms’ length. “We need to get the fuck out of here,” he warned. “I should have listened to you at the diner. This place…there’s something weird about it.”

                Ashton had never felt so helpless before in his life. Luke had been attacked by some mysterious being that forced Calum’s hand, Sally wasn’t speaking to him, there’s a creepy old guy roaming the halls, and Ashton hadn’t seen a single person outside of their group since they arrived. Despite the poor location, there was bound to be at least one other guest in this hotel but Ashton had yet to find one.

                The bathroom door creaked open and Sally poked her head out slightly. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, scowling at Calum.

                “Sal, please, hear me out,” Calum pleaded. “We need to get out of here. This place isn’t safe.”

                Sally simply rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Ash got you with that conspiracy shit, too? What are you guys on?”

                “And why didn’t you share?” Michael added in as he walked through the door of the suite with the room key in his hand, Leo trailing behind him. “It might help Luke get his mind off the whole face thing.” He waved his hand in front of his eyes to demonstrate.

                “Look,” Calum stated. “I feel like I just stepped into a fucking paranormal activity sequel or something. I get why you don’t believe me, but something moved my arm in the ballroom. Something changed my drink to acid and threw it on Luke, not me. I promise.