Hey There Ryan, It's Me, Ya Demon

Chapter 10

Shane woke up to the sound of loud footsteps running up and down the hall, which wasn't a very pleasant thing to hear when you're groggy and have bleary eyes. "What the fuck?" He mumbles.

Ryan stirs from beside Shane and says, "What is going on?" in that deep morning voice. If it weren't for some obnoxious person running up and down the hall outside their door, Shane would've thought it was hot.

"I have no fucking idea, but whoever's making that noise, I'm gonna kill them." But just as Shane opens the door, the footsteps stop completely. It was as if he just disappeared. Just to be sure, though, Shane looks up and down the hall, but still sees no one. "What the...?"

"What is it?" Ryan asks from the bed. He's entangled in the sheets and his hair is a mess and honestly, it's adorable. Shane feels a warmth spread through his body and it's all Ryan's fault.

He smiles. "It's nothing, Ry. It sounded like someone was running through the halls, but I guess they stopped."

"Okay. Well come back to bed, then," Ryan says, and flops back down onto the mattress, closing his eyes.

Shane is about to do what he said when he hears the running footsteps. Again. Annoyance makes Shane run up to his hotel room door and throw it open, revealing... nothing. No one. "WHAT THE FUCK?" Shane says again. "I'm gonna go do something about this. Stay here, Ry." And with that, he leaves to go give a complaint to the front desk.

The first thing he notices is that the hall lights are turned off. He wanders cautiously down the hall, looking out for whoever was running down the hall. He's suspicious, knowing that the lights in a hotel are never turned off and that it is no coincidence the footsteps suddenly stopped when he went to go check them out. He suddenly isn't so sure about leaving Ryan alone in the room, he was going to head back and tell Ryan to pack up their stuff and leave, but he was already close to the front desk and he didn't want to waste time. The second thing Shane notices is there suddenly seems to be a hell of a lot of dust and cobwebs. That's weird, Shane thinks. I don't remember this place being so dirty. But he can't really say he was paying attention, because someone managed to distract him with slight touches and winks. He finally arrives at the front desk, but the furniture in the lobby is mostly covered by white sheets and the only person at the desk is an old man with a long grey beard, a fishing cap, an old plaid hunting jacket and fishing boots, which he's propping up against the desk. Immediately Shane gets a weird vibe from the dude. He's also confused since last night there was more than one guy at the desk, and there was even a bell boy waiting by the door...

"Hey, partner," the old guy says and Shane's back straightens tensely.

"Uh, hey there. I just wanted to say there was someone running up and down the hallway by my room...say, where is everybody?"

The old guy gives him a weird look. "What do you mean, kid? Yous and that other boy are the only peoples here. Haven't been much visitors here for ten years. Did ya hit your head in your sleep?" Shane doesn't know what to say. He swears this place wasn't this empty or...abandoned. He decides to end the conversation before he gets into a full-on discussion with the old dude.

"Okay well, are you sure we're the only ones here? I swear I heard running..."

The old guy nods his head. "Only ones here fellow. Might've been a raccoon, been having a lot of those critters recently."

Shane nods and says, "Well, I better head to my room. Don't wanna stay too long, we have a flight to catch."

The guy shakes his head. "Yeah...don't wanna leave your lover boy all alone, 'might get scary in a place like this. Who knows what's lingering?" Shane gives an awkward "Heh...yeah..." and hurries back to his and Ryan's room. He quickly closes the door and locks it. Ryan looks up with a look of concern.